What Retired Blends Would you Bring Back?

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jpmcwjr

Moderator
Staff member
May 12, 2015
24,924
27,676
Carmel Valley, CA
Is there a tobacco store in New Haven?
Any Yalies or residents have anything to share on this? It's interesting to me.
Great sleuthing, JG.
 
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orvet

Starting to Get Obsessed
Jan 1, 2023
237
725
Willamette Valley of Oregon
-State Express Roundels
-Capstan Full flake
-Will's Cut Golden Bar
-Hal O' The Wynd, made in Perth Scotland.
-Players No Name - a beautiful shag cut Virginia in a soldered tin with a cutter in the lid to open the tin. I have only seen one tin, in the 1980s, but I believe it must have been pre-World War II. I still have the tin somewhere. It was a very nice Virginia
 

proteus

Lifer
May 20, 2023
1,242
2,117
53
Connecticut (shade leaf tobacco country)
Is there a tobacco store in New Haven?
Any Yalies or residents have anything to share on this? It's interesting to me.
Great sleuthing, JG.
Hell of a find JG. The Owl Shop is in New Haven. I live only 20 mins from there. I wonder if anyone at Yale has any info on it. Don't really know who to call. Maybe there's a historian or someone at the museum there. I've met a person who helped me with the history of Harkness Tower at Yale and Harkness Mansion. But they didn't know about the tobacco.
 

proteus

Lifer
May 20, 2023
1,242
2,117
53
Connecticut (shade leaf tobacco country)
While we're at it. This tobacco looks like the The Hartford insurance co logo. Stag would be interesting to bring back.

Useless trivia Hartford means the place where deer cross referring to the CT river. Hart is another word for a deer and Ford is from a word that means to cross a body of water.

There could be a whole line of tobaccos with a CT theme.

Screenshot_20230911-082453_eBay.jpg
 

jpmcwjr

Moderator
Staff member
May 12, 2015
24,924
27,676
Carmel Valley, CA
Etymology seems right, but probably comes from England. One possibility is Hertford, pronounced "Hartford" by the English. There may be several "Hartfords" in GB as well.

The CT Insurance Co's stag (not Stag!) seems typical of drawings of stags in the late 1800's.
 
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Puff nstuff

Starting to Get Obsessed
Dec 2, 2021
206
1,017
Inland Southern California
I am also a relative noob, but from things I've tried or heard about endlessly from others that I trust, I would say:

Sugar Barrel (tried - YUM!)
Kentucky Club Aromatic (the match is delicious)
Edgeworth Slices (heard about ad nauseum)
 
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jguss

Lifer
Jul 7, 2013
2,504
6,576
Hell of a find JG. The Owl Shop is in New Haven. I live only 20 mins from there. I wonder if anyone at Yale has any info on it.

As far as the history of the shop is concerned that’s covered by the website. As far as what kind of place it is today, you should definitely check it out for yourself since you’re only a short drive away. B&Ms are a dying breed and deserve our support.

But they didn't know about the tobacco.

If you mean Handsome Dan I don’t know the original constituent tobaccos, although the cut was obviously granule. Philip Morris, which eventually acquired the brand, described it as very similar to Barking Dog, Wakefield English Mixture, and Country Doctor, which suggests that burley, latakia, and possibly Virginias played a role.

IMG_0129.jpeg

The name of the blend, by the way, clearly refers to the then-recently adopted Yale bulldog mascot:

IMG_0131.jpeg
 

condorlover1

Lifer
Dec 22, 2013
8,164
28,174
New York
Here is one I wouldn't mind seeing back from the dead - Lloyds Bondman. It was about until the mid to late 1980s in a red packet. I am told by friends that Samual Gawith Birds Eye shag is a fairly good clone but I have never been tempted to find out. It was smoked by my Grandfather on my Mothers side who passed away long before I was born but when I used to smoke it around the house it was one of the few blends I smoked that my Mother never seemed to moan about!!
images.jpeg
 

Elric

Lifer
Sep 19, 2019
2,197
9,911
Liplapper Lane (Michigan)
tobaccocellar.com
View attachment 248614
I want C&D to bring this back. I believe it's from the 1900 to 1910 era and from one of my favorite places New Haven CT. I believe it was popular at Yale during that time. But I do not think anyone knows what it is supposed to taste like.
Perfect resurrection candidate; no one knows how the original tasted, as they are all dead, and no tins extant.
 
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mso489

Lifer
Feb 21, 2013
41,210
60,473
It's probably already been mentioned, but I remember the ever-popular McClelland 5100 Virginia. Everyone who loved Virginias liked it, it seemed, and it was a good mixing tobacco for home blends. I'm a burley smoker first, but I've found some Virginia blends I like, and lately I've been smoking mostly those.
 

proteus

Lifer
May 20, 2023
1,242
2,117
53
Connecticut (shade leaf tobacco country)
As far as the history of the shop is concerned that’s covered by the website. As far as what kind of place it is today, you should definitely check it out for yourself since you’re only a short drive away. B&Ms are a dying breed and deserve our support.



If you mean Handsome Dan I don’t know the original constituent tobaccos, although the cut was obviously granule. Philip Morris, which eventually acquired the brand, described it as very similar to Barking Dog, Wakefield English Mixture, and Country Doctor, which suggests that burley, latakia, and possibly Virginias played a role.

View attachment 248746

The name of the blend, by the way, clearly refers to the then-recently adopted Yale bulldog mascot:

View attachment 248747
The "it" I referred to was the tobacco not the shop. I've been going to owl shop since 1992. But I can see how I was not specific. My bad. This is really good research. Thank you. I will add it to my collection.
 

K.E. Powell

Part of the Furniture Now
Aug 20, 2022
518
1,878
37
West Virginia
I was involved in the 'resurrection' business being part of the team that re-animated War Horse, Bengal Slices, John Cotton's 1 and 2, John Cotton's Smyrna, Dobie's Four Square as part of the Standard Tobacco Co of PA. It is not worth it. You think that the world will beat a path to your door to congratulate you on your efforts? Wrong! The world will try and burn your frigging house down, scream abuse at you, all the while your manufacturing partners will tell you what they cannot do. You will be surrounded by arm chair experts, the mentally deranged and one or two people that need locking up in the funny farm. If it is not made today there is a good reason for it and probably commercial. Bringing back something from the dead is the most thankless task you could ever engage in and I can fully understand why our good lord only ever resurrected Lazarus!
Well, if it means anything, I'm glad that someone helped bring War Horse back. I wasn't around for the original, but I love what is currently available. A top 5 blend for me easily.

As for a retired blend I'd like to see come back? Hrm...that's tough. I've only been smoking for around 3-4 years or so. I'm typically not big on latakia, but GL Pease's Mephisto blend sounded pretty interesting. I'd be interested in giving it a try if it ever came back (which seems very unlikely).