What Was Your English Crossover?

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J_Rock

J_Rock

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I am getting the itch to try some Latakia again. I tried it before and never really liked it. I think I just went for the gusto every time and didn't try to ease into it.

What blend did you cut your teeth on?

Thanks in advance!
Jeff
 
Esoterica Pembroke, smooth and not loaded with Lat, just enough in my opinion.
Oh! And I don't really like Lat blends, would rather smoke a hot horse dropping before stuffing that stuff in a perfectly good pipe.  ;) 
 
I have to say it was nightcap for me it opened my eyes to good pipe tobacco
 
Some good crossovers?....ahh let's see. I'll name a few, I'll also give you a few suggestions for mixtures that are lighter in Latakia too.

Crossovers
McClelland Frog Morton
Just For Him Shortcut to Mushrooms (more aromatic really)
C&D Ephipany (American style burley-fied Lat, Revelation clone)

Lighter Lats
GLP - Piccadilly, Ashbury, Kensington or Chelsea Morning
McClelland Wilderness (a bit more Lat than you may be after but it's sweet, smokey, and mellow)
Rattray's Red Rapparee
 
Cartaphilus":jiiis1cm said:
JCB":jiiis1cm said:
Presbyterian.
Click to expand...
Presbyterian?
Your killing me! God awful Orientals
Click to expand...
http://www.tobaccoreviews.com/blend/1206/william-p-solomon-presbyterian-mixture

I am not a fan of orientals myself. But I still enjoy Presbyterian occasionally, and it has sufficiently moderate Lat that some folks even refute it is in there. P has enough quality Virginias for it to make an acceptable crossover. And Lat itself is an oriental, so one can hardly ask for Lat blends and reject 'orientals' in the mix.

While I am here, I might also put forward Solani 763.
 
My "crossover" blends were exactly that, aromatics with latakia in them. I can't name them because they were always house blends, bought at various tobacconists around the country years ago. I do remember that McCranie's had some really good ones, and I recommend them.
 
I started on Mac Baren Virginia #1 and Esoterica Penzance (before it was cool to buy it an umpteen gazillion dollars an ounce)..

I say if you are going to get in go all in. How bout some Pease Blackpoint. That'll fix ya up.

And pee on Cart , orientals are your friend.. Especially considering Latakia IS an oriental.
 
About two years after first picking up the pipe I first tried Latakia - and HATED the stuff. I stayed away from anything with so much as a shred of Latakia in it for four or five years. Then I got the hankering to try it again, and picked up some Frog Morton on the advice of others.

Then things changed forever.

I'm not convinced that the FM was "better" than the lat blends I'd tried earlier so much as a matter of an ever-changing palate (in fact, those "bad" blends that put me off are very enjoyable nowadays)...but it was certainly what I was looking for at the time. It's sweetish but not artificial, Latakia is DEFINITELY there, but its not overdone. Creamy, smoky, sweet - the sort of thing I'd imagine many new (lat) smokers expect it to be.


Anyway...that's the long way of saying I'd recommend Frog Morton (regular/original blend).
 
Some flavored, but not true aros, with Latakia that I like:

Sutliffe CD & Man's Best Friend, GH Westmoreland & Navy Flake, 4 Noggins Painter Hills (a Revelation replacement, there are also the Revelation inspired R-Blend & Epiphany)

Lighter Latakia blends I like:

GH Squadron Leader, Germain 1820, and yes, Presbyterian
 
JCB":1ik3hmxe said:
Cartaphilus":1ik3hmxe said:
JCB":1ik3hmxe said:
Presbyterian.
Click to expand...
Presbyterian?
Your killing me! God awful Orientals
Click to expand...
http://www.tobaccoreviews.com/blend/1206/william-p-solomon-presbyterian-mixture

I am not a fan of orientals myself. But I still enjoy Presbyterian occasionally, and it has sufficiently moderate Lat that some folks even refute it is in there. P has enough quality Virginias for it to make an acceptable crossover. And Lat itself is an oriental, so one can hardly ask for Lat blends and reject 'orientals' in the mix.

While I am here, I might also put forward Solani 763.
Click to expand...
To each his own I say but, there is something in Presbyterian, other orientals or something (not knowing much about the composition of Orientals) that just really turned me off. And I don't claim to be any kind of expert on it or any other tobaccos for that matter, I just know what I like.  ;) 
 
Not a crossover but what first got me into English blends was Dunhill's Early Morning Pipe. It has enough orientals and va's in it to subdue the latakia. Although I tend to smoke stronger latakia blends now, Emp is still a favorite first smoke of the day for me.
 
Thanks a million for all of the responses! I will have to sort through all of these and see what tins I should order. I am going to be broke. You guys gave me quite a list!
 
Cartaphilus":1hnvz6kd said:
JCB":1hnvz6kd said:
Cartaphilus":1hnvz6kd said:
JCB":1hnvz6kd said:
Presbyterian.
Click to expand...
Presbyterian?
Your killing me! God awful Orientals
Click to expand...
http://www.tobaccoreviews.com/blend/1206/william-p-solomon-presbyterian-mixture

I am not a fan of orientals myself. But I still enjoy Presbyterian occasionally, and it has sufficiently moderate Lat that some folks even refute it is in there. P has enough quality Virginias for it to make an acceptable crossover. And Lat itself is an oriental, so one can hardly ask for Lat blends and reject 'orientals' in the mix.

While I am here, I might also put forward Solani 763.
Click to expand...
To each his own I say but, there is something in Presbyterian, other orientals or something (not knowing much about the composition of Orientals) that just really turned me off. And I don't claim to be any kind of expert on it or any other tobaccos for that matter, I just know what I like.  ;) 
Click to expand...
I get where you are coming from entirely. Altho I have no objections to the aroma of orientals, or latakia for that matter, it is the one type of tobacco that my mouth really doesn't get along with. Small doses for me.

People seem to have wildly variant perceptions of orientals and latakia as well. For me the smell of burning pine with Cyprian Latakia is omnipresent. It baffles me that some people cannot detect it at all. I mean it REALLY baffles me.

Back in the 70s I had a friend who smoked Sobranie Black Russians, unless memory is playing tricks on me. In my head that is what I am looking for with orientals but I haven't found it yet with a pipe tobacco.

Anyway, if the OP is hoping to re-try English Blends, something like Presbyterian is a good start because it is very gentle for that style. Avoiding orientals only for Latakia is a different route altogether I think.

Fwiw, the Solani 763 has Syrian Latakia, which to my mind is more complex and subtle, but with cavendish rather than orientals, if one really wants to avoid orientals. But as you say, to each his own.  :)
 
Cartaphilus":p5l4n8yi said:
JCB":p5l4n8yi said:
Cartaphilus":p5l4n8yi said:
JCB":p5l4n8yi said:
Presbyterian.
Click to expand...
Presbyterian?
Your killing me! God awful Orientals
Click to expand...
http://www.tobaccoreviews.com/blend/1206/william-p-solomon-presbyterian-mixture

I am not a fan of orientals myself. But I still enjoy Presbyterian occasionally, and it has sufficiently moderate Lat that some folks even refute it is in there. P has enough quality Virginias for it to make an acceptable crossover. And Lat itself is an oriental, so one can hardly ask for Lat blends and reject 'orientals' in the mix.

While I am here, I might also put forward Solani 763.
Click to expand...
To each his own I say but, there is something in Presbyterian, other orientals or something (not knowing much about the composition of Orientals) that just really turned me off. And I don't claim to be any kind of expert on it or any other tobaccos for that matter, I just know what I like.  ;) 
Click to expand...
And EVERY time you see Presby recommended you have to blast it right?  :twisted: :twisted: BTW, j_ rock when I started smoking, "crossovers" weren't around so I started my 30+ years of English/Balkan smoking started with Dunhill's 965 which in many ways is THE definitive English. I moved on to BSs 759 for my go-to Balkan but I would STILL recommend 965 as well as Presbyterian for a little lighter Lat blend.
 
The first English mixture I smoked regularly was MM 965, and it was my favorite for a long time. It was my go-to tobacco for most of the late 90s (in fact I rarely smoked anything else). Then I discovered Virginia flakes and the strong Lakeland offerings and mostly lost interest in Latakia. So it goes. The only English mixture I keep on hand these days is the Latakia-light Squadron Leader, and I don't smoke it very often.
 
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