On Sunday afternoon, I went to my local smoke shop. They had Penzance. I heard good things but had never smoked any. Bought 2 ounces and on yesterday decided to try it out. This stuff is fantastic!!! I went back today and there was none left. Researching it, I find that this stuff is RARE. No one has it, and no one knows when they will. I'm thinking now that I need to find something that taste kinda like Penzance, but is more available.
Just discovered Penzance
- Thread starter PreachTheWord
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SPC Plum Pudding scratches some parts of that itch, but there's nothing quite like Penzance.
You can also try GL Pease Quiet Nights, it has the same vibe as well.
Shouldn’t have bought a tin. Better to have been blissfully ignorant about it 
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Lots of good blends are out there, but if you really like it I would spend the time to track it down and build up the cellar. Might take a few years but imagine having a couple pounds of Penzance in 2023 to smoke vs a couple pounds of something else.
.Lots of good blends are out there, but if you really like it I would spend the time to track it down and build up the cellar. Might take a few years but imagine having a couple pounds of Penzance in 2023 to smoke vs a couple pounds of something else.
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That is the conclusion I have reached. I'm good with my local shop so they will call when they get some and I'm on a lot of "notify me" list for online vendors.
Hirsute
Used to have fun with Commander Yellow Pantyhose
Penzance and other Esoterica blends usually drop twice a year. One just happened, and the other is usually in April or May.
Years ago I traded some Condor for an 8oz bag of 2007 Penzance. I split it evenly 50/50 in into a glass jar and a glass humidor - then I stopped smoking for quite a while.
So my project for 2022 is to revive the stuff from the humidor or failing that, to burn it on my barbecue to celebrate my stupidity for letting it go to waste.
So my project for 2022 is to revive the stuff from the humidor or failing that, to burn it on my barbecue to celebrate my stupidity for letting it go to waste.
I just came from a local shop and they had "And so to bed", "Pembroke", and "Tilbury" - no "Penzance".
And so to bed is probably my favorite esoterica
Never had any of them. Wouldn't even have noticed if it weren't for this thread!
Esoterica Penzance and Stonehaven are both perfect and unmatched blends, and unfortunately are made in small batches exclusively for export to the US. There is no close alternative to Penzance, but at least Stonehaven is virtually identical to Esoterica Rich Dark Flake, which is readily available in the UK (or at least it was when I was buying it).
Luckily, the best tobacco blends of all - Erinmore Flake and Condor Long Cut - are cheap and always available. Just like the fabled Balkan Sobranie was, which everyone took for granted until suddenly it was gone forever. I think the moral is that we should value the great stuff we can get, not just the great stuff we can’t.
Luckily, the best tobacco blends of all - Erinmore Flake and Condor Long Cut - are cheap and always available. Just like the fabled Balkan Sobranie was, which everyone took for granted until suddenly it was gone forever. I think the moral is that we should value the great stuff we can get, not just the great stuff we can’t.
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Knowledge is sometimes a dangerous thing. Especially to the pocket lol.
In all seriousness it’s really fun trying to track down tobacco you want to try.
In all seriousness it’s really fun trying to track down tobacco you want to try.
Yes, it is. And Penzance and Stonehaven are absolutely worth the chase.
Few things in life are as worthwhile as really great tobacco. The modern world, the British Empire, the USA were all built on the trade of tobacco. Virginia tobacco was the world’s first global currency. Tobacco has captivated mankind for centuries and changed the world. That’s how important this stuff is.
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And so to bed and Dunbar were the two I cellared deeply. Dorchester is a distant third.
Germain's 1820 Flake is supposed to be the UK version of Penzance.
Not that I'm going to compete with any of you to find some of this stuff. But what is it *like* to smoke? The listing on Tobaccopipes says, "This heavily guarded secret recipe includes certain variations of Virginia, and a precise addition of Latakia, Turkish, and other Oriental tobacco." Is it something like other Englishes like Squadron Leader?
JCinPA
The Lather Maestro
@Benzadmiral Boy, it's been decades since I've had any, I used to smoke this in my college days before falling away from the pipe, but I remember being transported when I smoked it. It's heavenly. It's what I would call a heavy English, rather than a light one like Prebyterian Mixture or Early Morning Pipe, and it leans oriental.
Some reading I've done lately after a search indicates G. L. Pease Quiet Nights is a good alternative to it, but you want to try to land some of the real thing, if you like heavy English blends, that is. Don't smoke it around others, their gripes will ruin your enjoyment. As I recall it was my favorite smoke in college, by far. Find a warm, still night to have this alone on the porch with maybe a little whisky, and you, too, may be transported.
I have not had Quiet Nights, but it's on my list, so have no opinion, and I wouldnt' remember Penzance enough to know how close it is anyway, but it's on my shopping list.
Some reading I've done lately after a search indicates G. L. Pease Quiet Nights is a good alternative to it, but you want to try to land some of the real thing, if you like heavy English blends, that is. Don't smoke it around others, their gripes will ruin your enjoyment. As I recall it was my favorite smoke in college, by far. Find a warm, still night to have this alone on the porch with maybe a little whisky, and you, too, may be transported.
I have not had Quiet Nights, but it's on my list, so have no opinion, and I wouldnt' remember Penzance enough to know how close it is anyway, but it's on my shopping list.
Hirsute
Used to have fun with Commander Yellow Pantyhose
I’ll send you a sample with the pipe rack so you can see what the hype is about. Or decide it’s not for you and you can save yourself from chasing it.
This is all I need to know right there!
