Jmsmity6: thank you very much for the very kind words. I haven't smoked the Elizabethan Match lately, but it's still better than the Germain's version.
I have updated that review and the Edgeworth Ready Rubbed Match since this was posted. Here are the updates:
ERR Match:
It packs well, stays lit, and is a very cool, consistent smoke all the way to the bottom with no bite, though it has a slight roughness at times. Nutty with a molasses flavor and a little cocoa along with a slight sharpness, and a bit of earth and wood. I can see this being a decent starter burley for someone who has never tried the genre, and I can certainly see it being a regular rotation blend. Has a mild nicotine hit. Burns a little slow due to being a cube cut, cool and clean with a very consistent taste. Requires a few relights, and leaves very little moisture in the bowl. Has a nice after taste. An all day work and play smoke that may not be complex, but has enough going for it to hold your interest.
This Match is very close to the original. I spent a weekend comparing the two versions. The original seemed a little fuller, deeper in the molasses taste, and that's the only difference I can tell. The cut and look of the tobacco is the very same. The more I smoke it, the better I like it. In a blind taste test, it would be very hard to tell which was which.
EDIT: The batch I got in the Spring of 2015 tastes as I have described it above. However, the cut was changed to a rough cut with some small chunks, and the tobacco is lighter is color. This version burns slower, but at least it tastes the same. Others have reported the same change in cut. Wish they would have left it alone.
10-20-2016 Update: Apparently, Sutliff has listened as the productions of this year's Match ERR are exactly like my original description.
I gave four stars to the original.
Dunhill Elizabethan Match:
I’ve compared this to the original (which once was a regular smoke for me) and I'd say this blend is fairly close, but not an exact match. It’s certainly closer than the current DE production by Dunhill, which I consider to be inferior to both the original and the Sutliff Match. The Murray’s version was a little more complex in taste, and had just a little more bright lemon Virginia. The perique is very peppery in both, slightly more plumy here. The brown Virginia is virtually identical: a little grass and earth with some citrus. As much as I liked the Murray’s product, I would say this is as close as you can get. A little more sprinkling of citrusy, spicy floral lemon Va., and it’d virtually be the same. Because the new version is different from the Murray’s, which is what the Match attempted to copy, I would not consider them to be similar. The proportion of ingredients in the new Dunhill version is different, and is a shag cut , which the original never was. Nor is this Match, which is ribbon cut.
The nic-hit here is in the center of mild to medium, which is a tad less than the Murray’s version. The strength level is closer to medium than it is to mild, while the Murray’s was medium. No chance of bite or harshness is present. Burns cool and clean at a moderate pace with a very consistent flavor. Leaves little dampness in the bowl, and requires an average number of relights. Has a pleasant, slightly lingering after taste, and stronger room note.Can be an all day smoke for most people.
The Murray’s version of DE was one of the very few blends m'lady openly complained about. When they quit making it, she was very happy. A couple of years back, I tried the Match for the first time. Five minutes after I started smoking it, she came back to the studio and said, "Are you smoking that crap again? I thought they quit making it." Telling me that she recognized the smell after several years just struck me kinda funny. That, besides the taste, amplified my assessment that the Match is close indeed.
I gave the Murray's version four stars. Couldn't do that for the new release, which is a two star blend. This gets four stars.
