St Bruno Ready Rubbed - Changed?

[FalconForever]

It's probably me, it usually is but here goes....

The first tobacco I smoked in a pipe was St Bruno. It has the evocative smell from childhood that just said pipes rather than cigarettes or cigars.

The aroma was unreal when I first smoked it and it has been a regular since. I bought a pouch last spring that by early this year had seemed to have spoiled (separate thread somewhere on here) and I chucked it.

On a recent tobacco shop I've bought another. Sealed, in date etc. However it just doesn't seem to smell, smoke or taste the same. It's sold as ready rubbed but barely so and looks like a bag of twigs you can clearly see it was flake, which of course it is as it's a pressed blend. No really strong pouch aroma and ditto when smoking.

It's smokable and I am smoking it but it definitely feels and tastes a lot different from the very first pouch I smoked some years ago.

Has the blend changed? Anyone else noticed, especially in UK? Is it me? My other tobaccos taste roughly the same and certainly all ready rubbed is a lot less course than the St Bruno.

 

[BayouGhost]

I have only tried the latter version and had some this week. I had a few twigs to contend with. There are reviews noting that the blend has changed somewhat as can be expected. I find that it reminded me a lot of GLP Penny Farthing, which is called a shag cut (Apparently it means different things on different sides of the pond), but I feel like I will probably give Penny Farthing another shot and compare them directly. I do like the portability of the St. Bruno pouch.

 

[mingc]

It's probably me, it usually is but here goes....

The first tobacco I smoked in a pipe was St Bruno. It has the evocative smell from childhood that just said pipes rather than cigarettes or cigars.

The aroma was unreal when I first smoked it and it has been a regular since. I bought a pouch last spring that by early this year had seemed to have spoiled (separate thread somewhere on here) and I chucked it.

On a recent tobacco shop I've bought another. Sealed, in date etc. However it just doesn't seem to smell, smoke or taste the same. It's sold as ready rubbed but barely so and looks like a bag of twigs you can clearly see it was flake, which of course it is as it's a pressed blend. No really strong pouch aroma and ditto when smoking.

It's smokable and I am smoking it but it definitely feels and tastes a lot different from the very first pouch I smoked some years ago.

Has the blend changed? Anyone else noticed, especially in UK? Is it me? My other tobaccos taste roughly the same and certainly all ready rubbed is a lot less course than the St Bruno.

When did you buy your first bag?

 

[kcghost]

Of course, St. Bruno's has changed. They just about always make changes to blends when they purchase them.

 

[FalconForever]

When did you buy your first bag?

Three years ago roughly....

 

[sablebrush52]

I have only tried the latter version and had some this week. I had a few twigs to contend with. There are reviews noting that the blend has changed somewhat as can be expected. I find that it reminded me a lot of GLP Penny Farthing, which is called a shag cut (Apparently it means different things on different sides of the pond), but I feel like I will probably give Penny Farthing another shot and compare them directly. I do like the portability of the St. Bruno pouch.

St Bruno is a very old name in the history of pipe blends. Originally produced by Ogden’s in England, the current version is made by MacBaren. The English version was a classic, with a rich Virginia blend under the topping and was a flavor powerhouse.
The MacBaren version retained the topping but couldn’t match the base blend. Over the years MacBaren has occasionally skimped on the topping so the result is a toned down version of the original, with less richness in the base.
There are variations from batch to batch. While I find the MacBaren version inferior to the Ogden’s, I still enjoy the blend as it is.
As for further changes, it’s the world we now live in, as substitutions are made because sources are changing.

 

[mingc]

St Bruno is a very old name in the history of pipe blends. Originally produced by Ogden’s in England, the current version is made by MacBaren. The English version was a classic, with a rich Virginia blend under the topping and was a flavor powerhouse.
The MacBaren version retained the topping but couldn’t match the base blend. Over the years MacBaren has occasionally skimped on the topping so the result is a toned down version of the original, with less richness in the base.
There are variations from batch to batch. While I find the MacBaren version inferior to the Ogden’s, I still enjoy the blend as it is.
As for further changes, it’s the world we now live in, as substitutions are made because sources are changing.

I've love to get my hands on a heavily topped batch. Every pouch I've ever had have been quite plain. It's still the best Mac Baren blend that I've tried.

 

[PaulTheScandinavian]

I've love to get my hands on a heavily topped batch. Every pouch I've ever had have been quite plain. It's still the best Mac Baren blend that I've tried.

can't argue, and another one is Amphoras, now ,questions may still arise, now when STG has acquired the entire Mc Barens production , are they able keep these aforementioned blends unchanged.The Flake version of St Bruno has even topping than that of RR

 

[BingBong]

Not that I buy either version often, but the flake seems to have more flavour to it.

The last pouch of RR, which I bought a couple of months ago, got blended with a pouch of Gold Block to make Ogdens Mixture. Quite a pleasant smoke, but not that easy to detect St Bruno in it as such.

 

[JimInks]

can't argue, and another one is Amphoras, now ,questions may still arise, now when STG has acquired the entire Mc Barens production , are they able keep these aforementioned blends unchanged.The Flake version of St Bruno has even topping than that of RR

Actually, the ready rubbed has the same amount of topping that the flake does. When they send the tobacco through the cutter to make flakes, the cutoffs fall in to a vat. The cut offs are the ready rubbed. The reason that the ready rubbed seems milder because more of the tobacco is exposed to oxygen than the flakes are. That reduces the effect of the topping, and you have a sensitive enough palate and experience to notice the difference.