Escudo Topped

[RDPipes]

No sir. But, that wouldn't explain why the tin from January is just fine and the recent tin tasted horrible. That and AB who started the thread has tasted differences in it also.
We may all be created equal but, as you well know that doesn't count for everything, including sensitivity in the way of taste, smell, hearing, etc. I think there lies the difference.
I always been able to smell and hear things others didn't or better. No not voices, not all the time anyway LOL!
And that someone else has detected something amiss helps confirm it for me. That's my only explanation, and I'm sticking with it.8) 

 

[RDPipes]

Pease says Acadian is better; I dunno. But no, this change, IMO, has nothing to do with the Perique. You can smell and taste the topping. Escudo is still Escudo but now not really. They've taken a more or less natural tobacco and funnied it up.

When we were talking about the degeneration of 3Nuns a few weeks ago Pease said that the tobacco companies have their gross manipulations well thought out. The older guys who had the fine VA curlies, the first 3Nuns, are dying out. The new generation won't lament the take-downs as they never smoked the original, and the name 3Nuns will get them to spend the money. When it became available in the States a few weeks ago Smokingpipes was running their banner ad on their site to plug it.

It just sucks all around, but STG and their ilk keep making the money. Ef'ing troglodytes.

I just realized that you mentioned Arcadian, which may I ask sir, there are several makers it seems.

 

[Kapnismologist]

decoding Escudo date codes

This page displays the different labels mentioned in my earlier post.

As I recall, I noticed the change in flavor when the new STG label hit (in 2009). I still have a few tins from that year, which I decided not to open up and smoke because of the change (instead, I went with Dunhill DNR, even through around that time it had to come from Europe).

The funny thing is I do not think the location of production changed. That is,  both the old label and new label tins were/are produced at the factory in Assens. Orlik, and consequently the Assens factory, became a wholly owned subsidiary of STG in late 2008, and then the latter started to make labeling changes and such. Again, the funny thing is that Dunhill DNR is made in the same factory and I never noticed a change in the recent past as I did with the Escudo (granted that before DNR became available in the US my tins came from European retailers, but I never noticed a difference between those tins and the ones that started becoming available on this side of the pond in 2011).[/quote]

 

[Kapnismologist]

One more item:

As for the dating of Orlik/STG tins (i.e., anything made at the Assens factory and intended for distribution in the US), the dating scheme mentioned above regarding the long and short string of numbers on either side of the barcode is the one which we used to used to date pre-post Murry's Dunhill tins during the overlap time when old stock enameled tin lids from Murray's were being used by the factory in Denmark before they switched over to paper labels. This, because everything was being imported by Lane and there was no other way to tell.

The interpretation may be incorrect, but I have yet to hear another explanation for the numbers which makes sense.

If only all contemporary PT manufacturers would clearly date their tins like McClelland, C&D, Mac Baren (and a few others do)!

 

[keen smoke]

I just opened a tin of Escudo purchased on May 26th 2013 from Smoking pipes, it was part of a 40 tin Escudo order, with a date code that reads 1210064519, so it is one of the latest batches. I have been smoking Escudo since 2000, I still have tins from  01, 08, 2010  2011 and 2012. I cannot detect any casings or anything abnormal on this most recent tin. It looks the same, tastes the same and I still love smoking it.  It has the normal spicy sweet, peppery flavors that I expect from this blend. There are definitely no off putting flavors that I can detect. I am smoking it in a Rad Davis Dublin  that is dedicated to Escudo and Solani 633.

Thanks for the report - glad to hear it hasn't changed.

 

[alfredo_buscatti]

I opened a tin of Dunhill DeLuxe Navy Rolls and smelled it side by side with the tin of Escudo I'd been smoking. The Navy Rolls smelled like Escudo used to smell, a pungent, full VA/Perique. Then I smelled the Escudo, and then back and forth. I'd say that the N. Rolls are not topped.
I'm going to be smoking a few bowls of the N. Rolls to verify, but taste quite usually follows smell.

If I don't post again you can assume that I feel the N. Rolls are not topped.

They were also sliced about twice as thick as the Escudo and were moist enough such that I felt the need to dry them down, both of which make me feel they are blended and/or produced differently.

 

[cigrmaster]

Alfred, I think the NR is a sweeter blend than Escudo and the last tin I opened, I compared the size of the discs to Escudo and found them to be smaller and thicker. I reach for the NR when I am in the mood for something not quite as peppery as Escudo. They are very similar but I can notice a difference.

I have also found that the NR has always come at a moisture level that requires some drying time where Escudo I can normally smoke right out of the tin. I believe they are two different blends and I am sticking to my theory.

 

[Fr_Tom]

I have only bought one tin of Escudo. It has the 121006 digits starting the string to the left of the bar code. I have not dared to say this on BoB until now, but I was disappointed. I decided I must have gotten a bad batch or maybe it was overrated. It is a partial can now just lingering/aging in my plastic storage bin. I got OGS and Bullseye Flake at the same time and found those to be quite good.

Perhaps I got a late June tin that is one of the problematic ones?

 

[RDPipes]

Alfred, I think the NR is a sweeter blend than Escudo and the last tin I opened, I compared the size of the discs to Escudo and found them to be  smaller and thicker. I reach for the NR  when I am in the mood for something not quite as peppery as Escudo.  They are very similar but I can notice a difference.

I have also found that the NR has always come at a moisture level that requires some drying time where Escudo I can normally smoke right out of the tin. I believe they are two different blends and I am sticking to my theory.

I agree that DNR and Escudo are not the same, as far as DNR being sweeter, well it's been awhile since I've had some so..... But, I do remember I didn't care for it as much as Escudo.

I have some Esoterica blends on back order and hopefully I'll find I like those. If not, the great search for something to replace Escudo begins.

 

[alfredo_buscatti]

Tom, no, if you go back to Kapsimologist's post on page 3, and Kap is a practiced smoker, he says the blend changed in 2009 when our good friends STG bought Orlik.

 

[Kapnismologist]

Tom, no, if you go back to Kapsimologist's post on page 3, and Kap is a practiced smoker, he says the blend changed in 2009 when our good friends STG bought Orlik.

I appreciate the confidence, but would caution that this is just my limited experience based on a few batches of tins I acquired around that time, compared with what I had been smoking before the full acquisition of Orlik by STG and the consequent label change. It could have certainly been a one-off production issue or an issue with a series of batches or such like, which has since resolved itself. Who knows.

The only thing I could think to do would be to compare side-by-side a series of tins produced between 2007 to the present.

All I know, is that after the experience with the taste change with the new label tins, I stopped cellaring and smoking Escudo (I will buy the older pre-STG label tins when I find them) and switched to cellaring and smoking DNR.

 

[alfredo_buscatti]

I just smoked my first bowl of the N. Rolls, bought in 11/2012; what I regard as the topped Escudo I bought in 10/2012.

There is certainly a difference, but further bowls of the N. Rolls are forthcoming so as to affirm what I feel I tasted. Though they have plenty of perique, I'm thinking that Escudo has more, perhaps 5-8%. I could also that Escudo is more defined and that that is one of its primary characteristics; the Virginia and perique, though melded, seem to stand out more distinctly while the N. Rolls, a big, bold, blend, is more diffuse.

Also today's Escudo is significantly stronger than it used to be. I like that but it is different.

 

[alfredo_buscatti]

I've smoked two more bowls of the Navy Rolls and find it, again, to be a big and bold VA/Perique that is better integrated than Escudo. The tobacco has less nicotine than the current Escudo. Definitely a winner in this category but pricy, $13.XX/tin; that's over $130.00/pound, which for me puts it in the smoke no more than a tin a year category.

 

[cigrmaster]

Alfred, interesting take on the NR, I agree with you. Also you should keep your eyes open for sales on NR. My last order I paid 8.39 per tin on a 20 tin order from P&C. They were having a buy three get one free deal. I also got it for 9.56 a tin when SP was having a 20% off Dunhill sale. At these prices I can justify loading up on it, but not at it's regular price. My last order of 20 tins worked out to 75.00 a pound which is not bad for a tinned tobacco.

 

[Anonymous]

So grateful for my plebeian tastes.  I love the Peter Stokebye flakes.  LNF is my all day every day tobacco.  At around $40, you get a 1.5# box.  It got the right mix for a VaPer for me.  The Lux Twist is a Va and a bit sweeter than perfect to me.  But it a nice changeup.  The Bull's eye has a cav center; been a while since I have had that and should revisit.  Recall a nice level of Per and a pleasant smoothness.

I have 6 boxes of LNF sitting unopened.  I have always found it consistent with decent moisture on opening and, for me anyway, the Perique is just right.  At 4noggins with the BoB discount, the LNF is $36 for 24oz or $1.50/oz.

If you want to pay more, Iwan Ries sell the LNF as a private label for 60/box.

 

[cigrmaster]

Jken, I have all three of the PS flakes but can not smoke them any more. The amount of red virginia's in them bite me to the point of it being uncomfortable to smoke( no where near as bad a bite as I get from 5100 Red cake, but enough). I really enjoy the flavors and I used to be able to smoke them but my body chemistry has changed for the worse over the years and alas they are a no go. They are without a doubt the best deal on flakes out there. Luckily my oldest son likes them and he has been enjoying smoking all my aged stock of those three.

 

[Fr_Tom]

I was smoking Bullseye flake as I read this and could not help responding. It is quite good to me...

 

[alfredo_buscatti]

I've only tried the LNF, but for me it's just so so. I should give it a try again. I had 2 ozs of the L. Bullseye but sold it.

 

[cigrmaster]

P&C is running a buy 3 get one free on Navy Rolls, good time to load up.

 

[RDPipes]

P&C is running a buy 3 get one free on Navy Rolls, good time to load up.

They must have dropped the sale, I just looked and nothing. And at $13.45 a tin there one of the highest.
P&C Pipes and Cigars right?