Quintessential tobacco - Survey says.....

[Bulldog]

Great forum topic. I tend to view differing tobacco blends, as well as most everything in life, as existing on a continuum. On one end of the proverbial horizontal line there exists pure English in all its glory, on the other, a highly flavored aromatic. This concept was in mind while I read through this thread's posts, leading to some questions about the categories themselves. Would it be fair to conclude that Scottish and Balkan are subcategories of English? With Scottish further along the continuum, drifting more closely to American, and away from pure English. American blends might therefore, as G.L. Pease appears to suggests, be any blend not English, i.e. aromatics or burleys (*). I therefore slightly re-titled the five categories.
English:

1. Classic - Dunhill, London Mixture

2. Balkan - J.F. Germain & Son, Balkan Sobranie

3. Scottish - Robert McConnell, Scottish Mixture
American:

4. Burley - H&H, Signature Country Lane

5. Aromatic - Benjamin Hartwell, Evening Stroll
(*) G.L. Pease's article "what is a Balkan blend" (Pipes Magazine).
I lost sight of the survey. In regards to the original post:

1. English - Dunhill, London Mixture

2. Scottish - Robert McConnell, Scottish Mixture

3. Balkan - J.F. Germain & Son, Balkan Sobranie

4. American - H&H, Signature Country Lane

5. Virginia Flake - Samuel Gawith, Full Virginia Flake

 

[stickframer]

Here is smokingpipes.com. definition of 'American Blend, from their online glossary:

'

A Blend having the following components: Virginia, Burley and Oriental in variable proportions to which a "sauce" consisting of humidifying and sugar elements is added. These blends are finally sprayed with aromatic flavours.

That shouldn't muddy the waters at all. :lol:

 

[toobfreak]

I think this is a rather hard question to answer and perhaps meaningless in answering because tastes (usually) change over time and most people are not equally disposed to all varieties so will be very biased! Plus categories are subject to interpretation, such as, is 'American' made in America or just using American tobaccos? As a result, I often make my own blends, sometimes on their own to my own liking and sometimes just a pinch of this and that together based on the whim of the night.

 

[backwoodsjack]

Bulldog,
I have no problem with the re-classification to the following
English:

1. Classic - Dunhill, London Mixture

2. Balkan - Balkan Sasieni

3. Scottish - Robert McConnell, Scottish Mixture



American:

4. Burley - G.L. Pease Cumberland

5. Aromatic -
In fact, I believe it is a better structure.
I will ask the question though, is there a universal distinction between Irish and Scottish blends?
I know nothing of aromatics.

 

[backwoodsjack]

is it safe to say 1Q would be the aromatic ?

 

[cortezattic]

The somewhat dated, but still informative "Pipe Tobacco Aging, Storage and Cellaring FAQ" called the representative brands touchstones.

 

[Bulldog]

I would say that 1Q is an aromatic, maybe even a quintessential aro. I am far from an aro-afficianado, but when I think aromatic, I think Cavendish, usually some form or another of cherry Cavendish, along with Captain Black, as well as blends such as Sutliff's Black Swan. If I am not mistaken, 1Q is a vanilla Cavendish blend, rooting it firmly in the aro-world (similar to Captain Black Royal?).
The "American" definition that Stickframer references (smokingpipes.com) seems to support the concept that "American" is more or less synonymous with flavoring. The continuum or sliding scale of pipe tobacco typologies might look something like this:
Squadron Leader (English)---------------------(America) Cherry Cavendish
Are Irish blends a unique type of pipe tobacco?

 

[jpmcwjr]

Heh. The best "English" blends are made by American firms, mostly (or all) in the US.

 

[backwoodsjack]

This is it for now:
English:

1. Classic - Dunhill, London Mixture

2. Balkan - Balkan Sasieni or H&H white knight

3. Scottish - Robert McConnell, Scottish Mixture



American:

4. Burley - G.L. Pease Cumberland

5. Aromatic - 1-Q
SG - FVF for good measure

 

[stickframer]

Are Irish blends a unique type of pipe tobacco?

Not that I know of, which isn't saying much! I could really stretch and say Petersons Irish Oak is the definitive Irish blend, after all it has Irish in the name, and a liquor topping. VaPer+Booze= Irish!? But, my feeling is that this is merely conjecture and BS and should be taken accordingly.
However, I think defining a Scottish blend as an English with the addition of cavendish is fairly safe.

 

[backwoodsjack]

stickframer,
Yeah, i'm not sure about Irish & Scottish, and truthfully don't care, but I am interested in peoples opinions. Your take on Irish is a good one. If by definition a Scottish is a English with Cavendish than Irish Oak is a Scottish. unless the definition of an English has Latakia, but I don't believe it is mandatory.
Coincidentally, I smoked some Irish Oak this afternoon. It's not usually something I would buy, but I got a free tin with the Pipe bought. Very lightly flavored by the Sherry, this is some really tasty stuff. I will probably buy this again.
Either way, Throwing in Irish Oak as an Irish blend is fully legal, as I am making the rules so, balls to Satan !!
English:

1. Classic - Dunhill, London Mixture

2. Balkan - Balkan Sasieni or H&H white knight

3. Scottish - Robert McConnell, Scottish Mixture

4. Irish - Peterson Irish Oak
American:

4. Burley - G.L. Pease Cumberland

5. Aromatic - 1-Q
SG - FVF for good measure

 

[stickframer]

Yeah, i'm not sure about Irish & Scottish, and truthfully don't care

+1

Either way, Throwing in Irish Oak as an Irish blend is fully legal, as I am making the rules so, balls to Satan !!

Why not? :D
That looks like a pretty good list, although I've only smoked 3 of them. All well known and well regarded examples, some of which should really be put on my shopping list.

 

[Perique]

1. English - Dunhill 965

2. Scottish - SPC Plum Pudding

3. Balkan - Balkan Sasieni

4. American - GL Pease Cumberland

5. Virginia Flake - Dunhill Flake
A few styles left out in the OP:
VaPer: Escudo

Oriental: very tough category for me to choose just one - going with Pipeworks & Wilke No.10

 

[deathmetal]

Hmm:
1. English - Rattray's Red Rapparee

2. Scottish - Rattray's Hal O' The Wynd

3. Balkan - Hearth and Home White Knight

4. American - C&D Old Joe Krantz

5. Virginia Flake - Capstan Blue
There might need to be separate categories for:
6. English ropes

7. American Englishes (w/Burley)

8. Strong Burley blends

9. @#$%$%^@#$ aromatics

 

[sablebrush52]

English - Easy Chair - an extinct Mel Feldman blend made for The Smoker Ltd. Russ, has the recipe and he kindly made me 5 lbs of the stuff. Maybe not a classic, but it's MY classic.
Scottish -
Balkan - WhiteKnight, Balkan Sasieni, Balkan Sobranie back when it was made by someone who knew how to make it.
American -
Oriental - Pretty much any of the McClelland Grand Orientals.
Virginia Flake - FVF, Astley's 109, Astley's 44, Wessex Campaign, Red River. Union Square - lots of variations in Virginia flakes, depending on what variety of Virginia you like, and they're all different. There is no quintissential Virginia.
Va/Per - St James Flake, Solani 633, - A major category, left out of the list.
Va/Bur - Stonehaven - but that's just as easily defined as an aro. Others could probably do better justice to this category.
Burley - I'm not much of a burley smoker, so I can't comment, but this is also a major category that's been left off the list.

 

[skraps]

Ehh... I have to disagree with many on the American blend. Personally, if you wanted a blend that was going to represent traditional American tobacco, I would go with something like Old Joe Krantz, or Epiphany from C&D.

 

[Chasing Embers]

Epiphany is a very English style blend.

 

[metalheadycigarguy]

Here's my two cents on the subject...
English - Esotercia Margate or Samuel Gawith Skiff Mixture

Balkan - JF Germain's Balkan Sobranie or McClelland Blue Mountain/Balkan Blue

Latakia - MacBaren HH Latakia Flake or GL Pease Gas Light

Scottish - Dunhill My Mixture 965 or Dunhill Aperitif

Virginia - Peter Stokkebye Luxury Twist Flake

Virginia/Perique - AC Peterson/STG Escudo Navy De Luxe

Burley - Solani Aged Burley Flake

Aromatic - Lane Limited 1-Q or Captain Black (Original)

 

[bigpond]

1-Ennerdale

2-Bombay Court

3-Skiff Mix

4-Dark Star

5-Butera's Golden Cake

 

[skraps]

Epiphany is a very English style blend.

If having Latakia in it moves it into that category, then you could make that argument. However, it is modeled after Revelation, which was a classic American blend. What sets it apart from an English blend--in my opinion--is that much like other American tobaccos of the early to mid 20th century, it was Burley based, English blends typically are not. Additionally, it did contain Latakia but was also topped, making it a sort of crossover. This was also common for American tobacco of the time and I think a bit less common in a traditional English blend. We could settle on a middle ground and call it an American/English blend, that would probably do the trick :D
This is the problem with this exercise, the lines have been so blurred over the years, it's hard to nail down any one example without stumbling over another.