Skippy's Blend of the Week

[Sobrbiker]

1792 Flake Review Addendum

Reviewing tobacco blends can be difficult, because there's really two sides to it. On one side I'm trying to be impartial and objective about things like what the tobacco smells like, what it tastes like, what it's burn characteristics and nicotine content are, and so on. But, my final verdict on a blend really comes down to my personal preference and what I as a pipe smoker personally enjoy or dislike; which might be very different from what you as a pipe smoker enjoy or dislike.

As a case in point: After smoking mostly dark fired blends for quite awhile, this week I decided to smoke a Burley/Virginia blend (with a little unsweetened Black Cavendish) and smoking it almost immediately reminded me that my personal preference is more for dark fired blends. In fact, after smoking Pegasus for a couple days I went back and tried last week's 1792 Flake again after declaring it "not a keeper" and the flavor difference between the air and flue cured tobaccos in Pegasus and the dark fired tobaccos in 1792 was so stark and shocking to my palate that I immediately reversed course on last week's decision and put 1792 Flake on my keeper shelf; promising to never say a disparaging word about it again.

It may not be a complex blend, but it is a dark fired blend and when it comes to darker, earthier tasting tobaccos that's what my palate prefers the overwhelming majority of the time. It just took stepping back and smoking a blend that wasn't dark fired for me to really appreciate how much I did actually like 1792 Flake and all the things it does well. I still think 1792 is a fairly simple and straightforward blend, but it does capture that super smooth and non-abrasive dark fired Virginia profile I like so much; which is something only a handful of tobaccos currently on the market do. I may not want to smoke it every day, but I think it's worth keeping around for the variety.

You live, you learn.

“Simple and straightforward” isn’t always a bad thing!
I smoked a bunch of 1792 earlier this year, but don’t reach for it nearly as often as of late. However, when I’m looking for what it has to offer, nothing else will do!

 

[didimauw]

I have tried Briar Fox. It’s funny because @didimauw really enjoys Briar Fox and and he and I share similar taste in tobacco. But I don’t reach for it. The positives? I love the crumble cake. It loads easily and smokes well. I even enjoy it’s flavor. But it, to me is a wispy, light smoke that can be cigarette-like. (I’ve never smoked cigarettes.)

I like more body in my blends. A creamier smoke. Burley forward blends provide that bass note I suppose.

Briar fox has been one of my top two blends for years now. It's wierd. I don't like Virginia blends. But then reason I like Briar Fox, is because of that bright tangy taste the virginias add to the burley. So it's literally just the right mixtures for me.

 

[MisterBadger]

1792 Flake Review Addendum

Reviewing tobacco blends can be difficult, because there's really two sides to it. On one side I'm trying to be impartial and objective about things like what the tobacco smells like, what it tastes like, what it's burn characteristics and nicotine content are, and so on. But, my final verdict on a blend really comes down to my personal preference and what I as a pipe smoker personally enjoy or dislike; which might be very different from what you as a pipe smoker enjoy or dislike.

As a case in point: After smoking mostly dark fired blends for quite awhile, this week I decided to smoke a Burley/Virginia blend (with a little unsweetened Black Cavendish) and smoking it almost immediately reminded me that my personal preference is more for dark fired blends. In fact, after smoking Pegasus for a couple days I went back and tried last week's 1792 Flake again after declaring it "not a keeper" and the flavor difference between the air and flue cured tobaccos in Pegasus and the dark fired tobaccos in 1792 was so stark and shocking to my palate that I immediately reversed course on last week's decision and put 1792 Flake on my keeper shelf; promising to never say a disparaging word about it again.

It may not be a complex blend, but it is a dark fired blend and when it comes to darker, earthier tasting tobaccos that's what my palate prefers the overwhelming majority of the time. It just took stepping back and smoking a blend that wasn't dark fired for me to really appreciate how much I did actually like 1792 Flake and all the things it does well. I still think 1792 is a fairly simple and straightforward blend, but it does capture that super smooth and non-abrasive dark fired Virginia profile I like so much; which is something only a handful of tobaccos currently on the market do. I may not want to smoke it every day, but I think it's worth keeping around for the variety.

You live, you learn.

Excellent review, and a very fair addendum, too. I suspect you're right about 1792 being all dark fired Virginia and mostly African, not American. And about as objective as one can ever manage to be about an experience that is essentially highly subjective. It occurs to me that our senses of smell and taste are hardwired into that primeval, back-end part of the brain that registers subjectively with emotion and bypasses the mental faculty and its capacity for objective analysis - and why we react so strongly - so that one has to go back and think, after the event, about what just happened. Who knows why we react as we do? Unconscious, deep-imprinted associations from infancy? Some kind of programming in our DNA? Why do some choose to ruin a good hot dog with tomato ketchup? Why do some choose to ruin a good dark fired virginia flake with Tonka bean? It's a mystery to me

 

[Skippy Piper]

“Simple and straightforward” isn’t always a bad thing!
I smoked a bunch of 1792 earlier this year, but don’t reach for it nearly as often as of late. However, when I’m looking for what it has to offer, nothing else will do!

It's odd given how dark and rich tasting it is, but I actually think of 1792 as more of a summer blend and I'm guessing I'll smoke it a lot more when the weather starts getting hot in the summer. It probably has something to do with that tin note that reminds me strangely of firecrackers!

You are right though, simple and consistent doesn't have to be a bad thing!

Excellent review, and a very fair addendum, too. I suspect you're right about 1792 being all dark fired Virginia and mostly African, not American. And about as objective as one can ever manage to be about an experience that is essentially highly subjective. It occurs to me that our senses of smell and taste are hardwired into that primeval, back-end part of the brain that registers subjectively with emotion and bypasses the mental faculty and its capacity for objective analysis - and why we react so strongly - so that one has to go back and think, after the event, about what just happened. Who knows why we react as we do? Unconscious, deep-imprinted associations from infancy? Some kind of programming in our DNA? Why do some choose to ruin a good hot dog with tomato ketchup? Why do some choose to ruin a good dark fired virginia flake with Tonka bean? It's a mystery to me

A very thoughtful analysis, and thank you for the kind words! As far as why I'm so drawn to dark fired blends go, I'm pretty sure there's two factors at play. The first is the fullness of the smoke, which has a real richness to it yet is somehow still gentle and mellow and never bothers my throat or the soft tissues of my mouth. It's a bit of a unique flavor density and mouth feel. The other factor is of course the astonishing amount of nicotine that always makes me sink back into my chair feeling exceptionally relaxed and a little sedated about 15 or 20 minutes into the smoke. Having been a pack a day cigarette smoker for most of my life, a fast and strong nicotine kick is definitely something my brain has positive associations with!

 

[MisterBadger]

A very thoughtful analysis, and thank you for the kind words! As far as why I'm so drawn to dark fired blends go, I'm pretty sure there's two factors at play. The first is the fullness of the smoke, which has a real richness to it yet is somehow still gentle and mellow and never bothers my throat or the soft tissues of my mouth. It's a bit of a unique flavor density and mouth feel. The other factor is of course the astonishing amount of nicotine that always makes me sink back into my chair feeling exceptionally relaxed and a little sedated about 15 or 20 minutes into the smoke. Having been a pack a day cigarette smoker for most of my life, a fast and strong nicotine kick is definitely something my brain has positive associations with!

I'm right with you, there. If, halfway down a bowl my eyes aren't half closed and I don't feel a silly grin creeping over my face, a blend doesn't really do it for me. But it also has to NOT savour of Grandma's underwear drawer

 

[Skippy Piper]

I'm right with you, there. If, halfway down a bowl my eyes aren't half closed and I don't feel a silly grin creeping over my face, a blend doesn't really do it for me. But it also has to NOT savour of Grandma's underwear drawer

What I wanna know is how so many people seem to know what their grandmother's underwear drawer smelled like, cause I can't recall ever sniffing my grandma's undergarments and wasn't aware that was a thing people did!

 

[MisterBadger]

What I wanna know is how so many people seem to know what their grandmother's underwear drawer smelled like, cause I can't recall ever sniffing my grandma's undergarments and wasn't aware that was a thing people did!

Kids. A lot of us, when little, would rummage everywhere we weren't supposed to. In adults, I agree that it sounds like serious niche deviancy.

 

[Sobrbiker]

I'm right with you, there. If, halfway down a bowl my eyes aren't half closed and I don't feel a silly grin creeping over my face, a blend doesn't really do it for me. But it also has to NOT savour of Grandma's underwear drawer

No granny panty associated with 1792DKF.
And the aversion to grannies seems odd, considering this is a heavily male populated forum, and I’d venture there’s a large percentage of an age class that consorts with ladies that maybe mature enough to have children of child bearing age themselves

 

[MisterBadger]

No granny panty associated with 1792DKF.
And the aversion to grannies seems odd, considering this is a heavily male populated forum, and I’d venture there’s a large percentage of an age class that consorts with ladies that maybe mature enough to have children of child bearing age themselves

As I said earlier, liking or loathing the taste or smell of a thing can be a matter of complex associations. Personally, I am not averse to grandmothers, past or present. Only when their taste in fragrances approximates to 1792. I do wonder what it would be like minus the perfume. Seaweed, perhaps, or old, wet shoes... I mean, what's that Tonka hiding?

 

[Grangerous]

Briar fox has been one of my top two blends for years now. It's wierd. I don't like Virginia blends. But then reason I like Briar Fox, is because of that bright tangy taste the virginias add to the burley. So it's literally just the right mixtures for me.

And for me… that quintessential ratio of sweet va and burley has to go to Pegasus. I’ll never tire of that blend.

 

[didimauw]

And for me… that quintessential ratio of sweet va and burley has to go to Pegasus. I’ll never tire of that blend.

I barely taste any va in Pegasus. Which is why I like it so much. Briar fox is so much sweeter to me. But it's really hard to compare my #1 and #2 lol. It's like picking a favorite child.

 

[Grangerous]

I barely taste any va in Pegasus. Which is why I like it so much. Briar fox is so much sweeter to me. But it's really hard to compare my #1 and #2 lol. It's like picking a favorite child.

Oh I do. It’s a Ginger Snap sweetness with a sour note from the bowl and the nuttiness of the burleys. The retro provides a different flavor from what drifts from mouth to nose and the note from the bowl is yet another dimension. The fog (room note) is very old school.

On edit: Have you ever tried Crooner? I’m smoking some right now. -How bout you, Skip?

Crooner review? Another blend I won’t give up any time soon. Love it.

 

[Skippy Piper]

As I said earlier, liking or loathing the taste or smell of a thing can be a matter of complex associations. Personally, I am not averse to grandmothers, past or present. Only when their taste in fragrances approximates to 1792. I do wonder what it would be like minus the perfume. Seaweed, perhaps, or old, wet shoes... I mean, what's that Tonka hiding?

If you haven't tried this year's batch of 1792 Flake there is no floral flavoring in it at all. Zip, zero, nada, zilch, zippo. There is still tonquin, but that's just a little herbal vanilla'y and not floral. If you'd like to find out what 1792 tastes like with zero toppings at all though, I recommend giving Gawith Hoggarth Kendal Dark a try! It's a shag cut dark fired Virginia with zero added flavorings of any kind, and I'm pretty darn sure it's what 1792 would taste like without the tonquin.

Oh I do. It’s a Ginger Snap sweetness with a sour note from the bowl and the nuttiness of the burleys. The retro provides a different flavor from what drifts from mouth to nose and the note from the bowl is yet another dimension. The fog (room note) is very old school.

On edit: Have you ever tried Crooner? I’m smoking some right now. -How bout you, Skip?

Crooner review? Another blend I won’t give up any time soon. Love it.

I've actually never tried Crooner, or any blend with deer tongue in it for that matter! This past week really reminded me how much Burley tends to bother my throat though, so I think I may give New Market a try instead of Crooner so I can get a feel for what deer tongue tastes like without having to deal with what the dreaded "Burley throat" lol

 

[Skippy Piper]

Surprise surprise! This week I actually have two blend of the week reviews to share! Up first is...


Blend of the Week #12: Cornell & Diehl Pegasus




If someone was to ask me, "What blend should I try if I want to find out what Burley tastes like?" the first blend I would point them to is Cornell & Diehl's Pegasus. To me Pegasus is the absolute Platonic ideal of a Burley blend, which lets the natural flavors of the Burley tobacco shine through with no added toppings whatsoever.

The tin note is a simply marvelous nutty, cocoa'y, musty Burley aroma with just a touch of sweetness, and when smoked it gives you everything you'd expect flavor wise from a top notch Burley blend. There's the dark, earthy, slightly sour walnut nuttiness, the occasional hint of unsweetened cocoa, some black coffee, a little bit of that distinctive Cornell & Diehl magical barnyard Burley funk (which is much more enjoyable than it sounds, I promise), with a touch of grassy hay-like Virginias supporting it to keep the flavors from becoming flat and every now and then a very slight amount of mild sweetness from the unsweetened Black Cavendish; which smooths out the rougher blend and adds density to the smoke.

Speaking of rougher edges, the retrohale on Pegasus can be pretty hit or miss. Some puffs it's silky smooth but in others it can sting your sinuses something fierce, so the retrohale on this one is a bit of a dice roll as to whether you're going to get a better taste of the blend or watery eyes and a burnt schnozz. Otherwise it's quite well behaved, lighting easily and burning cool and clean with little moisture left in the pipe after smoking. The room note is rather cigarette'y though and anyone who smells it is going to have no doubts in their mind that someone is smoking tobacco, so bear that in mind when smoking Pegasus around company. The nicotine content is a solid middle of the road medium and satisfying, but still plenty approachable for those with a lower nicotine tolerance.

Overall I really like Pegasus, which isn't surprisingly since it's basically just Haunted Bookshop with the Perique removed and swapped out for unsweetened Black Cavendish, and if I had to pick an all time favorite pipe blend based on flavor alone it would most certainly be Haunted Bookshop. Sadly though flavor isn't the only determining factor when it comes to my choice of blends to smoke, which leads me to the one and only problem (sinus scorching retrohale aside) with both Pegasus and Haunted Bookshop as well as a great many other Burley blends.

It's an unfortunate fact of life for me that if there's Burley in a blend, and the Burley hasn't been fire cured, steam pressed, or drowned in a sugary sweet topping to heavily soften it's rough edges, I'm going to spend the rest of the day and possibly the next couple days after enjoying a pipe of that blend with a sore inflamed throat and a froggy sounding voice.

For some reason I'll probably never fully understand my throat just hates Burley and won't tolerate it, so as much as I love the flavor of Pegasus and it's sister blends and Haunted Bookshop and Briar Fox (the latter of which is essentially Pegasus with more Virginia added and pressed into a cake) I just can't smoke them without getting a sore throat; so Pegasus sadly is not a keeper for me. I sure wish it was though, and would wholeheartedly recommend Pegasus to anyone who doesn't have my strange intolerance to Burley. It's a wonderfully natural, simple, authentic, and just downright perfect Burley blend in my book!





Blend of the Week #13: War Horse Bar




I'm starting to get to the point that I don't feel frightened of these incredibly strong blends with whackadoodle flavorings anymore, and while I'm not entirely sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing, I do know that fortune favors the bold and this blend certainly seems plenty bold enough so I'll give it a try! Let us see what horrors/delights the tin note of this one yields...

Apple, licorice, dark fruity red Virginias, orchids (though which particular variety I couldn't say), and a little bit of dark fired smokiness far in the background. This is my kind of weird! The tobacco itself comes in the form of a very dense cake, which seems to be about halfway between a crumble cake and a plug, in that it's about as dense as it could possibly be while still remaining easy to pinch off a bit with your fingers and rub it out; no knife required. It rubs out quite agreeably into a rough ribbon cut that's nicely dry and ready to smoke straight off the cake.

War Horse Bar takes to the flame with ease, and the melange of flavors that greets you are much more mellow and gentle than the tin note would lead you to believe. The predominant flavors that come through are a relatively equal portion of softly barbeque pit smokey dark fired Kentucky and dark savory leaf littery red Virginias with a little tang, then just a bit of chocolatey nutty Burley and a teeny tiny touch of grassy lemony bright Virginia lingering far in the background to brighten up the experience. The aftertaste is when the fairly powerful assortment of toppings make themselves known, with the expected bit of licorice and floral note that really does remind me of orchids. Not grandma's underwear drawer or any sort of perfume, just the sweet natural aroma of orchids blooming in the garden on a summer's eve.

There's a ton of different flavors going on here and it's easy to get so caught up in tasting and pondering them all that you forget just how strong this blend is, at least until about 20 minutes into the smoke when the nicotine comes in and bashes you over the noggin with a two-by-four. War Horse Bar is most definitely an "extra strong" blend, right up there with others I've reviewed like 1792 Flake and HH Bold Kentucky, but you really wouldn't know based on the flavor or the mouth feel of the smoke. It's a comfortable smoking blend full of subtle complexities, far more so than any sledgehammer strength blend I've smoked before, with a prominent sweetness that lingers on your lips which I'm guessing comes from the licorice topping. Really the only thing at all that gives it away as a strong blend before the nicotine hits is the retrohale, which produces a powerful zing through the sinuses in a way that tells you this is no ordinary easygoing aromatic.

The room note is an odd yet rather appealing dense and heavy combination of that floral orchid aroma, fresh baking bread, and some sort of men's cologne with a little bit of fireplace smokiness from the Kentucky. It's a very strange combination of smells but the other members of my household did find it agreeable, so perhaps yours will too! It's quite a heavy and strong assortment of scents, but not an unpleasant one.


Being that War Horse Bar is a Dark Fired Kentucky, Virginia, and Burley blend I sadly had the same problem with this one that I did with Pegasus; though to a slightly lesser extent due to the lower portion of Burley in the blend. Still, as much as I enjoyed every other aspect of War Horse Bar it did leave me with quite a sore throat every time I smoked it so it wasn't a keeper for me. Maybe that's for the best though, since as of this week production of both War Horse Bar and War Horse Green has ceased and unless STG decides to bring it back at some point it's now a dead blend and what's still available in stores right now is the last of it.

Fare thee well War Horse, you were a good one and will be sincerely missed.





Next week is Christmas, so for my blend of the week next week I'll be trying out one with a very wintery feel. It might not be a blend you'd typically associate with Christmas time, but it does have flavors that mirror the aroma of cedar chips and pine trees so I think it's very seasonally appropriate! Next week's blend of the week is...


Gawith Hoggarth & Co. Dark Flake Aromatic

 

[Sobrbiker]

If you haven't tried this year's batch of 1792 Flake there is no floral flavoring in it at all. Zip, zero, nada, zilch, zippo. There is still tonquin, but that's just a little herbal vanilla'y and not floral. If you'd like to find out what 1792 tastes like with zero toppings at all though, I recommend giving Gawith Hoggarth Kendal Dark a try! It's a shag cut dark fired Virginia with zero added flavorings of any kind, and I'm pretty darn sure it's what 1792 would taste like without the tonquin.

I’ve not had any 1792 or Cob Plug that has had any florality

 

[Skippy Piper]

This is a first for me, but I actually need another week with Gawith Hoggarth Dark Flake Aromatic to figure this one out before I review and make a verdict on it. At first I thought it was amazing, but now I'm not sure whether or not I actually like the topping combination on this one. I also can't quite tell if the 50% Burley content in it is bothering my throat (since the African and Indian Burleys used by Gawith don't typically bother me) or if I've just had a minor cold.

Either way, I'm gonna need another week to make up my mind on Dark Flake Aromatic so no review this week!

 

[condorlover1]

The original advertising slogan for War Horse Bar was ‘Tastes like shit. Buy some!’. I cannot remember who came up with the slogan. It could have been me or Dan. I know Dan did the Lee Harvey Oswald advert where he is getting shot by Jack Ruby with the slogan “That will teach you to steal my War Horse Bar!”.

 

[Skippy Piper]

After a slight delay waiting for my throat to recover 100% back to normal from whatever was bothering it I gave Dark Flake Aromatic another go, and now I feel quite confident in my thoughts on it and ready to do the review!


Blend of the Week #14: Gawith Hoggarth & Co. Dark Flake Aromatic




Starting with the tin note, you can definitely smell the robust fireplace smokey dark fired Virginias and the dark earthy Burleys behind them, but the most prominent aroma is actually one of cedar chips and pine trees! Whatever toppings are on this blend sure create a unique combination of aromas. When rubbing out the flakes they have a distinctly rustic, rough, almost gritty texture between your fingers, giving you the impression that this is a really minimally processed tobacco. It doesn't just look strong and smell strong, it even feels strong when handling it!

Dark Flake Aromatic is advertised to be topped with licorice, maple, and tonquin but strangely I don't taste any of those things! What I do get though is a very strong, bright, refreshing lemongrass flavor upfront that's only ever so slightly floral, with almost equally strong undercurrents that taste like the aromas of cedar chips and pine trees. Behind the toppings are the rich, dark, woody, fireplace smokey African dark fired Virginia and some exceptionally chocolatey tasting, smooth, and slightly sweet Indian dark Burley. The flavor combination is wholly unique and utterly wonderful, and I find myself salivating a little whenever I smoke Dark Flake Aromatic just from how astonishingly good it tastes! I think this may genuinely be one of the most weirdly delicious pipe blends I've ever smoked, and it's really hard to put the pipe down anytime I light it up!

Putting it down every now and then is definitely recommended though, because when it comes to nicotine content Dark Flake Aromatic is a true extra strong blend. This is right up there with Samuel Gawith 1792 Flake, Mac Baren HH Bold Kentucky, and War Horse Bar in that "strongest pipe blends you'll ever smoke" category. I'm pretty well acclimated to dark strong blends at this point but I still reach my nicotine limit after about 20 minutes smoking Dark Flake Aromatic, and boy does it ever leave me feeling satisfied!

As an added bonus, for such a strong blend the room note is surprisingly pleasant and was enjoyed by all the other members of my household. It is a fairly heavy room note but it's all toasty fireplace, cedar, and pine aromas that remind me very much of being cozied up next to a warm fireplace in a log cabin on a chilly winter night. In short, it smells pretty darn great!

When it comes to the mechanics of the blend, I do recommend rubbing out the flakes to a fine ribbon and letting the rubbed out tobacco dry fairly well before smoking it; since it does require quite a few relights if smoked wet and unlike some of Gawith's other blends Dark Flake Aromatic doesn't seem to suffer any loss of flavor when dried. When given some dry time before smoking though few relights are needed and it smokes clean and dry from top to bottom. However, as with most blends containing a significant quantity of Burley it can turn harsh and rather bitter tasting if set down and relit an hour or two later, so I would suggest using a pipe with a small bowl that you can finish in a single smoking session for this one.

Another factor to be aware of when it comes to pipe selection with this blend is that even one bowl of Dark Flake Aromatic will ghost a pipe something fierce, so plan your choice of pipe to smoke it in accordingly. On a final cautionary note, like the vast majority of high nicotine blends the retrohale on Dark Flake Aromatic is pretty zingy and can give your sinuses quite a jolt, so you may be wise to keep the retrohales to a minimum here.


Getting to my personal verdict on the blend, flavor wise Dark Flake Aromatic was pretty darn fantastic! The way the bright refreshing lemongrass flavor counterbalances rich dark African and Indian tobaccos is just magical, and I have no idea who decided to throw cedar chip and pine tree aroma flavors into the mix or how one even goes about turning those aromas into a tobacco flavoring, but whoever dreamed it up was a genius. The top note flavor mix here is so far off from anything I would associate with the advertised licorice, maple, and tonquin that at first I thought I must have got a batch that was sauced with the wrong toppings, but after trying a friend's stash of Dark Flake Aromatic produced earlier this year it tasted just the same as mine so apparently this is just how it's supposed to be! I'm glad that's the case too, because it's an incredibly unique and wondrous flavor combination the likes of which I've never tasted before.

Unfortunately though, as anyone who's been following my reviews probably knows by now, my mouth chemistry simply cannot handle Burley without getting a sore throat and Dark Flake Aromatic is 50% Burley; and a particularly dark and strong Burley at that. In the past I haven't had any issue with the African Burleys used in Gawith blends, but looking up the percentages of Burley in the blends I did tolerate just fine like Coniston Cut Plug I actually never smoked any Gawith blends with more than 15% Burley in them. I know that the 30% Burley content in Peterson Irish Flake totally wrecked my throat, but I figured Dark Flake was Gawith's special Indian Burley so I'd probably tolerate it better, though sadly that was not the case and the 50% Burley content in this blend really pummeled my throat every time I smoked it. At first I thought I might just be coming down with a minor cold, so I took a few days off from smoking Dark Flake until my throat felt 100% back to normal, but as soon as I smoked Dark Flake again the sore throat came right back.


So, as much as I wish this one would have been a keeper for me it just wasn't due to my throat's general intolerance to Burley. On the plus side, I now know fairly definitively that my limit on a blend's Burley content to not get a sore throat from it is about 15%, and going forward I've removed almost all the blends with more than 15% Burley content from my cellar so hopefully I won't have to deal with the dreaded Burley Throat™ again from here on out. That still leaves a great many blends in my cellar for me to review though, and a fair few that I'd still like to pick up to try!


Here's the full list of blends you can expect me to cover in 2025 and beyond as I work my way through my cellar and wants list:

Virginia-Based Aromatics
Cornell & Diehl - Autumn Evening
Gawith Hoggarth & Co. - Bob's Chocolate Flake
BriarWorks - Peach Cobbler
Low Country - Santee
Captain Black - Gold
Captain Black - Royal
Captain Black - Dark
Lane Limited - 1-Q
Gawith Hoggarth & Co. - Kendal Black Cherry
Gawith Hoggarth & Co. - #7 Broken Flake
Gawith Hoggarth & Co. - Ennerdale Flake
Gawith Hoggarth & Co. - Ennerdale Mixture
Samuel Gawith - Cannon Plug
Samuel Gawith - Grousemoor Plug

Pure Virginias
Peterson - Flake
Cornell & Diehl - Yorktown
Samuel Gawith - Full Virginia Flake
Mac Baren - HH Pure Virginia
G.L. Pease - Union Square
Cornell & Diehl - Carolina Red Flake (2024)
Sutliff - 515 RC-1
Newminster - No.400 Superior Navy Flake
Peter Stokkebye - Luxury Twist Flake

Dark Fired Virginias
Gawith Hoggarth & Co. - Bosun Plug & Cut Plug
Gawith Hoggarth & Co. - Kendal Dark & Dark Bird's Eye
Gawith Hoggarth & Co. - Happy Brown Bogie & Brown Twist
Gawith Hoggarth & Co. - Brown Irish X Aromatic
Gawith Hoggarth & Co. - Black Irish X
Samuel Gawith - 1792 Flake Burnt Ends

English Blends
Presbyterian Mixture
Arango - Balkan Supreme
Cornell & Diehl - Cordial
Peterson - Standard Mixture
Peterson - My Mixture 965
Peterson - Nightcap

Potential Burley Throat™ Blends I'm Trying Anyway
Lane Limited - Very Cherry
Cult - Blood Red Moon
Sutliff - Pumpkin Spice
Straus Tobacco - Sleepy Hollow
Gawith Hoggarth & Co. - Rich Dark Spring Dew
Cornell & Diehl - Winchester
G.L. Pease - Navigator
Bell's Three Nuns (Current Mac Baren version)
Mac Baren - HH Old Dark Fired
Condor Plug (Made in Ireland)


Wants List of Blends I Don't Have Yet
Borkum Riff - Mixture with Bourbon Whiskey
Borkum Riff - Mixture with Cherry Cavendish
CAO - Cherrybomb
Captain Black - Cherry
Cornell & Diehl - Blockade Runner
Cornell & Diehl - Interlude
Cornell & Diehl - Opening Night
Gawith Hoggarth & Co. - Black Cherry Twist
Gawith Hoggarth & Co. - Whiskey Twist
Gawith Hoggarth & Co. - Rum Twist
Gawith Hoggarth & Co. - Black Twist
Gawith Hoggarth & Co. - Brown Flake Aromatic
Gawith Hoggarth & Co. - Brown Flake Unscented
Gawith Hoggarth & Co. - Glengarry Flake
Mac Baren - St. Bruno Ready Rubbed
Samuel Gawith - Fire Dance Flake or Plug


Even with all the high Burley content blends cleared out of my cellar (and soon to be up for sale or trade in the Tobacco Sell/Swap/Search forum) that still leaves a bit over a year's worth of blends to review between the blends I already own and the one's on my wants list that I'll probably acquire over the next few months, so there are many more Blend of the Week reviews to look forward to in 2025! The first of which will be...


G.L. Pease Union Square

 

[Pooh-Bah]

The original advertising slogan for War Horse Bar was ‘Tastes like shit. Buy some!’. I cannot remember who came up with the slogan. It could have been me or Dan. I know Dan did the Lee Harvey Oswald advert where he is getting shot by Jack Ruby with the slogan “That will teach you to steal my War Horse Bar!”.

I raised a glass in tribute to y'all the other week, when I finally realized, "Wait a second, all that hilarious shit-talking I saw in old threads that led me to try War Horse was from its marketing team."

 

[condorlover1]

I raised a glass in tribute to y'all the other week, when I finally realized, "Wait a second, all that hilarious shit-talking I saw in old threads that led me to try War Horse was from its marketing team."

We were not just its marketing team. We owned the damned blend. If you look at the original filing for The Standard Tobacco Company of PA Ltd it was originally called 'El Crappo Tobacco Unlimited'. Once we entered into a marketing, manufacturing and distribution agreement with C.I we had to change the name. At the time C.I refused to put the word 'Crap' on anything they made. Hence the Standard Tobacco name!