Tinderbox Philosopher - Bulk Equivalents? Similar Suggestions?

[anchovyd]

Hey everybody,
I like Tinderbox Philosopher and am looking for something similar that is available in bulk online. I've tried to see if it was just a renamed bulk blend like Wilshire is 1Q but really can't find any info one way or the other.
I don't really need the exact equal. Something similar would be good enough. If you have any suggestions, I'd appreciate them. Tinderbox is not only out of the way but I'd like to buy a pound or two of it and don't want to get killed on the taxes. I'd rather pay $2 or 3$ an oz than the $5 to $6 local that it costs.
Sometimes I just really jones for the taste. It is like some half english, half aromatic lovable Frankenstein. Maybe if any of you can point me in the direction of two bulks to mix to come up with something close, that be great too.
Ciao,

AnchovyD

 

[thefalcon]

A perfect balance of the finest Virginia, latakia and Oriental tobaccos with a medium flavor and body.
It appears to be a Lane product, If you can find a Tobacconist that sells Lane products, see if you can have them match it up for you. It is definitely a renamed Bulk.
Cheers,--Eric

 

[michiganlover]

Reading the reviews, several mentioned this was kind of like Dunhill Early Morning Pipe, which is a stellar blend!! Sutliff sells a match for it that is cheaper than the actual Dunhill.

 

[anchovyd]

Thanks Michiganlover,
I haven't had Early Morning Pipe since the mid 90's but your post jogged my memory a bit and now I do seem to remember it being in a similar vein to Philosopher. I'm going to have to try it out. I remember back then I'd buy the Tinderbox blends because it was cheaper than the tinned stuff so for my everyday tabacco, I'd smoke something from them while buying tins to smoke on the weekends. Now with the sin taxes what they are it is super expensive to smoke their stuff. Also I almost had a heart attack last weekend when I went out with my wife and forgot my pouch. I stopped into a Walgreens to pick some tobacco up for the evening. Bought 1.5 oz of Captain Black for $9! 6$ an ounce!?!? This is starting to get ridiculous.
As for Philosopher being a Lane bulk, I did read that on Tobaccoreviews.com and one guy claims that it is Crown Acheivement although he states that he hasn't smoked CA. Anyway, I bought 4oz. samples of all the English style blends from Lane on PipesandCigars and SmokingPipes and none of them are Philosopher or even similar. They are more straight englishes without the sweetness that Philosopher has. Now I did see a few english blends from Lane on tobaccoreviews that I guess are either discontinued or not on the major online retailers, maybe one of those like 10 Baker Street is what I am looking for.
Thanks,

AnchovyD

 

[aristokles]

There is no way it is Crown Achievement; it is certainly not in that league or of any Dunhill, but it was/is not too bad on its own.
And corollary question would be, if Lane, are they still making it?

 

[retrogasm]

I don't really need the exact equal. Something similar would be good enough. If you have any suggestions, I'd appreciate them. Tinderbox is not only out of the way but I'd like to buy a pound or two of it and don't want to get killed on the taxes. I'd rather pay $2 or 3$ an oz than the $5 to $6 local that it costs.

Why B&M's are dying. I guess at this point it's inevitable, but I find it odd when people complain about not having a local or reminisce about the good old days, when we're the ones killing them off.

 

[michiganlover]

You can get Early Morning Pipe in bulk starting at $3.69 an ounce, the match blend starts at $4 an ounce.

 

[anchovyd]

Yeah it certainly isn't Crown Acheivement. Like I said I bought all the Lane and Stokkebye englishes and nothing is similar. Sometimes these tobaccoreview.com reviews are way off with people commenting on stuff they haven't smoked and just plain bad reviews that are due to their inexperienced pipe packing and smoking technique. As for availability I've been buying about 4 ounces a month for the past few months and they haven't run out.
As for supporting the local pipe shops, it's really the government which is killing them off. The Tinderbox here has a small pipe selection. It used to be better in the 90's. But with regards to pipes they are priced similar to the online shops and because the feel of a pipe is important to me, I definitely try to buy my briar locally. As for tobacco I'll buy a few ounces or tins per month to sample stuff but if I find something like this Philosopher, I want to buy a couple of pounds at a time and for that I am definitely going online.
It seems like the gov't strategy is to squeeze out the local shops with the taxes and then go for a ban on internet/interstate sales like Washington has enacted. Damn insurance companies and banks.
AnchovyD

 

[fnord]

AnchovyD:
Do you live in the states? More specifically, do you live in a state with outrageous, usury tobacco taxes for in-state buyers?
Fnord

 

[rigmedic1]

I found Philosopher to be similar to Dunhill 965, and also Peterson Old Dublin, which have unflavored Cavendish for sweetness. I know that Tinderbox's Sherlock's Choice is Lane HGL, and I was under the impression that Lane was the supplier to Tinderbox. I could be wrong about that, of course. Other similar blends are Rattray's Red Rapparee and their Accountant's Mixture, GL Pease' Westminster, and Tewkesbury Celtic Talisman. They are not by any means identical, but are variations on a theme.

 

[anchovyd]

Thanks Rigmedic1, I'll try some of those out. Lane definitely supplies a lot of the standard aromatic and english Tinderbox blends but McClelland provides most of the real specific aromatics like the coffee, hazelnut, cherry, amarretto, chocolate etc. and there are a few Stokkebye english and aro blends in their too.
That is why I was sampled all of the Lane and Stokkebye englishes, but maybe it is a McClelland english. I haven't gone through those yet.
Fnord, I live in Louisiana. The taxes here seem much higher than New Mexico. I lived in Santa Fe for a number of years and 3.5 oz tins of MacBaren were like 12 to 14 dollars after the big taxes kicked in. That wasn't so bad. Here I am seeing 3.5 oz tins around $21. That's why I am online in the first place. The tobacco costs were so high I figured that I'd look online. Back in the day I ordered a lot of cigars from JR but their pipe tobacco wasn't really any cheaper than local but they did carry a lot of MacBaren which I loved. Up until a few months ago I didn't know that all the sponsors here or even this site existed. The last forum I was on was the usenet newsgroup alt.smokers.pipes in the 90's. I had know idea online pipe shops have exploded. The only ones I saw and ordered from a long time ago were Iwan Ries and Cup O Joes.
Here in Louisiana you'd think the Perique lobby would've fought to keep the tobacco taxes down.
Ciao,

AnchovyD

 

[JimInks]

Philosopher is not a McClelland product; at least not the version I smoked in the 1970s and early '80s. I don't recall much sweetness in the blend at all, though it could have changed since I last tried it in the early 1980s. I never tasted any English quite like it. It had a fair amount of strength in the taste with a bit of dryness - meaning, not very sweet. Does that match what you've been smoking? If it doesn't, then the blend was changed over time, and I'd have no idea what you've been smoking. Can you give us some idea of how it tastes to you?

 

[anchovyd]

Jim,
I just smoked another bowl of the Philosopher and have to say that to me it tastes like 965 with a heavier body, a hint of sweetness, and a midrange bump to borrow a term from the audiophile world. It isn't really sweet like a cavendish but there is a hint of it.
I did drink orange juice about a half hour before smoking it and I did not notice any sweetness. With a clean palate there is like a hint of it, like maybe there is 15% of BCA or something in there to give it some body and that hint. 965 to me is kind of thin and trebly. Philsopher has more body/meat to the smoke. I'm sorry that I'm not all that articulate about the tasting.
I need to pick some more up today and I'll also try mixing some BCA with 965 when I get home and see how that works.

 

[JimInks]

The version I knew was strong, but I smoked 965 back then and I'd have never made the connection between the two blends. But some of what you wrote sounds right. Your idea sounds like a good one. Part of my problem with Philosopher was that it lacked depth because of its strength. It was just an occasional change of pace for me.
May I suggest adding just a small percentage of BCA, say maybe 5%? If you decide that won't be enough, then you can more. It's easier to do that than it is to subtract. I'll be interested in learning how this works out for you.

 

[mikestanley]

Every time I used to go to any of the now defunct Tinderbox stores, there was a common theme. Take two bulk blends, mix them together and viola! You are a master blender. It makes perfect sense to me that Philosopher is two Lane blends combined together.
Mike S.

 

[JimInks]

Mike: that would explain it very nicely.

 

[pylorns]

Old post from a while back:

inderbox Name = Trade name/brand
Wilshire = Lane LTD 1-Q

North Sea = Peter Stokkebye #24 Nougat

Crown Royale = Peter Stokkebye Vanilla Creme

Sunset = Lane LTD HS-3

Chartwell = Lane LTD RLP-6

Sherlock's Choice = Lane LTD HGL

Midnight = Lane LTD BCA

Proper English = Peter Stokkebye PS52

Burley Light = Lane LTD Burley Light Without a Bite

Captain Spice = Peter Stokkebye Black Vanilla

Anniversary = Lane LTD Anniversary Blend

Norse Gold = (originally, until later 1990s) Lane MV-1000, (2000-current) Skandinavik Red with TinderBox exclusive licorice casing

Frangelico = Lane Hazelnut
http://pipesmagazine.com/forums/topic/tinder-box-blends-and-their-trade-names-norse-gold