Drucquer & Sons Red Lion

Passage of Time will definetly affect one's memory of something - So, While I remember this blend being a little Sharper in the Latakia department - this new incarnation rocks. A complex medium English that is absolutely delicious. There is a light sweetness that must come from the Virginia's used while the Latakia is just perfectly balanced. There are no Turkish Tobaccos that I can detect in this blend but you won't miss them. A really approachable mixture that seems to be perfect for the Fall. Highly Recommended.

The base of the blend is the sugary, tart and tangy citrusy, lightly grassy, slightly floral bright Virginia, and the earthy, woody, bready, tangy dark fruit sweet red Virginias, which have a hint of vinegar and spice. The red is slightly more obvious than the bright. The smoky, woody, earthy, musty sweet Cyprian Latakia plays an important second lead to the Virginias. The spicy, raisiny and plumy, earthy perique is a background player. The toasted black cavendish provides a little caramel and brown sugar in a minor role. The nic-hit is a couple of steps past the center of mild to medium. The strength and taste levels barely reach medium. Won’t bite or get harsh, but does sport a few small rough edges. Well balanced with some complexity, it burns at an even, moderate pace, cool and clean with a smooth, very consistent sweet and savory flavor all the way through. Requires and average number of relights, and leaves little moisture in the bowl. The pleasant after taste, and lightly stronger room note are short lived. An all day smoke with enough body to continually hold your interest without wearing out your taste buds.

-JimInks

i have been smoking my way through all of the GL Pease Blends and the Drucquer & Sons blends are the last ones on the list. The Red Virginia plays perfectly with the Burley, which add a touch of nutty flavors. The taste of caramel, brown sugar, a hint of spice, and a haunting of of citrus are lightly kissed with a cajun/smoky essence from the Cyrprian Latakia. The spice and pepper from the Perique sets off the flavors wonderfully. The Cavendish binds all of the flavors nicely. The burning quality is excellent. This blend is an all day blend and is complex enough to hold one's interest through many, many bowls. This is a highly recommended blend that will henceforth require a permanent place in my cellar and rotation.

This a well executed English blend. I love the fact that the Latakia is lightly used and the taste is very cohesive. The tobaccos used are of excellent quality. This blend is Virginia forward with the Perique in second position. The Black Cavendish is used to smooth out the blend and the Burly is not noticeable, but adds to the coolness of the blend. So basically, I would call this a light Vaper that is smoothed out by the other components. It is cool smoking and very delicious. I find this blend to be very flavorful. On first light, Red Lion tastes full, but the strength reduces to medium as you progress down the bowl. It burns to ash and produces an average amount of smoke. Update: The initial strength I referred to above is eliminated, after a tin has been open for a few days and the airing further improves an already fine smoking experience. Thanks Greg. Update: Red Lion is also excellent mixed 50-50 with Prince's Blend, also from Drucquer. Both blends have the same constituent tobaccos. I have found that both mixtures, blended equally, give me the perfect balance of strength and taste I have been searching for.

This review is for Red Lion blended by G.L. Pease, produced by Cornell & Diehl. I have not had the original Drucquer blend.

I love the tin design. The smell is kind of salty and woody with some bready sweetness. The moisture level is good to go, but I let it air just a bit before I pack the pipe.

The taste is woody and grassy, and salty, with some leathery notes. There is also a lot of woody tanginess and fermented character. I sometimes get a gingerbread note in there. There is a great, sweet, floral note that comes up and this sort of dark cereal, chocolate, woody taste unfolds. Notes of creamy, sweet bread, cinnamon and maybe clove, leather, smoky cocoa and molasses. The second half of the bowl becomes round and rich in flavor. More cohesive, and more interesting than the first half, and some funky, musty, savory, earthy, fusil flavors appear- burnt rubber, smoked fish, dry vanilla syrup, incense. I also do not think there is Perique in this blend, but there are some fermented fruit notes that tickle the sinuses.

Strength was somewhere around mild to medium, and the taste was medium. Nicotine is medium, not strong. Looking at the components and smelling the tin, it's truly interesting what taste actually comes through in this blend. It tastes like it has Orientals. It reminded me, at points, of a light version of Gaslight. The only disparaging thing I can say is that it seems to burn fast, but that can be a good thing for some.

I would recommend this to people that like blends containing Latakia, and anyone that wants an interesting smoke. I also imagine it will age well. For now, I give it three stars.

**update 10/10/2019**

This is a really interesting blend. It's athletic in delivering and displaying flavors, considering there are no Orientals, coupled with the fact that the tin is so young (something to note with Cornell & Diehl blends). I imagine this will be fantastic as time continues to have a deepening affect on the flavors of the blend. Upgrading to four stars. So far, these Drucquer & Sons blends are some of the best blends I've put in my pipe.

Red lion is the fullest and most satisfying of the five Pease revival Drucquer blends I've smoked so far. I knew from the top of the first bowl that this was going to be good. I knew in the middle of my first bowl that this was a four star blend. By the time I had finished the first bowl, I had elevated Red Lion to five star status. Of all reviews so far, I agree in my viewpoints most closely with that of reviewer LannarkGent 2019-11-27. Like a few other reviewers, I have smoked the original blend; many times. I liked it back in the nineties but am finding it hard to compare to Greg Pease's effort. The reason is-I think the revival blend is better than the original, and, we don't seem to get to say that often enough about modern revival blends. I love this modern version and intend to stash tins away immediately - four stars.

If this were a confectionery treat imagine a hickory smoked salted caramel with peanuts. By the time this melds together thats what I'm tasting. Delicious smokey sweetness from the latakia and virginia. Reds provide earth and subtle tang with perique always there but popping in and out. For me its the cavendish that sets it apart and the lack of other orientals. I imagine virginia is used for the cavendish as it provides that true caramel note and I want to say a little spice. Good body and depth given its mild designation. All in all excellent, burning to a fine white ash.

My third experience of a recreation of a Drucquer blend is a positive one. A great example of a "golden standard", a blend that offers a lot of Latakia goodness.

Definitely fuller than "The devil's own", but lighter than my favorite so far (Trafalgar) it is a textbook example of a "dry tasting" English blend. Clean, full of flavour, easy to smoke and with enough complexity to keep you intrigued, but at the same time low maintenance and well balanced enough to be used as an all-day blend. Some Orientals would have been great, though: their absence is something I miss in a Latakia mixture.

I still think that "Westminster" is a rounder, more easily tolerable (and complex) everyday blend, but this one even if lacking that extra sparkle of wonder and uniqueness is a great achievement too.

I found Red Lion to be an interesting English. The virginias carry the day with their sweetness forming the base. On top of that is a nice mix of Latakia and Perique giving it a smoky and fruity compliment. I don't get much from the burley which is hiding in there.

Easy to pack and light, I found that it burned really well and the different tobaccos each had a chance to shine as I smoked through the bowl.

A solid mix which I'd buy again.

A medium English blend with a great flavor of earth with a hint of sweetness. Since it the oriental leaf is not in this blend you get a slightly sweeter English style. I have used it to intoduce new pipers to Englsih blends as it is in the medium catagory and can highlight the advantage of Latakia and Perique in a blend.