Warhorse Bar

[misterlowercase]

No worries Jason!

::

Thanks for the kind words.
Just found a couple of showcards,

very cool!

...more here

NMNI

http://nmni.com/Home/Shop/Products/History/Industry.aspx
God bless Gallaher!

 

[condorlover1]

What a wonderful show card. One can almost see a caption along the lines of "By eck lad, get that down you and then t't be a real miner with the other men" then followed by the kid saying "But Grandfather I like wearing grannies clothes.....". All due respect to Monty Python and the Lumber Jack Song!

 

[saltedplug]

Flake and plug tobacco, even when cut/rubbed out, which is my preferred rendering, are still thicker and more slowly-burning than ribbons, etc. I like the idea of this but don't feel that it amounts to a substantially different smoke than non-pressed cuts.

 

[misterlowercase]

This is one of my favorite threads, a classic.
Just bumping because I ran across a book excerpt which is relevant here.
It's actually pretty funny because it denotes just how super-stout Warhorse must've been, and referring to Condor as "laddies baccy" and that says something 'cause Condor is pretty stout stuff itself!!!

:D
The book is Thistle Soup by Peter Kerr.

http://books.google.com/books?id=SI-UX_1_yk0C&pg=PA170&dq=%22condor+sliced%22&hl=en&sa=X&ei=HT21U7yUJpGKyASl2YK4DQ&ved=0CC0Q6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q=%22condor%20sliced%22&f=false
Unfortunately p169 is missing and it provided the lead-up to the pipe-smoking scene, but here is the quote we're left with...

"Cannae get the flavor o' this Warhorse stuff frae nothin' else, son," Watty declared, depositing the little piece of condensed tobacco in the palm of my hand.
I'd watched them going through this routine often enough, so I didn't need any instruction - rub the plug with your thumb until the strands separate, tease them out, then pack the wad carefully into the bowl of the pipe. The two old boys watched closely as I struck a match and took the first drag. The result was totally predictable. To my untrained palate, the Warhorse plug did have an equine quality to it, a taste more in keeping with what might have been shoveled off a stable floor than something derived from a plant, however.
"Aye, ye'd better start off wi' some laddies' baccy, son," Watty laughed after I'd retched and coughed fit to tear my lungs out. "Get yersel' some Condor sliced. No cool on the tongue as the Warhorse, mind, but no just as strong either, if ye see what Ah mean."

Good stuff!

::

 

[bentmike]

Great thread Gents! Klause that is probably the best, most entertaining tobacco review I've ever read. Misterlowercase your graphic contributions made a fantastic thread even better. Reading about others favorable experiences with vintage tobaccos lets me know I'm doing the right thing by sitting on some of my favorites in the cellar.

 

[condorlover1]

I have been looking around for a bar of War Horse and I have let most the dealers I buy from know that I am interested in a sealed pack of the stuff. One chap I deal with thinks he knows were He might be able to lay his hands on a couple so hope springs eternal.

 

[klause]

Apologies for resurrection of an old thread, but there's no point cluttering the forum with a new one.
Yesterday I scored this:

I was surprised to run across this bar of tobacco - as they don't pop up very often, especially in such good condition - and I'd given up hope, long ago, of finding another.
The original bar in this thread was at least 60-70 years old, from early in the production of this mighty tobacco. This one is from the late 70's to early 80's, the end of the line for this magnificent beast (interesting to note the sad decline in quality of the packaging art and design).
I'm keen to compare this to the original. Will it be embossed with the name and manufacturer? Will it be the same deep, dark hue? Will it taste different? Smell different? Will it be a worthy incarnation of its distant ancestor, or a pale, pathetic imitation? It will most certainly be different, this I know.
It's going in a jar, and taking pride of place in the sock draw, next to the Bulwark - to be pulled out, admired, tasted and lingered over, in the years to come, as the mood or reason for celebration dictates - it will be savoured, treated tenderly, used carefully and sparingly.
I seem to have come full circle. It's been fun.

 

[thefalcon]

Anxious to see what you come up with!
Eric

 

[newbroom]

I wasn't on board when this thread was first created, so I'm glad it was 'reborn'.

There's an obvious reason you (Klause) were the lucky recipient of this tobacco product.

You've give it a fitting eulogy.

A few more positive comments about War Horse, and Russ will be whipping up some Secretariat in no time!

 

[tarak]

My goodness I'm jealous of you...

 

[woodsroad]

Awaiting your impressions.......

 

[condorlover1]

Bingo! That is what I saw in the early 1980s motorcycling through the north of the UK. I bet you it looks very similar to a Condor plug. As you know we actually know what went into the original War Horse Bar as I posted elsewhere on the subject at length on this forum. The great unknown is what they used in the later incarnation of War Horse Bar and I suspect it would be radically different from the 1930s incarnation due to the absence of 'Empire Blend Tobacco' otherwise known as rough as hell African leaf tobacco.

 

[misterlowercase]

The great unknown is what they used in the later incarnation of War Horse Bar and I suspect it would be radically different from the 1930s incarnation due to the absence of 'Empire Blend Tobacco' otherwise known as rough as hell African leaf tobacco.

Plenty of people still today enjoy tobacco that is grown in Malawi, Kenya, and Zimbabwe.
I adore especially the sun cured Malawi burley in particular,

very good stuff.

::

Two of the world’s 10 largest tobacco producing countries, are in Africa: Zimbabwe and Malawi. In 2001, Zimbabwe, then the world’s sixth largest producer, grew 175,000 metric tons, while Malawi grew 120,000 metric tons. And Malawi’s total production more than doubled from 2000 through 2009.
Other countries on the continent, including Ghana, Zambia, Mali, Mozambique and Tanzania, are also ramping up tobacco cultivation.

Long Live The Former-Empire Leaf!

::

 

[misterlowercase]

G A L L A H E R ' S

W A R H O R S E

the plug smokers favourite

G A L L A H E R ' S

W A R H O R S E

the plug smokers favourite
​

 

[misterlowercase]

I have been looking around for a bar of War Horse and I have let most the dealers I buy from know that I am interested in a sealed pack of the stuff. One chap I deal with thinks he knows were He might be able to lay his hands on a couple so hope springs eternal.

Luckily,

a couple of nice guys on this forum donated their War Horse Bars to Standard Tobacco Pennsylvania for testing and development,

but both of those samples actually came from Klause as he had so kindly gifted me one, which was was in turn sent along to STP.
Were those the only 2 sampling examples that the Co. worked with while developing their match-blend?
Or did the Co. procure other examples as well?
Curious minds want to know.
::

 

[crusader]

Awsome thread! I am on pins and needles waiting for the Standard Tobby version. When will I be able to purchase some?

 

[misterlowercase]

Klause, referring to his newly acquired 80's era version of the Bar, as made by Gallaher, was asking himself these questions...

I'm keen to compare this to the original. Will it be embossed with the name and manufacturer? Will it be the same deep, dark hue? Will it taste different? Smell different? Will it be a worthy incarnation of its distant ancestor, or a pale, pathetic imitation?

I think it'll be good no doubt,

Gallaher had the magic,

all the way up until the end.
As for the Standard Tobby version,

I have smoked some and find it to be a pale, pathetic clumsy attempt of imitation, not even touching upon the original.

:!:

 

[mranglophile]

I have smoked some and find it to be a pale, pathetic clumsy attempt of imitation, not even touching upon the original.

:!:

I have smoked the newer version, and though I liked it....it was not terribly strong(disappointed) and would like more flavour. On a side note the John Cotton Smyrna was amazing.

 

[condorlover1]

Funny you should say that Troy. I have just acquired a carton of unopened sealed War Horse Plugs from circa 1980 so we can now do a comparison to see who is right around here. I am assured by Russ O that he was able to tease out what the original smelled like allowing for the passage of time. In regards to W.H RR no one really knows what that or W.H cigarettes tasted like as none to my certain knowledge have ever found their way onto the open market. I believe the R.R has been stepped up a bit more to meet the various comments so that the final tinned version should be a tad stronger, but not so strong as to render it a niche blend for nicotine junkies who cannot mainline the stuff due to collapsed veins. The idea is to make it commercially viable for the manufacturers as well as a pleasant experience from the consumers viewpoint as well. Considering all this was achieved from two samples both of which are certainly pre-war was nothing short of a miracle. Hopefully the use of whole leaf in the plug will put this whole debate to bed once and for all. Dan has pretty much worked with Russ throughout on this project and if the final product had wound up to my tastes your total market place would have been three or four people along with an interested F.D.A based on the public health concerns of smoking the stuff. Give it a rest Troy and reserve judgement until you have smoked the plug!

 

[misterlowercase]

whatever

:roll: