Welcome to the reddit starter/sample kit tobacco page from /r/pipetobacco this document will cover the selections of pipe tobacco and collected information about each blend. The following is a collection of information about the brands and blends. When you order the starter kit, you’ll get 1/2 oune of each of the following.

Dunhill My Mixture 965 — History

When Alfred Dunhill opened his shop on Duke Street in 1907 it was a tobacco shop. He was a tobacconist, or as he put it in his first catalog a “Mixture Specialist”, prominently displaying a sign in his shop window reading: “Tobacco Specialist”. But first and foremost Alfred Dunhill was a marketer and when he opened his tobacco shop he knew exactly where he wanted to go. In short order however, he recognized that he had set his sights too low, this is a part of that story.

When he opened the doors that first day, it was not to the type of shop where you or I buy our pipe tobacco, a shop with a wide variety of pre-tinned, vacuum packed tobacco made by any number of manufacturers. Rather the shop Alfred opened was that of a bespoke blender of tobacco, with each “My Mixture” custom blended for an individual customer with the blending tobacco, according to Balfour, Alfred Dunhill One Hundred Years And More, initially obtained from George Dobie & Son of Paisley (makers of the ‘4 Square’ blends) and the Tobacco Supply Syndicate. Or as he wrote (and most assuredly these are his words):

“The senses of taste and smell are distinct senses in each separate person …. It is impossible for a ready-made mixture to exactly suit the individual senses of taste and smell. Consequently the only method available is the scientific method whereby the tone of the sense of taste, and the quality of the sense of smell, is accurately determined and assured …. No method avails save that of individual test …. by personal interview.”

Custom blending of the sort Alfred described in his catalog had another problem as well. It does not necessarily produce the best possible blend. Blending is more then just mixing together different leaf in proportion. There are blending techniques, e.g., stoving, toasting, pressing, that take time and experimentation and can hardly be done at the store’s blending counter. Then too, once a blend is mixed it needs time to ‘marry’ both in bulk and in the tin. Above all else Alfred strove for the best, thus it was only natural that a few years later, in 1912, bespoke blending took a back seat again as Alfred Dunhill introduced his first pre-packaged ‘name’ blends: “Royal Yacht”, “Cuba” and “Durbar”. And priced not at the “My Mixture” 10/8 but at the very considerable premium of 16/- per lb for “Durbar” and 21/- per lb for “Royal Yacht” and “Cuba”.

About the Blend

The longest running Dunhill ‘name’ blend? “My Mixture #965” “Originally blended for E. A. Baxter, Esq.” sometime before 1910 and proclaimed in the catalog of that year and most all subsequent :”the finest Mixture ever produced”, followed by “Royal Yacht” first introduced in1912, “Standard Mixture” (in all three Latakia strengths) introduced in 1921, and “London Mixture” introduced in 1928. An interesting selection heavily weighted on the Latakia and matured Virginia extremes with the middle ground completely absent, a middle that includes such dearly beloved but, as of the 1990s, departed blends as:”Aperitif”, “Baby’s Bottom”, “Durbar”, “Mr. Alfred’s Own”, and “Three Year Matured”.

Dunhill 965 has the choicest small Latakia that imparts a rich nutty flavor and coolness. Macedonia Bright is added for sweetness. Brown Cavendish completes the blend that all confirmed pipe smokers love! Dunhil’s most popular pipe tobacco.

Peter Stokkebye Luxury Bullseye Flake — History

In 1882, the Stokkebye Company was founded by Peter’s grandfather, Erik Peter Stokkebye, in Odense, Denmark. The senior Erik learned the art of hand rolling fine cigars in Copenhagen and at the age of 24 opened his first retail cigar shop, making cigars in a back room on the premises. Grandfather Stokkebye expanded his business quickly to include premium pipes and chewing tobaccos. His fame spread rapidly throughout Denmark. His son, Erik Poul Stokkebye, took over the family business at the age of 28. Now, unlike royal families who pass down power and control by lineage rather than experience or knowledge, every Stokkebye before being allowed a position, much less the reigns of the company, worked extensively in all aspects of the business and, each in turn, became masters of the trade. Erik Poul, Peter’s father, studied extensively in Denmark, Holland, and Indonesia, the art of tobacco manufacturing. His clientele as the head of the Stokkebye operation included Sir Winston Churchill and was responsible for founding the Stokkebye Tobacco Museum, one of the world’s most comprehensive collection of tobacco memorabilia. Peter, as a young man, served King Frederik the Ninth of Denmark in the Royal Guard at the Copenhagen Palace.

After serving the King, he joined the Wilhelm Lange Company, a well known manufacturer of cigars and tobacco products. Three years later, he joined Burger Sohne and Vautier Freres in Switzerland where he learned the premium cigarette manufacturing trade. After two years there, he journeyed to the fields of North and South Carolina, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Maryland where he gained an extensive knowledge, from the ground up, of leaf tobacco with the Universal Leaf Company. He then became Leaf and Quality Manager with the Ed Larens Cie Company returning to Switzerland which became his home base for his world-wide journey in search of quality leaf. In 1962 at the age of 32, having well paid his dues, he joined the family business. He concentrated his efforts in bringing mild aromatic tobaccos to the ripening North American market to which his company continues to supply a substantial share of products.

Peter’s oldest son, Erik, joined the family business in 1987 as a fourth generation member who likewise earned a reputation as a sales and marketing expert after apprenticing for many years in the tobacco business. In all, over 100 years of expertise in the world of fine tobaccos from field to manufacturing, marketing a consistently world class series of products. Backgrounds this extensive in the tobacco business are rare indeed so when a Stokkebye product emerges, you can bet it has been looked at in all aspects by the best of the best before release.

About the Blend

A blend of ripe Virginia tobacco spiced with pure Louisiana Perique. The distinctive aroma of Perique combined with the natural sweetness of Virginia tobaccos provides a wonderful characteristic taste. The center of mellow, fermented Black Cavendish serves to smoothen the general impression and rounding the taste. It is all a handcrafted process from selecting the best tobacco, blending, rolling, cutting, and packing. The result is an unparalleled smoking experience. Select 2 to 3 slices – rub gently by hand and fill the pipe lightly.

This is a favorite of Scandinavian Tobacco Group (Lane Limited’s) VP of Makreting and Product Development Leonard Wortzel as Peter Stokkebye tobacco is actually made/distributed by Lane Limited who is owned by Scandinavian Tobacco Group, the same makers of Escudo.

Lane Limited 1Q

Lane was originally founded in Dresden, Germany in 1890. Then, as today, the company specialized inthe highest quality pipe and roll-your-own cigarette tobaccos. Herman G. Lane, one of the founder’s grandsons, emigrated to the United States in 1938 and re-established the company in Manhattan. Lane Ltd. pipe tobaccos were manufactured at 25 Beekman St. in New York City until 1983. In 1983 the production facilities were moved to Tucker, Georgia, just outside of Atlanta.

Lane Ltd. changed hands several times over the decades (Brown and Williamson, Conwood and Reynolds), but the heart of the company – the folks who actually produce the tobacco – has remained consistent. In fact, there are employees at the Tucker facility who also worked at the original plant in Manhattan.

About the Blend

Is made by Lane Limited and is the most re-named pipe tobacco in the united states. It is essentially a higher quality of captain black royal which is a drugstore blend. 1Q on the other hand is sold to almost every tobacco shop in the US and is one of the best selling tobaccos in the country. 1-Q is pervasively popular because most pipe-smokers like it or at least can tolerate it, and it is widely available. It is a smooth, mild, Virginia cavendish ribbon-cut blend with vanilla flavoring. There is also a smidgeon of fire-cured leaf that gives it a bit of character.

Basically a Golden Cavendish blend but with a hint of Fire-Cured blended in provides scintillating taste and flavorful aroma. 1-Q is a blend of golden Virginia and black Cavendishes and a smooth flavor with an aroma that everyone loves. This mixture has been the largest selling bulk pipe tobacco in the United States for decades. See for yourself why it’s so popular.

McClelland Bulk 5100 Red Cake

McClelland tobacco has been around since 1977 and is owned and operated by Mike and Mary McNeil in Kansas City. Mclelland tobacco is well known for its unique tin note (ketchup or vinegar smell) but a taste and consitancy to that is second to none.

McClelland has a deserved reputation for producing some of the highest quality pipe tobaccos in the US, with many of their tinned blends occupying a place of honor in the cellars of pipe smokers everywhere. Their standard of excellence extends to their bulk tobaccos as well, with fine blends from every category, including such legendary blends as 5100 Red Cake and 2015 Virginia Perique Flake. For those looking for superior quality blends at an affordable price, look no further than McClelland.

About the Blend

This is a style of English Virginia that has seldom been seen in America. A sweet, exceptionally soft, fully rubbed-out Matured Cake. 5100 is a wonderful blending tobacco as well as a fine, medium-bodied straight smoke.

As a rubbed out flake, 5100 visually appears as an attractive heap of small bits of high quality leaf, ranging from gold to dark brown. It also has a humectant that retains moisture even after several years of aging. To me, this is fair warning of a tobacco that requires a light hand in packing, several matches to get burning properly and vigilance to keep burning. I can?t recall ever smoking a bowl of 5100 through to the bottom without relight.

This is a fully rubbed out small ribbon. Identified as a cake, at some point in its preparation, probably in the fermentation process, it was pressed into a block and then later put into its rubbed out form. It has some of the acetic “ketchup” smell that all McClelland Virginias manifest, although this is lighter than most of its siblings.

Mac Baren Mixture Scottish