| Author | Message | ||
     Ken Jones Member Username: Krjones Post Number: 11 Registered: 09-2008 |
My first “big” tobacco order consisted mainly of Samuel Gawith blends (FVF, Squadron Leader, Navy Flake, St. James Flake). I am now coming to the end of my tin of St. James Flake and am very interested in continuing my exploration of VaPer blends. I have searched through the forum and found a number of good recommendations. Now my problem is narrowing them down. I would like to order three (or four) tobaccos. My frontrunners are: A & C Peterson Escudo Navy Deluxe C & D Three Friars (just for nostalgia’s sake to see what Three Nuns might have tasted like) McClelland 2015 McClelland St. James Woods Peter Stokkebye Luxury Bull's-Eye Flake Solani 633 Which three (or four) do you recommend? I would like at least one of them to be a blend that is noticeably heavy on the Perique. Are there others that you would recommend more highly than those on my list? Finally, how do you think that SG St. James Flake stacks up against these? For my part, I really liked it. | ||
| Mark Combs Member Username: Jazzmoose Post Number: 9 Registered: 04-2009 |
I wouldn't miss the Hearth & Home VaPers at pipesandcigars.com. My favorite is Anniversary Kake, but several are nice. | ||
| Dan Bryant Member Username: Bryantm3 Post Number: 66 Registered: 03-2009 |
GL Pease's Haddo's Delight should not be missed. It it is a little bit similar to St. James Flake, but contains a fuller brandy type taste. I like them both equally, but where SJF can be spicy at times and sweet at times, HD is typically naturally sweet throughout the whole smoke, but it changes tastes from a perique-brandy sweet to a VA sweet and back throughout the bowl. i wouldn't recommend 2015 compared to some of the others. it is not really sweet at all and its perique taste is mostly spicy; i think it has to do with the fact that 2015 contains green river burley instead of perique. that being said, it's not a terrible tobacco, but expect a more vinegary peppery taste than a sweet taste. i'm sad to say i haven't tried any of the others, but i was told that three friars bares little physical resemblance to three nuns as it isn't a flake. i can't tell you about the others. | ||
| Rusty Pipes Member Username: Rustytoo Post Number: 10 Registered: 08-2008 |
Well, Three Friars tastes nothing like the old Three Nuns as blended in England or Scotland. Three Nuns like many British tobaccos was made with special casings that, to a large extent, defined its flavour and were also the blenders ally in preserving that flavour through unavoidable tobacco changes. Absent the same casings it's really hopeless to expect anything else to taste the same. The current Orlik produced 3N tastes quite different too. Three Friars is quite good though and worthwhile, as is Bayou Morning. But both of them taste quite simple compared to others on your list. McCl #2015 is wonderful stuff. That one is a remarkably good tobacco with just a bit of Perique. It has a slightly earthy flavour that makes it different than the others (and different that McCl St. James Woods too). Bob Hamlin has commented on the Foundations forum that #2015 contains a bit of Oriental or Turkish leaf as well and I suspect that this is responsible for it's slightly earthy flavour rather than anything about it's Perique (which is just fine). Va/Or/Per are wonderful blends. #2015 matures with a little aging (McCl doesn't hold the bulks to age) to a superb sweet tobacco. Others along these Va/Per/Or lines that are worth sampling are: Butera's RV Blended Flake McCl PCCA Tudor Castle and, if you can find it, the old McCl made Ashton Pebblecut. Back to Va/Per's - there's also GLP's Fillmore, McCl PCCA Beacon (can you tell that I love McCl Va's?) Dan (Former) Straight grain Flake (a bit stronger) Heinrich's Special Curly Cut Wessex Brigade Sovereign Curly Cut Gawith Hoggarth Louisiana Flake and many others - we are rich in Va/Per blends! Escudo is probably the best example of a peppery Va/Per but I suspect that the Perique doesn't exceed 7-8% and that's a lot anyway. | ||
| Brian Silverman Member Username: Laufenstoc Post Number: 2 Registered: 06-2009 |
Ken, I think you've had the good fortune to stumble into one of the very finest in your initial foray. In my opinion, St. James Flake is superb. I buy it in bulk and it is one of the few necessities in my rotation. If I could only have one VaPer, I'd flip a coin between St. James Flake and Escudo. Not that it's a big deal, but since SJF comes in bulk, it's a fabulous value. I'm not a fan of GL Pease Haddos Delight at all. It is obviously cased, which I don't care for. Fillmore is much better (to my taste), but also has a hint of topping. I also don't care for McClelland blends, as they all have some sort of detectible flavoring that I find objectionable. Other worthy VaPers I would suggest (among currently produced blends) include some of the Rattray blends, with Marlin Flake being my favorite, Wessex Brigade Series, Peter Heinrich's blends, and Dunhill Deluxe Navy Rolls. If you can get your hands on some vintage tobaccos, the Cope's Escudo and Four Square Curlies are exquisite. Lastly, with the SJF, and any others you find to your liking, I would encourage you to cellar some and come back to it a few years later. You are very likely to find your pleasure smoking them raised to another order of magnitude! Have fun. | ||
| Harvey Click Member Username: Fafhrd Post Number: 1482 Registered: 03-2006 |
Of the several you list, the only ones I've tasted are SJF and MC 2015. I love SJF and think it's the best VaPer I've found since the old Three Nuns of the 70s, though I admit I haven't tried most of the VaPers currently available. MC 2015 tastes good but it fries my tongue and gives me no nicotine satisfaction. I agree with Brian that Haddos Delight is cased, and though it's worth a try I don't think it's worth the high price. Lately I've been enjoying an unusual VaPer: Mac Baren Dark Twist mixed with 15% (by weight) C&D blending Perique. Of course you need to rub out the coins of DT before mixing. | ||
| Dan Bryant Member Username: Bryantm3 Post Number: 70 Registered: 03-2009 |
personally, i don't see haddo's delight as cased much more than fvf, per say, but i think it is the strange combination of tobaccos that produce the taste. for example, it's not just perique and virginia: it has a little bit of green river burley (fake perique) for extra spiciness, unflavored cavendish and unflavored burley for a nutty/chocolate taste. these combined tobaccos create the brandy type taste of haddo's. | ||
| Brian Silverman Member Username: Laufenstoc Post Number: 6 Registered: 06-2009 |
Hi Dan, I can tell you that no less an authority than Greg Pease himself has told me that there is flavoring subtly added to Haddo's, Fillmore, and some others, and frankly, it's addition in Haddo's is quite obvious to my palate. Samuel Gawith FVF has always been make in England, where the addition of flavorings in "natural" blend tobaccos is strictly prohibited. | ||
| Melvin S. Schwartz Board Administrator Username: Admin Post Number: 4337 Registered: 02-2002 |
There used to be a law in England regarding the addition of flavorings, but that law is no longer in effect. Brian, have you some updated information? If so, please enlighten us by providing your source of information. | ||
| Ken Jones Member Username: Krjones Post Number: 12 Registered: 09-2008 |
Many thanks to all for their helpful suggestions. I decided to go with three VaPers: SG St James Flake, Escudo, and Stokkebye Bull's-eye Flake. Haddo's Delight does sound good, but I wanted to get uncased tobacco and I'm really going for the peppery Perique flavor. On another thread I saw that one can order the Orlik Three Nuns from a place in Switzerland; I might be doing that next time. Unfortunately, just a few days before the arrival of my order I came down with a summer cold that has deprived me of my senses of taste and smell! My poor tobacco just sits there waiting for me to get better. I rounded out my order with the much-praised-on-this-forum Penzance as well as a tin of MacBaren Mixture and Rattray's Red Rapparee. I cannot wait to try them all--once I get better. Thanks, again, for all your detailed and thoughtful suggestions. | ||
| Brian Silverman Member Username: Laufenstoc Post Number: 8 Registered: 06-2009 |
What I can tell you is that Greg Pease is a reasonalby reliable source of information for his blends, and that the Samuel Gawith recipe hasn't changed for FVF or SJF in the 30 years I've been smoking them, before or since British regulation has mitigated against the surreptitious addition of flavorings, as you suggest. Melvin, have you information on the change of this legislation? If so,please enlighten us etc., etc. | ||
| Melvin S. Schwartz Board Administrator Username: Admin Post Number: 4338 Registered: 02-2002 |
I read something written by Jim Beard in that regard quite some time ago--the law was no longer in effect. Have you information the law is still in effect? As I asked you previously, please provide us with your source of information. | ||
| Melvin S. Schwartz Board Administrator Username: Admin Post Number: 4339 Registered: 02-2002 |
Brian, This is the "law" I am referring to: "Up until 1986, additives were not allowed in tobaccos made in England. For this reason, those tobaccos were referred to as English blends even though non-aromatic tobaccos were manufactured all over the world." Source: http://www.jrcigars.com/index.cfm?page=jrcu_pipe-tobacco |