What Retired Blends Would you Bring Back?
- Thread starter SOG47
- Start date
-State Express Roundels
-Capstan Full flake
-Will's Cut Golden Bar
-Hal O' The Wynd, made in Perth Scotland.
-Players No Name - a beautiful shag cut Virginia in a soldered tin with a cutter in the lid to open the tin. I have only seen one tin, in the 1980s, but I believe it must have been pre-World War II. I still have the tin somewhere. It was a very nice Virginia
-Capstan Full flake
-Will's Cut Golden Bar
-Hal O' The Wynd, made in Perth Scotland.
-Players No Name - a beautiful shag cut Virginia in a soldered tin with a cutter in the lid to open the tin. I have only seen one tin, in the 1980s, but I believe it must have been pre-World War II. I still have the tin somewhere. It was a very nice Virginia
Hell of a find JG. The Owl Shop is in New Haven. I live only 20 mins from there. I wonder if anyone at Yale has any info on it. Don't really know who to call. Maybe there's a historian or someone at the museum there. I've met a person who helped me with the history of Harkness Tower at Yale and Harkness Mansion. But they didn't know about the tobacco.
While we're at it. This tobacco looks like the The Hartford insurance co logo. Stag would be interesting to bring back.
Useless trivia Hartford means the place where deer cross referring to the CT river. Hart is another word for a deer and Ford is from a word that means to cross a body of water.
There could be a whole line of tobaccos with a CT theme.
Useless trivia Hartford means the place where deer cross referring to the CT river. Hart is another word for a deer and Ford is from a word that means to cross a body of water.
There could be a whole line of tobaccos with a CT theme.
Etymology seems right, but probably comes from England. One possibility is Hertford, pronounced "Hartford" by the English. There may be several "Hartfords" in GB as well.
The CT Insurance Co's stag (not Stag!) seems typical of drawings of stags in the late 1800's.
The CT Insurance Co's stag (not Stag!) seems typical of drawings of stags in the late 1800's.
I’ve only been pipe smoking for 4 years so I don’t have much to contribute here. The Carter hall pouches at my local store were nice to have but I’m fine without them. Williams delight and London dock were nice blends from D&R as well.
Four years? Not a problem at all. There are smokers with 20-50 years of smoking experience who are clueless—fortunately very few here.
We have absolute newbies who may contribute a wise bit, an observation, a question.
We have absolute newbies who may contribute a wise bit, an observation, a question.
I am also a relative noob, but from things I've tried or heard about endlessly from others that I trust, I would say:
Sugar Barrel (tried - YUM!)
Kentucky Club Aromatic (the match is delicious)
Edgeworth Slices (heard about ad nauseum)
Sugar Barrel (tried - YUM!)
Kentucky Club Aromatic (the match is delicious)
Edgeworth Slices (heard about ad nauseum)
As far as the history of the shop is concerned that’s covered by the website. As far as what kind of place it is today, you should definitely check it out for yourself since you’re only a short drive away. B&Ms are a dying breed and deserve our support.
If you mean Handsome Dan I don’t know the original constituent tobaccos, although the cut was obviously granule. Philip Morris, which eventually acquired the brand, described it as very similar to Barking Dog, Wakefield English Mixture, and Country Doctor, which suggests that burley, latakia, and possibly Virginias played a role.
The name of the blend, by the way, clearly refers to the then-recently adopted Yale bulldog mascot:
Here is one I wouldn't mind seeing back from the dead - Lloyds Bondman. It was about until the mid to late 1980s in a red packet. I am told by friends that Samual Gawith Birds Eye shag is a fairly good clone but I have never been tempted to find out. It was smoked by my Grandfather on my Mothers side who passed away long before I was born but when I used to smoke it around the house it was one of the few blends I smoked that my Mother never seemed to moan about!!
Why, under what extenuating circumstances, would ANYONE want to recreate ANY Orlik blend??!!
Sadism if the seller, masochism if the buyer.
Perfect resurrection candidate; no one knows how the original tasted, as they are all dead, and no tins extant.
Mclelland Aromatics - Christmas Spirit, Penmans Choice, Pastry, pretty much any of the aros they did - damn good stuff.
@Elric: But somewhere, lurking below the surface in his Mothers basement, surrounded by his pets all preserved in large jars of alcohol will be the one and only expert on this blend. He will have 250 unopened tins of the fecking stuff found walled up in an abandoned Whoopee Cushion Factory in Missouri!
It's probably already been mentioned, but I remember the ever-popular McClelland 5100 Virginia. Everyone who loved Virginias liked it, it seemed, and it was a good mixing tobacco for home blends. I'm a burley smoker first, but I've found some Virginia blends I like, and lately I've been smoking mostly those.
The "it" I referred to was the tobacco not the shop. I've been going to owl shop since 1992. But I can see how I was not specific. My bad. This is really good research. Thank you. I will add it to my collection.
McClelland Blue Mountain - Balkan Blue
Probably my all-time favorite tobacco. Thankfully I still have 6 tins of it in my cellar.
Probably my all-time favorite tobacco. Thankfully I still have 6 tins of it in my cellar.
Well, if it means anything, I'm glad that someone helped bring War Horse back. I wasn't around for the original, but I love what is currently available. A top 5 blend for me easily.
As for a retired blend I'd like to see come back? Hrm...that's tough. I've only been smoking for around 3-4 years or so. I'm typically not big on latakia, but GL Pease's Mephisto blend sounded pretty interesting. I'd be interested in giving it a try if it ever came back (which seems very unlikely).