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If You Could Only Smoke Five Blends
thebadgerpiper
Master
in Tobacco Talk
Imagine, if you will, that you're being sent away to live on an isolated island or live at a lighthouse for the rest of your life. You're allowed to bring your pipes and tobacco, but only five blends. You won't have to worry about running out of said blends, but you can only take five.
What do you bring, and why? Do you take a variety of tobaccos so you don't grow bored of a certain type of tobacco? Or do you take your trusty go-to blends?
For me, I'd bring in no particular order:
1) MacBaren Navy Flake
-Navy Flakes are my favorite tobacco, and MacBaren's take is the one I enjoy most.
2) C&D's Exhausted Rooster
-I smoke Exhausted Rooster once a week, and I always look forward to it.
3) G&H's Ennerdale Flake
-I love the floral notes of a Lakeland blend, and Ennerdale Flake is my favorite of the bunch.
4) C&D's Briar Fox
-A crumblecake blend that I never grow bored of.
5) Samuel Gawith's Squadron Leader
-Went with an English blend to round out my selection for variety. While I reach for other blends on a weekly basis, Squadron Leader is my favorite English blend that provides a great smoke and my favorite tin art.
What do you bring, and why? Do you take a variety of tobaccos so you don't grow bored of a certain type of tobacco? Or do you take your trusty go-to blends?
For me, I'd bring in no particular order:
1) MacBaren Navy Flake
-Navy Flakes are my favorite tobacco, and MacBaren's take is the one I enjoy most.
2) C&D's Exhausted Rooster
-I smoke Exhausted Rooster once a week, and I always look forward to it.
3) G&H's Ennerdale Flake
-I love the floral notes of a Lakeland blend, and Ennerdale Flake is my favorite of the bunch.
4) C&D's Briar Fox
-A crumblecake blend that I never grow bored of.
5) Samuel Gawith's Squadron Leader
-Went with an English blend to round out my selection for variety. While I reach for other blends on a weekly basis, Squadron Leader is my favorite English blend that provides a great smoke and my favorite tin art.
Comments
But this is Merica! (said in an old southern voice).
That being said, here are the 5 blends I would have to bring along. (I am not even sure that these 5 are even my solid choice, I would probably need to think on it longer. However, assuming that it would be a split second decision if I ever had to choose 5 blends in an actual situation, these are the 5 I chose)
- Straight red Virginia, this tobacco is sweet, and is a daily smoke for me. I also works great as a palate cleanser in between heavier VaPer blends.
2) Iwan Ries' IRC Slices
- Described by Iwan Ries as flue cured Virginias, and a "whisper of perique". This tobacco is my favorite morning time smoke, similar in profile to perhaps Murray's 1921 Cunningham & Orlik Golden Sliced
3) Dunhill Deluxe Navy Rolls
- Following in the vein of Virginia/Virginia Perique tobaccos. Dunhill Deluxe Navy Rolls are my favorite late afternoon smoke!
4) Esoterica Peacehaven
- I don't know what it is about this tobacco, but once you get 2 years of age on it it develops a deep profile that is almost irresistible. It is a shame this tobacco is so hard to come by.
5) McClelland 2015
- This is a heavy Virginia Perique blend, and by heavy I mean on the perique. It is definitely a tobacco that I find most pleasant in in the late evenings or around the holiday seasons. It is far from an all day smoke, 2 bowls a day of this stuff seems to be all the palate can handle.
2) White Knight (?) -- a Stand-in, in case I relapse to my first life when Balkan Sobranie was my preferred blend.
3) Escudo -- same reason
4) Mrs. Hudson's -- I'd have to mix up a big batch, probably based on pounds rather than ounces.
5) Cousin's Aromatic MIxture -- My Barbados Plantation during the last years of my first pipe life, the one that started around 1964 with OTC's and went on to English/VaPer blends before finding Cousin's Aro. I stopped in Cousin's the last time I was in Cleveland and they were out of what we collectively reasoned might be the modern day version. So, who knows, as they have a large variety of in-house blends, but none exactly named Cousin's Aromatic Blend.
2. Elizabethan Mixture. My go to for flavor complexity, and a nice kick for my light weighted self.
3. Frog Morton Cellar. For the rainy day smokes with some hot tea, and a book.
4. White Rose. Love the honey vanilla flavors without ending up with a goopy pipe the way I do with 1q or molto dolce.
5. Full Virginia Flake. The only tobacco I've had aged. The smoking equivalent to a rare steak.
Pretty tough one to narrow down to only five blends. Unfortunately the five I selected have much of the same flavor profile so I'm sure I'd get burned out after several months on the island smoking only these five blends, and before long would be craving Barbados Plantation, Captain Black Royal, Sutliff Pumpkin Spice Christmas Spice, Russ' other blends Snow Drift, Spring Training and Candy Corn as well as the occasional bowl of Carter Hall or Captain Black "Black Sea" when I'm not craving sweets. But here are the five picks I narrowed it down to:
Russ' Monthly Blend "Warm Up" (One of my favorite blend's from Russ' Monthly Collection.)
East India Trading Company "Officer's Club" (Can't seem to get enough of the stuff.)
Mrs. Hudson's 221B Bakery Blend (my own concoction containing Sutliff favorites Vanliia Custard/Chocolate Mousse/Crème Brulee)
Sutliff Motlo Dolce
Sutliff Rum And Maple or Sutliff Maple Walnut (a toss up)
Back in the day I smoked somebody's Rum and Maple and also something called Mapleton (maybe?).
IYHO is Sutliff R&M better than BP? I'd have to try again it on your recommendation.
Newminster Luxury Rounds
Lane 1Q
Carter Hall
McClellands 5110
Prince Albert
Dunhill London Mixture
Dunhill Early Morning Pipe
Orlik Golden Sliced
Frog Morton’s Cellar
Dunhill Elizabethan Mixture
MM American Patriot
Barbados Plantation
Only 5 blends? What a death sentence for the palate. Considering that my top 5 favorite blends, most likely will not be my top five favorite blends, 5 years from now, I will make an attempt to answer the question.
Since no restrictions were made on age of tobacco, this will definitely influence my choices.
McCranies Red Flake (minimum of 20 years of age)
McClelland Christmas Cheer (minimum of 20 years of age)
G.L. Pease Embacardo (minimum 20 years of age)
Samuel Gawith Full Virginia Flake (minimum 20 years of age)
McClelland Blackwoods Flake (minimum 20 years of age)
Yes, I too am disappointed that there are none of my favorite Latakia blends on the list, but if I can smoke an unlimited supply of premium aged Virginias, I will forgo the Lat blends and Aros. Were I allowed more than 5 blends, I would definitely have some MacBaren Vintage Syrian, Dunhill Royal Yacht, G.L.Pease Sixpence, McClellands Anniversary Blend, Cornell and Diehl Billy Budd, Rattray's Hal O' the Wynd, MacBaren Old Dark Fired, G.L.Pease JackKnife Plug, Esoterica Penzance, G.L. Pease Samarra, Grand Orientals Drama Reserve, etc.
The appertif
Proper English
Prince Albert
Elizabethan mixture
That was tough, trimming it to just 5 isn't as easy as I thought it would be!
Lane-BCA
Pipe Dan-Devil's Holiday
Samuel Gawith-Cabbie's Mixture
Rattray's-Exotic Orange
Planta-Anno MMXV (2015) Brazillian Mixture
Cheating here, "break'n the rules". To use a D&D reference, I have a neutral-good alignment, so it's ok.
Here are some others I enjoy, and I might swich out some of the favorites...too close to call.
Lane-RLP6
Samuel Gawith-Black XX rope
Vauen-Black Pepper
W.O. Larsen-Signature
Newminster-No. 400 Superior Navy Flake
For those of you who don't know, D&D is Dungeons & Dragons....an (RPG) I use to participate in 25-35 years ago (on paper only). We didn't get costumed up and go batshit crazy or anything, just played a social game where you have to think.
@RockyMountainBriar Never played D&D, but I'm very familiar with the systems, since I play a ton of computer RPGs. Hopefully if the time ever came for picking your blends, you'd get a saving roll and add your other favorites.
Mac Baren Old Dark Fired
H&H Blackhouse
GLP Quiet Nights
Gawith Full Virginia Flake
Carter Hall
Lane Vanilla Black Cavendish
Lane Dark Red
Sutliff Vanilla Custard (yes) I like it that much
2. Orlik Golden Sliced
3. Lane 1Q/BCA 50/50 mixture
4. Dunhill My Mixture 965
5. Dunhill Royal Yacht
Top 5 in my current rotation.