Bengal Slices

[SteveMKentucky]

I'd like to hear from anyone who's tried the new Bengal Slices being sold by Pipes and Cigars.

I smoked it many years ago and liked it, but like many of our favorite tobaccos, it disappeared.

Pipes and Cigars has a nice little video about the tobacco on their website but I'm wondering how the new one stacks up against the old. Clearly the old components are no longer available and P&C appears to have worked by deduction to develop the new version.

Here's the website with the little video:

https://www.pipesandcigars.com/p/bengal-slices-pipe-tobacco/1500142/
I've ordered two tins and don't expect it to be exactly like the old blend but hope that it is enjoyable nonetheless. The good thing is that it's been so long since I smoked one of the original blends that I likely don't remember it precisely anyway! ...I know the components are no longer available but maybe they can come up with a Balkan Sobranie clone.

 

[Ranger107]

That would be great but I'm not holding my breath, lol.

 

[lestrout]

Yo Ste

If'n you're jonesing for the old Balkan Sobranies, check out the great Russ Ouellette's White Knight and Black House. The Chicago CCPC had a showdown, or maybe slam, a few years ago whereby Russ and the McNeils were given some vintage 759 (my preference back in the 60s and 70s. Russ won, but McClelland Blue Mountain, quickly renamed Blue Balkan, was a strong second. Curiously, Russ and Mike used different methodologies to do the match, and also different leaf. For instance, Russ used a little dark fired to get the bass notes. I liked both and stocked lifetime supplies of them. Strangely enough, or maybe not, as the blends age, their taste profiles have diverged.

As for the BS Original in the white can, I never liked it as much as the black tin 759. The Germain reissue is my least favorite Germain or Esoterica (except maybe for Uncle Tom). Infamously, that reissue is not a very good English/Balkan.

Maybe because my remaining BS 759 is aged out (though I've had some fresh opened tins since), Russ's Black House is the superior blend. Even if the BS 759 were somehow resurrected with original leaf, I would still puff Russ's blend by preference.

hp
les

 

[lestrout]

Yo Ste

If'n you're jonesing for the old Sobranies, try the great Russ Oullette's Black House and White Knight. A few years ago the Guss brothers organized the Chicago Show showdown, more of a slam, really. They bought one of Pipestud's vintage 759 tins and sent it to Russ and Mike McNeil. Russ won the thang, though McClelland's Blue Mountain (quickly renamed Blue Balkan, maybe to avoid a coffee lawsuit) was a very strong second. I loved both and bought lifetime supplies. Curiously, Russ and Mike used not only different methodologies to achieve the matches, but also different leaf. For instance, Russ used some dark fired to provide the proper bass notes.

As for the Original white tin, Russ's White Knight beats the Germain reissue hands down. In fact though I'm a Germain/Esoterica fanboy, their reissue is infamously weak.

Today, even if BS 759 were somehow reintroduced with original batches of leaf, I would still prefer Black House to it. Back in the 60s, I preferred 759 to the white tin.
hp
les

PS - huh - I thought I lost the submitted reply.

 

[Zeno Marx]

Park-Lane Bengal slices is the best of the remakes I've had, but I'm not sure if it is available anymore. They still don't have a webstore. I wasn't very impressed with the P&C. They were on the road to getting it right, but it's as if it is a light version. Not as robust and full-flavored as the original. I also didn't care for how it crumbled into tiny particles. It was always a funny tobacco to rub out, but I don't remember it turning into such small pieces. Maybe I had a bad tin, though.