Irish Condor?

[PipeIT]

What year was Condor discounted in Ireland?

Also is it next to impossible to find/buy Irish Condor?

Ever since I recently acquired an Irish Freestate Peterson, I’m like, this would really be nice to be able to smoke Irish Condor in it.

P.S. Blame @Ahi Ka for bringing up Condor to my attention. LOL, just kidding mate...

 

[Ahi Ka]

I want to say 2017. But im not sure why that date is in my head.

send me your pipe, I’ll smoke a few bowls of it in there for ya and it’ll be ghosted

 

[paulfg]

2017 sounds about right,the article announcing the factory closure was 2016 saying closing by 2018

Ballymena cigarette factory JTI Gallaher to close

Cigarette maker JTI Gallaher is to shut its factory in County Antrim with the loss of more than 800 jobs.

www.bbc.com

 

[simong]

2017 sounds about right,the article announcing the factory closure was 2016 saying closing by 2018

Ballymena cigarette factory JTI Gallaher to close

Cigarette maker JTI Gallaher is to shut its factory in County Antrim with the loss of more than 800 jobs.

www.bbc.com

October 24th 2017, to be precise Paul. That's when the machines fell silent at Gallahers with a loss of 800 jobs. (Belfast Telegraph).
Wonder if there's been an improvement with the polish condor? I tried a pouch of the Long Cut not long after they started making it & thought it was pretty woeful to be honest. I shall have to try another pouch & see if they've upped their game.

 

[Ahi Ka]

My first experience with condor was the plug made in Poland. I didn’t find it bad at all. I was a bit confused by all of the hype surrounding the blend, and thought maybe those who liked it preferred it’s Virginia only base.

I then tried the Irish condor plug. A pipe smoking friend summed up the experience perfectly. He got up before dawn, loaded his clay with it, had a hot water with lemon to the side and watched the sunrise surrounded by the dawn chorus. He smoked his condor, and he felt like he had come home.

 

[Franco Pipenbeans]

I’m not an expert on the matter by any stretch of the imagination but the Polish version just doesn’t have that “Condor moment” for me; neither the ready rubbed or the flake. I can’t say about the plug as I have never tried it but I suspect it won’t be the same as the Northern Irish version, if the other versions are anything to go by.

I don’t think the modern Condors are bad bad, I’m never going to smoke them again, my smoking pleasure is ruined bad but they aren’t what they were.

I’m hoping to meet up with a friend in Dublin this summer so I was planning a trip to Fox’s to get some of the modern Condor Plug - online it’s around the €25/25g plus €15 for postage.

 

[kcghost]

Discounted = Discontinued??

 

[runscott]

My first experience with condor was the plug made in Poland. I didn’t find it bad at all. I was a bit confused by all of the hype surrounding the blend, and thought maybe those who liked it preferred it’s Virginia only base.

I then tried the Irish condor plug. A pipe smoking friend summed up the experience perfectly. He got up before dawn, loaded his clay with it, had a hot water with lemon to the side and watched the sunrise surrounded by the dawn chorus. He smoked his condor, and he felt like he had come home.

I first smoked Condor plug ~1988 while working on my '67 Firebird and my friend's '66 Chevy. We always smoked our pipes while working on our cars, so there is a load of nostalgia involved.

 

[jpberg]

I’m not an expert on the matter by any stretch of the imagination but the Polish version just doesn’t have that “Condor moment” for me; neither the ready rubbed or the flake. I can’t say about the plug as I have never tried it but I suspect it won’t be the same as the Northern Irish version, if the other versions are anything to go by.

I don’t think the modern Condors are bad bad, I’m never going to smoke them again, my smoking pleasure is ruined bad but they aren’t what they were.

I’m hoping to meet up with a friend in Dublin this summer so I was planning a trip to Fox’s to get some of the modern Condor Plug - online it’s around the €25/25g plus €15 for postage.

I think the polish stuff has improved.

 

[hawky454]

October 24th 2017, to be precise Paul. That's when the machines fell silent at Gallahers with a loss of 800 jobs. (Belfast Telegraph).
Wonder if there's been an improvement with the polish condor? I tried a pouch of the Long Cut not long after they started making it & thought it was pretty woeful to be honest. I shall have to try another pouch & see if they've upped their game.

To my memory, you’ve always thought Condor was woeful… no?

I see the Irish Condor go for sale on here from to time but I wouldn’t hold my breath. I’m the only one who seems to think the Polish Condor ain’t bad but that could be because I’m stocked up on the Irish stuff, who knows. All I can say is, I wouldn’t hesitate to buy the new stuff if I was in need of some.

 

[Franco Pipenbeans]

I think the polish stuff has improved.

I’ve got some ripening up in the cellar; it certainly seems to do well with some age on it, especially the long cut imho.

 

[runscott]

I think the polish stuff has improved.

Maybe I'll give it another shot. I bought mine about five years ago, not realizing it wouldn't be the same as the Irish. I'm glad that a lot of smokers have always been happy with the Polish version, but for me it was unsmokeable. I gave it all away.

 

[greeneyes]

I have a bag of rehydrated Irish Condor that is vastly superior to fresh Polish Condor. I suppose if you'd never had the original you might be content to smoke the newer version but it really pales in comparison to the original.

 

[jpberg]

I have a bag of rehydrated Irish Condor that is vastly superior to fresh Polish Condor. I suppose if you'd never had the original you might be content to smoke the newer version but it really pales in comparison to the original.

I smoked a fair bit of what you’re calling original.
I know how subjective this stuff is so I certainly couldn’t argue your tastebuds, but I think the flake and plug have gotten some good tweaking since the original Polish production.
It’s moot to me anyway, no way I’m paying import prices.

 

[runscott]

I smoked a fair bit of what you’re calling original.
I know how subjective this stuff is so I certainly couldn’t argue your tastebuds, but I think the flake and plug have gotten some good tweaking since the original Polish production.
It’s moot to me anyway, no way I’m paying import prices.

I think you can only get it from places in Great Britain, and they won't ship to the U.S. these days.

But you've gotten me excited about the plug.

 

[Ahi Ka]

I think you can only get it from places in Great Britain, and they won't ship to the U.S. these days.

But you've gotten me excited about the plug.

The polish plug I have here is from 2020. It’s fine. If it was the same price as st Bruno, I’d still go with st Bruno. It’s nothing like the older stuff - though I never tried the Irish stuff fresh, so im letting my polish plugs sit for a few more years before I revisit them

 

[PaulTheScandinavian]

Oh Yeah, I definitely recommend the flake in brown pouches over the RR version,somehow it seems that even in England the Flake variety is far less present than the RR Green one,then again the mild one (in beige pouches )as far as I'm aware has been discontinued recently

 

[jpberg]

I think you can only get it from places in Great Britain, and they won't ship to the U.S. these days.

But you've gotten me excited about the plug.

Ya but you know, friends, etc.

 

[Ahi Ka]

Ya but you know, friends, etc.

The plug is only available in Ireland I think…whom is doing the next suitcase run?

 

[greeneyes]

I ought to try out the newer plug and flake then. I have several Spanish pouches of Polish Condor and it might be they opted to not improve this RR pouch regionally for reasons of market preference.