Tobacco What and Why?

[AJ]

What is your absolute without a doubt favorite blend and why? We all know you wouldn't be smoking it if it didn't taste good, so please give more detail. Is it the complexity, soothness, nicotine level, creaminess, sourness, sweetness, type of tobacco within, or some other reason? Maybe it brings back a favorite memory for you. If it does please share it with everybody.

Here's mine: McClelland's Tudor Castle. No struggle here in making this decision. Sweet stoved Red Virginias are my weakness. It's tangy, sweet, slightly spicy and can be used in just about any blend to enhance the taste. Being a flake tobacco, rubbing it out allows the full richness of the Red Virginias to shine. It's the major player in Tudor Castle. Its sweetness stands head and shoulders above everything else and I've never made it a secret how much I like a sweet blend. The way the top quality Louisiana Perique is blended adds just a bit of spiciness but a lot more sweetness in the way of the plum and raisin cocktail usually associted with a great Perique. TC also has enough Yenidje to make this blend stand tall among all other blends. The Yenidje adds a touch of sourness which gives the blend an Asian sweet and sour taste plus a some smokiness. TC is never harsh, won't bite, and all the ingredients are perfectly balanced to give this blend the complexity that's very rewarding when one smokes it slowly and looks for all the subtle nuances the blend offers. Tudor Castle is the blend I smoke when I want to celebrate an event or special occasion. Oh did  I mention how much better it gets as it ages? When aged the taste is so good it almost brings tears to my eyes.

AJ

 

[Hermit]

Hamborger Veermaster.

It's easier to pick a favorite than a top five;
I'd have ten contenders for fifth place.   :lol:

 

[AJ]

Hamborger Veermaster.

It's easier to pick a favorite than a top five;
I'd have ten contenders for fifth place.   :lol:

I agree. It is easier to pick a favorite but why is it your favorite? Other than taste what makes it special?

AJ

 

[Lonecoyote]

Even though I can easily pick my top 5 favorite blends with absolutely no trouble , I also have no trouble picking an all time favorite that I could not live without. Maybe that's why there is just over 18 lbs. of this marvelous blend aging right now in Mason jars. Some might have guessed by my posts in " What are you Smoking ". So, does anybody remember???
 Well of coarse it's John Patton's Storm Front, basically because it has two of my favorite tobacco's blended to " SPLENDICITY " ( my very own word that best describes this blend ) with the finest Burley and the right touch of the finest cigar leaf available. You get to taste natural tobacco's at its best with NO added toppings/flavorings, and that's according to the blender, I've asked.
 JPSF smokes wonderful also when fresh, but needs a bit of rest in a tobacco tray due to ( I find ) the moisture level being a little high with no aging. With just one year of aging in a Mason jar, you Burley lovers will understand immediately what I mean, much more complex!! If you have the patience JPSF is STUPENDOUS with 5 plus years of aging. I enjoy this blend so much, once I open a quart size Mason jar to smoke I write down " order another pound of JPSF, I'm that damn anal retentive that this blend one day will be discontinued , like John Patton's Forgotten Memories, which I do have some in the cellar.  Only 9 of John's blends are still available today. I would be devastated if for some reason any of his remaining blends are no longer available   Yup, it would be a SAD DAY for me indeed.  
 Now I can describe why this is my favorite blend: it's molasses like flavor/sweetness, the nutty rich flavor that hits my tongue and palate, nice earthy flavor and aroma from the cigar leaf that will give you CLOUDS of smoke. This blend will NOT bite when pushed and never any harshness. Just a simple tasty smoke to the bottom of the bowl, and again: with NO toppings what so ever....I had too ask the blender also because the overall flavor is superb. It's a Burley blend with complexity especially with the proper aging.
 If your a Burley type of smoker like myself,  this blend is a MUST try for you!! For me it's a repeatable smoke of the day and could be an ALL DAY smoke for me as well. I find it too have just a slight medium NIC hit that will not knock you off your feet. In about 10 minutes I will be enjoying another bowl of this outstanding tasty blend.

PS
 Two of my top five favorite blends are from John Patton, which are solely available from 4Noggins. Excellent customer service!!



KEEP ON PUFFING!!!

 

[Carlos]

Samuel Gawith Bracken Flake.

It used to be GL Pease Renaissance. Which I love for it's woody, leathery tastes. Bracken Flake, in it's variations, always had strength. And a hard to describe taste. Not the soapy and floral that so many people automatically assume that all British blends must have. This was unusual and melded well with the tobaccos used.

I think I did good to obtain the last available from an online retailer when the distributer stopped importing it. And I think it is no longer made. Thirty one tins. And it all got smoked up along with all I had in tins, and had jarred. I really developed a taste for it, and it was gone basically in one winter and early spring.

I still have lots of Renaissance.

 

[Richard Burley]

Half and Half, as it once was. I grew up with everyone around me smoking it, so I associate it with what a pipe should smell like. I suppose today's younger people (I'm talkin' "civilians" here) would think vanilla-scented Captain Black types of tobacco are what a pipe should smell like, but not me. H & H had a very distinctive smell, one that would not only ghost your pipe, but anything the smoke touched. I used to run a 988 Caterpillar loader in my youth; when you entered the cab in the mornings, overriding the diesel reek was the scent of good ol' Half and Half from the previous day. Made it feel "homey."

Today, I kinda sorta get the same vibe from MacBaren's Scottish Mixture, or whatever it's now called. I buy it by the pound. I can't think of another blend that evokes this pure pipe aura (in my mind, not necessarily yours), although Revelation clones come close. When I light it up, it tastes unequivocally like a pipe, not a cigarette, cigar, or campfire. Yes, to be an absolute favorite, I require a touch of topping. So sue me.

 

[hobie1dog]

Penzance- like the woman who had you from the very first glance.  The first couple of puffs made me realize that I would never enjoy Aromatics again. The epitome of richness, sending you back on a previous life experience to Scotland wearing a flat cap, sitting on an ancient rock watching sheep safely graze below you. Always a very cool smoke, zero bite. All the descriptions on tobacco reviews.com do justice using, plum, oily, Piet bog, figs, etc.
 But mainly it's so much different than all the thousand of burley/Va blends based blends without the artificial Aromatic taste that is gone 1/2 way down the bowl. I even like the last 1/3 of the bowl as it changes to the ash section. Similar to the taste of having your campfire marshmallow hit the ash before you let it melt in your mouth.
 Since we are all nothing more than biological organisms, we all have very slightly different tastes, so of all the blends I've tried so far, this is it. I hope to find another blend soon that I will like just as much, just to have two big jars of each sitting there to choose from.

Richard- thanks for sharing the picture with us.

 

[Richard Burley]

...Since we are all nothing more than biological organisms, we all have very slightly different tastes...

:lol: Indeed. In spades. I threw away my last couple ounces of Penzance. Couldn't finish the 8 oz. bag. Much prefer regular Frogmorton. Fresher taste or something.

 

[Slowroll]

Well, I have to answer ambiguously. I'm still searching for a favourite after my return to pipes and the demise of Balkan Sobranie. My contenders are C&D Byzantium, Gawith Skiff & squadron leader, C&D Engine 99, McB Vintage Syrian, And H&H White Knight. Peter stokkebye English oriental Supreme up there too. Can I have more than one favorite? :fpalm: all these for the same reason: nutty latakia with oriental herbiness and subtle spice with the ubiquitous camp fire, and gales of creamy smoke.

 

[MisterE]

I'd say PS LBF for me. It hits the spot any time of the day. Why? Cuz I likes it. :mrgreen:

What was Yak always saying? De gustibus non est disputandum. That.

 

[Lonecoyote]

I'd say PS LBF for me. It hits the spot any time of the day. Why? Cuz I likes it.

That's an excellent choice, especially with some aging!! Also one of my top ten favorites.



KEEP ON PUFFING!!!

 

[Fazby]

Oh, hell. I can't even pick a favorite manufacturer. Probably either Rattray (HOTW or OG) or McClelland (several), but Veermaster was mentioned...

Sorry. What was the question again?

 

[ftrplt]

I sincerely regret that I cannot answer this question!! I've never been able to do so since the demise of the original BS 759!!! If it were still made, Dunhill Standard Full would be near the top of my list!! The other challenge for me is that I have so many tins (200+) acquired over the years that I haven't even tried yet!!! I'm still wading thru jars and open tins I'm trying to finish!! No can do just one!!

BTW...AJ, you mentioned "Tudor Castle." Got me to looking in the back of the ol' cellar! I have four tins, one from 2009; three from 2008!! Really got to pop one of those sometime!! Not to mention my collection of Bob Hamlin's wonderful PCCA tobaccos!! I have some Syrian Star and Cyprian Star (I's and II's) from the 1990's. I'm gettin' older and fallin' behind on my smoking!!! :cheers: FTRPLT

 

[hobie1dog]

...Since we are all nothing more than biological organisms, we all have very slightly different tastes...

:lol: Indeed. In spades. I threw away my last couple ounces of Penzance. Couldn't finish the 8 oz. bag. Much prefer regular Frogmorton. Fresher taste or something.

Now that's funny, as I gave away my tin of FMOTT at the last pipe meeting.

 

[SpeedyPete]

Peterson Irish Oak

I like it because, for me, it's got one unique taste...I can't compare it with anything else. Sweet the way I love my tobacco, smooth as silk, soft as a baby's bottom, nice room note, easy to light and keep lit. No tongue bite, I can smoke it all day long.

Also, I've been a cigar smoker for many years until our weak Rand made it impossible for me to afford it anymore. When I let the smoke from a fresh bowl of IO crawl ever so slowly through my nose, it is PURE cigar, heavenly, cigar smokers bliss.

The funny thing about this baccy is that I did not like it at all when I first tried it :lol: A friend recommended it and I bought it without hesitation because we normally loved the same blends. So, I thought, I will just finish the tin and that's it. But before I hit the bottom of the tin, I had another 6 tins ready That was many years ago and I've never been without this sweetheart of mine ever since.

 

[ftrplt]

Uhh...Hmmmm!! The next time any of you wish to "ditch" your Penzance or FMOTT; I will more than willingly sacrifice myself to give it a good home :cheers: FTRPLT

 

[Brewdude]

Like many here it's difficult to pick a #1 favourite. But based on consumption it would have to be, hands down, McC 2015. Being as I'm primarily a VA/VaPer guy this fills the bill for me all the time. Guess it could be a desert island blend.

Why? Well, it runs all the bases for me - red 'ginny sweetness and it's tang, coupled with the funkiness/fig/pepper of the p-weed. And while the version I'm enjoying has 15% added Perique, I've enjoyed straight 2015 and find little difference. So it's all good.

My close runner up would be McC 5100. Red 'ginnys at their peak of flavour.

Yes, there is also McC Xmas Cheer and McCrainie's Red Ribbon for obvious reasons. But I'll stop here!

:bom:


Cheers,

RR

 

[Lonecoyote]

McCrainie's Red Ribbon

You mention this fine red ribbon blend and I recently tried a sample from the 2008 crop. All I can say is I really enjoyed the deep rich sweet, and I mean sweet fruit taste, natural with no chemical like overtones. Needs a bit of drying time in a tobacco tray. Only one re-light and burned to a soft ash to the bottom of the bowl.
I also know this fine red ribbon from McCrainie's of NC is Don Warrens favorite tobacco, and I can easily see why.
The crop year that's available now from McCrainie's is from 2011, buy a tin to enjoy right away and a few more to age. No ketchup taste/aroma with this red ribbon from NC.



KEEP ON PUFFING!!!

 

[Ozark Wizard]

I, uh..... well,,,,,,,,,, just one? Ummm..... hmph.......

I guess what flows through my pipe most often is PS LBF. Favourite though, well, What I seem to burn to ash, really down, is either Pebble Castle, Marlin Flake, or St. James Flake. Others I can tap out without finishing. But not those. Dark, brooding, sweet, with a bit of zing at the back of the tongue just tickles me.

 

[monbla256]

I grew up putting ketchup on everything and I like it in my 'baccy! :twisted: After the first 20 years of being a Lat -o-phile It's McC's red Vas for me and the one I smoke the most of is their 5100 RC. :twisted: