Question About War Horse Blends

[jwesthurl]

For those of you who have smoked the War Horse blends how would you compare War Horse green to the red? The main comparisons that I have found are that the red is decidedly stronger and less aromatic. Have you found that to be the case? Is it worth trying both?
I have a sample of War Horse Green that I have smoked a couple times and I really enjoy it. Here are my beginner impressions… The tin note and room note are very appealing to me. You can definitely smell and taste the toppings which are floral at first and progress to mostly anise and mint(?) as you smoke through the bowl. The tobacco is also much less subdued further down the bowl with more earthy, nutty and cocoa flavors. I had to relight a couple of times but it burned to a fine white ash.

 

[warren]

Is it worth trying both?

I'm not worried about "fine white ash." Smoked way too long to give a thought to relighting, I just light as required. I want taste and a good smoking experience neither ash nor relights enter into that equation. I have a few tins of each sitting around and, yeah, they're different and both very enjoyable. I don't have the well developed palate some here have though. I would never make any recommendations to another smoker as my palate is different. So, no help here as I find a difference in taste but, both are eminently enjoyable tobaccos to me.

 

[condorlover1]

@jwesthurl : I know a lot about both War Horse blends, in fact at one time there were three War Horses. The first release was War Horse 'Rub Your Own' which was a loose cut tobacco that was introduced by Standard Tobacco Co of PA. It a pretty potent blend. This was replaced by War Horse Bar which is the stuff that is still available today and this sort of tracked the original Gallagher War Horse Plug. The W.H Bar has a large dose of heliotrope and the original release contained Valerian Root extract and a few other things, whether CI still use that in W.H Bar I don't know as I have not smoked the stuff since C.I took over all the IP from Standard Tobacco. The Bar differs from W.H Green in that the Green was meant to be a tribute to Condor and somehow it didn't turn out that way but the result is still amazingly popular. To my mind it was like smoking a glass of anisette, it is interesting and it has a lot of devoted followers. Somewhere on here you will find the original Standard Tobacco of PA adverts for W.H Rub Your Own which went .... "War Horse. Tastes like Shit. Buy Some!". In fact Kevin the site owner of PM was incredibly supportive of our efforts and there are a couple of articles about Standard in the site archive. If you ask Jim Inks or Jesse or Woodsroad they can tell everything you might ever want to know about War Horse. Hopefully Jim Inks will chime in shortly on the subject and the difference in flavor profiles. I am happy you are enjoying the blend.

 

[jwesthurl]

@jwesthurl : I know a lot about both War Horse blends, in fact at one time there were three War Horses. The first release was War Horse 'Rub Your Own' which was a loose cut tobacco that was introduced by Standard Tobacco Co of PA. It a pretty potent blend. This was replaced by War Horse Bar which is the stuff that is still available today and this sort of tracked the original Gallagher War Horse Plug. The W.H Bar has a large dose of heliotrope and the original release contained Valerian Root extract and a few other things, whether CI still use that in W.H Bar I don't know as I have not smoked the stuff since C.I took over all the IP from Standard Tobacco. The Bar differs from W.H Green in that the Green was meant to be a tribute to Condor and somehow it didn't turn out that way but the result is still amazingly popular. To my mind it was like smoking a glass of anisette, it is interesting and it has a lot of devoted followers. Somewhere on here you will find the original Standard Tobacco of PA adverts for W.H Rub Your Own which went .... "War Horse. Tastes like Shit. Buy Some!". In fact Kevin the site owner was incredibly supportive of our efforts and there are a couple of articles about Standard in the site archive. If you ask Jim Inks or Jesse or Woodsroad they can tell everything you might ever want to know about War Horse. Hopefully Jim Inks will chime in shortly on the subject and the difference in flavor profiles. I am happy you are enjoying the blend.

So would you say that the bar and green are definitely different enough to warrant trying both? I couldn’t exactly tell from the comparisons if they were very different or if they tasted similar but with different levels of topping.

 

[JimInks]

So would you say that the bar and green are definitely different enough to warrant trying both? I couldn’t exactly tell from the comparisons if they were very different or if they tasted similar but with different levels of topping.

They are very different. Here's my reviews of both:

War Horse Bar:
The dark air cured Virginia is tangy dark fruity, toasty, boldly earthy and woody with a little smokiness and floralness, and fair amount of spice as the lead component. The floral dark fired Kentucky also has a bit of smoke, herbs, vegetation, sourness, nuts, earth and wood, and a touch of cocoa along with a little spice. It is a supporting player. Also in a support role is a tangy ripe, fermented tangy dark fruit red Virginia, which also offers some tart and tangy citrus, earth, bread and wood. The toppings are the very rich Valerian root, and a deep anise extract along with a tonquin-like essence. While they do sublimate the tobaccos a little, they also work well together to create a sweet, floral synergistic contrast to the varietals. The strength and taste levels are very strong, as is the powerful nicotine content. I recommend you do not smoke this on an empty stomach. There’s no chance of bite, and there are no harsh spots or dull moments. It does have some rough edges. The plug has a little density, but is easily broken apart to suit your preference. It’s a little moist, but needs no dry time. Packs well and lights with no trouble. Burns a tad slow, cool and clean with a fairly smooth, sweet and lightly rugged, very consistent rich, deep, bold flavor from start to finish. Easily burns to ash, and requires a few relights. Leaves a slight dampness in the bowl. The after taste pleasantly lingers. The room note is potent, but not unattractive. It most certainly is not an all day smoke, but if you like really strong tobaccos, you’ll have more than one bowl a day. Will ghost a briar, and no meer is safe either.

In comparison to the 1970s and 1980s versions that I have smoked, I find the amount of the various tobaccos in the new release are not far off from the earlier versions regarding the flavor. The only differences I note are that this is mildly more spicy, and a shade less earthy. The toppings are close as well, though the new version is a little sweeter. However, the toppings on the earlier incarnations may have faded just a little, which furthered my impression of the sweetness level of this plug.

War Horse Green:
A companion to the new War Horse Bar, it has the same constituent tobaccos. The dark air cured Virginia is tangy dark fruity, toasty, boldly earthy and woody with a little smokiness and floralness, and fair amount of spice as the lead component. The floral dark fired Kentucky also has a bit of smoke, herbs, vegetation, sourness, nuts, earth and wood, and a touch of cocoa along with a little spice. It is a supporting player. Also in a support role is a tangy ripe, fermented, sugary dark fruit red Virginia, which also offers some tart and tangy citrus, earth, bread and wood. The toppings are the very richly sweet, incense/floral, and fairly perfumy heliotrope along with a deep anise extract, and a tonquin-like essence. They do sublimate the tobaccos a lot; more so than the toppings do for the Bar. They also work well together to create a compatible contrast to the varietals. The strength and taste levels are not quite as strong as the Bar, and I would rate them as strong for this plug. The nicotine content is just past the medium threshold. It won’t bite, and has no dull or harsh spots even when pushed. It has few rough edges. The plug has a little density, but is easily broken apart to suit your preference. It’s a little moist, but needs no dry time. Packs well and lights with no trouble. Burns a little slow, cool and clean with a very smooth, very consistent sweet, earthy floral flavor from top to bottom as it easily burns to ash. Requires a few relights, and leaves very little moisture in the bowl. The after taste pleasantly lingers while the strong room note is a little sweet, spicy and very floral. It’s not an all day smoke, though some experienced smokers may consider it to be one, especially if they use a small bowl. Will ghost a briar, and no meer is safe either.

Designed to be in the same family as Condor, this is not a copy of it. There are several differences. This is a little stronger, a little more floral, perfumy, sweeter and spicier. You won’t mistake this for being a Condor clone, but it may appeal to those who smoke it.

 

[condorlover1]

There you have your answer from the man who was tasked with smoking every W.H prototype until the flavor profile was right before we launched. Without Jim's input we would never have got it as near as possible to the original.

 

[jwesthurl]

They are very different. Here's my reviews of both:

War Horse Bar:
The dark air cured Virginia is tangy dark fruity, toasty, boldly earthy and woody with a little smokiness and floralness, and fair amount of spice as the lead component. The floral dark fired Kentucky also has a bit of smoke, herbs, vegetation, sourness, nuts, earth and wood, and a touch of cocoa along with a little spice. It is a supporting player. Also in a support role is a tangy ripe, fermented tangy dark fruit red Virginia, which also offers some tart and tangy citrus, earth, bread and wood. The toppings are the very rich Valerian root, and a deep anise extract along with a tonquin-like essence. While they do sublimate the tobaccos a little, they also work well together to create a sweet, floral synergistic contrast to the varietals. The strength and taste levels are very strong, as is the powerful nicotine content. I recommend you do not smoke this on an empty stomach. There’s no chance of bite, and there are no harsh spots or dull moments. It does have some rough edges. The plug has a little density, but is easily broken apart to suit your preference. It’s a little moist, but needs no dry time. Packs well and lights with no trouble. Burns a tad slow, cool and clean with a fairly smooth, sweet and lightly rugged, very consistent rich, deep, bold flavor from start to finish. Easily burns to ash, and requires a few relights. Leaves a slight dampness in the bowl. The after taste pleasantly lingers. The room note is potent, but not unattractive. It most certainly is not an all day smoke, but if you like really strong tobaccos, you’ll have more than one bowl a day. Will ghost a briar, and no meer is safe either.

In comparison to the 1970s and 1980s versions that I have smoked, I find the amount of the various tobaccos in the new release are not far off from the earlier versions regarding the flavor. The only differences I note are that this is mildly more spicy, and a shade less earthy. The toppings are close as well, though the new version is a little sweeter. However, the toppings on the earlier incarnations may have faded just a little, which furthered my impression of the sweetness level of this plug.

War Horse Green:
A companion to the new War Horse Bar, it has the same constituent tobaccos. The dark air cured Virginia is tangy dark fruity, toasty, boldly earthy and woody with a little smokiness and floralness, and fair amount of spice as the lead component. The floral dark fired Kentucky also has a bit of smoke, herbs, vegetation, sourness, nuts, earth and wood, and a touch of cocoa along with a little spice. It is a supporting player. Also in a support role is a tangy ripe, fermented, sugary dark fruit red Virginia, which also offers some tart and tangy citrus, earth, bread and wood. The toppings are the very richly sweet, incense/floral, and fairly perfumy heliotrope along with a deep anise extract, and a tonquin-like essence. They do sublimate the tobaccos a lot; more so than the toppings do for the Bar. They also work well together to create a compatible contrast to the varietals. The strength and taste levels are not quite as strong as the Bar, and I would rate them as strong for this plug. The nicotine content is just past the medium threshold. It won’t bite, and has no dull or harsh spots even when pushed. It has few rough edges. The plug has a little density, but is easily broken apart to suit your preference. It’s a little moist, but needs no dry time. Packs well and lights with no trouble. Burns a little slow, cool and clean with a very smooth, very consistent sweet, earthy floral flavor from top to bottom as it easily burns to ash. Requires a few relights, and leaves very little moisture in the bowl. The after taste pleasantly lingers while the strong room note is a little sweet, spicy and very floral. It’s not an all day smoke, though some experienced smokers may consider it to be one, especially if they use a small bowl. Will ghost a briar, and no meer is safe either.

Designed to be in the same family as Condor, this is not a copy of it. There are several differences. This is a little stronger, a little more floral, perfumy, sweeter and spicier. You won’t mistake this for being a Condor clone, but it may appeal to those who smoke it.

Awesome, thanks JimInks!

 

[FurCoat]

Very different flavor profiles. If you like black jelly beans, green is a must try.

 

[alexnc]

I would say if you like one of them you’ll probably like the other one too. They seem similar to me, but I think Jim has the right of it. I prefer the bar, but I would be happy lighting up either. I have 1 tin of green and 6 or 7 of the red. But the more I smoke the red the more I like the green about as much. Am I the only one to miss the ‘ready cut’ version?

 

[condorlover1]

W.H Rub Your Own - it was around until late last year and had a brown label with the same design as the red and green tins. It was reviewed on Youtube by a couple of tobacco reviewers and I think it was launched in 2015 if my memory serves me correctly. I seem to think that it didn't sell as well as the 'Bar' or maybe the owners didn't think it was worth getting through the FDA approval process. It had a fairly dedicated following and I am sure you could get your hands on a tin of it if you asked around the forum. I think Dan might have a few tins of it kicking around and you might want to ask him.

 

[alexnc]

W.H Rub Your Own - it was around until late last year and had a brown label with the same design as the red and green tins. It was reviewed on Youtube by a couple of tobacco reviewers and I think it was launched in 2015 if my memory serves me correctly. I seem to think that it didn't sell as well as the 'Bar' or maybe the owners didn't think it was worth getting through the FDA approval process. It had a fairly dedicated following and I am sure you could get your hands on a tin of it if you asked around the forum. I think Dan might have a few tins of it kicking around and you might want to ask him.

Thx- I would get them if I could. When I sensed it was getting scarce I managed 7 tins, but that was all I could find.

 

[condorlover1]

Pipes and Cigars have all the War Horse both Red or Green that you might ever want to buy!

 

[Donb1972]

I like War Horse Green, but I only use it as an enhancing agent for Mixture 79. It brings it closer to the way it used to taste.

 

[condorlover1]

@Donb1972 : Wow. I mean wow. Are you saying Mixture 79 was really that bad? Seriously I have heard people say that Mixture 79 has lost a lot of its 'je ne sais quoi' in recent years but to mix in W.H Green seems to me a bit drastic. With hindsight I suppose I really cannot say much as you are looking at the man who mixes the new drop of Ennerdale with Erinmore as a way of getting rid of a tin of Erinmore and at the same time trying to improve the latest Ennerdale drop.

 

[Ahi Ka]

They are completely different. I don’t care enough for the green. I have 20 tins of the bar. I won’t be getting anymore unless I find some of the Standard tobacco release, as the cut has changed quite a lot now. Looks like a bunch of play dough noodles pressed together into a square meat patty

 

[peteguy]

I like War Horse Green, but I only use it as an enhancing agent for Mixture 79. It brings it closer to the way it used to taste.

How did this statement get overlooked by everyone but condor and I. Good gawd man, you are a legend. ?

 

[Streeper541]

I've only ever smoked the red so I'm not much help.

 

[hawky454]

Looks like a bunch of play dough noodles pressed together into a square meat patty

Hahaha, I gots to say, seems pretty fitting. Maybe that’s what they were going for!

 

[hawky454]

How did this statement get overlooked by everyone but condor and I. Good gawd man, you are a legend. ?

I’ve seen him say the same in at least one other thread. It makes sense actually, they taste similar to me but 79 has no (very little) nicotine.

 

[Donb1972]

How did this statement get overlooked by everyone but condor and I. Good gawd man, you are a legend. ?

It was actually an accidental discovery...but, much like potato chips, once I started doing it, I couldn't stop ?