H. Simmons Burlington Blend

(2.00)
A blend of burley and unsweetened Virginia cavendish.

Details

Brand H. Simmons
Blended By  
Manufactured By  
Blend Type
Contents Burley, Cavendish
Flavoring
Cut Coarse Cut
Packaging 50 grams tin
Country United Kingdom
Production No longer in production

Profile

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

Average Rating

2.00 / 4
0

0

1

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Reviews

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Displaying 1 - 1 of 1 Reviews
Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Apr 07, 2023 Mild None Detected Mild to Medium Pleasant to Tolerable
It is the first time that I open the review of a tobacco on this page. I would feel more responsible if it weren't for the fact that I don't think many people are going to smoke this tobacco, if there is anyone else who smokes it, since this mixture hasn't been produced for a long time. Despite this, I will do my best...

Go ahead, the tin that I am going to review is over forty years old. The way I see it, when a smoker buys an old tobacco, he is not buying just tobacco, but also a piece of history of this hobby that we like and unites us so much, because it allows him to directly taste the tobacco that was made in another era. , and because it drives you to search for related information to satisfy your curiosity. That's all very well, but not everything is so ideal. Regarding the first thing, I am aware that I am not smoking the same mixture that the man from the 70s who bought this tobacco smoked, because the passage of time has made it change and as will be explained at the end of this review, fifty years ago people used not to store tobaccos, but used to smoke them immediately after buying them. As for the second, in this case and unfortunately there is not much information about it. As far as I can find out, H. Simmons Ltd. was bought by Dunhill in 1976 (other sources talk about the late 80s), and they had one of the most famous tobacconists in London in the Burlington Arcade shopping arcade.

Let's go with the review. When opening the tin, the sound of the air indicates that the pressurization has been maintained during all these years. The cardboard cover is darkened and impregnated with tobacco oils. The tobacco appears with the correct humidity to load immediately, although perhaps a little insufficient to maintain it for a fairly long period of time. The ribbon-cut strands are of two types, some brown and others almost black, which are in greater quantity. I gather that the brown strands are burley and the darker strands are UK-made Black Cavendish, which is produced using the darker, heavier grades of Virginia or Burley (in this case it's virginia), treated by the method flue-cured. The usual way of processing is to make the tobacco sweat by applying steam to it until it turns black. Through a magnifying glass I also appreciate a lot of crystallized sugar.

Once the pipe is lit and as could be expected by visual examination, the Cavendish flavor is the one that predominates, quite smooth and slightly sweet. It doesn't seem like there was any added flavor here. The burley is only noticeable on the first lighting or when I let the pipe rest for a while and relight it, but after the second or third puff the Cavendish takes over completely and takes over the smoke, without any Variation in flavor from start to finish. The aftertaste is not very pleasant.

I think that old age has not been good for this mixture, perhaps because of that chameleonic quality that burley has, which usually assumes the characteristics of the other ingredients with which it is mixed, which, together with the passing of time, has made the flavor of the Black Cavendish is completely predominant. On the other hand, the aging of tobaccos is not something that was on the agenda of the pipe smoker of that time and the pipe tobacco mixtures were not made thinking that they were going to be kept for a long time. In a well-known article written by G.L. Pease in 2011, titled “Saving for a rainy day”, said that “thirty years ago, if you were talking about vintage or aged tobacco, most people would have looked at you like a madman who thought he was Napoleon”. So that warning that we can see now in some tins of "Estimated peak: 10-15 years", was not something that was with those times. For better or for worse, people lived more from day to day...
Age When Smoked: Between 40 and 50 years
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