Tobaccos of Yesterday that are basically Gone
- Thread starter JadeStarCat
- Start date
every crop is different, every year is different. Every year the smoking barn will do it differently.
In some things like Latakia, what the goat ate before it provided the goat pellets for the smoking fire will have a major impact on how much the latakia tastes.
However, very little is the same as what was. Right now the craze is african continent tobacco, and the big spike in usage of those leafs, coincides with the latest "8 year decline" in blends.
Then you have blends that have good tobacco, but bad topping and casing.
Sherlock Holmes for one. GOOD tobacco, but a topping that really hurts enjoyment.
Then you have blends like rattrays year of the dragon, that try too hard to be something by mixing 5 different scents/flavors into a single blend. And create a mess that is beaten by on old mentor/friends belnd of prince albert, sir walter, half n half and mixture 79.
Hell that rattrays dragon, good tobacco, but the topping and casing made me cry over how much middleton cherry and mixture 79 made a good blend.
In some things like Latakia, what the goat ate before it provided the goat pellets for the smoking fire will have a major impact on how much the latakia tastes.
However, very little is the same as what was. Right now the craze is african continent tobacco, and the big spike in usage of those leafs, coincides with the latest "8 year decline" in blends.
Then you have blends that have good tobacco, but bad topping and casing.
Sherlock Holmes for one. GOOD tobacco, but a topping that really hurts enjoyment.
Then you have blends like rattrays year of the dragon, that try too hard to be something by mixing 5 different scents/flavors into a single blend. And create a mess that is beaten by on old mentor/friends belnd of prince albert, sir walter, half n half and mixture 79.
Hell that rattrays dragon, good tobacco, but the topping and casing made me cry over how much middleton cherry and mixture 79 made a good blend.
I still have a little of this in a jar that I smoke at certain times, but when it is gone, it is gone forever.
I think the main changes as of today is Syrian Latakia is gone and the really high quality Red Virginias are scarce at best. I noticed most HU blends took a nose dive rather quickly, I think that coincided when they were sourced to a new manufacturer. Several Virginia blends. Such as Ashton No 44 and Wessex Campaign Brigade Dark Flake also only faintly resemble their former selves. Other that Sir John's Flake Virginia, I can't say if other Virginias have changed much in the past 5 years as pretty much everything I'm smoking now is 5 years old or older.
25 years ago, I pretty much smoked Mcclelland 5100 exclusively. I took a pipe smoking hiatus for about 10 years until 2017. Thankfully, I came back in time to stock up on a decent amount of McClelland. I think the 40th Anniversary is the best Virginia Flake they ever made. Most people yearn for what they can't have. I think there's plenty of great tobacco available to buy today.
25 years ago, I pretty much smoked Mcclelland 5100 exclusively. I took a pipe smoking hiatus for about 10 years until 2017. Thankfully, I came back in time to stock up on a decent amount of McClelland. I think the 40th Anniversary is the best Virginia Flake they ever made. Most people yearn for what they can't have. I think there's plenty of great tobacco available to buy today.
Thank you for that review and saving my money,
I was born in the year of the dragon and was thinking of getting a couple of tins to put away.
Sounds like a blend I’d have problems finishing a bowl of.
I heard she was a dog!
When I get it smoking, im lucky if i only taste the burley. strong tasting burley, but the actual flavoring when its present is crap.
I may try smoking it up in the furture.
“Google it on Bing”? What do you have against Asking Jeeves?
I appreciate you folks that long for the days of yesteryear. I’ve recently reached that point in my life with many things nostalgically. Nothing wrong with reflecting & remembering those delicious flavors of the past. However, for those of us that never enjoyed the Syrian or Virginias pre- 2000…who cares?! Enjoy what is available and find pleasure in that present stuff …cause there are so many blends that are delicious and enjoyable this day. Find them and stock up. Who knows 20 years from now we’ll be the ones lamenting our the loss of flavor and quality. 
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No, sorry, it was just a joke related to what can only be described as a spontaneous eruption of the forum's collective subconscious that occurred in a massive thread started by a member named Star Cat who hasn't been seen since...long ago now, but well remembered by those who were here.
Another example... Bell's Three Nuns... it passed too many changes over the last four decades and now it doesn't resemble at all what I used to smoke back in the '80... Apart for the dramatic changes in the original recipe, the main problem for this historical blends is always the lack of consistency in the crops used over the years.
