Dr. Grabow Pipes

Irishlefty · Posted: Sun Sep 27, 2009 12:04 am Post subject: new 'mix'

I had a baggie of McClelland Frog Morton but wanted to spice it up. I had some Cornell & Diehl Byzantine but wanted to tone it down. Combined the two and it almost worked. I added some G&H Dark Kendal & now it works great. Good taste and thanks to the Dark Kendal a nicotine kick!

steverino · Posted: Sun Sep 27, 2009 1:50 am Post subject:

IL, was the only difference the Dark Kendall made the nicotine punch or was there some noticeable flavor that it added?

Irishlefty · Posted: Sun Sep 27, 2009 4:07 am Post subject:

The flavor was mostly the same but the nico was noticeably greater.

Rev. Avery · Posted: Sun Sep 27, 2009 3:31 pm Post subject:

I was thinking of getting some Frog Morton. I can get it in a local tobacco store. Could you maybe describe it: taste, strength, flavor?

I buy my tobacco from J.M. Boswell in PA. I like their blends very much.
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Rev. Avery

steverino · Posted: Sun Sep 27, 2009 6:08 pm Post subject:

RA, I'll take a stab at it, though I haven't smoked any in a while.

To me it is a mild to medium English with a moderate amount of latakia. Of course, since it is a McClelland blend, the emphasis seems to be more on the Virginias. So I'd say the taste is medium and the nicotine is light. As I remember, there is a subtle sweetness to it, just barely noticeable depending on your technique.

Maybe Irish will jump in and give his assessment as well. Maybe I'll go smoke a bowl so I can remember better.

Rev. Avery · Posted: Sun Sep 27, 2009 7:26 pm Post subject:

Steve, would Frog Morton be one of your favorite English type blends? And, if you don't mind, what might be your top three favorite English blends. I like English blends over aromatics, but haven't branched out from the English ones I'm familiar with. So far, I've stayed with J.M. Boswell's english type blends.
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Rev. Avery

steverino · Posted: Sun Sep 27, 2009 8:17 pm Post subject:

RA, I'm not much of an English smoker, as you might have guessed since I haven't smoked the frog lately, but I'll try to give you something meaningful.

I am one who likes latakia in the light to medium range. Much more than that gives me a headache for some reason. One of my favorites used to be C&D Star of the East, which is heavy latakia. If you like it heavy, go for this one. A couple more "full Englishes" that I've smoked in the past are Dunhill London Mixture and GL Pease Westminster. Westminster is supposed to be similar to London Mixture when it was actually made by Dunhill. Many people seem to really like Westminster so this would probably be a good one for you to try.

Another that I still smoke is Ashton Artisan's Blend. This one contains Syrian latakia whereas most garden variety English blends contain Cyprian latakia. It seems like I can smoke Syrian a little better as it seems smoother or less "edgy". This is considered a full English.

I also tend to veer off into the balkan arena a bit. Caravan by GL Pease is probably my favorite balkan English at this point. It is extremely smooth and the latakia doesn't bother me at all. If you like the latakia to be in the forefront, you wouldn't like this one, but I think it is awfully nice.

Another of my favorites is GL Pease Key Largo. This is an English with a little bit of cigar leaf added. Take it easy with this one and you get a nice sweet taste. The cigar leaf tends to stay in the background but you get a taste of it now and then.

Another interesting blend that uses Syrian latakia is Mac Baren HH Vintage Syrian. This tobacco is very uncharacteristic of most Mac Baren blends. It is quite smooth and has a nice English taste. Even though it is 50% latakia, it does not bother me to smoke it.

There is also a blend called Spilman Mixture. It is supposedly a recreation of a blend by the same name from 70 years ago. I like this one pretty well and have a good-sized tin of it if you'd like a sample.

Frog Morton has been a favorite but I have so many open tins I'm smoking from I just haven't been back around to it in a while. I guess at this point I wouldn't be able to say it is a favorite, but it is certainly a good English. From what I read on other forums, it seems that a lot of people tend to start out with Frog Morton and then move on to fuller blends.

Sorry to ramble on, I hope this helps with your quest for the perfect English. If you find it, let me know!

Rev. Avery · Posted: Sun Sep 27, 2009 11:32 pm Post subject:

Thanks so much Steve! I'm looking for a few jumping off points and this sounds good. I like latakia a lot. So, from what you said, it sounds like the C&D Star of the East seems like a good one to try first. It sounds like I might also enjoy the Caravan. I appreciate the insight and information. I'd like to try something that at least someone else has some experience with. Right now I'm enjoying my crazy blend a lot. But, I'm wanting to expand a little bit now.
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Rev. Avery

Irishlefty · Posted: Mon Sep 28, 2009 12:51 am Post subject:

I can second everything Steve has said. For me Frog Morton is a very mild english that is slightly sweet but with an aroma that the ladies seem to like. I really like C&D Star of the East, Engine 99, Byzantine. GLP's Samarra, Westminster, Key Largo and my all time GL Pease favorite is Odyssey.

C&D's Crowley's best mixed with Prince Albert is another off the wall mix that I'm very fond of. Dunhill London Mix, Royal Yacht, Elizabethian Mix, and Night Cap are ones that I have a few tins each of and am savoring slowly since they are now out of production.

steverino · Posted: Mon Sep 28, 2009 1:02 am Post subject:

Irish, I'm a Crowley's Best fan too, hadn't tried mixing it though, will have to do it soon.

Two I shouldn't have left off the list are Samuel Gawith Squadron Leader and Penzance. It is as much of a right of passage to smoke these as it is the frog. Squadron Leader is a light English to me, but there's no question that Penzance is a heavy latakia blend. This blend has many devotees - I'm talking about the type that would ford large streams and give up various limbs to get some more when they're out.