Top 5 English Blends

[hawky454]

Absolutely overrated in my opinion.

Didn't add the crucial; in my opinion, part, I'm sorry.

 

[hawky454]

Chelsea Morning is one of the best Latakia blends I've ever had.

Ya put up a good argument and I'm planning on revisiting my G.L. Pease blends (I have Chelsea Morning loaded and ready to go). I used to love Haddo's Delight but it just fell flat on my pallet as of late, (that's all on me, not Pease). I don't see anything special about his blends that has not already been done a million times over. However, there are always exceptions and that exception for me is Maltese Falcon, now that blend is special! I've tried most of his blends and they just don't do it for me, so in all fairness I shouldn't have said that he is overrated. Just because it doesn't work for me and just because I don't understand the love, doesn't mean that he is overrated, obviously people love his blends for a reason and I didn't mean to upset anyone. I apologize.
It's just so much easier to believe that everyone else is wrong and I'm right. :nana:

 

[beefeater33]

Mine changes all the time-

For now-

1- GLP Westminster- the "quintessential" English for me.........

2- GLP Gaslight- the one I smoke in the winter.......

3- MC'C's Yenidje Highlander- good anytime.....

4- Dunhill EMP- Murray's version- a classic....

5- Smokers Haven Our Best Blend- Hard to find but Oh so Good.....

 

[shawnofthedead]

GLP Gaslight

GLP Quiet Nights

C&D Da Vinci

H&H Black House

Dunhill Durbar

 

[mso489]

Nat Sherman 536

C&D Billy Budd

Dunhill London Mixture

Sutliff's (now discountinued?) Westminster

PC Midtown HH Chestnut
Admittedly an eccentric list, some disputable as English, but I wanted to name a few that hadn't appeared in earlier posts.

 

[markus]

I didn't include any GLP blends in my list, but maybe I should have, because Chelsea Morning, Westminster and Quiet Nights are genius... IMHO.

 

[okiebrad]

So how many of these favorite blends are actually made in England and fit Bob Tate's definition of "English Blend"?

 

[mso489]

I've never associated English blends with their being blended in U.K. Maybe my mistake. I thought the term had long been co-opted to mean non-aromatic blends, often Virginia based (which doesn't mean the leaf has to have been grown in Virginia) and often with Latakia, Perique, and sometimes with Oriental and Turkish, and occasionally with burley. So in a sense, Balkan and Oriental are often subsets of English blends. I am not certified or trained as a tobacconist, so I'm just spewing my own version of folklore here, but I think many read "English blends" roughly the same way -- adjust at will. U.K. actually produces a number of popular blends, but they are far from a major source of blended pipe tobacco, I don't believe. Denmark, Germany, the U.S., Italy to a degree (?) and others share in the market.

 

[PlanxtyPipes]

My favorites are:
Esoterica - Penzance

Dunhill - MM965

Hearth & Home - BlackHouse

McCranies - St. Alban's Best (I believe this is rebranded McClelland 5110 Dark English Full)

Samuel Gawith - Squadron Leader

 

[shikano53]

H&H Magnum Opus

SPC Plum Pudding

H&H BlackHouse

Esoterica Penzance

C&D Star of The East

 

[jpmcwjr]

I've never associated English blends with their being blended in U.K. Maybe my mistake. I thought the term had long been co-opted....

Bob Tate makes a case for that, but I don't see that his attempt at defining "English" blends has much traction.
My favorites:
Gaslight- GL Pease

Smyrna- Std. of PA

Westminister- Pease

Quiet Nights- "

Penzance- Esoterica

 

[cossackjack]

Mac Baren HH Latakia Flake

Ashton Artisan's Blend

C&D Bow-Legged Bear

Seattle Pipe Club Plum Pudding

Esoterica Penzance
Any of the previously listed tobaccos could easily rotate in & out of the top 5, so maybe my top 5 would be all of them.

 

[frozenchurchwarden]

Jpmcwjr:

Bob Tate makes a case for that, but I don't see that his attempt at defining "English" blends has much traction.

I'm pretty sure that no-one is going to make a dent in nomenclature unless they can get Smokingpipes.com and 4Noggins on board. Where the rubber hits the road is what people have to know to find something. Colloquial terms are all fine and good but the trade industry is a huge influencer.
If someone wants to know what an English blend is, this is pretty much all that matters:

https://www.smokingpipes.com/search/the-tobacco-locator.cfm?family=1&type=tobacco&sortOpt=default&page=1

 

[jpmcwjr]

Good point. I don't know why Mr. Tate feels that strongly about changing how blends are categorized. For my money, the best English blends are made in the U.S.!

 

[logs]

Gentlemen,

(At the risk of getting hollered at for resuscitating an old thread) I would like to respectfully suggest that everyone lay their pipes down and put every effort into locating an aged tin of BlackPoint posthaste and then prepare to rearrange your top five list.
A few weeks ago I found a three year old tin of Blackpoint sitting dusty and unloved on a shelf at Iwan Ries and purchased it simply out of boredom and mild curiosity. But by God, this single tin has changed my perspective on English/Balkan blends entirely! A few years ago I would have listed Bengal Slices, Nightcap, Westminster, and Commonwealth as my default English heroes. And I still love them all make no mistake.... but BlackPoint took me to new and hitherto unexperienced realms of lovely pungent flavor. BlackPoint is what BlackHouse wishes it were but can never be (and don't even get me started on Quiet Nights--the mostly joyless smoke that everyone seems to worship these days because it looks pretty in the tin). Anyhow my friends, BlackPoint is the real thing... food of the gods.