What to smoke next? A survey.

[Butter Side Down]

I've had too much open for a while so I made a resolution to finish off three things I had open before cracking open a new tin. I finally got there today by finishing off Chelsea Morning, Star of the East, and Balkan Supreme.

I'm undecided what to try next, so I'm opening it up to you guys to make the call.

In the category of medium Latakia blends, what should I open next?

Options are:

1. H&H Black house (never had it).
2. Esoterica Margate (tried it 10+ years ago and don't remember it very well).
3. Solani 779 (never had it).
4. GLP Westminster (tried it 8+ years ago and don't remember it very well).

I'll leave it open for a few days and open whatever gets the most votes.

 

[Bbailey324]

Black House and Westminster are both favorites of mine. I vote Black House since you haven't tried it before.

Not a big fan of Margate and have never had 779.

 

[Brad H]

+1 black house

 

[jttnk]

I haven’t had Black House in a few years, but I recall liking it. I finished the tin/jar and I have a lot of open/resting jars, so I must have really liked it.

 

[tschiraldi]

Margate and Black House!

 

[anthonyrosenthal74]

Black House. It's a true favorite of mine.

 

[Brad H]

I do like some pembroke. Not sure how people compare it to Margate though.

 

[Sigmund]

I havent had that one but Id try the GLP. He is the lat master

 

[johnnyflake]

Black House!

 

[The Benedictine]

Black House

 

[Butter Side Down]

Well, this is somewhat embarrassing. Due to a clerical error on my cellar spreadsheet -- made no doubt by my bumbling and incompetent secretary (me) -- when I went to the closet to pull out the tin of Black House this morning, I discovered that what I have is in fact White Knight, and not Black House.

An irritating oversight, and I assure you that my secretary is on his final warning, but as Black House was meant to recreate Balkan Sobranie 759, and White Knight was meant to recreate Balkan Sobranie Original Smoking Mixture, I am just going to proceed with White Knight and try to make the best of it.

 

[Butter Side Down]

It's open:

Opening A Tin? Show Us! :: Pipe Tobacco Discussion

Holey Tin, Batman! Was digging through the tubs that constitute my cellar over the weekend, and found this gift from years past. Started looking at it and found it to be rusty. Decided I should open it and jar it if it was to have any hope of being offered to the flame. Poured out the contents...

pipesmagazine.com

And it's lit:

***What Are You Smoking, March 2025?*** :: Pipe Tobacco Discussion

Enjoying this thing called “heat” this morning now that the new furnace is in place. Mighty pricy but that’s why you build a house fund. Anyways having some PS Cube Cut burly in a Grabow with coffee ☕️

pipesmagazine.com

I've not had the pleasure of having BSOSM before, so I can't say how well this does at recreating it, but I will say that so far this is very nice. It does remind me a good deal of GLP Kensington which I smoked quite a few tins of before Skiff Mixture captured the mild to medium Lat mixture spot in my rotation.

 

[johnnyflake]

Considering the circumstances, I will change my recommendation to White Knight, a truly fine smoke!

 

[Butter Side Down]

Three bowls in now. Feelings are still pretty positive. One more random observation that will probably only mean anything to a few of the old timers... There's something in this that reminds me of the old Syrian version of Gordon Pym. Can't put my finger on what it is, but it's there.

 

[Brad H]

Well, this is somewhat embarrassing. Due to a clerical error on my cellar spreadsheet -- made no doubt by my bumbling and incompetent secretary (me) -- when I went to the closet to pull out the tin of Black House this morning, I discovered that what I have is in fact White Knight, and not Black House.

An irritating oversight, and I assure you that my secretary is on his final warning, but as Black House was meant to recreate Balkan Sobranie 759, and White Knight was meant to recreate Balkan Sobranie Original Smoking Mixture, I am just going to proceed with White Knight and try to make the best of it.

So our votes didn't matter.....
I call for a re-election run

 

[metalheadycigarguy]

The 3 you finished off are all very good tobacco's that I smoke regularly except the Chelsea Morning. I need to buy more of that. Of the options to open, I would have gone with either Margate or White Knight. Margate to me is the epitome of an English tobacco. One of my absolute favorite blends.

I see you went with White Knight, which is a solid blend and another one that I enjoy a lot.

 

[verporchting]

White Knight is in the same zip code; I’d do that. Please report on the situation post opening/smoking.

 

[Butter Side Down]

Slowly working my way through it.

I had four bowls on the first day which is pretty unusual for me so it's safe to say that I'm enjoying it more than most blends.

I doubt it will displace anything that's currently at the top for me (Skiff Mixture, Meridian, Chelsea Morning, Dan London Blend 1000), but it's solid good and different enough from all of those to be a nice change of pace.

 

[gord]

Actually, nothing. Until these wild tobacco prices settle down with the current madness going on (my final tobacco purchase of this ilk was a package of Mr B's (Brigham) English Mix, which cost me $96.00 including the new "tax" at our one and only tobacco outlet in Prince George), I'm going to try nothing else. I've got enough variety in my current stash to last me 3 or 4 years at my current smoking rate, and I doubt that, at age 74 in April, given the same madness going on in our world, that I'll last that long.

This tobacco, along with Bengal Slices, which is also in this group, suits me just fine with their excellent Lat - Oriental - retuglar tobacco integration. Got too many other tobaccos in my collection I don't know well enough.

 

[rakovsky]

Options are:

1. H&H Black house (never had it).
2. Esoterica Margate (tried it 10+ years ago and don't remember it very well).
3. Solani 779 (never had it).
4. GLP Westminster (tried it 8+ years ago and don't remember it very well).

I'll leave it open for a few days and open whatever gets the most votes.

I think Margate smells so amazing and special as a room note that it's worth trying for the unique experience compared to other blends.