Scottish Blends -- What the Hell are They?

[dunendain]

Thank you guys. I feel good. Walk 4 miles most days. Second chance. Everything is sweeter.

 

[rlunderhill]

Second chances are sweet, aren't they?

 

[nsfisher]

My fav. Scottish Blend is MacBarren's Mixture(Scottish Blend) I never looked it up in the reviews so don't know what all is in it, but it's smooth and doesn't bite.

 

[bubblehead33]

+1 on the the MB's ns. Got a tin here that's nearly empty, definitely gonna throw another in my next order.

 

[protestantpiper]

English: latakia dominant, virginia & oriental supporting

Balkan: oriental dominant, latakia secondary (or equal), virginia supporting

Scottish: oriental dominant, virginia secondary (or equal), latakia supporting

This makes the most sense I think of anything I've read on the topic. The real differentiation is that Scottish blends are always superior, as are all things of the Scots i.e. Whiskey, Religion, you name it...

 

[judcole]

The Irish drink whiskey. Scots drink whisky. :nana:
As for actually being on topic,I once raised this question on Yahoo Pipesmokers 2. Joe Harb, who reviews tobacco for Pipes & Tobacco Magazine, and blended at Jack's Tobacco in Milwaukee, told of taking a trip to Scotland, going into pipe shops, and asking to buy an ounce of what the owner considered a Scottish blend. More often then not, what he got was closer to MacBaren Mixture than anything else.

 

[daytonsean]

MacBaren Mixture doesn't have any Oriental leaf though, right?

 

[protestantpiper]

The MacBaren Mixture Scottish Blend I have says ready rubbed Virginia, golden brown Burley, to which Cavendish and loose matured Virginia have been added...

 

[lordnoble]

But MacBaren MUST be Scottish, right? I mean, look at that Scottish name: MAC Baren... LOL!
-Jason

 

[brdavidson]

If it's nay Scottish its Craaaaap!

 

[locopony]

First off congrats on being cancer free.
Now on to less important things.

I have an H&H Scott blend . It seems a light english with some faint aromatic quality maybe cavindish but not much.

I also have an Irish blend dont seem to have any lat at all but it may have some and then some whiskey topping.

 

[estumpf]

I appreciated Protestantpiper definitions of English, Balkan, and Scottish. But where does Perique come in?

 

[homeatsea]

MacBaren Scottish is one of my top 3 favorite blends. But aside from that I have no knowledge of Scottish blends or what constitutes one to contribute to this conversation.

 

[judcole]

I appreciated Protestantpiper definitions of English, Balkan, and Scottish. But where does Perique come in?

Not that high a proportion of lat blends have perique.

 

[irishearl]

Having Scottish blood in my veins and identifying more closely with my Scottish roots than my Irish ones, am attracted to all things Scottish. I even like Haggis. So, got curious about what constituted a Scottish blend, which I've never tried per se, given my past experiences with Cavendish haven't enamored me of that leaf. Have read through this thread and some similar ones. I checked the tobaccos listed on TR noted in their search as Scottish blends. While that list does contain a fair bit of variance as to what is termed Scottish there, I did detect a predominant trend in the list in accord with some views of what a Scottish blend is comprised of: generally virgina base with Cavendish, orientals, and latakia, though not heavy in the latter. So, given my Scotophile tendencies going to have to try 1 and C&D Strafordshire looks to be in that ball park.

 

[opus777]

Mac Baren Scottish blend is fantastic, I get oriental/latakia flavor with matured Virginia base.

 

[oldgeezersmoker]

Perhaps the best answer to this perennial forum topic could be found by perusing a booklet by the last of the independent Scottish blenders, Charles Rattray, which has been linked to in this forum before.
the booklet
What is suggested to me is that, by his standards of production and ingredient selection, there are no more Scottish Mixtures and the term as used today is marketing hype, nothing more .

 

[anthonyrosenthal74]

: generally virgina base with Cavendish, orientals, and latakia, though not heavy in the latter.

Basically a Balkan then (more Balkanish than English-ish) with cavendish added. And therefore, I've been blending my own Scottish blends at home without even knowing it, making a few balkans that I wanted to sweeten up a bit... for when I wanted a Balkan but with a sweeter touch too.

 

[npod]

Nobody (I mean nobody) knows the trouble I’ve seen. I’ve read this post multiple times over the past few years. I’ve read and read and read again about what is a Scottish. I finally gave up. The scientist in me can’t stand the lack of criteria. But the smoker in me eventually settled on English with some cavendish. And then GL Pease introduced the term the term “Scottish style” which blew my mind. Then I quit trying to understand. There is NO consensus definition of Scottissh. So be it. Now go smoke a Scottish blend. :puffpipe:

 

[irishearl]

Oldgeezer, interesting old booklet by Rattray naming all of the old Rattray blends which still exist today, at least in name, all of which the booklet entitles Scottish blends, which, made in Scotland then, of course. We Americans often like to categorize blends. Much has been discussed about the penchant to call latakia-based blends "English" blends. It persists because it serves a certain short-hand clue to indicate what basic smoking experience you might encounter with a blend. "Scotch" whiskey is now even made in Japan and, yet, scotch drinkers have a basic idea of what they may encounter in any scotch drink. So, categorizing a blend as Scottish based on general understanding ain't all bad.