Thoughts on the "new" London Mixture

[monbla256]

Having had the opportunity to have smoked Dunhill's blends when they were made by Dunhill and Murray, I have been pleasantly surprised how close Orlik/STG has come to maintaining the taste, aroma and quality of the "new" Dunhill blends. Along with Nightcap, Royal Yacht and EMP ( not as sure about the "new" 965 though) and the new Flake, another blend i used to smoke alot of was their London Mixture. It became my replacement for my fave Balkan, BS 759, when it was no longer made. It has earned a place in my daily smoker blends now as well.
When you open the tin your nose is greeted by that wonderful smokey/musty aroma of a good dose of Latakia underlined with the sharp/spicey scent of the Orientals and just a hint of sweetness from the fine Va base. It is a nice ribbon cut, as are most of the old and new Dunhill 'bacs have always been, at the right moisture level for me to load and lite right from the tin. It packs easily, and lites with just a single char then main lite and unless you let it go out, as I'm wan't to do with my smoking habits, it will stay lit to the bottom to a nice dull grey dry ash. It starts out with the typical Lat forward smoky flavor soon to be joined by the peppery spice of the Orientals all held together by the occasional sweet of the Va base. No Burley, no Cavendished 'bacs in this one, just a full, round traditional Balkan/English flavors and smoking aspects of this genre. Due to the amount of Orientals it's truly more of a Balkan type to my mind and I would classify it as such. They have re-captured all the qualities of this classic blend and I would highly recomend it to anyone who wants to smoke a blend "like they used to be" ! A nice side note for the nic lovers, it has about the same nic hit as Nightcap, but less than Royal Yacht :twisted:
All I can say is GET SOME if one want's to experience a classic

 

[Kyle Weiss]

Shut up Monbla. :cheers:

Just kidding. But really, my Tinder Box has a half dozen tins of this stuff--except it's pre-Orlik. They won't order any more until those are sold. *sigh* So I haven't tried the new stuff. I really enjoy the care Orlik has put into their leaf.

Speaking of pre-Orlik, I've been going through some 2007 965 that Puff Daddy gave me, and it's alright, but something ain't right with it for me. I have an Orlik tin that's got about a year on it now, I should do a comparison.

I hope Orlik keeps up the good work. Not sure if Lane just took over distribution of them here in the States, because if anything else changes, I fear for their efforts.

 

[monbla256]

Shut up Monbla. :cheers:

Just kidding. But really, my Tinder Box has a half dozen tins of this stuff--except it's pre-Orlik. They won't order any more until those are sold. *sigh* So I haven't tried the new stuff. I really enjoy the care Orlik has put into their leaf.

Speaking of pre-Orlik, I've been going through some 2007 965 that Puff Daddy gave me, and it's alright, but something ain't right with it for me. I have an Orlik tin that's got about a year on it now, I should do a comparison.

I hope Orlik keeps up the good work. Not sure if Lane just took over distribution of them here in the States, because if anything else changes, I fear for their efforts.

If it's pre-Orlik, it'l have been blended by Murray and probably distributed by Lane as Lane distributed ALL of Dunhill's blends "back in the day" here in the US. Sounds like they are going back to the old way of distributing. If you get any of that Murray blended, open 'er up and load up a bowl and put a match to it. it's READY :twisted:

 

[Harlock999]

I love the current London Mixture, and it's been a fave since it was recommended to me on a trip to the Briar Patch in Sacramento a couple of years back, however, I have no reference to judge it against, as I never smoked any earlier versions. Sometimes, I can't decide which I prefer, LM or NC...
Either way, it's a win win!! 8)

 

[Brewdude]

LM used to be one of my go-to's back in '01 or so.

In fact I brought along a new tin of it on my UK holiday along with an estate Sav during my wild and wolly excursion to the Islay Whisky Fest celebration/debauchery in '01. Taking coals to Newcastle???

Smoked it each and every night in the pubs, and there was never a wrinkled nose. But that was also before the smoking ban.

Have a new Orlik tin I need to crack. And an old one from that era.

Of course it won't be a fair comparison due to the age of the older one. But it may give me insight as to the overall consistency.

And then there's the issue of me not really being into Lat blends these days.

All to say that it might be a while until I get a round tuit!

:joker:


Cheers,

RR

 

[HCraven]

I'm glad to hear that it compares well to the older blends, though I never had the pleasure of smoking them. Thanks for the heads-up though, Monbla. My local shop just got a shipment of Dunhill in, including a fair bit of London Blend, so I'll pick up a tin or two and try it. I always appreciate when I can get one of my favorites locally, as I can with Escudo, Dunhill Flake, and, occasionally, Balkan Sobranie. Now if only they'd get Hal O' The Wynd, I'd be a truly happy guy...

 

[Rob_In_MO]

Overall I'm impressed with Orlik as a whole. They've done very well with all of the re-releases that I've tried. Some, like Erinmore Flake, they actually improved on - IMHO.

 

[MisterE]

I've not been very Lat-centric over the last few years, but I cracked a Murray's tin of LM a while back and really enjoyed it. I also opened a tin of Standard Mixture Medium at that time and probably enjoyed it even more. The Orientals really came through in a way I could only notice after a period of English blend abstinece. Superb.

I have one tin each of Nightcap, 965, SMM, Durbar and LM from the Murray's era on the shelf now. I will just let them sit if the new stuff is that good.

Good write up, Monbla!

 

[Smoker99]

I am still smoking Murray as I had stocked up. I have tried the Orliks, and think they did a credible job.

 

[Kyle Weiss]

So far I tried the Murray's Erinmore Flake (Orlik is better), Murray's Nightcap (Orlik is about the same, leaning better) and 965 (haven't tried the Orlik version yet). A couple of Murray's tins of EMP are also in my stack, just holding off on those for a while.

With the way Orlik has been doing things, I hope they keep it up. For lineage, I couldn't help but notice...

http://www.st-group.com/index.php/scandinavian-tobacco-group-lane-ltd

...they own Cigars International, which recently coupled-up with P&C.com--no wonder prices might even drop in the long-run. I hope they don't gobble everything up over time (Pease won't sell out... :lol: ) but it'll make for a stronger chain of getting stuff we like (and be able to keep getting it)--especially if they're making it.

 

[docwatson]

C'mon Guys,
There's no such thing as any bad tin of London Mixture!!!! It all gets better with age, and I've plenty of Murray's on the shelf to hold me for quite a while. Love the blend, IMO it is the Oriental Mixture that I use to compare to all others.

 

[CipsterX]

I just got a tin of LM a couple of weeks ago and I must say it's damn good. I also order some MM965. I love all the Dunhill blends Nightcap being my number 1.

 

[riff raff]

Hmm, I might have to give London Mixture another shot, but let the tin age some. I just finished a tin and found it enjoyable, but just a little on the bland side. I do enjoy MM965 with some age (1 year plus) so I shouldn't be surprised that this blend also benefits with some time on the shelf.

 

[Kyle Weiss]

Since this has turned into a Dunhill infosource and love-fest, any thoughts on "Standard Mixture?" My Tinder Box has the regular tin and "Mild" on the shelf. Been curious about 'em, too.

 

[docwatson]

If they are Murray's, I'd scoop em up for sure. As you already know, anything with VA in it will be superb with some age on it.

 

[MisterE]

Since this has turned into a Dunhill infosource and love-fest, any thoughts on "Standard Mixture?" My Tinder Box has the regular tin and "Mild" on the shelf. Been curious about 'em, too.

The SM Med is spectacular stuff. I know you're an EMP fan so I think you'd especially enjoy it. It's not a long step from EMP either. 8)

 

[Smoker99]

Since this has turned into a Dunhill infosource and love-fest, any thoughts on "Standard Mixture?" My Tinder Box has the regular tin and "Mild" on the shelf. Been curious about 'em, too.

Can't attest to the Orliks, but in Murray, Standard Medium is second only to London Mixture.

 

[lb]

As far as i know , Orlik does not produce dunhill mixtures anymore. Now they are made in Germany by KK. I substituted London Mixture (real dunhill made in england) a long time ago with Pease charring cross.

 

[gravel]

As far as i know , Orlik does not produce dunhill mixtures anymore. Now they are made in Germany by KK. I substituted London Mixture (real dunhill made in england) a long time ago with Pease charring cross.

Not necessarily. Keensmoke sniffed this out in February:

I went to PipesMagazine to listen to this show because this was news to me. And rather surprising news, too, as I imagine STG makes some nice coin with their license to produce the Dunhill stuff and I couldn't believe they'd let it go. Anyway, before listening, I found this exchange in the thread of comments:

Quote:
sebert81 said:
Hi Brian,
enjoyed this episode (as always). Some stuff:
Kohlhaase & Kopp does NOT produce the Dunhill tobaccos (or this is a entirely new developement). Afaik they are still made by Orlik/STG, K&K is only the distributor for many parts of the world (Europe at least).
And I think there are somme errors in your description of how DTM was formed and how they are represented in the US, but I’ll have to do some research on that first.
Best regards
Sebastian, Stuttgart, Germany

_________

Kevin said:
@sebert81 - We have information that Kohlhase & Kopp does make Dunhill tobaccos now.
-
You can see Dunhill here: http://www.kohlhase-tobacco.com/site/index.php?id=460
-
It is ommmitted here: http://www.st-group.com/index.php/pipe-tobacco/complete-brand-list

____________

sebert81 said:
Hi Kevin,
I wrote to Kohlhaase & Kopp, and this is what they answered:
“[..]das Unternehmen Kohlhase & Kopp ist ausschließlich der Importeur von Dunhill Tabaken und diese werden von uns in Deutschland exklusiv vertrieben. Scandinavian Tobacco Group ist wiederum der lizensierte Produzent der Dunhill Tabake. Markeninhaber ist aber British American Tobacco. Das ist wohl auch der Grund, weshalb Sie diese Tabake nicht in der Liste der Scandinavian Tobacco Group finden.”
Translation:
K & K is solely the importer of Dunhill tobaccos and is the exclusive distributor for them in Germany. STG is the licensed manufacturer of the Dunhill tobaccos, whereas the brand [when it comes to tobaccos] is owned by British American Tobacco. This is probably the reason why they are not listed on the STG site.
Apparently they only list their own brands there…
Best regards
Sebastian


http://pipesmagazine.com/blog/radio-talk-show/the-pipes-magazine-radio-show-episode-20/#more-6495

So it appears that Dunhill continues to be produced by STG. It makes sense because you can also find Samuel Gawith tobaccos on K&K's site... but obviously they aren't producing them, and must just be the German distributor for those as well.

 

[Kyle Weiss]

Doc, E and Smoker99-- thanks! I'll have to grab a tin of the Murray's before it isn't there any more, and get some "Medium" while I'm at it.

Not sure how I came to the conclusion, but I had always had it solid in my mind that Orlik is and will be the makers of the current Dunhill incarnations of pipe tobacco, and that K&K were only the distributors for them. Which is good, Orlik/Scandinavian Tobacco Group is lighting my fire, for sure. Or at least providing me with the combustibles.