Tobaccos I miss
- Thread starter Scottmi
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Never tried TYM, but the tobacco I miss is McClelland 5100 Red Cake.
Drew Estate, so sad.
Eight blends you made, then you quit.
Love your tin art so!
Eight blends you made, then you quit.
Love your tin art so!
If you find a blend you like, buy a shit ton of it then there's nothing to miss.
yep, you can find it listed at a number of UK retailers. Just need to find someone to get it for you.
The problem I ran into, though, is that I enjoyed my favorite blend fresh. Although, technically, it’s still available—Penzance—I ended up selling off all of my cellared tins because I found that it lost something over time that I really enjoyed about the blend. After three years or so in the tin, it didn’t captivate me the way it did fresh from the store.
Of course, it may develop a host of other wonderful qualities as it ages, but when young there is an oriental zest that won me over from the very first bowl. Without that, it was something less than the Penzance I loved. I decided I’d rather just have the memory of enjoying so many tins of it rather than cellar it and smoke an aged version that would constantly remind me of what I was missing.
I've heard this from several Penzance lovers. Huh.
I too love Penzance, but I've only ever had it aged, so I don't know any better. Maybe I'm better off that way!
Not to sidetrack this thread too much, but…
I think you are fortunate in this case, because I think that would make it easier to enjoy some of the Penzance wannabes that are on the market, including H&H’s Ten to Midnight and Bengal Slices/Lancers Slices.
To me, these are all pale imitations, lacking the depth and nuance of Penzance when fresh. But if you enjoy Penzance with some age on it, then these might be great substitutes. And chances are they’re a LOT easier to find. (Some might see Germain’s Special Latakia Flake as a Penzance pretender; to my palate, it is Penzance, just packaged under Germain’s own brand.)
Interesting: I tried Germain's Special Latakia only once -- it was from a very old, rusted out tin -- but it struck me as far more latakia dominant than Penzance. But that might have been the power of suggestion!
I recently picked up a tin of Meridian, which some reviewers say reminds them of Penzance. I haven't cracked it yet -- we'll see.
The two tobaccos I wish were still available are Bohemian Scandal and Edgeworth Slices. Those two, plus a decent VA flake, and I would settle happily into codgerdom. I still have an 8oz tin of Scandal and two tins of Edgeworth to rekindle the memories what could have been.
At that time a number of people tried these and the basic reaction was that they were decently made, but used different components and tasted "similar". Given that Dunhill wanted to disassociate from tobaccos and pipes, focusing more on their core fashion and lifestyle businesses it seems unlikely that BAT would be licensing anything Dunhill related when they had pulled the plug on production.You’re not looking hard enough.
McConnell has released their “Heritage” range of Dunhill clones, which includes versions of 3-Year Matured, The Aperitif, Durbar, Baby’s Bottom, London Mixture, and more. My suspicion--and I haven’t yet tried any of these to compare them with the STG equivalent—is that these may actually be the Dunhill/STG recipes, now produced by K&K. I can’t help wondering if K&K bought the recipes but were not allowed to use the original names.
5 Year Matured Virginia - McConnell Pipe Tobacco
A blend of aged Virginias meets Oriental tobacco in McConnell's 5 Year Matured Virginia, making for a pleasant mixture ideal for Virginia lovers.www.smokingpipes.com
Of course, there was the possibility that they had McConnell's formulas, since Robert McConnell made some of the blends for Dunhill when they were still a quality blender, turning out Rattray's blends, before being swallowed up by K&K.
But it's also true that none of these were actual Dunhill blends, just clones licensed to use the labels and the names. Any even semi serious Dunhill tie ended with the Murray's era.
None of this really matters, just whether or not one likes the blend.
As for ratings and popular taste, the first is largely empty opinion and the second is an oxymoron.
There are a handful of reviewers that I appreciate because they have tasters, can analyze, can write and form coherent and expressive thoughts, and from experience I've found that they have been good guides. The rest range from people having fun sharing impressions, to incoherent drivel.
Tobacco Reviews is not some sort of Academy, where people with proven expertise are allowed to join. Anyone can join, without any proven level of expertise, and contribute.
Keep an eye on that tin on BS. The shitty quality of the tins C&D were using has caused a great many of them to rot and fail from the inside out.
Look CAREFULLY Before You Leap :: Pipe Tobacco Discussion
With all of the crazy "collectible" tin buying action on eBay I've been following a lot of auctions. Several have caught my eye because they are offering something a bit different. Here's one that just completed...
pipesmagazine.com
Tell me about it... I was reading reviews for Folklore this morning, and I swear, I think most just read the labels and spit out a review of just the components for a blend. I don't trust anyone but Jim on there.
Steel Cowboy wrote some reviews that I found helpful, as well as Drums and Beer and a couple of others. Not as analytical as Jim, but for me, just as useful. A few others have left the field, like DMKerr. It's essentially a hobbyist playpen.
There are numerous tobaccos that are no longer produced by the original company that made it or not made at all. Cope's Escudo, Balkan Sobranie 759. Markovitz Black and White, McClelland's entire line and numerous others.