Need Some Help Here From Fans Of Magnum Opus

[gord]

• ***What Are You Smoking, April 2025?*** :: Pipe Tobacco Discussion - https://pipesmagazine.com/forums/threads/what-are-you-smoking-april-2025.109178/post-37201256
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Picking some brains here . . . I placed an order for some of my favourite cheap, raunchy cigars today, from our duty free Mohawk source, and they happened to get some private stock of Hearth & Home Magnum Opus for $52.00 a tin. I read the profile and it appealed to me. Seems a bit on the lines of Mad Fiddler or Bourbon Bleu. So I scooped two tins in addition to my stogies, as that's a very good price for a 50 gram tin of tobacco up here.

Never heard of it before. Not surprised, because there are a lot of things I don't know. Can you who know this tobacco give me a heads up on what I might expect? Thanks.

 

[woodsroad]

I love this blend, rich and smokey, but not at that price.
FWIW, though, it was made by Sutliff and is now out of production.

 

[gord]

I love this blend, rich and smokey, but not at that price.
FWIW, though, it was made by Sutliff and is now out of production.

Thanks. Looking forward to the tins arriving. I'd never seen it mentioned in the forum. Probably was but I missed it. Glad it's got your thumbs up! Appreciate your comment.

That pricing is what we have to put up with up here. That's half the price of what we'd pay at a regular retail tobacco shop, or if we imported it from the US. But you've heard all this before.

 

[woodsroad]

Thanks. Looking forward to the tins arriving. I'd never seen it mentioned in the forum. Probably was but I missed it. Glad it's got your thumbs up! Appreciate your comment.

That pricing is what we have to put up with up here. That's half the price of what we'd pay at a regular retail tobacco shop, or if we imported it from the US. But you've heard all this before.

This is what ne of Russ Oullette’s blends. I haven’t smoked it since he shared it with us at The Lehigh Valley Pipe Club some years back, but it made a major impression on me.

 

[andrew]

You're actually getting quite a good price as that's the original blend, magnum opus, the name is now changed to magnum. So it's a vintage tin that's been out of production and has totally been discontinued under the new name too. So you have a collectors item

 

[ofafeather]

if I remember correctly (IF!!!!) this was a blend Russ had worked on with Balkan Sobranie as a model.

 

[renfield]

Magnum Opus is probably my favorite of Russ’s creations. Complex with a great Oriental backbone. I have tins going back 14 years.

I hope you find it as enjoyable as I do.

 

[gord]

Magnum Opus is probably my favorite of Russ’s creations. Complex with a great Oriental backbone. I have tins going back 14 years.

I hope you find it as enjoyable as I do.

Thanks. I expect to. I will have only two tins as of next week's courier delivery, but have seemed to have developed a habit of making endangered species last for a long time by planning schedules, rotations, and the judicious use of small pipes for them, with the occasional smoking them on "feast days." with medium bowl pipes.

Also have a good stash of regular and available bulk tobaccos. Learning slow smoking techniques and putting them into practice has helped a lot, too, to exist in this draconian economic wasteland due north of the 49th parallel.

 

[rakovsky]

Dear @gord
Magnum Opus comes up as one of the blends that tends to be most strongly rated as "incenselike," like Three Oaks Syrian. I never tried Magnum Opus, so I can't confirm the reviews. But I would be interested to know what you think on that score.
I made a thread about incenselike blends here:

Which Are the Most Incenselike Blends? ⚗️⛪🪔🥢💭 :: Pipe Tobacco Discussion

I love the smell of church incense. Lemony Frankincense and the oily pine sap smells of Myrrh and Styrax Benzoin are three of the most common ingredients in church incense. By comparison, the South and East Asian traditions often use Nag Champa and sandalwood. I smoked 9 blends out of about 30...

pipesmagazine.com

I put a long tally of additional "incenselike" blends in Message #79 here:

Which Are the Most Incenselike Blends? ⚗️⛪🪔🥢💭 :: Pipe Tobacco Discussion

Paul, I found Northwoods to be like Ennerdale, but thicker, with stronger flavoring. Northwoods had a great sweet flowery dank wood tin note that reminded me of a northern woods like in the US north or Canada. To my senses, Ennerdale and Northwoods' smoke had an acrid clean white bar soap smell...

pipesmagazine.com

 

[gord]

Well, I got my two tins of Magnum Opus, broke one open last night, and took a shot of the tin and the pipe I smoked it in on some tobacco leaves I harvested from my Turkish plants, a little Pete that I bought recently, and has become one of my favorite pipes. My verdict? A truly outstanding tobacco, and I enjoyed the 45 minute smoke to the very last drop!

It is unfortunate that this tobacco is no longer available, and yes, these two tins were vintage, so I will handle their contents with judicious caution, treating them like Thanksgiving Turkey! Thanks for all of your input!

Looking forward to blending some of these leaves in a home mix . . . . initial trials by itself were postive - a very sweet taste. But the trial leaves were too dry and it burnt very fast. But this is another story!

​

 

[bootlegpipes]

Was there a bulk version of this blend?

 

[rakovsky]

Well, I got my two tins of Magnum Opus, broke one open last night, and took a shot of the tin and the pipe I smoked it in on some tobacco leaves I harvested from my Turkish plants, a little Pete that I bought recently, and has become one of my favorite pipes.

Dear Gord,
What do you think about the claim that it's "incenselike"?

The most "incenselike" blend that I ever had was Esoterica Margate, probably because of its oily casing or topping.

 

[gord]

It's roomnote may be incenselike, but I find it full and rich, much like Amphora Absolute (Rich in the USA) on steroids. It's a great tobacco whatever the case, as is Amphora. I'll get a friend to smoke a bowl and get my impression from that standpoint.

 

[khiddy]

There are tins of Magnum (the new name of Magnum Opus) in stock at P&C, at least there are as of my posting right now.

Hearth & Home Marquee Magnum - PIPES and CIGARS

Find Hearth & Home Marquee Magnum Packaged Pipe Tobaccos at the lowest prices here at PIPES and CIGARS!

www.pipesandcigars.com

 

[Searock Fan]

I read some positive reviews of Magnum Opus, or as it is now called simply Magnum. So, when the chance came a while back to get a "deal" on several cans I snapped them up. Sorry to say, but I was disappointed. It isn't that it's bad, rather it's just kind of tasteless. Didn't see what the big hoppla was about. Then I read that if you dry it out for a while it becomes better. Now I have an open can... no lid on it at all,,, that's been sitting for a couple of weeks. Just tried a bowl and again no big deal. Oh, well, it will make a good mixture to experiment with.

 

[SBC]

Years ago, I considered it in my top few latakia mixtures, along with Esoterica and Peretti offerings.

Recently I tried a bowl of my old stock again, and it didn't wow me like I remember. It may be that my tastes have changed a bit over the years.

To be fair, around the same time I revisited Peretti Omega, and it didn't wow me as I remembered, either.

The one that did was Peretti Royal Blend. Oh my. Over the years that has risen to the top, and I probably like it as much as Esoterica offerings.

In any case, I still consider Magnum Opus a grea latakia mixture and am glad that you got some. It's among the best.

 

[Searock Fan]

Years ago, I considered it in my top few latakia mixtures, along with Esoterica and Peretti offerings.

Recently I tried a bowl of my old stock again, and it didn't wow me like I remember. It may be that my tastes have changed a bit over the years.

To be fair, around the same time I revisited Peretti Omega, and it didn't wow me as I remembered, either.

The one that did was Peretti Royal Blend. Oh my. Over the years that has risen to the top, and I probably like it as much as Esoterica offerings.

In any case, I still consider Magnum Opus a grea latakia mixture and am glad that you got some. It's among the best.

People have different tastes. Actually, I can't even taste any Latakia in it.

 

[BriaronBoerum]

Years ago, I considered it in my top few latakia mixtures, along with Esoterica and Peretti offerings.

Recently I tried a bowl of my old stock again, and it didn't wow me like I remember. It may be that my tastes have changed a bit over the years.

To be fair, around the same time I revisited Peretti Omega, and it didn't wow me as I remembered, either.

The one that did was Peretti Royal Blend. Oh my. Over the years that has risen to the top, and I probably like it as much as Esoterica offerings.

In any case, I still consider Magnum Opus a grea latakia mixture and am glad that you got some. It's among the best.

Funny,
My first bowl comparison of Omega and Royal, I preferred Omega, but first impressions aren't always accurate, or lasting! Given that Hearth & Home blends are likely to end, or at least change, post-Sutliff, I think I need to get a few cans while I can.

 

[khiddy]

Funny,
My first bowl comparison of Omega and Royal, I preferred Omega, but first impressions aren't always accurate, or lasting! Given that Hearth & Home blends are likely to end, or at least change, post-Sutliff, I think I need to get a few cans while I can.

Yeah, H&H is dead unless and until STG pulls its corporate head from near its 3rd lumbar vertebrae and brings back the many excellent blends they killed.

Grab tins when you see them, because even if they come back by some miracle, they’ll be more expensive and likely less tasty.

 

[andrew]

I knew it, I knew it, they're different blends. I thought I'd heard that but wasn't sure. Magnum opus contained prized yenidje leaf and that's why Russ named it Magnum Opus. So I should maybe buy some of this