Is Westminster a Lat Bomb?

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Fight'n Hampsters

Fight'n Hampsters

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I am looking at getting a tin of Westminster but I don't need another Lat bomb. I am doing good in that area with Night Cap and Ironsides. Is Westminster more subtle?
 
It's pretty hefty in the Lat department. If you ask me, it's not a "bomb" but toes the line.
 
It's along the lines of Dunhill's Standard Mixture which I would not classity as a "bomb" but you do taste the Lat for sure. I prefer the Dunhill to Westminister.
 
Comparing with Night Cap, and especially with Old Ironsides, it's a sweeter blend. It's supposed to have been inspired by the old London blend, pre-Murrays. When it comes out right it's sublime, my second favorite of GLP's blends (the first one is Renaissance).
 
I found it to be rather mild in the lat department. Not a bomb by any means. Very similar to Rattray's Black Mallory.
 
I don't know what your definition of a "lat bomb" is, but I can certainly say that Westminster isn't in the class of blends as, say, Odyssey or Pirate Cake. It's got a decent amount of complexity and sweetness to it. It was designed to evoke Dunhill's old London Mixture, which was a fairly standard English mixture.
 
jj1015":12ovbt4g said:
I don't know what your definition of a "lat bomb" is, but I can certainly say that Westminster isn't in the class of blends as, say, Odyssey or Pirate Cake. It's got a decent amount of complexity and sweetness to it. It was designed to evoke Dunhill's old London Mixture, which was a fairly standard English mixture.
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Night Cap and Ironsides
 
Greg has said that Westminster contains more than 50% Latakia. What one considers to be a Lat bomb would be subjective. Give it a whirl and at the very least, I am sure someone would trade you something that you like for the Westminster tin (minus a bowl).

-Scott
 
Fight'n Hampsters":y27a2vim said:
jj1015":y27a2vim said:
I don't know what your definition of a "lat bomb" is, but I can certainly say that Westminster isn't in the class of blends as, say, Odyssey or Pirate Cake. It's got a decent amount of complexity and sweetness to it. It was designed to evoke Dunhill's old London Mixture, which was a fairly standard English mixture.
Click to expand...
Night Cap and Ironsides
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Then no, I wouldn't call Westminster a lat bomb.
 
scottbtdmb":5vefxdxr said:
Greg has said that Westminster contains more than 50% Latakia. What one considers to be a Lat bomb would be subjective. Give it a whirl and at the very least, I am sure someone would trade you something that you like for the Westminster tin (minus a bowl).

-Scott
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Wow. Where did Greg say that? I would never have guessed Westminster to have 50 percent.
 
I'll dig it up if Greg doesn't pop up to confirm it first. You'd be surprised how much Latakia is in certain blends. For instance Hearth and Home's Larry's Blend contains almost 70% Latakia! Sometimes the interplay between the Latakia and the oriental tobacco creates a deceptive nature in terms of how much Latakia is actually in the blend. The two blends I mentioned are perfect examples
 
Found it and he actually posted it on here so ha, lol. Good to see my photographic memory is still intact.


A couple quick thoughts.

There's actually little that can be learned from the percentage of latakia in the mixture, with respect to whether or not the mixture will be a latakia bomb. That said, 30% really isn't all that much in today's formulations, or even in some of yesterday's classics. The balance of the rest of the ingredients makes all the difference.

If there's a lot of oriental leaf along with it, the latakia tends to make a less dominant statement. When I first brought out my Westminster, I was offering samples at a pipe show. A knowledgeable piper I know tried it, loved it, and said, "This is so nicely balanced. I can't stand all these new blends that are pushing up against half-latakia!" He was shocked when I told him Westminster not only pushed up against that, but through it.

Piccadilly, on the other hand, has less than 30%, yet the latakia is quite pronounced, because of the softer nature of the other ingredients. Interestingly, Ashbury has a just a bit less than Piccadilly, but tastes like it has a LOT less, again, because of the oriientals that dominate the rest of the mixture.

I was visiting a wine maker friend the other day, and he remarked that a cuvée he'd just finished for the year had "only 12% syrah," but its powerful voice came through loud and clear in the blend.

This is one of the reasons I don't publicize percentages of the constituents of my blends. It just doesn't tell much of an interesting story.

Cheers,
Greg
 
Interesting... I stand by my original statement though... It is a blend that presents itself differently depending on time of day, situation, mental clarity, mood.. it really is a blend that seems to give you what you want when you want it. It's magic.. really... I think Greg has those Keebler elves in his attic.
 
puros_bran":72swd0ht said:
Interesting... I stand by my original statement though... It is a blend that presents itself differently depending on time of day, situation, mental clarity, mood.. it really is a blend that seems to give you what you want when you want it. It's magic.. really... I think Greg has those Keebler elves in his attic.
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Yeah I definitely agree with you wholeheartedly. Unfortunately English blends don't agree with me anymore as my tastes have apparently changed to dark fired va based blends and burleys. I'd have to say though at the height of my English smoking days, Westminster was in my Top 5, along with the lines of Krumble Kake, Blackpoint, Tree Mixture, and G&H Balkan. Heh, next time Greg is on here, ask him about his experiment with trying to brew a beer infused with Latakia. Yowza!
 
I smoke a fair amount of Nightcap, and to me, Westminster is a several shades
more subtle. It looks like a lat bomb, by content, but it's a whole different experience, by flavor.
 
Numbers. Like IBUs in pale ales and beer, Scoville scale with hot sauce...

...but since everyone's tongue nary agrees, a "Lat bomb" is...*sigh*...another subjectivity. I consider a "Lat bomb" anything that the Latakia sings/screams/bellows above the rest. Blending, aging, maturing, etc all have an effect on that. Volume is not the only theme to music; timbre, tone, octaves, scale and range all matter. Big numbers talk to manliness, though.

Westminster lays on the Latakia thick to me, but I like Greg/C&D's approach to Latakia. I've said it before, not sure where/whom provides them with their Cyprian, but boy is it good. Add an inspired, talented blender, and poof, smokey Nirvana is had.

8)
 
I have a tin of Westminster open as we speak. Since it was introduced, this blend has been my favorite English. I would not call it a lat-bomb, but the presence is obviously what makes it enjoyable to an English smoker. But the sweetness of the Va is what makes it pop. Very agreeable interplay of flavors going on with that blend.

Mike
 
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