sablebrush52
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Posts: 903
Favorite Pipe: Barling
Favorite Tobacco: whatever is in it
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Post by sablebrush52 on Jan 15, 2018 13:10:39 GMT -5
Do you have a blend or tin that is particularly special to you? It doesn't have to be some rare superstar or some form of unobtainium, just a single blend, or tin, that is special to you.
In my case, it's a single tin of State Express London Mixture. Here's why it's special to me. At the close of the 2016 WCPS, Jon Guss bought a couple of tins of it from a couple who were at the show to sell off the contents of a long deceased spouse's collection and cellar. Among the items for sale were several of these tins of London Mixture. Nobody was paying them any attention, rather, other buyers were scooping up the tins of Balkan Sobrainie Original Mixture and other superstar blends. Jon wasn't familiar with the blend and I had no memory of it.
After the show closed, Jon popped one of the tins and it was still moist and the scent was amazing, but nothing compared to the flavors that several decades had bestowed on it. It was one of the most memorable smokes I've ever had.
Since the show had closed and the couple had departed, there was no way to try to buy any of the remaining tins. I hoped that they would be back in 2017 and that maybe they would still have a tin or two to sell. I have to tell you that I thought about that possibility from time to time throughout the year between shows.
When I walked onto the floor at the 2017 show I looked for this couple, and to my disappointment, they weren't there. So much for my hopes of having another round with this wonderful old blend. Jon knew how much I had been looking forward to possibly obtaining some and he knew that I was very disappointed that it had not come to pass.
A week after the show closed I received a package in the mail. It was from Jon, and it was his one remaining tin of State Express London Mixture. I've put it in a safe place until I can bring it to the WCPS 2018 and share it with Jon.
That tin is the most special blend in my stash. Not so much because it's a blend that I really wanted, but because of the generous nature Jon's friendship.
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Post by Matthew on Jan 15, 2018 15:06:44 GMT -5
I have a tin of Dunhill EMP that was sent as part of a surprise package
to me a couple years back.The Brother that sent it also gifted me with
my one and only Dunhill pipe.I had stopped about halfway back to the
house from the mailbox.Sat right there in the grass staring and admirering
just how wonderful "OUR" community is.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jan 15, 2018 15:13:10 GMT -5
Because of rareness and age, John Surrey's Snow Apple. I've only seen it once. Grabbed it. After fifty or sixty years the apple is totally sublime
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Post by Deleted on Jan 15, 2018 15:20:23 GMT -5
A little 2-bowl sample of Elephant & Castle Deerstalker, 30+years old. Gifted to me by a generous BOTL on another forum. Along with some aged FVF, it was the blend that made me realize how wonderful straight VAs can be. One bowl left....
Runner-up: a tin of Exotique - never tried it but sounds right up my alley, and seems to be defunct.
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Post by trailboss on Jan 15, 2018 15:27:01 GMT -5
Great story, Jesse! Jon Guss is truly a gentleman...I still need to reciprocate the kindness that he showed me at the pipe show. There used to be a carpet man in Wichita, and his motto was "don't cuss, call Gus"...I guess that might work for you when talking about a blend you want to obtain, maybe he is the go to guy. I no longer have either, but this was a very special smoke that the proprieter of Tinderbox sold me at the original price, which really had some age on it...phenomenal smoke.  And the Edgeworth Extra High Grade sliced that I lucked out on was a real treat...  As I smoked both, I though of this song title... |
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Post by Darin on Jan 15, 2018 15:27:15 GMT -5
I've been sitting on a tin of 2000 Xmas Cheer waiting for 2020 to arrive ... getting close! Also, my Motzek Strang stash was doubled by a friend who can't take the Burley content in it so it's rare AND from a friend. One other would be my tin of 2002 (2003?) Germain's Brown Flake. Then there's the LEO from another friend ... this could keep going so I'll stop here.  |
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jan 15, 2018 15:54:27 GMT -5
Beacon Extra. A bunch of those that are aging away. Hard to stay out of them, but I am determined to let them get 7-8 years old before smoking any. Also have some C&D Sanselpolcro. I intend to let those age a while too.
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jpberg
Junior Member
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Post by jpberg on Jan 15, 2018 19:54:57 GMT -5
Gosh, what a question. I have a tin of Krumble Kake from the late (89?) eighties that Arvind Chheda sold me, and I have a pouch of Brecks Blend from With Pipe and Book from 1986. Those two places are where I cut my teeth, I can’t think that either will ever see fire.
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Post by zambini on Jan 15, 2018 21:45:59 GMT -5
trailboss, that Edgeworth looks mighty nice but the cut is huge. What size pipe do you use with it?
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Post by simnettpratt on Jan 15, 2018 21:54:58 GMT -5
Probably the jar of HH Vintage Syrian trailboss sent me. I smoked the last bowl of archy's SPC Plum Pudding the other day. Yes, in her pipe.
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Post by trailboss on Jan 15, 2018 23:52:58 GMT -5
trailboss, that Edgeworth looks mighty nice but the cut is huge. What size pipe do you use with it? Both them pics were of the Royal Jersey Mixture... not sure if it was suppose to be a ribbon cut crumble cake, but as aged as it was, it became one... moist but smoked cool and dry. Edgeworth slices are similar in composition to Dunhill Flake. |
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Post by zambini on Jan 16, 2018 0:01:42 GMT -5
trailboss , that Edgeworth looks mighty nice but the cut is huge. What size pipe do you use with it? Both them pics were of the Royal Jersey Mixture... not sure if it was suppose to be a ribbon cut crumble cake, but as aged as it was, it became one... moist but smoked cool and dry. Edgeworth slices are similar in composition to Dunhill Flake. OK, I can see now that my sense of proportion was way off. The Royal Jersey Mixture looks darn fine. I've got a green label one with cavendish put away for later this year but that purple one looks really good. |
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Post by trailboss on Jan 16, 2018 13:28:57 GMT -5
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sablebrush52
Full Member
Posts: 903
Favorite Pipe: Barling
Favorite Tobacco: whatever is in it
Location:
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Post by sablebrush52 on Jan 16, 2018 22:31:23 GMT -5
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Post by PhantomWolf on Jan 17, 2018 4:00:49 GMT -5
Great stories, everyone.
The jewel of my collection is a handsome painted tin of Escudo with over 13 years of age on it. As a newer pipesmoker, this makes it roughly 12 years older than the rest of the hoard. haha What makes it even more wonderful is the fact that our forum's own Darin gifted it to me this past Christmas.
Only downside is, I do not know when I will work up the nerve to smoke it. Hell, I was still a kid in the Army when that leaf was tinned. Some day when I am an old man, I will be able to crack that tin open and smell and taste something that grew in the rain and the sun way back in the best years of my life.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jan 17, 2018 9:11:03 GMT -5
I'm not, either by design or avocation, a collector of rare or vintage tobacco, but friends have sent some my way which stirred my tasting interest. Among these are a tin of McClelland's 1997 Christmas Cheer, several tins of 30+ years old Craven Mixture, three "cartridge" tins of Edgeworth Sliced, vintage Edgeworth Natural Cavendish, and a large tub of Edgeworth Red (Aromatic). A particularly stunning gift was a generous sample of well-preserved Blue Boar from a 1940 tin! So, the 'net has been good to me I must say.
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Post by trailboss on Jan 17, 2018 10:15:44 GMT -5
[quote/]...a handsome painted tin of Escudo with over 13 years of age on it.[\quote]
Stuff is probably black, probably tastes like the tongue off your old combat boots. I can’t believe Darin did that to you! Out of sheer benevolence on my part, I will send you a tin of wonderfully golden fresh tobacco in exchange.... I am cataloguing old expired tinned tobacco’s.
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Post by johnbrandt on Jan 17, 2018 10:25:11 GMT -5
Special tin I would have to go with GL Pease Tribute Second Edition 9/11/02
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Post by Ronv69 on Jan 17, 2018 20:53:21 GMT -5
I have a tin of Penzance and a tin of Special Latakia Flake, both given to me by a forum friend for no reason other than that he is overly generous with Harrison Hughes College fund. They are both treasured and tasty.
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Post by Baboo on Jan 18, 2018 13:43:20 GMT -5
Rattray's Exotic Orange...
Oops - wrong thread
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Post by crapgame on Jan 18, 2018 18:06:52 GMT -5
Still on the search for a tin of amphora Cesar borgia... very special to me..
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Post by Lady Margaret on Jan 19, 2018 10:06:10 GMT -5
For sentimental value, I have a tin of CAO Black, the first tin of tobacco ever gifted to me by a veteran smoker. That was my first experience with a non-OTC blend and it was fantastic -- so much billowy smoke  My next gift tin was BRM, and then the first "tin" of tobacco I bought was at my local B&M and it was BriarWorks Peach Cobbler. |
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My next gift tin was BRM, and then the first "tin" of tobacco I bought was at my local B&M and it was BriarWorks Peach Cobbler.