Favorite Virginia Tobaccos?

[Puffaluffaguss]

I like Sutliff red Virginia crumble kake for my red VA, good stuff. And for a brighter Virginia the 507c a bit aired out about a month in a jar or longer opens it up a bit.
Can't go wrong with anything mentioned in these type of threads though.

 

[Ceriano]

Due to changes in the Virginias I'd take the Esoterica blends off the list. Pre 2020 they were still good.

Germain's Brown Flake is a wonderful smoke - again pre 2020, SG Best Brown, Wessex Campaign Dark - again look for older tins, pre 2019 to get the actual blend. Sutliff's Cringle Flake is an excellent Red though it's been a Va/Per for the last couple of releases. C&D Yorktown is worth a look.

It's hard for me to recommend any current releases of blends that have been around for years as I don't know what is being snuck into the tins these days.

Is this only the case for Esoterica or all VA blends after 2020? I heard the new Orlik is not what it used to be either.

 

[rmbittner]

Is this only the case for Esoterica or all VA blends after 2020? I heard the new Orlik is not what it used to be either.

With long-standing tobacco blends, nothing is “what it used to be.” But what it used to be will have varied from year to year, decade to decade, and pipe smoker to pipe smoker. That doesn’t mean that what it is now is not enjoyable or even wonderful. If you’ve never had a previous iteration of a blend, you are free to enjoy it for what it is now.

(As an Esoterica fan, I also have to add that not everyone shares Sablebrush52’s frustration with the more recent releases.)

 

[bullet08]

Lately, it's been between Westminster 400 and Back Down South. Westminster is getting real good and it's been about a year.

 

[Ceriano]

Yup all the Sam Gawith or G&H ropes seem to smoke best right before you have to put the pipe down. When you have all the time in the world they take that time and tell you "better luck next time" lol

I was going thru my cellar this morning and I noticed condensation on all SG jars. No signs of mold yet

 

[yanoJL]

Lately, it's been between Westminster 400 and Back Down South. Westminster is getting real good and it's been about a year.

Bullet, do you mean Westminster (from GLP, Orlik, STG)?
Or Newminster 400?

 

[bullet08]

Bullet, do you mean Westminster (from GLP, Orlik, STG)?
Or Newminster 400?

Sorry, always get Newminster and Westminster confused x) Newminster 400. GLP Westminster is also a good blend, but Latakia, English blend.

 

[Wolf77]

G.L. Pease Union Square is my favorite straight Virginia.

Just opened an 8 oz tin from March of 2019.

Fantastic!

 

[JackOrion]

I keep coming back to Peterson Flake as my top Virginia.
I like and have been stocking up on all the usual suspects though.
FVF, Blue, Carolina Red, Escudo, PS400, Union Square…….. there’s more. I’m always up for Virginias.

 

[sablebrush52]

Is this only the case for Esoterica or all VA blends after 2020? I heard the new Orlik is not what it used to be either.

Blends have been changing, seems more so over the last several years.
The Esoterica blends seemed same as ever, but I hadn’t smoked any for a couple of years. I decided to open a bag of Dunbar I’d picked up in 2020 and it was really off. I mentioned this to jiminks and he asked if I could send some as what he had was way off and wanted to compare. They matched in “oddness”. The leaf was different. There was hard stringy leaf like I’d seen in the HU blends that had gone south, 5th Anniversary, Makhuwa, and others. Tilbury was off, as was RDF. Others have PMed me about changes they’ve noticed.
Now, if you haven’t smoked earlier releases you won’t know anything is different, and you might like them on their own merits, but I’m not paying a nickel for the current releases.
Other changes have involved K&K made blends, and they make a lot of brands, Rattray’s, Astley’s, HU, etc, etc and long customers aren’t happy. I hear plenty of complaints from longtime customers about the quality on the zooms I’ve attended.
Fortunately, we have cellars so it’s not an issue to stop buying.

 

[Ceriano]

Sorry, always get Newminster and Westminster confused x) Newminster 400. GLP Westminster is also a good blend, but Latakia, English blend.

Some of the VA blends came in today, so far I tried the Yorktown and N400. Yorktown was pleasant, it burns hotter than orlik. Some aging may help.
N400 had a bitter after taste like cigar. Do they use cigar leaves?

 

[bullet08]

Some of the VA blends came in today, so far I tried the Yorktown and N400. Yorktown was pleasant, it burns hotter than orlik. Some aging may help.
N400 had a bitter after taste like cigar. Do they use cigar leaves? View attachment 205629

No, Newminster 400 doesn't have cigar leaves as far as I know.

 

[FHlight]

I like Dunhill Flake and Peacehaven.

 

[biodarwin]

My top 5 straight VA's

Wessex Gold Slice
Opening Night
FVF
JA Classic Flake
HH Virginia

Honorable mention
LTF
Capstan Gold
Capstan Blue
CVP
CBP
Sutliff 507C
Peterson Flake
Union Square

 

[JR McDuff]

HH Pure Virginia

 

[ADKPiper]

I like vapers.
Any of the Formers flakes are great.
The birds eye flake is a pure Virginia I believe.
Another seldom mention fav is Hearth And Home Viprati.

 

[Sinzalot]

So many great blends have already been mentioned.
The VAs always in my pipes are...
Germains Brown Flake - Unique and sublime
K&K No 88 - Simple, spicy and sweet
And the one I smoke the most - Peterson's Signature Flake - A discontinued little gem.

 

[JackOrion]

Peterson flake

 

[Sethology12]

Blends have been changing, seems more so over the last several years.
The Esoterica blends seemed same as ever, but I hadn’t smoked any for a couple of years. I decided to open a bag of Dunbar I’d picked up in 2020 and it was really off. I mentioned this to jiminks and he asked if I could send some as what he had was way off and wanted to compare. They matched in “oddness”. The leaf was different. There was hard stringy leaf like I’d seen in the HU blends that had gone south, 5th Anniversary, Makhuwa, and others. Tilbury was off, as was RDF. Others have PMed me about changes they’ve noticed.
Now, if you haven’t smoked earlier releases you won’t know anything is different, and you might like them on their own merits, but I’m not paying a nickel for the current releases.
Other changes have involved K&K made blends, and they make a lot of brands, Rattray’s, Astley’s, HU, etc, etc and long customers aren’t happy. I hear plenty of complaints from longtime customers about the quality on the zooms I’ve attended.
Fortunately, we have cellars so it’s not an issue to stop buying.

Everytime I see you say this I get a little more depressed about the future of virginia tobaccos. I mean how could they even acquire red now that the mclelland method of sourcing individual crops of reds and oranges and such isn't really feasible? Seems once blenders run out of old crops well all be smoking a motley blend of different undifferentiated Virginia's and Orientals alike

 

[romaso]

Can anyone recommend good quality tobacco for me?

You'd get more responses opening a new thread with your question, and add as much info as possible. What have you tried and of those what have you liked? What are you looking for, what types of flavors compared to what you've tried? Good luck!