P. Lorillard Burgundy

The grassy, citrusy bright Virginia forms the base of the blend, and has some competition from the toasted, woody, lightly spicy and nutty, dry burley. Some of the Virginia is cavendish processed, which provides a little toast and a touch of honey. The lightly spicy perique is an ever present background player. The burgundy wine topping is dry, more tart than fruity sweet, and mildly floral with a hint of bitter. It does tone down the tobaccos a little. The taste is closer to mild than it is to medium. The nic-hit is very mild. Won’t bite, but can nip at the tongue if you’re a fast puffer. Burns fairly cool at a reasonable pace with a consistent, rather savory flavor. Leaves little moisture the bowl, and requires an average number of relights. The after taste is kind of sour. An all day smoke. Two and a half stars.

-JimInks

This blend has been off the market for decades. I read an old newspaper article from the 1960s that spoke of how this was developed for the Lorillard Company after several years of experimentation. It was supposed to be the next best thing. And yes, it was pretty good.

I walked into a drugstore in the summer of 1969 and got a pack of this for my first pipe experience. I still remember in the pouch it had a grainy flake cut of burley and VA similar in appearance to PA or CH. It smoked reasonably cool, was easy to light and the taste was that of your basic burley/VA and a somewhat dry, tart not really sweet topping. It was a nice pretty middle of the road smoke and the topping produced a flavor I had yet to find anywhere after 48 years of pipe smoking. If it was still around I'd probably still be smoking it.

I bought a 7oz tin of this at a Pipe Club of London meeting in February 2019. It must be fairly old, as the tin has rust spots of it, and Big Swede in his review says that it's been out of production for decades. It's pleasant, if not exceptional. It has a distinctly dry, woody flavour. It's supposed to have alcohol topping, but I think that must have dispersed years ago.