The Changing of the Blend

[Briar Lee]

When I was young, I smoked both cigarettes and, I smoked a pipe.

I loved the smell of a freshly opened pack of Marlboro, but by far preferred the taste of Winston.

One day in the latter disco era, say about 1978, I opened a 65 cent pack of Winston from a dormitory vending machine, and it was a different blend. I didn’t prefer it, but got used to it, and then sometime about 15 years later Winston changed the blend again, about the time R J Reynolds started advertising that Winston had no additives. I liked the additives.

As to OTC pipe blends only two, seem to have never varied, Half and Half and Granger. To my taste Prince Albert, Velvet, Carter Hall, Sir Walter Raleigh, regular and aromatic, have all waned over the years (especially Velvet) and currently all are tasty blends again but none like they were years ago, except Velvet, which also today smells and tastes like fifty years ago.

Since about twenty five years ago most my smoking has been of a premium pipe blends, with OTC pouches and cans in the mix.
Premium pipe tobaccos, might have changed too over the years.

Has your blend changed?

And if so, did you like the change?

 

[Inspired Idler]

I'm only 9 years into the journey so I'll leave this to the older gentlemen. From what I've read, of the blends that still exist, there are many that bare a resemblance in name only. This can be attributed to change of manufacturer, toppings/sauce, and overall degradation in the quality and variety of leaf available. Have at it boys!

 

[cosmicfolklore]

Since STG took over Escudo and Erinmore, which hasn't been all that long ago, I notice an extreme difference in casing and tobaccos used in both. I realize that tobaccos change from crop to crop, and some tobacco varieties are no longer being grown, but guys trying these blends based upon recommendations made seven or eight years ago aren't buying the same thing. These are merely Escudo and Erinmore in name and label only.
Balkan Sobranie is the same... just nothing like it used to be.

I prefer what McClelland did. Instead of pulling a fast switcheroo on the public, just stop. It is the best way to preserve the integrity for your name and products, IMO.
Or, maybe whoever is running STG just doesn't know his ass from a hole in the ground. Whichever.

I know that as I came into pipesmoking, older men were complaining about Three Nuns. It's the same thing. Younger guys liked smoking what they thought was Three Nuns, because it connected them with history and a vintage blend. But, really the only thing that was Three Nuns-ish about it was the label. Might as well just put anything in the tins if guys are going that dumb. YMMV

 

[Elric]

Might as well just put anything in the tins if guys are going that dumb. YMMV

Three Nuns brand Monastery Blend - Floor Sweeping Cut

 

[Grangerous]

I like the STG version of Granger over Pinkerton. It’s smoother, a bit sweeter and whatever they’ve done works for me. I don’t have any Pinkerton but I’d love a side by side comparison if I can find some.

 

[sablebrush52]

Show me a blend that hasn't changed over the years. Crops vary from year to year, suppliers change, manufacturing equipment changes, additives change, brand owners change, master blenders change. Anyone who thinks their blends haven't changed over the years is kidding themselves.

It's not so much whether a blend has changed, but whether a blend even vaguely resembles what it used to be, and whether the smoker likes the changes. One benefit to new smokers is that they haven't imprinted on a loved older version that used better quality constituents, or was blended by a master blender.

Reality is that sources have shrunk as growers abandon tobacco to grow other crops that pay better and require less labor. Machine harvesting is replacing hand picking individual leaves at the peak moment of ripeness. Instead of a number of individual blend manufacturers, all of the various names are brands bought up and owned by one of several major entities and the consolidation has continued over the past 10 years. This necessarily leads to a loss of the idiosyncrasy of individual British makers and a homogenization of different brands.

So yeah, blends are changing.

And in some cases, like with Escudo, the blend bears little resemblance to the Escudo that was so justly loved and became a gold standard for Va/Pers. Todays stuff is a mediocre Va/Per in comparison, and the tin art is about the only link to its past. But not all changes are necessarily for the worse. When Gallaher sold the rights to make Escudo to A & C Petersen, they produced a high quality version that many who'd smoked both, liked better than Gallaher's. BTW, Cope's didn't make Cope's Escudo after 1952 as it was bought by Gallaher.

Nobody living knows what Bell's Three Nuns actually tasted like. Over the years it went through a number of different makers. What we probably think of as Three Nuns is the Imperial Tobacco version of the Va/Per/Bur, and that wasn't the original by several makers. Even that blend went through recipe changes as Perique was subbed out by Kentucky. Even decades ago, makers weren't above cheapening a blend to make a few extra bucks.

And there's Balkan Sobranie, which went through several iterations under Gallaher after they took over production from Sobranie Limited, lessening the Syrian Latakia and the red Virginias. So cheapening the product, or maybe responding to supply issues back then. Then Germain's takes up the brand and produces something that should have a stake driven through its heart.

Probably McClelland was the last American high quality blender, and rather than be bought, and their product sodomized, they closed up shop. But even a high quality maker like McClelland had a lot of detractors who felt that their much celebrated Virginias were a snooze. Hey, can't please everybody.

Most of the changes to blends that I enjoyed before many of you were zygotes, I don't like. But I've learned to get along with a few of them, and to enjoy what I put away rather than continue to buy except to replenish pipe cleaners.

New smokers will love and imprint on what's currently being produced, like I did when I started in the 1970's. And doubtless there were old codgers around who thought that the '70's stuff was CRAP compared to what they smoked in their younger days.

 

[fireground_piper]

There is a pretty good benefit to keeping a name even if the blend is quite different in today’s world. You can get that grandfathered FDA status.

 

[kcghost]

Yes and no.

 

[Grangerous]

MacBarren BLB is another example. I bought up 5 tins and traded 3 away. The new iteration smelled like coco-puffs, artificially flavored children’s breakfast cereal! It’s not what I remember. — Fortunately, like Scotty on Star Trek, saving his 500 year old bottle of scotch for a day when the Enterprise is doomed— I happen to have a 2012 tin of the real McCoy. (Pun Intended) for any Trekkies in residence.

But what if I’m wrong ?. What if I open the 2012 tin and find that it smells just like the modern iteration?

What if a frog had pockets? Wouldn’t such frog pack a pistol to keep the snakes away?

And why do people in America Drive on Parkways and and Park on Driveways?

And…

Well, I just discussed this with myself and we all laughed!

Luckily I have an ounce of 2010 BLB jarred and nope. It doesn’t smell like Coco Puffs.

 

[Elric]

What if a frog had pockets? Wouldn’t such frog pack a pistol to keep the snakes away?

 

[cigrmaster]

I began smoking Escudo back in 1999 or so. I still have one 2001 tin left and will crack it when the time is right. I also have tins of 2008 Escudo which I am smoking here and there. My bulk of Escudo is from 2012. When I was smoking 2012 tins back then , I enjoyed it and it tasted like Escudo to me. Trying to compare a 2012 tin to a 2001 is just not possible for me as my memory sucks, especially now.

I have not smoked anything newer than 2012 so I don't know if the new stuff is the same. I also haven't smoked a tin of 2012 in a long time as I would rather smoke my 2008 which tastes great and I can put more years on the 2012. Age can make up for differences in the blend in some cases.

Oh yeah, don't listen to Jesse about new Escudo. He smokes Mixture 79 so what could he possibly know about pipe tobacco, freaking piker that he is. lol

 

[sablebrush52]

I began smoking Escudo back in 1999 or so. I still have one 2001 tin left and will crack it when the time is right. I also have tins of 2008 Escudo which I am smoking here and there. My bulk of Escudo is from 2012. When I was smoking 2012 tins back then , I enjoyed it and it tasted like Escudo to me. Trying to compare a 2012 tin to a 2001 is just not possible for me as my memory sucks, especially now.

I have not smoked anything newer than 2012 so I don't know if the new stuff is the same. I also haven't smoked a tin of 2012 in a long time as I would rather smoke my 2008 which tastes great and I can put more years on the 2012. Age can make up for differences in the blend in some cases.

Oh yeah, don't listen to Jesse about new Escudo. He smokes Mixture 79 so what could he possibly know about pipe tobacco, freaking piker that he is. lol

Hi Harris,

The constituent tobaccos in Escudo were switched out some time after 2013. The new stuff doesn't age worth a damn. I could say more, but then I would have to be killed.

 

[F4RM3R]

Blends are always changing. Blenders sometimes have several different years of the same variety of leaf and will mix them accordingly to get a similar flavour, like with wine. Sometimes the change is done in a slow and progressive way when they might realize they are running low on a particular stock of a certain year that won’t be available again.

sometimes the changes can happen suddenly in the case of toppings or when new ownership doesn’t use the same leaf suppliers anymore.

I haven’t been smoking long enough, nor enough commercial blends to notice anything myself. But even for my own whole leaf blending, the leaves can be different year to year and even when I have a few lbs of a leaf sitting around for a while, the flavour will change a bit(usually for the better)

 

[alaskanpiper]

I remember the same thing happening when I smoked cigarettes with Camel Turkish Royals. They used to be noticeably more delicious and smoother than most brands. Then one day the packaging changed, and apparently the tobacco changed with it, because they started tasting like every other damn product.

Fortunately I quit shortly thereafter, so this momentus disappointment was quickly overshadowed by horrifying irritability and stress. Yay....?

 

[hawky454]

New smokers will love and imprint on what's currently being produced, like I did when I started in the 1970's. And doubtless there were old codgers around who thought that the '70's stuff was CRAP compared to what they smoked in their younger days.

Glad you pointed this out, I imagine a lot of folks that are just starting out don’t want to hear that all pipe tobacco being produced today is horse shit, which seems to be the mantra here, especially since McClelland closed their doors

I have noticed that people seem to prefer the blend that they’ve grown accustomed to. I’ve seen people gripe about how the STG version of Erinmore Flake sucks compared to Murray’s version, I actually prefer STG’s version, well at least the stuff I was buying in 2016, Cosmic swears it’s changed since then, I wouldn’t know.

I just finished an aged tin of McClelland Red & Black which in my opinion aged very poorly, I loved it fresh. I am currently smoking through an aged tin of STG made Dunhill Flake and it is smoking up there with the finest VA’s that I’ve ever had, I prefer it to a lot of the McClelland VA’s. I’ve had the Balkan Sobranie of the 70’s, 80’s and 90’s, it was good, in fact it was great and it aged extremely well, I still prefer Skiff Mixture to that stuff but I started out with Skiff Mixture.

Granted I haven’t been smoking as long as some of you but I’ve been doing it for 12 years now and I’ve had plenty of the tobaccos that everyone is claiming to be the best of the best. I don’t care what anyone says, whether the leaves are hand picked or not, there are still some damn fine pipe tobaccos being produced today that give all the golden day of yore blends a run for their money and they are obviously made of quality tobacco.

Now most of my blends are 2016 and older which I believe you stated that everything after 2016 is inferior quality, personally I can’t speak to this but I’m not sure if I believe that.

I could give a damn about blend bashing, that’s fine but I think it’s a bit much to imply that everything being made today is of inferior quality to the blends you old timers smoked, seems like I read it in every other thread these days.

 

[didimauw]

I remember the same thing happening when I smoked cigarettes with Camel Turkish Royals. They used to be noticeably more delicious and smoother than most brands. Then one day the packaging changed, and apparently the tobacco changed with it, because they started tasting like every other damn product.

Fortunately I quit shortly thereafter, so this momentus disappointment was quickly overshadowed by horrifying irritability and stress. Yay....?

It took me a while to get used to the new FSC. Never understood why they would add another chemical to help it stop burning, instead of taking out the chemical that causes it to continue burning! Ugh...

 

[cigrmaster]

Hi Harris,

The constituent tobaccos in Escudo were switched out some time after 2013. The new stuff doesn't age worth a damn. I could say more, but then I would have to be killed.

Hi Jesse, thanks for that info, it is nice to know all of my Escudo is like mothers milk. Do you remember way back when there was a rumor that Escudo was going the way of the Dodo? I went deep on that rumor and now I am reaping the rewards. Yeah I was told I am a paranoid jack ass as usual but my system worked out just fine. I wish I had a nickel for every time I was told I was just being paranoid.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

but I think it’s a bit much to imply that everything being made today is of inferior quality to the blends you old timers smoked

I have never ever heard anyone say this. If you see this in this thread, where is it?

Blend bashing, brand bashing... when did these non-sentient products becomes so sensitive? Maybe it's just because of where I live, but when a Ford truck has a sticker about Chevys sucking, I've never seen two men get into a fight about it. Usually, the Chevy guys laughs also. We also make jokes about each other's football teams. I would think that joking about a product wouldn't matter a GD to me. There's a difference between saying something sucks and saying that someone sucks for liking it. Make fun of my tobaccos and my pipe brands of choice. Actually, please do, because it reduces the competition for these things.
Why be winey about someone saying they don't like something you do? I just don't get this at all.

 

[sablebrush52]

I could give a damn about blend bashing, that’s fine but I think it’s a bit much to imply that everything being made today is of inferior quality to the blends you old timers smoked, seems like I read it in every other thread these days.

Unfortunately, it's absolutely true and you're all screwed.

Just kidding.

Sorta.

There are some wonderful blends being made today, which is why it's such a pisser when some blending house screws with them to save a few pennies per tin. But sources today are less varied than once they were, in and out of the US, and different harvesting methods do affect the result.

And tinning loose approximations of fabled blends in tins with famous labels plastered on them is a disservice to those blends and a calculated manipulation of consumers.

People like different things. For some McDonald's chicken fingers is haute cuisine. For others it's not even chicken.

But if McDonald's chicken fingers are your bliss, that's all that matters, to you.

 

[didimauw]

I have never ever heard anyone say this. If you see this in this thread, where is it?

Blend bashing, brand bashing... when did these non-sentient products becomes so sensitive? Maybe it's just because of where I live, but when a Ford truck has a sticker about Chevys sucking, I've never seen two men get into a fight about it. Usually, the Chevy guys laughs also. We also make jokes about each other's football teams. I would think that joking about a product wouldn't matter a GD to me. There's a difference between saying something sucks and saying that someone sucks for liking it. Make fun of my tobaccos and my pipe brands of choice. Actually, please do, because it reduces the competition for these things.
Why be winey about someone saying they don't like something you do? I just don't get this at all.

Right, like saying Carter hall in a cob is like a homeless man smoking grass clippings covered in motor oil.

Right?