Historic tobacco blends?
- Thread starter JR McDuff
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Oldest retail tobaccanists still doing there thing i know of are:
Gawith Hoggarth - 1887
LJ Peretti - 1870
Iwan Ries - 1857
Gawith Hoggarth - 1887
LJ Peretti - 1870
Iwan Ries - 1857
Whole leaf, dried and shredded, then burned in a central pile while smokers inhaled the smoke through reeds.
After that, it gets more involved.
As has been written above, tobaccos have changed,, manufacturers have changed, such that today's famous names, like Capstan, Balkan Sobranie, Escudo, etc bear little to no resemblance to the blends that earned that fame. Capstan's topping gives it a flavor that is similar to older Capstan, when it was still made in Britain. Escudo is just a tin of "whatsis" with a famous label, and Balkan Sobranie is absolute garbage compared with what I was smoking in the '70's.
Forget about recapturing the flavors of yesteryear and focus on finding what's great today while it's still available. Components are being subbed out and it wouldn't surprise me if in 10 years time we have just 3 or 4 actual blends tinned with 2,000 different labels by one manufacturer.
It would be interesting to know who the Gawith Brother's competitors were, and what the other tobaccos on the market in England at that time were. I mean, was the Lakeland stuff just a small regional circulation? Or, did that perfume taste catch on nationwide for them? When and where did they export?
It was just after my first taste of perfumed tobacco, I was trying to imagine what kind of guys smoked that.
Surberg's Crystal Palace comes to mind as a blend that is still formulated using an old recipe from the 1860s.
Ogdens St Bruno was around in the 1890s and Condor followed shortly thereafter. Most of S&G twists were sort of regional from what I understand. I know that Bondman was popular, my Mothers Father smoked that stuff and he kicked off in 1948 and it was still around in the late 80s early 1990s. Old Holborn and Golden Virginia both date to the late 1870s but are shag cuts and usually used for RYO. In the plug universe you had Digger, Battle Axe, War Horse with the later made by STG these days. The only survivors these days are Yachtsman Plug, Revor, Condor. I am told the oldest plug around is Cannon Plug from S&G which supposedly dates back to the civil war which I assume would be the U.K one and not the U.S one. In the U.S I would imagine Cotton Ball would probably be the best example of a jurassic survivor.
Awesome run down, Thanks.
There are a few more beside Cotton Boll... Mammoth Cave, and a few others. But, I only like Cotton Boll out of those twists. The rest just rip my throat out, ha ha.
Contests have been held where blenders were challenged to recreate classic blends from yesteryear. I think the consensus is that while some excellent tobaccos were created, they were never fully accurate duplicates of the originals. Even given an original recipe, the availability of leaf and knowledge of the way it was processed and any flavorings needed would be required to resurrect a classic blend.
Tobacco ads from the 1700s are not exactly PC, they all (and I mean all) picture slaves in association with tobacco. They also almost entirely advertise Virginia tobacco (as Virginia was the largest tobacco producer in the world at the time) and it is typically shown in rope form or in barrels. So, IMO Gawith twists/ropes are your closest modern tobacco, with air cured and fire cured Virginias.
Trade bills I would imagine. Here is early 20th century advert for St Bruno.
OMG, ha ha, so you're really back on this kick, ha ha. The word "Virginia" is a marketing term. When I say that there was no Virginias before the mid 1800's, I am talking about flu cured tobacco, because flu curing was not even invented before then. Tobacco- Part 2: Development and Growth of the North Carolina Tobacco Industry | NCpedia - https://www.ncpedia.org/tobacco-part-2-development-and-grow#:~:text=The%20new%20flue%2Dcuring%20process,barn%20of%20curing%20leaf%20tobacco.
Before then, Virginias were a burley. Jesus! Ha ha.
Without resorting to a time machine or tracking down an especially ancient blend that has somehow been preserved to be smokeable, I think some of the so-called codger or over-the-counter blends resemble blends of yore, despite the brand names being bought out by one or more new owners over time.
I think Granger bears a fair resemblance to its early 20th Century self, as does Sir Walter Raleigh. Remembering that all brand blends change from year to year depending on sourcing, soil, weather conditions, and so on.
The old standard blends, despite their homely origins and relatively moderate prices, have the suspicious traits of burning evenly without many relights, better than many of the premium blends. They're fairly dependable from one purchase to the next, and the fact that people have bought them for a century or more, when most pipe smokers aren't scholars of the subject, tells you something about good smoking experiences sustained.
Not to be overlooked here is the Edward G. Robinson blend, rescued and restored to commerce by our own fellow member jiminks here, which harkens back to the early 20th Century and earlier in terms of genre.
Sometimes finding what you want depends on not working too hard at it. Some of this is a click away.
I think Granger bears a fair resemblance to its early 20th Century self, as does Sir Walter Raleigh. Remembering that all brand blends change from year to year depending on sourcing, soil, weather conditions, and so on.
The old standard blends, despite their homely origins and relatively moderate prices, have the suspicious traits of burning evenly without many relights, better than many of the premium blends. They're fairly dependable from one purchase to the next, and the fact that people have bought them for a century or more, when most pipe smokers aren't scholars of the subject, tells you something about good smoking experiences sustained.
Not to be overlooked here is the Edward G. Robinson blend, rescued and restored to commerce by our own fellow member jiminks here, which harkens back to the early 20th Century and earlier in terms of genre.
Sometimes finding what you want depends on not working too hard at it. Some of this is a click away.
I think the concept goes back much further. As an example, check out "Spillman Mixture" where even the old tax stamp was reproduced. There are numerous other examples, such as the John Cotton blends, but since tobacco is a natural product that will vary from year to year, even the most exacting reproduction will inevitably differ.
I doubt anyone will ever replicate a 1961 Chateau Lafite either!
I doubt anyone will ever replicate a 1961 Chateau Lafite either!
I like a lot of strong blends, but I rotate among many blends some of the pretty mild. However, Spilmans Mixture is super mild. I have a 7 oz. tin I've smoked over number of years, received as a gift, but gosh, it is mild.
@Iraisch: You might want to read In Vino Duplicatus about the famous wine counterfeiter!