O.T.C. or Codger Blends.

[sandollars]

Regarding OTC's, I give Amphora Burley Blend 2 thumbs up! It's a surprisingly higher quality burley for the price. I am not a big fan of cocoa toppings or casings but they tread lightly on this one. For those who smoke all-day, this one is an all-day smoker too.

Seriously, this one pleasantly surprised me..

 

[DunhillPiper]

Carter Hall and Prince Albert back in stock @ Smoking Pipes.

 

[judcole]

Do match blends count, if they match what is clearly an OTC or codger blend? Do pouch blends that are less well distributed? Does this status exist in some countries or regions and not others? The terms are inexact, so mostly just for fun. Granger has been around my whole life and was an old established brand when I was born, and I am, as they say, no spring chicken.

I think it's safe to say that the term has different meanings in different countries which is why it's not really, IMO, a useful term. "American Classics" means something very specific, and I would agree with DunhillPiper's addition of Lane RR to that list.

 

[judcole]

Regarding OTC's, I give Amphora Burley Blend 2 thumbs up! It's a surprisingly higher quality burley for the price. I am not a big fan of cocoa toppings or casings but they tread lightly on this one. For those who smoke all-day, this one is an all-day smoker too.

Seriously, this one pleasantly surprised me..

Fifty years ago, Amphora was widely available here in the States, as well.

 

[sumusfumus]

Interesting to read thru all the comments. My first pipe was charged with "Mixture No. 79" and it made me throw up. I was 16 years old. "Sugar Barrel", and "Cherry Blend" ...also induced some retching, but I hit my stride when "Troost" was in my pipe. Compared to my smoking experiences of today, I knew nothing about how to smoke a pipe, or what to feed my pipes. Life is about learning and adapting. Sometimes I wish I was back in the days of my age of innocence, when thing were new and exciting. Everything was a revelation!

Those old codger blends had many useful functions for the man of yesterday. My friend's fathers smoked them. My uncles smoked them. Men in barber shops smoked them. They were cheap, always available, helped you escape reality, they relaxed you , they comforted you when stressed, helped enhance life's joys, and took the sting out of sorrows. They were easy to smoke, and a pleasure to sniff. The codger blends became those semper fidelis friends you could rely on....never changed much, and were always faithful.

I personally think adopting the codger "attitude" .....is absolutely essential to successfully smoke any of the old OTC codger blends. Forget all about nuance, hidden flavor notes, figs, stewed fruit, new mown hay, and the other ambiguous jargon that "modern" pipe smokers now use to describe today's "woke" offerings. You must smoke these codgers with the expectation of nothing, and revel when the blend delivers you a treat. You must never think about what's in the pipe, and never overanalyze. Codgers were happy to just sit in their favorite easy-char, and smoke their drug-store Grabows -after the wife put the kids to bed. Life was simpler back then....or it seemed to be..... back in the days of when there were just two genders.

Again, approach smoking those OTC codger-blends just for the sheer pleasure of seeking your own "Calgon Moment". Let the old fashioned melange of Burleys, Virginias, and Cavendish take you away to your own personal Nirvana. Pick up some old copies of men's magazines from the '40s and '50s and read the advertising copy for pipe tobaccos. Believe the ad's descriptions, go back in time and stay there for just a little while, and don't forget to forget.

 

[sablebrush52]

Over-the-counter (OTC) is a little more tricky, but refers to blends that used to be readily available at many places other than tobacconists, like groceries, drug stores, newsstands, gas stations, and convenience stores.

^^^^^This^^^^^

Codger blends and OTC are two names for the same thing. Popular blends sold everywhere, generally mild in flavor, often Burley based, and offered at a lower price point. They gained a bum rap as being low quality, but that's really not true. They were designed for mass market and high volume. I like several of them, though I prefer some of the H&H Midtown series recreations because they don't have the chemical aftertaste that some of these mass market blends have.

 

[The Clay King]

Captain Black, Scandinavik and above all CLAN are the codger blends here (Greece), and what people consider "pipe smell". My understanding of a codger blend is something that's widely available, and smoked all day, every day by people who may clean their pipes once per week or never. Got an uncle who gifted me 3 Savinellis, he smoked Captain Black all day every day in them for 20 years, when I smoke them the heel ALWAYS tastes of something sweet, unlike whatever else was loaded in the pipe, which I take to be the old Captain's ghost. The only one of the three in which the Captain's ghost was exorcised from is one I designated as a Latakia pipe.

Doesn't have to be a bad blend, I've never smoked any of the three above, but have an itch to try Clan once. Been told it flash burns, ghosts, burns hot, but doesn't actually taste bad.

Had MacBaren's version of Captain Black (Seven Seas white), which was hot air in terms of strength and body, but didn't taste bad at all. Their Amphoras and Vanilla (Classic in the EU) are actually good tobaccos.

I've had all 3 of these in my clay pipes!

 

[Peter - CCB]

A customer sent me a jar of Prince Albert. I have prob. 50 blends open here but I’ve never had any OTC / Codger tobacco. It was a really nice gesture. I tried it and was surprised. I really liked it. It’s super mild of course but it fits a niche in my day or kills a craving sometimes. I went through the whole jar in a week. I’ll add it to my cellar.

 

[mortonbriar]

When you get a magnifying glass out to spot the branding on the pouch sticking out a grandparents top pocket in an old photo, you can be pretty sure its a codger blend. Especially if his beat up old briar is tucked into his watch band.