Ashton Old Dog

(3.00)
A full English mixture dark with Cyprian latakia, spiced with fragrant Xanthia from Macedonia. It's liveliness is a result of the flue cured Virginia and jet black cavendish.
Notes: Discontinued blend, now reproposed by McClelland in their Ashton Revival Series.

Details

Brand Ashton
Blended By  
Manufactured By McClelland Tobacco Company
Blend Type English
Contents Black Cavendish, Latakia, Oriental/Turkish, Virginia
Flavoring
Cut Ribbon
Packaging 50 grams tin
Country United States
Production No longer in production

Profile

Strength
Medium
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Extremely Mild -> Overwhelming
Flavoring
None Detected
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
None Detected -> Extra Strong
Room Note
Tolerable
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Unnoticeable -> Overwhelming
Taste
Medium to Full
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Extremely Mild (Flat) -> Overwhelming

Average Rating

3.00 / 4
11

11

7

2

Reviews

Please login to post a review.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 31 Reviews
Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Nov 18, 2005 Mild to Medium Medium Medium Very Pleasant
This Old Dog is not a mutt. Heavy latakia that somehow worked. I have always been somewhat of a fan of Xanthia from Macedonia, and that leaf sure pleases in this now long gone classic.

I've never tasted anything similar to this blend, so, I can honestly say it's unique.
5 people found this review helpful.
Please login to upvote this review.
Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Aug 30, 2015 Strong Strong Extra Full Pleasant to Tolerable
With the smell of fall in the air this morning I opened up a cellared tin. At first crack it smells of burnt wood and leather. I settle it out and go make the coffee. Once brewing I come back and load my pipe. Tobacco is slightly oily but packs well with no fuss. First light chars and with a quick tamp and relight I am ready. On the first few draws the tobacco is strong. Perfect for the cool morning air. I sit outside with mug in hand and smoke waking up and waiting for the big storm that is coming. Flavor is one sided but in this man cave tobacco I feel at home. It is strong. The kick is stronger. Slow drags make it so much more enjoyable. The sun comes up and I am ready to start my day. Happy I chose this tin today. I will jar and smoke the rest over the week. One of my better moments.
Pipe Used: Lorenzo
PurchasedFrom: WASH. DC
Age When Smoked: Tin - 20 years plus
4 people found this review helpful.
Please login to upvote this review.
Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Sep 01, 2004 Medium Extremely Mild Medium Tolerable to Strong
Ok, this is a Latakia mixture in the McClelland family that I truly like: while others claim to be "full" blends or Balkans, none of them are. This one ain't either, but its fullness is at a decent level at least. The cavendish adds some roundness and sweetness to a tasty but otherwise quite ordinary blend: as a medium EM, it definitely can be recommended to anyone. So, if you have been slightly disappointed by the light taste of the Frog Mortons, of British Woods and the Bombay Court couple, or by Celebrated Sovereign, but you still can't find the courage to try the "real stuff" (Odyssey, Caravan, Abingdon, Blackpoint...) try this and you will find its richness and intensity quite rewarding.
4 people found this review helpful.
Please login to upvote this review.
Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Jan 11, 2012 Medium to Strong None Detected Full Strong
Ah, the memories. This is one of the first real pipe tobaccos I ever smoked. Coming from a cigar background the brand Ashton meant quality to me and I just grabbed a tin off the shelf. Had I read the tin description and realized this was not an aromatic (pretty much what I looked for in my early pipe days) I probably never would have purchased it. I sure am glad i was in haste.

This is so nice. It has that beautiful sweet and sour thing going on. The orientals are so nice, and to be honest I have not really found anything that is close to this blend. The quality is there, and it is as strong as you want it to be, it just seems to be just right no matter what I am in the mood for. The room note is pretty skunky, this is a pipe smokers blend, not one for a pipe smokers significant other.

I can say this blend does not seem to age well, or maybe my memories are just better than the tobacco really is. My tin is from 2007 and although it has been stored properly it does not seem to have that beautiful pungent taste it used to, could be due to nostalgia palate.

Cannot comment on the re introduction by McClelland. I am going to give it a shot because I respect the McClelland name and I liked the original so much, but do those reproductions ever really work out the way you want them to? We shall see.
2 people found this review helpful.
Please login to upvote this review.
Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
ELF
Feb 21, 2010 Medium Medium Very Full Pleasant to Tolerable
.....Get your fishing license,Pack your favorite Scotch or Bourbon...and get away for a couple of days;You deserve a break... This tobacco in my favorite Meerschaum is deep and complex,in my Briar,light tasting..but incredibly Hot(fast or slow puff'g)...I find this Tobacco Very Much a Camelion(Like when i smoke Frog Morton) *NOT for the FAINT of HEART.!. :+}
2 people found this review helpful.
Please login to upvote this review.
Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Jun 11, 2008 Mild to Medium Extremely Mild Medium Tolerable
First off, the aroma coming out of the tin when its first opened is much more to my liking than Celebrated Sovereign. Old Dog is a good English blend with Cyprian Latakia, Xanthia, Black Cavendish and flue-cured Virginia. To me, this is the better of the two English blends in the Ashton series.

That said, its overall reviews are a bit shy of those for Celebrated Sovereign. Of twenty-seven reviewers to date, twenty-four of them are about evenly split between 4-stars, 3-stars, and 2-stars. Only three reviewers give Old Dog a 1-star rating. Average score to date is 2.81 stars.
2 people found this review helpful.
Please login to upvote this review.
Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Aug 11, 2003 Medium to Strong Mild Medium to Full Tolerable
For about three months I was smoking Peterson's "Sherlock Holmes" blend. When I finely tired of it, I bought a can of Old Dog. I mean, how can you go wrong with a name like that? Does not the name remind you of a faithfull friend, that was happy to see you at the end of a long day? This tobacco was that friend for a while. When you open the tin, you are greated by the scent of Latakia, and an overtone of a mild casing added. The cut was a corse ribbon, which packed into the bowl nicely. Upon first light, I expected to taste the Latakia, but instead, a sweet taste from the casing came through. However, soon after, the Latakia made its way to the top, and stayed there throughout the smoke. Occasionally during the smoke, the Virgina and Orientals came through, and always just in the background, the flavor of the casing was there. I liked it at first, and I stayed with this tobacco for some time. But, as some good friendships end, this one did too, I moved on to full English blends. There comes a time though, when I think about this tobacco, and I feel like I left that faithfull compainion, that "Old Dog" sitting on the step looking at me, as I moved on to new adventures.
2 people found this review helpful.
Please login to upvote this review.
Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Mar 15, 2003 Medium None Detected Medium to Full Tolerable to Strong
Ahh... down to the last bowl of this enjoyable blend. I want so badly to fall in love with Latakia blends, but it seems my palate just doesn't enjoy them the same way it craves aged Virginia flakes. Old Dog however, has really caught my attention. After receiving a sample of McClelland No.1 Balkan bulk blend, I realized that my poor experiences with Dunhill English blends could be a specific brand problem. So I bought three tins of 2000 Old Dog from a local retailer who was happy to get rid of them. (Actually I bought his entire stock of 1999/2000 Ashton tobaccos except for the aromatic blend). Here is my review.

Tin Aroma: Big Latakia with a high note?

Visual: 65% Black crinkled Latakia with the remaining 35% consisting of tan & mahogany ribbon.

Texture: Moist and just a bit sticky to the touch. I tend to prefer my blends on the moist side, so this was not off-putting.

Pack/Pipe: Since 90% of the tobacco I smoke comes in flake form, I'm afraid my packing technique with ribbon cuts leaves something to be desired. I began this tin with gravity feed and just a tiny bit of compression. I did not experience good burn qualities, and had 2 - 4 relights per bowl. (I usually require none or one). By the time I was halfway through the tin, I began packing more firmly, and experienced longer, more consistent smokes. This was smoked in my full Latakia rotation including a '73 Dunhill Redbark pot, Caminetto business squash/prince, Castello Old Antiquari and a few Israeli Alphas and virgins. Liked it in larger/taller bowls better.

Lighting/Burn: One long match to char, one long match to light. Occassionaly I needed a relight within minutes of starting the pipe. Once I began packing more firmly, the burn became consistent.

1st 3rd: By far the best portion of the bowl. Loads of flavor with a nice zingy spiciness and the comforting smokiness of the Latakia. Burns at a medium rate, and never felt hot - even with enthusiastic puffing.

2nd 3rd: More of the same as long as I kept the ember rolling. If I backed off to a slower pace, the smoke became much cooler, but lost flavor.

Final 3rd: Very seldom did I enjoy this portion. It was often ashy and devoid of flavor. Sometimes had difficulty smoking to the bottom of the bowl.

Notes: I have two more tins from 2000 cellared. I will come back to this again in 2 -3 years and see how it behaves. My palate may be much more attuned to Latakia at that time as well. Also, I will leave tin open for two weeks before smoking it next time.

Stogie rating of: Seven Heavenly Hoyo's
2 people found this review helpful.
Please login to upvote this review.
Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Dec 10, 2002 Medium None Detected Full Tolerable to Strong
I would like to point out that I am an english fancier and enjoy lots of latakia in my pipe. Having said that, this is one of the better english type blends I am yet to come across. This is a rich smoke, smokier than most. The tin aroma is what you would expect, latakia (I love the tin aroma of this one). The only down side is the McClelland moisture. This tobacco definitly needs to be aired out unless you have plenty of pipe cleaners next to you at all times. The flavor upon lighting is basically the same as the tin aroma. There is no flavoring used here but the black cavendish adds a slight sweetnes that compliments the smoky latakia quite nicely. This smokes cool everytime, all the way to the bottom. If its not properly aired out, there may be a little moisture as well as a small amout of dottle (this is not a problem when properly aired). For some reason this one reminds me a little bit of McClellands British Woods, another top player among english blends (IMHO). Fellow enlish fanciers should definitly try Old Dog, and I feel confident in giving this one my highest recommendation.
2 people found this review helpful.
Please login to upvote this review.
Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Jul 12, 2002 Medium None Detected Medium to Full Pleasant
Tin Aroma: This is quintessentially english; dark and sweet, musty and vaguely oily. Really, much of my preference for english-type blends may be solely based on their tin aroma.

Physical Characteristics: A short ribbon cut, almost a cross-cut, if you will. Needs a bit of airing before it is smokeable, due to a high moisture content, but otherwise a beautiful dark blend. Smokes to a dove grey ash.

Notes: Fortunately for degenerate latakia lovers like myself, the taste and room aroma both accurately reflect the tin aroma, making this a near flawless blend. Make no mistake about it, this is 'big latakia', and may well destroy relationships with those uneducated to the sublime mysteries of the Cyprian leaf.

Verdict: Having so enjoyed Celebrated Sovereign, I have no idea why I did not try this earlier, but now that I have smoked my year old tin of it, I am sure to purchase more
2 people found this review helpful.
Please login to upvote this review.

target="_blank"