Tobacco Blend Matches, Means What?

[mso489]

Especially with bulk tobacco, I see quite a few offerings of "matches," like a Nightcap Match, and a

Early Morning Pipe Match. These aren't all Dunhill matches, but those are examples. Just from context,

I take this to mean that these are some blenders' imitations of particularly popular blends created at a lower

price. Have you had any experience smoking match blends to know if they are similar in taste or just

using the well-known name to compete? And does anyone know if there is any legal action to prevent

imitators from using the proprietary names of blends? I haven't tried any of these. I have bought well-known

blends like MM965 in bulk at a discount, but I have always assumed, better to buy a good bulk English or

aromatic under its own name than buy an attempted imitation.

 

[haroldt]

Not sure who "Match" is, but I've tried their Early Morning Pipe. It smoke and smells the same as Dunhill. One difference I noticed (besides the price) was that the cut was longer. Dunhill seems to been very small ribbon cut.

 

[andrew]

I find McClellend's matches of dunhill blends to be extremely disappointing and not even similar in taste, in fact if it didn't say it was a dunhill match I'd probably think it was a good blend, but just the fact that it costs the same as dunhill or maybe not even 10$ less it's not worth it.

 

[mustanggt]

I have quite a bit of early morning match and it seems like they just waves some lat over it called in EMP by Dunhill. I really like the match much better. It has a nice sweetness to it that starts the day off right as EMP is intended to as well.

 

[kanaia]

CCC = Consolidated Cigar Corporation. I'm not going to look it up, but off the top of my head, famous for El Producto cigars and one of the forerunners in mass marketing bulk pipe tobacco blends. I think it was absorbed by Altadis. From an older thread.

 

[trucha]

THe only match I've tried I'd h&h daybreak. Intended to be a EMP match. It isn't even close and it is a horrible tobacco besides. Really sharp and bitter. I just got my lb of EMP and did a side by side comparison and they are not even close. I might just throw it away. Unfortunately I ordered 8 oz of it.

 

[condorlover1]

Has any of these outfits come up with a clone of St Bruno or other UK OTC blends that shall remain nameless?

 

[mso489]

I'm a moderate smoker, a bowl or two a day with days off, so the several bucks a tin I'd save buying a

match blend wouldn't be worth it to me, unless it was a brand that had been discontinued that I particularly

liked. If it's good enough to inspire a "matching" blend, go for the original if you can. On the other hand,

I can imagine instances in which a pipe smoker might like the match better than the original, but I haven't

heard of it. However, if a person smokes Nightcap all day, or some other premium blend, and they could

find a good match, it might be an significant savings, at least worth a try.

 

[gtclark]

Has any of these outfits come up with a clone of St Bruno or other UK OTC blends that shall remain nameless?

I'd love to hear an answer to that question. I've wanted to try St. Bruno for a while, but the hassle of getting it over here in the states is a little more than I care to deal with. A reasonable facsimile would at least let me decide if getting UK OTCs in the US is worth the trouble.

 

[settersbrace]

I sometimes think that blenders would benefit more by leaving the "Match" wording out of it and name it whatever they feel fits the essence of the blend itself. I think that many people, myself included, develop unrealistic expectations as to how the match should taste. If I fill a bowl out of jar labeled "old English" or something similar at my B&M and smoke it only to see if I like it, makes me search for the flavor and smoking quality I look for in a blend like that as opposed to trying to make it compare to something it obviously is not. The Dunhills are so often poorly copied IMO so just leave that out of it and maybe I can enjoy the blend for what it is, a house blend. I hope that all made sense.

 

[loneredtree]

I think that "Match" blends were originally for discontinued blends, for instance the Dunhill blends. Lately matches for Balkan Sobranie 759 and John Cotton Medium 1 & 2 are an example.(jmo) Are there any for blends that are not imported?

 

[zekest]

I always thought of "match" to mean "its something like it" as in "if you like that, try this".
I like C&D Three Friars. Three Friars is said to be a match to Three Nuns, both the old and new as Three Friars has Perique like the old Three Nuns, but also has Burley, like the new Three Nuns does.
I have never tried Three Nuns, old or new, but I really like C&D Three Friars.

 

[12pups]

Used to always smoke Argosy. During the 30 year hiatus I took from smoking, it was discontinued. P&C makes Argosy Match -- and by golly, that's *it*! I was very happy to get it again.
I have favorites that put it to shame today, but I will always have a nostalgic spot for the tobacco whose metal cans I had built a pyramid of in my first bachelor pad.
If *you* taasted it, you might agree with the decision to let it go out of manufacture. But me, I'm glad that a blender took the time to "match" it for me.
Thank goodness for "match" blends.

 

[supdog]

Here's another thread started not too long ago
http://pipesmagazine.com/forums/topic/russ-match-blends