Scottish mixtures typically use Virginias as a base, then are enhanced with spicy Orientals. Latakia is used as a *condiment* (as opposed to a side dish) and the mixture is then sometimes topped with a flavouring of some kind, but typically a whisky (scotch). The blend may or may not be steamed and/or stoved at this point. Latakia content should be no more than 20% or thereabouts.
J.W. Davis, 2000-05-18
Scottish blends were usually just 'English' blends - that is, mixtures of Virginias, Orientals, Latakia and Perique associated with Scottish blending houses like Rattray, John Cotton (?) and Bell and others. The Scottish houses also produced flake tobaccos through different pressing techniques and as a loose generality, tobacco flavors were usually more robust than those produced in the effete South of England. The tobaccos were of high quality and much in demand and although few houses with Scot names are now produced in Scotland, the term lingers on.
Paul Szabady, 1998-05-26
It is, I believe, a blend consisting of Virginias with a dash of Perique. So, for example, Esoterica's Dunbar is a Scottish blend (most excellent), and Davidoff makes one as well, although the latter is "sauced" excessively. Peterson's makes an Irish blend that is very pleasant, and similar to Scottish.
Samuel M. Goldberger, 1998-05-27
"Scottish" blend is a term applied by some manufacturers (McConnell, for instance, when they were making excellent tobaccos!) to Latakia/Virginia mixtures, often with some Perique, but very light in the oriental end of things. If you were fortunate enough to ever smoke the much missed (at least by me) Elephant and Castle "Scottish Blend" and their "The Stout", you have experienced some of the best of the "Scottish" and "English" mixtures made in the eighties. These were made by Robert McConnell for Marble Arch. Garfinkel's also made some "Scottish" mixtures and flakes (a favourite was Scottish Cut Plug...long gone, *sigh*), as do McCleland's. They are rich and sweet from the Virginas, sometimes pressed lightly, sometimes broken flake. These are not known for the piquancy of more oriental based mixtures.
GL Pease, 1998/05/28
P&T magazine tobacco reviewer William Serad described MacBaren Scottish Cake as "This is what the Danish are always trying to make when they say something is "Scottish." A very fine aged cake of dark red Virginia with a subtle amount of Perique ... sweet, with stewed fruit overtones ... a fine example of its sort." I would like to think that "Scottish" isn't just any aged red VA/P mix with a sweet casing, but I really don't know.
Inquisitor, 2001-01-02
An English blend which also contains Cavendish. By this definition, Dunhill's 965 is a Scottish blend, not an English.
Russ Ouellette, 2005-08-07
"Scottish" mixtures are reliant upon a high percentage of Virginia tobaccos, either in their pure state, or processed through stoving, panning, pressing, and so on. The Virginias are augmented and enhanced with the addition of small quantities of spice tobaccos. The term probably derives from Rattray's blends, which gained wide acclaim as being the gold standard for this sort of tobacco. (The earliest examples of these tobaccos were all blended and tinned by hand in Rattray's shop. Later, Robert McConnell, arguably the finest blending house in the new world until their closing in the early 1990s, were contracted to produce the range, and for a time, the blends were produced both in Scotland and in England. It's my understanding that only old knife-lid tins were ever produced in Scotland, and that all pull-tops came out of McConnell's factory, but this may not be 100% accurate.)
McConnell produced their own "Scottish Mixture," which was a lovely rubbed-out Virginia with a gentle addition of Latakia. They also produced several of the Garfinkel's blends, including "Scottish Cut Cake," which was a beautiful example of a red VA blend. "Westropa Rough Cut" was another fantastic Garfinkel tobacco produced by McConnell in the "Scottish style."
GL Pease, 2005-08-10
