Substitute for Penzance?

[hymnchimney]

I'm relatively new to piping, but one name that I have consistently heard in extremely high regard is the Penzance by Esoterica. Another thing I've come to be made aware of is that Penzance is even harder to find a tin of than most of Esoterica's elusive blends. That said, if I want to get a general idea of what the allure Penzance is without banging my head against a wall trying to find it, and then subsequently paying an arm and a leg for secondary market prices, what other more readily-available blends would be a good place to start? Is there anything that stands up to this (in)famous mixture by Esoterica?

 

[badbriar]

Try Dunbar - easier get and AWESOME tin note.

 

[americaman]

Some say Quiet Nights by Pease is the closest blend to Penzance. Others may say you need to let the tin of Quiet Nights sit for a year or two to make it more similar. Regardless, it is the closest blend to Penzance I have personally tried.

 

[hoosierpipeguy]

Never seen this thread on here before. LOL Seattle Pipe Club Plum Pudding Special Reserve. Quiet Nights (kind of but not really but it doesn't matter, great blend on it's own). C&D Star of the East Flake.

 

[alaskanpiper]

Quiet Nights, Watch City Ahab’s Comfort is pretty close, and one that is similar but IMO better is HU Fayyum and Fayyum Kake. The HU is readily available but requires ordering from germany and expensive shipping.

 

[cigrmaster]

When I was an English smoker Penzance was one of my favorites. Another favorite not like Penzaance but a great blend in it's own right was Twp Friends Deacons Downfall. It is easy to get and for my money was very tasty.
When I was buying Penzance it was easy to get and was a 5 dollar tin. There were many more blends that were sought after and Penzance was consider a nice blend but not earth shattering.

Today the hype is ridiculous. I would never overpay for Penzance when Deacons Downfall and others are priced correctly and readily available.

 

[smokeyweb]

I am happy to overpay for Penzance, haha. But with that being said, SPC Plum Pudding is a WONDERFUL blend and scratches the itch if you don’t want to fork over the primo cash for the primo leaf.

 

[ron123]

The current production of Penzance almost seems to be a substitute for what Penzance once was. A tin last year was a broken flake at best...no full slices at all, and a pouch I have open now, had what appeared to be flakes, but falls apart in you hands and rubs out to a lot of it being the size of fine dust particles. I haven’t seen anybody else reporting anything like this, so maybe just unlucky, but from what I’m seeing you’re not missing much right now. I’d go with one of the above suggestions and just hold off on trying to find any for right now. It seems like they’re scraping the bottom of the barrel to produce what little they release right now.

 

[sandollars]

+1 on SPC Plum Pudding Special Reserve.

Penzance is great but there are plenty of blends better IMHO.

SPC PPSR(mentioned above)
Esoterica Dunbar
Esoterica Margate (both of these are easier to find)
Smoker's Haven "Our Best Blend" and "Exotique" Available right now and it's also made by Germain.
A great Balkan at a very reasonable price is "Arango Balkan Supreme"

I know, I know...... You won't feel complete without trying Penzance. I was the same way and I even have a few pounds of it "Cellaring" but I really do enjoy ALL the other blends mentioned above better AND I don't feel like I am smoking a rolled up 20 dollar bill every time I light up. I am in the same boat as you regarding Stonegate. Someday I will get to try some. She is an elusive b*tch....

Make friends with your local tobacconist and ask them to keep you in mind when they get a "Drop of The Gold",

They want to sell it...

 

[hauntedmyst]

I agree with Ron but for different reasons. No reason to chase a unicorn when there are so many other good blends out there that you don't need to over pay for. Knightsbridge by Park Lane in MY is wonderful. Plum Pudding is very good in its own right. Fusiliers Ration is outstanding. I'm not a Gaslight fan but it's a good blend. Penzance is as unique as they come but And So To Bed is just as good and more available.

 

[Rpink53]

I just had a bowl of PPSR. First one in a while and it was damn good and somewhat similar to Penz. My Penzance experience is limited, but it was unbelievably good. Exotique was mentioned and is one of my top blends, but it doesn't remind me of Penz.

 

[aquadoc]

Sunset Harbor and Peretti Royal.

 

[Rpink53]

+1 on SPC Plum Pudding Special Reserve.

Penzance is great but there are plenty of blends better IMHO.

SPC PPSR(mentioned above)
Esoterica Dunbar
Esoterica Margate (both of these are easier to find)
Smoker's Haven "Our Best Blend" and "Exotique" Available right now and it's also made by Germain.
A great Balkan at a very reasonable price is "Arango Balkan Supreme"

I know, I know...... You won't feel complete without trying Penzance. I was the same way and I even have a few pounds of it "Cellaring" but I really do enjoy ALL the other blends mentioned above better AND I don't feel like I am smoking a rolled up 20 dollar bill every time I light up. I am in the same boat as you regarding Stonegate. Someday I will get to try some. She is an elusive b*tch....

Make friends with your local tobacconist and ask them to keep you in mind when they get a "Drop of The Gold",

They want to sell it...

If you are looking for Stonehaven, shoot me a PM. I have nearly 2 oz. I'd be willing to trade. It's not for me so trade terms would reasonable and realistic.

 

[danimalia]

Closest I have tried are Watch City's Ahab's Comfort and Quiet Nights. Penzance is hard to find online, but you might have some luck if you have a local B&M. I've bought bags twice just by shopping at one of mine.

 

[sasquatch]

Nobody's mentioned the excellent "Old Ironsides" from Dan Tobacco. Not a clone, but a big chewy latakia fest.

 

[mingc]

Back in the day, when I was first exploring latakia blends, I concluded that I preferred Margate over Penzance (and also over Germain's Special Latakia Flake). I wouldn't turn any down, but Margate is what I cellar. Margate is also somewhat easier to get. Folks have been selling them on this forum, sometimes for very reasonable prices. I'm not sure as the others that SPC PPSR is the same kind of smoke as Penzance. It's very good, is in stock, but not a latakia bomb like I think Margate, Penzance and SLF are. My suggestion, if you want a more easily obtainable latakia flake, is Lancer's Slices. I recently had a bowl, and I had forgotten how good it is. Better yet, it's sold in bulk, for bulk prices, and is also more readily available.

 

[rushx9]

I've seen folks mention Dunbar and Stonehaven, but aren't they VaPers and VaBurs? How are they like Penzance? Other than being the same brand?

 

[Akousticplyr]

SInce there's already a Black Frigate Pirate Crew, maybe it's time for Penzance to get it's own crew...

 

[sablebrush52]

I've seen folks mention Dunbar and Stonehaven, but aren't they VaPers and VaBurs? How are they like Penzance? Other than being the same brand?

They're not like Penzance, Penzance is a Balkan while Stonehaven is a Va/Bur and Dunbar is a Va/Per. But there are several ways to correctly answer the title question, based solely on the ambiguous use of language in its construction. One can offer a substitute based on the genre of blend, a substitute based on the product line or a substitute based on star blend status.

 

[jeff540]

I smoke a bowl of Penzance once in a while when that itch sets in, but to be quite honest my favorite Balkan blend over the last 20-years has been Sam Gawith's Balkan Flake. Caveat: my ever dwindling Balkan Flake jar is from a bulk purchase almost 10 years ago, so I have no idea what, if any, changes may have occurred to the blend once the Gawiths merged.