Presbyterian Mixture

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james80

Starting to Get Obsessed
Nov 16, 2012
228
2
I cracked a tin of Presbyterian Mixture yesterday. Smoked 4 bowls so far and I have to say its the strangest tobacco I have smoked. I am torn between yes I like this and no I hate this. It seems like an enigma, sweet yet sour, smooth yet somewhat raw. Any thoughts?

 

sallow

Lifer
Jun 30, 2013
1,531
3,771
I'm in the yes camp.
Its got good strength. It has a top note of latakia and some really nice bass notes.
It has been a while since I smoked this and I have an old tin in the cellar. Maybe this will be the next english I open.

 
Aug 1, 2012
4,587
5,131
I guess this just wasn't for me. It was a bit too bitter and a bit too light on flavor depth. That's just my take but I won't be getting another tin anytime soon.

 

james80

Starting to Get Obsessed
Nov 16, 2012
228
2
2 bowls later I conclude it really tastes like stewed rhubarb. I am not saying that's a bad thing just not what I was expecting. I might jar it and comeback to it in a few months.

 

papipeguy

Lifer
Jul 31, 2010
15,778
35
Bethlehem, Pa.
This blend has been around nearly forever. Always highly rated. I happen to like it though it has been awhile since I've smoked it. Now I may have to get a couple of tins. Thanks for the memory jog.

 

dottiewarden

Lifer
Mar 25, 2014
3,053
57
Toronto
Raised this zombie because it was the most recent of the bunch.
I'd heard it tasted a lot like London Mixture, a favorite of mine, and that the Lat was just a spice.
Throughout my first bowl I tasted the Lat as a major player. I love this stuff!
I couldn't care less about the older versions; I like what I can buy, and this stuff makes the grade.

 

philobeddoe

Lifer
Oct 31, 2011
7,403
11,569
East Indiana
Funny, I taste no Latakia whatsoever in Presbyterian mixture, it's all Orientals, all the time, with a Virginia backbone to my taste buds. Go figure.

 

dottiewarden

Lifer
Mar 25, 2014
3,053
57
Toronto
"Mellow blend of US-Virginia tobaccos and high-quality Macedonian grades-exclusive, aristocratic pipe mixture."
Notes: This fine tobacco originally had no name. It was blended before the first World War especially for the Very Rev. Dr. John White, sometime minister of the Barony Kirk in Glasgow and Moderator of the General Assembly in Scotland in 1929. He introduced it to Stanley Baldwin, later Earl Baldwin, Prime Minister in 1923, 1924 and 1935. He liked it so much that regular supplies were sent down to him and it was he who suggested that it be called "Presbyterian Mixture". As there continues to be controversy over the question of whether Presbyterian Mixture contains Latakia, the following quote from page six of the blender's 2008 catalogue should leave the matter settled: "Extraordinarily soft blend of finest US Virginia grades and a number of selected Latakia leaf tips. Ideal mixture also for beginners with English tobaccos." Originally blended for mass market by William P. Solomon, whose recipe it still follows.
Description info from TR

 

dottiewarden

Lifer
Mar 25, 2014
3,053
57
Toronto
Since I'm Jewish would it be okay for me to smoke the Presbyterian Mixture....lol.
Do yo have to be from the Balkan Mountains or one of the countries in South-East Europe, south of the Danube and Sava Rivers to smoke a Balkan?

 

huntertrw

Lifer
Jul 23, 2014
5,219
5,338
The Lower Forty of Hill Country
"Can someone with experience with this blend explain the complexity, thanks."
Here's my attempt as posted on tobaccoreviews.com:
"To paraphrase "The Most Interesting Man in the World" who appears occasionally in television commercials for a certain brand of beer, "I don't often smoke English blends, but when I do I prefer Presbyterian Mixture!" To me, it epitomizes the phrase "classic English pipe-tobacco."
"The aroma in the tin is delicious: wet leathery, smokey, late fall-woods musty sweet, and cow-barn-like ripe. It's one that, if it could be transubstantiated, I would happily chew on for hours in the same manner that my dog worries her favorite marrow bone.
"Presbyterian Mixture's appearance is pleasing, too. Remove the cardboard cover beneath the lid, peel back the clear plastic inner wrap, and you will find substantial strands together with ponderous pieces of light-to-dark brown Virginia leaf, intermixed with Latakia tips that are almost black. It's typically moist, not overly so, but does benefit from some drying prior to use. This is a hefty-looking amalgam that promises solid smoking pleasure.
"It does not disappoint. Using the Frank method to fill the bowl of a favorite Savinelli Oscar, it provides me with a good hour of English ecstasy. I find that this tobacco is at its best when smoked SLOWLY, but then aren't they all? I don't mean that you should sip it. Rather, take a deep draught every minute or two and let it drizzle out of your mouth. Take your time as you contemplate its manifold charms and it will reward you. Become distracted (or simply give in to gluttony) and puff too fast, and it will both bite and kick. Nicotine is here in abundance, but will behave if you treat this mixture with gentleness and respect.
"Without drying I typically need only two pipe-cleaners per bowl; with drying only one. This tobacco reduces to a fine grey-white ash with little dottle. The room note is comforting in the same manor (pun intended) as that of an old, familiar, and favorite hunting lodge, cabin, or library.
"This is a fine English tobacco mixture, and I give it my highest benediction. Amen."

 

shawnofthedead

Starting to Get Obsessed
Jun 5, 2015
249
5
Solid blend. I found it similar in flavour to Peterson Old Dublin, and I personally prefer the latter, though both of them are very tasty.

 

mortonbriar

Lifer
Oct 25, 2013
2,651
5,657
New Zealand
I love it, the lat is subtle but still there throughout. I am out of the stuff right now, but when I have had a tin open it has stayed in regular rotation.
Isaac

 
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