John Patton's 'Crossroads'...Turkish Bliss!

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Blackhorse

Blackhorse

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I just posted this one the Review Site - and thought I would add it here.

Crossroads (another winner...and then some):

On the strength of one of the reviews here (meaning the Review Site) I tried Oriental Dusk (another Patton blend), having been on a recent binge favoring blends with VA/Turkish and hopefully Cigar Leaf. After having declared it a 'National Treasure' I moved on in my expolorations. The blends I was trying at the time (many without the Cigar Leaf) included Embarcadero (a classic), Butera Blended Flake, McConnell's Scottish Flake, Pebblecut (a real winner), C&D Oriental Silk (very nice, very light) and their Sunday Picnic, Red Carpet and Riverboat Gambler. The C&D blends mostly have Perique as the condiment along with the Turkish. There's also Captain Earle's Honor Blend, which is a plug. While saying that there isn't a loser among those fine offerings, I was still looking for something 'more'.
So with that as background I'll declare that if Oriental Dusk is a national treasure (as is Storm Front, representing a zenith within it's own genre) then Crossroads is absolutely a treasure in its own right. Through a fluke I learned a bit about the component ratios and roughly we are talking 80% VA (3 varieties), 15% Izmir and 5% Cigar Leaf...rounding a bit here and there. It is nothing short of a masterwork for my tastes and yet another little symphony created by the erstwhile Mr.Patton who is renouned for balance and the interplay of flavors. The balance of VA's put them in the background as a base against which the Turkish really has reign to shine...with the Cigar Leaf lending depth and roundness. Thankfully being lower on the "N" scale, it can be an effective all day smoke...and it's become one for me. It seems that Izmir has become the darling of many blenders recently and that's all to the good as it has so much to offer...but is sometimes finickey in it's reaction to it's fellow components and to smoking cadence. Here, it's to the fore and seems to be tamed so that it behaves well, at least for me. Sipped, this blend is pure Turkish Bliss, which well might be a byline for it.

Only a month ago Oriental Dusk had to be ordered as a 'special order' and in a half pound amount. While fine for me, many might not have even known that 4-N's would put together ANY of Patton's blends on order. Now they have made Oriental Dusk a regular offering, available in any amount. It couldn't have happened to a nicer guy. My only hope is that this one meets the same fortunate fate...for if you like blends featuring Izmir this one should absolutely be on your short list.

My absolutely highest recommendation.

 
Oh great, another one to put on my "must try next" list!

:cyclops:

Actually this sounds right in my wheelhouse, including and especially since I have a great affinity for Oriental Dusk, Oriental Silk, Captain Earle's Honor blend, Stormfront, and several other tiltjp blends.

So I take it that Crossroads is only available by special order from 4 Nog?

And interestingly, Crossroads is one of my favorite live Cream tunes from their heyday. I once learned how to play it note for note back in the day....


:cat:



Cheers,

RR
 
OK so I located the baggie of the sample that BH sent some time ago. Still had a big wad in it so went in this AM. Loaded up my trusty Savinelli 1/2 bent "David's Choice" which seems to be a pretty neutral vehicle for various blends and went to it.

First the 'baccy is at the typical moisture level for all the titljp blends I've ever had. Which is to say a bit on the dry side if one is used to blends that are moist. Yet I've always found them to be at the perfect level for lock and load smoking. As John Patton says "smoke your tobacco dryer than you think you need to".

Pouch aroma has notes of caramel, molasses, and malt bread. Savory and enticing.

Takes the match effortlessly and initial flavors of granola cereal. Not exactly sweet but not dry either. Kind of got a hint of cinnamon.

Mid bowl, it settles into a even handed mild/med bodied combination of flavors that are kind of melded out and not easily definable. Nutty and chewy whole wheat bread comes to mind though. And kind of a background thing that may have been like nutmeg somehow.

Clean dry finish. In fact my palate was not overwhelmed and a short time later I proceeded on to a bowl of Oriental Dusk in order to suss out the differences. But that's a post for another thread.

Crossroads is nice. Kind of light in many respects, and that's no bad thing if one is looking for an all day blend. Doesn't seem to occlude one's palate and that's a big plus.

These days I seem to have more respect for blends that don't beat one over the head with flavor, body, and strength while still delivering a satisfying experience.

Crossroads is one of them.

And there ya go....

:afro:



Cheers,

RR
 
Very fine & comprehensive.

To me what comes out is the Turkish flavor as the background is VA neutral. That might be what you were describing.

I'd try it in a few different pipes...bowl shape makes a difference. Also...it took me half a dozen bowls before I started to catch on to it, so to speak. Then I just found myself wanting it more and more. You sort of get used that the aspect of it being lower on the flavor strength scale and once that sinks in as being - normal - then others seem a might over the top.

I've seen other guys describe smoking more subtle blends in that way and I think they're on target.

Once you're in the groove with it, as you described, it becomes a near ideal 'all day' blend.

To me it's kind of akin to Cairo...where the flavors I appreciate there are subtle.
 
i hhave 8oz stored in my den it may be time to try out that Oriental Dusk.
 
Had another bowl of Crossroads after work today on a fresh palate. Used my very fine "Tobacconist Inc" Poker I got from BH which was recently "ozonized" by Dr. Dave at Walker Briar Works. So it's pretty neutral as fas a a smoking vehicle goes.

All my prior comments are identical to today, except that I did also get a bit of that characteristic VA "twang", mostly on the exhale and aftertaste. Not that it bit me but I did notice it.

Also that from mid bowl on the flavors got "deeper" if that means anything to you.

Again I'm impressed with this, as it's clean in the aftertaste and the palate is not fatigued after a bowl. I can easily see this as an all day blend, if one is so inclined.

Looks like this will be on my next order. Thanks once again to BH for putting me on to this!


:rabbit:


Cheers,

RR
 
Cheval, I know you're somewhat cool to Lats, but Key Largo might be up your alley given your love for Orientals and cigar leaf. It has a similar creaminess to Embarcadero, but the cigar leaf fills it out and gives it some weight (read strength). The Lat's in there, but it doesn't dominate in a straight-English-blend sort of way.
 
4 noggins is so jammed up with BoB fanatics that I can't even place an order! I'm imagining Rich's cell phone ringing off the hook and people frantically trying to place an order of something that the great Blackhorse recommended. I'm sold, OK? lol

Oriental Dusk and Crossroads and some Storm Front...oh it's been too long on SF. All in cue. My wife is going to be mad at another damn box coming in the mail. Her X-Mas present? Yeah, that's it.
 
You need to read up on sneaking stuff into the house under the wife's nose.

I strongly recommend (yet another one) the following article by the master...Pat McManus...called, "Gun Running". I've reprinted it below in it's entirety for your edification. Simply replace the term 'gun' with either 'pipe' or 'pipe blend' and you'll be able to extrapolate his ideas into solid plans that will allow you get whatever you want past SWMBO. lol

Here goes:

HOW TO BUY A GUN…Without Your Wife Finding Out

Most people think of gunrunning as a foreign adventure in thriller novels. My gunrunning, though, is a domestic foray through the home to get a new gun past my wife.

By Patrick F. McManus (1984)


Hubert, a young married fellow of my acquaintance, confided in me the other day that he and his wife had just had their first quarrel. .

“Oh yeah?” I said. “What about?” “About practically nothing,” he said. “I’ve been needing a new rifle, so I went out and bought one and took it home to show Joyce. Well, if she didn’t hit the ceiling! Mad? Whew! Can you believe that?”

“That was dumb, Hubie,” I said. “Risking your marriage over a new gun. I thought you were smarter that that.”

“I shouldn’t have bought the gun, huh?”

“Of course you should have bought the gun. You needed it, didn’t you? You just shouldn’t have shown the gun to Joyce. Have a little consideration for her feelings, Hubie. Wives have feeling too, you know. The only decent thing for a husband to do is to sneak the new gun into the house. Learn to sneak, man learn to sneak.”

“Really?” Hubie said. “I didn’t know.” During my talk with Hubie, it occurred to me that there are probably many other young married hunters out there who are equally in need of marriage counseling as it relates to wives and new guns. In the interest of averting as much marital discord in the hunting fraternity as possible, I have put together the following primer on strategies and tactics for bringing home a new gun.

First of all, let us consider the psychology of the young wife as it pertains to her husband’s guns. It is important to note that the first gun the husband brings home is greeted with considerable enthusiasm by the spouse, and she may even brag about it to her friends: “Fred bought a new gun the other day to hunt elk and doves and things with,” she will say. Of course Fred must then explain that the gun is limited to hunting elk or deer. For hunting doves he needs a shotgun, he tells her.

“Why can’t you hunt doves with the same gun?” she says. “I really think you could if you wanted to.”

Fred then explains the difference between a rifle and a shotgun, and his wife finally agrees that he probably does need another gun.

Now that’s the typical situation the young hunter faces. He starts with a base of two guns, his wife granting him the benefit of the doubt that two guns are actually needed. After the second gun, the argument of needing a new gun will be dismissed by the wife with an upward roll of the eyeballs and a big sigh. We are talking only third gun here, remember, nothing more. If you’re just married, upward-rolling eyeballs and big sighs may seem formidable obstacles, but they’re really not that serious. Go buy the gun and bring it home. The eyeball-rolling and big sighs will let up after a few days. Now comes the biggie: The Fourth Gun!

With the mere mention of your need for a fourth gun, the wife skips right over the eyeball-rolling and big sighs and goes directly to a recital of your deficiencies of character, weird masculine quirks, and all sins committed to date. She will bring up such matters as saving for baby’s college education, the fact that she is still is wearing the clothes her parents bought for her in high school, the threatening note from the electric company, and so on.

The fourth gun is the tough one and, in the face of this spousal assault, there is always the temptation to sneak the fourth gun. That’s a mistake. Your wife’s knowing you purchase a fourth gun is essential to further development of your gun collection. Here’s why. After you bring the gun home and show it to your wife, she will shake her head and say, “I don’t know why you need all those guns.” Note that she doesn’t say “four guns” but rather the vague and general “all those guns.” Henceforth, she will think of your gun collection, not in terms of specific numbers, but as a single collective entity—all!

To thoroughly grasp this important concept, suppose your wife is dusting the gun case, “Him and all those guns,” she might say to herself, possibly with a very tiny tolerant smile. What she fails to notice is that there are now five guns in the case! Once the psychological barrier of the fourth gun is crossed, the gun collection can be expanded indefinitely without the wife noticing, provided the husband uses some common sense and doesn’t add too many guns at once. Two or three a year is about right, spaced at decent intervals.

There is one pitfall in this strategy—the gun cabinet itself. Although the wife will never bother to count the guns, she will notice that there are three empty slots in the cabinet. Therefore, you must make sure that there always three empty slots in the cabinet, even as your collection expands from four to sixty guns. If you plan on enlarging your collection, buy a gun cabinet that can be expanded by adding new sections so that there are always three or more empty slots. It works. My wife of 30 years told me the other day that she must be slowing down with age. “When we were first married,” she said, “I could dust that gun cabinet of yours in 10 seconds and now it takes me nearly half an hour.”

But how do you get all those guns into the house without your wife knowing, you ask. Actually, it is all right if every few years you simply walk into the house and say, “Look, dear, I bought a new gun.”

“Neato,” she will say, “I’m ecstatic. Now tell me, what did you want to buy another gun for when you already have all those guns? I’ll be you haven’t shot most of them in the past five years.”
Shoot them? Yes, a wife will actually say that. She will not be able to comprehend the fact that you needed the gun because you needed it. She will not understand that you need the guns just to be there, to be your guns, to be looked at and fondled from time to time. She will not be able to fathom that you need the guns even though you don’t need to shoot them. Tell her a gun collection is like wilderness. Even though we don’t use it all the time, we need to know it’s there. Probably it won’t do any good to tell her that, but it’s worth a try.

Stating the simple truth often works in explaining an occasional gun purchase to your wife. But why take unnecessary risk? Go with your best lie and get the gun stashed in your expandable gun cabinet as quickly as possible.

Oddly enough, there are few really good lies for explaining the purchase of a new gun. There is the classic “A Fantastic Bargain,” of course, in which you tell your wife that the gun you just paid $300 for was on sale for $27.50. If her eyebrows shoot up in disbelief, you mention that three men in white coats showed up at the sport shop and led the manager away before he could slash the prices on the rest of the guns. Indeed, you say, you could have picked up five more brand-new guns for a total of $85, but you didn’t want to take excessive advantage of a crazy person.

The “Play On Her Sympathy Ploy” works well on young, inexperienced wives. It goes something like this: Rush into the house wiping tears of joy from your cheeks. Then cry out, “Look, Martha. Look! A man at the garage sold me this rifle. It’s identical to the one my grandfather gave me on his deathbed. Gramps said to me, ‘Boy, I’m givin’ you ol’ Gerty, here, because every time you shoot it, you will remember all the good times you and me had together.’ Oh, how I hated to sell that rifle to pay for Momma’s operation! But now I got one just like it! Or maybe it’s even the same rifle! Do you think it might actually be the same rifle, Martha?”

Warning! Don’t ever try the “Sympathy Ploy” on a wife you’ve been married to for longer than five years—unless you want to see a woman laugh herself sick. It’s a disgusting spectacle, I can tell you.

The “Fantastic Investment” lie will work on occasion, provided you lay the groundwork carefully in advance. “That ol’ Harvey Schmartz is a shrewd one,” you say. “He bought this .48-caliber Thumlicker for $600 as an investment. Three weeks later, he sold it for $87,000! Boy, I wish I could lay my hands on a .48-caliber Thumlicker. We’d sell it when I retire and buy a condo in Aspen and tour Europe with the change.”

After you’ve used up all your best lies, you are left with only one option. You must finally screw up your courage, square your jaw, and make up your mind that your going to do what you probably should have done all along—sneak the new guns into the house.

Here are some proven techniques for gun-sneaking:
• The Surprise Party. Your arrive home and tell your wife that you have to go to a surprise party for one of your hunting partners and that you picked up the special cake on your way home. “Oh, how cute!” she will exclaim. “A birthday cake shaped like a rifle!” This is also known as “The Gun-In-Cake Trick.”
• The Lamp. You buy a lamp shade and attach it to the muzzle of a new rifle. “Look, sweetheart,” you say to your spouse. “I bought a new lamp for the living room.” She gags. “Not for my living room.” She growls. “Take it to your den and don’t ever let me see that monstrosity again!” A variation of this ploy is to tie a picture wire to the new rifle and call it a wall hanging.
• The Loan. A hunting friend shows up at your door and hands you your new gun. “Thanks for loaning me one of your rifles,” he says. “I’ll do the same for you sometime.” Make sure your accomplice can be trusted, though. I tried “The Loan” with my friend Retch Sweeney one time and he didn’t show up at my door with the rifle for three weeks. He arrived on the day after hunting season, as I recall.
• Spare Parts. Disassemble the gun and carry it home in a shopping bag. Mention casually to the Mrs. that you picked up some odds and ends from the junk bin down at Joe’s Gunsmithing. Works like a charm! (By the way, does anyone know where the little wishbone-shaped gizmo goes on an automatic shotgun?)

 
AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! That article is a big win, Sir! Er, if I condoned some sort of under-handed dealing like that...
 
McManus is my hero, and I have most of his books. His observations and perspective on human nature is amazing and accurate. :p

 
Blackhorse, that was effin' hilarious. I think the man knows what he is talking about. Only a married man would appreciate the humor (or a recently divorced one).
 
His story of what to do if you get lost in the woods is such a total classic.

In many ways he very accurately described my growing up years. All the characters were there and a lot of what he wrote about (except maybe going down the log flume) happened in one way or another to me or my friends.

He was a writer who really knew how to do a lot with a short format. Great style and flawless construction. That...and he was funny in a very warm and nostalgic way. An American treasure.
 
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