Branching out with my tobacco tastes, could I get a little help

[boo909]

Hi all, I've basically been smoking Aromatics for years (mainly OTCs) and I thought I'd try something different for a change.

I'm in France and my options are a bit limited, I usually buy at my local tabac but my eyesight is going a bit these days and what with the crappy health warnings I can barely see the brand's behind the counter (and to be honest they don't have a great selection anyway). So I thought I'd try an internet purchase and change things up a bit. I narrowed my purchases down to these, does anyone have any opinions on these tobaccos, I'm not making a horrendous mistake with any of them am I?

DUNHILL ROYAL YACHT
PETERSON IRISH OAK
Ashton Artisan's Blend
DUNHILL NAVY ROLL
Samuel Gawith FULL VIRGINIA FLAKE
Samuel Gawith BALKAN FLAKE

Probably going to grab three or four of these, so if any are better than others or "must buys" that would be good to know. Also any better tobaccos by these makers that I should be looking at?

Thanks very much for any help you can give me.

(I should add I've looked on tobaccoreviews and they seem ok but I value you lot's opinion more)

 

[Enemygod]

The only one you listed that I have experience with is Ashton Artisan's Blend, which is fantastic. It's an English blend and quite different from aromatics however.

If you are interested in English blends then this it's a very good one to try out, but if you don't want to go all in, Captain Black Black Sea is an English/Aromatic hybrid and would be a good baby step in that direction.

Like I said though, if you want to go full force into English then Ashton Artisan's Blend is a good choice. I would also recommend Captain Earles 10 Russians.

 

[Price]

I'm primarily a VA and VA/Per smoker, and have no experience with Ashton Artisan or SG Balkan Flake, although both are generally well regarded. I enjoy the other four blends you have listed, and are all represented in my cellar (VA and VA/Per blends benefit the most from aging, IMO). Royal Yacht and FVF are both exceptional with some age, but they are both on the strong side - may take some getting used to if you primarily smoke aromatics. Irish Oak is a tasty blend, and not too strong. DNR is excellent, and a perfect example of the "coin cut" VA/Per - my personal preference from this family is Escudo, which is very similar to DNR, but plenty of folks do prefer the Dunhill. I'd say, of the group listed, this is probably the closest thing to a no-brainer selection. If you're trying to "broaden your tobacco horizons", my suggestion would be to add one of the two Latakia blends and either the FVF or Royal Yacht (or both, of course), although you really can't go wrong with any of these choices. Find out which style of tobacco might suit your tastes, then branch out from there.

Good luck!

 

[boo909]

The only one you listed that I have experience with is Ashton Artisan's Blend, which is fantastic. It's an English blend and quite different from aromatics however.

If you are interested in English blends then this it's a very good one to try out, but if you don't want to go all in, Captain Black Black Sea is an English/Aromatic hybrid and would be a good baby step in that direction.

Like I said though, if you want to go full force into English then Ashton Artisan's Blend is a good choice. I would also recommend Captain Earles 10 Russians.

Brilliant thanks, very helpful, I had a look at the Captain Blacks as well so that's good to know. At the moment I think I want to go full on with something completely different and if I don't like it work backwards, rather than the other way around so I'll keep the Captain Black's in mind for a future purchase.

 

[boo909]

The only one you listed that I have experience with is Ashton Artisan's Blend, which is fantastic. It's an English blend and quite different from aromatics however.

If you are interested in English blends then this it's a very good one to try out, but if you don't want to go all in, Captain Black Black Sea is an English/Aromatic hybrid and would be a good baby step in that direction.

Like I said though, if you want to go full force into English then Ashton Artisan's Blend is a good choice. I would also recommend Captain Earles 10 Russians.

Ok annoyingly I've had to change my supplier (I emailed a French based one and they said "yeah sure we can deliver to you in France" Went to order, wouldn't work, emailed them again and apparently they made a mistake and they can't, to be honest I was surprised they said yes in the first place, is there any definite timeline on America's invasion of Europe, we could really do with some liberation here ).

Anyway upshot is I'm having to order from the Land of the Free, 4noggins to be exact, Artisan Blend is out of stock, anything similar you'd recommend English-wise, bearing in mind my work backwards not forwards plan?

 

[Enemygod]

Captain Earles Ten Russians for sure! Looks like it's in stock at 4noggins as well.

 

[boo909]

I'm primarily a VA and VA/Per smoker, and have no experience with Ashton Artisan or SG Balkan Flake, although both are generally well regarded. I enjoy the other four blends you have listed, and are all represented in my cellar (VA and VA/Per blends benefit the most from aging, IMO). Royal Yacht and FVF are both exceptional with some age, but they are both on the strong side - may take some getting used to if you primarily smoke aromatics. Irish Oak is a tasty blend, and not too strong. DNR is excellent, and a perfect example of the "coin cut" VA/Per - my personal preference from this family is Escudo, which is very similar to DNR, but plenty of folks do prefer the Dunhill. I'd say, of the group listed, this is probably the closest thing to a no-brainer selection. If you're trying to "broaden your tobacco horizons", my suggestion would be to add one of the two Latakia blends and either the FVF or Royal Yacht (or both, of course), although you really can't go wrong with any of these choices. Find out which style of tobacco might suit your tastes, then branch out from there.

Good luck!

Thanks very much this was incredibly helpful until my plans went a little awry, see above, basically, I'm now having to order from America, 4noggins to be exact, and can get none of my original list, insteadiof DNR I'm going for Escudo, thanks very much for that. Any other substitutes for what I listed you can think of at all? I basically want something very different from aromatics to, as you said, find out what style of tobacco I really like. Obviously if this is a pain in the arse for you (I know it is for me, I thought I'd got this sorted haha) do not worry, you've already helped me out immensly with the Escudo, thanks very much.

 

[boo909]

Captain Earles Ten Russians for sure! Looks like it's in stock at 4noggins as well.

Excellent, thanks so much, it's in my cart now, and wow that is a good price, I was tempted by the 8oz but I may just grab a couple of the 2ozs.

 

[Enemygod]

Since you are branching out I would also suggest Orlik Dark Strong Kentucky so you can give dark fired Kentucky tobaccos a try.

 

[boo909]

Since you are branching out I would also suggest Orlik Dark Strong Kentucky so you can give dark fired Kentucky tobaccos a try.

Excellent that's exactly the sort of advice I need out of stock though unfortunately, I'm looking at 4noggins own tobaccos and some of those look quite interesting grabbing 2oz of 4noggins Britt's Balkan. May look and see if they have a dark fired Kentucky there. Also grabbing 2oz each of Captain Black's Royal, White and Dark (I know they're aromatics but they are dirt cheap).

I really do appreciate your help thanks.

 

[boo909]

There's a Mac Baren Old Dark Fired I may try.

 

[nortac]

Mac Barren ODF is a classic and well liked.

 

[Price]

Thanks very much this was incredibly helpful until my plans went a little awry, see above, basically, I'm now having to order from America, 4noggins to be exact, and can get none of my original list, insteadiof DNR I'm going for Escudo, thanks very much for that. Any other substitutes for what I listed you can think of at all? I basically want something very different from aromatics to, as you said, find out what style of tobacco I really like. Obviously if this is a pain in the arse for you (I know it is for me, I thought I'd got this sorted haha) do not worry, you've already helped me out immensly with the Escudo, thanks very much.

Unfortunately, stock availability tends to be hit or miss everywhere, which is why most of the tobaccos on your list seem to be out at 4noggins (and elsewhere). The one bit of good news is that Peterson Irish Oak has apparently been renamed as "Irish Cask", and is currently available at 4noggins. The tin art looked familiar, so i did a little research and found out that they are indeed the same blend. Dunhill announced a year or so ago that they were getting out of the tobacco business, and all of the Dunhill blends - especially the more popular ones - sold out relatively quickly thereafter. A new blender (Scandinavian Tobacco Group, I believe) has purchased their recipes, so eventually we should see new tins rolling out. (There is a thread about this somewhere.) Gawith blends (FVF in particular, it seems) tend to show up in inventories every few months, then sell out quickly. This is one reason I preach the "buy early, buy often" mantra. FVF and Royal Yacht are both fairly unique, so I'm afraid I can't exactly suggest anything "like" those two, but i can suggest some alternatives. Rattray's Marlin Flake is a dark, flue-cured VA, about the only blend I can think of that is remotely similar in flavor profile to FVF, although it currently appears out of stock as well. Just have to keep your eyes open. G. L. Pease makes some fantastic blends, and he somehow manages to keep up production - a lot of his blends are in stock at 4noggins currently. Fillmore is a personal favorite, but it is also kinda similar to Escudo (although in a different cut) if you're looking for diversity. Sixpence and Navigator are also good alternatives, a little further away on the flavor profile spectrum. Dunhill Royal Yacht is a strong VA blend with a light topping, which gives it a distinctive taste without overpowering the tobacco. Pease has a few blends employing the same principle, and while they definitely don't taste anything like Royal Yacht, they are generally excellent in their own right. Two in particular that I greatly enjoy, and have stocked up on, are Haddo's Delight and Stonehenge Flake. Haddo's is one of my all-time favorite blends, although it does need some age on it before it reaches its potential. He also has quite a large portfolio of English blends, although I'm considerably less knowledgeable on those.

 

[boo909]

Unfortunately, stock availability tends to be hit or miss everywhere, which is why most of the tobaccos on your list seem to be out at 4noggins (and elsewhere). The one bit of good news is that Peterson Irish Oak has apparently been renamed as "Irish Cask", and is currently available at 4noggins. The tin art looked familiar, so i did a little research and found out that they are indeed the same blend. Dunhill announced a year or so ago that they were getting out of the tobacco business, and all of the Dunhill blends - especially the more popular ones - sold out relatively quickly thereafter. A new blender (Scandinavian Tobacco Group, I believe) has purchased their recipes, so eventually we should see new tins rolling out. (There is a thread about this somewhere.) Gawith blends (FVF in particular, it seems) tend to show up in inventories every few months, then sell out quickly. This is one reason I preach the "buy early, buy often" mantra. FVF and Royal Yacht are both fairly unique, so I'm afraid I can't exactly suggest anything "like" those two, but i can suggest some alternatives. G. L. Pease makes some fantastic blends, and he somehow manages to keep up production - a lot of his blends are in stock at 4noggins currently. Fillmore is a personal favorite, but it is also kinda similar to Escudo (although in a different cut) if you're looking for diversity. Sixpence and Navigator are also good alternatives, a little further away on the flavor profile spectrum. Dunhill Royal Yacht is a strong VA blend with a light topping, which gives it a distinctive taste without overpowering the tobacco. Pease has a few blends employing the same principle, and while they definitely don't taste anything like Royal Yacht, they are generally excellent in their own right. Two in particular that I greatly enjoy, and have stocked up on, are Haddo's Delight and Stonehenge Flake. Haddo's is one of my all-time favorite blends, although it does need some age on it before it reaches its potential. He also has quite a large portfolio of English blends, although I'm considerably less knowledgeable on those.

Yes I knew about Dunhill and STG which is why I was quite surprised that the tobaccos were apparently in stock at the original dealer I looked at. This is so incredibly helpful, thank you so much for taking the time, it's going to take a bit of digesting but that gives me a great base to work off of, not just for this order but for future ones too.

 

[boo909]

Mac Barren ODF is a classic and well liked.

Excellent, thanks, that's going in the cart.

 

[Price]

Yes I knew about Dunhill and STG which is why I was quite surprised that the tobaccos were apparently in stock at the original dealer I looked at. This is so incredibly helpful, thank you so much for taking the time, it's going to take a bit of digesting but that gives me a great base to work off of, not just for this order but for future ones too.

Excellent. The hunt is half the fun - you just have to be ready to pounce when the opportunity arises. And keep us posted...once you do hit on something and figure out where your sweet spot lies, we're all more than happy to chime in with some similar suggestions.

 

[oc_in_fw]

There's a Mac Baren Old Dark Fired I may try.

And Pure Virginia, Burley Flake, and Latakia Flake

 

[Price]

And Pure Virginia, Burley Flake, and Latakia Flake

The MacBaren Consultant chimes in...

 

[oc_in_fw]

The MacBaren Consultant chimes in...

One day they will realize my importance.

 

[Riff Raff]

I can help you out a bit with ordering in Europe. There are a couple of sites I go to and both are in Germany. But since you are in the EU, you should have any problems.

Estervals Pipe House is a great place to get tobacco and pipes. Some very high end pipes too if you are looking. Also try Dan Tobacco's site. There are plenty of others, but these are the two that I have used. Super fast shipping. Sometimes you can luck out and get hard to find tobaccos that you can't get in the US.

Happy hunting!