B&B Tobacconists, llc Beck's Ol' Limey Bastard

Every long once and a while I come across a blend that defies my ability to properly describe it. Just can't come up with the right words. This is one of them. I look at the components and can't reconcile them with what I'm tasting. I can say that this blend is unique and has an excellent flavor profile. Tastes kinda like an English/Scottish/Balkan hybrid from heaven. Just a wonderful smoke in every regard. Can't really compare it to anything else I've smoked. It stands alone. Medium in body and taste. If you haven't tried this one you're cheating yourself.

The contents of this blend tell me what I want to know and what I hope to experience. The question is how well have the blenders succeeded in creating a smooth English blend that could be classified as a Scottish mixture. The burley and Cavendish tobaccos are the ingredients I'm referring to because when I pick up a tin of a Scottish mixture those are ingredients used along with Virginia and Latakia tobaccos. Without doing a step by step accounting I'll say this blend is a success. The flavor is very good and free of any harshness or bite. The cut is a ribbon making packing, lighting, and smoking very easy and problem free. In symphonic terms this blend does not blast you away, but the lush and smooth playing is a pleasure to experience. I can smoke Ol' Limey from first bowl in the morning to the last bowl at night and enjoy every draw on my pipe. I highly recommend this blend to any one who enjoyed Dunhill 965. They are not twins, but you will certainly recognize the family resemblance. For those who never had Dunhill 965 this is a fine blend and you owe it to yourself to give it a try. It's a great smoke any way you want to look at it.

This being touted as a replacement for Dunhill 965, and me being a lover of said tobacco, I just had to try it. As usual, I was at first disappointed but over time, I recall saying to myself "Hey, this really DOES smoke like 965! Well... kinda... uh, yeah, it does... or at least it's in that direction."

I think it's extremely difficult for one blending house to copy the recipe of another from scratch. That said, how important is it, really? If the blend stands on its own, isn't that what should matter? And this one does.

I taste less of the cavendish in this one than in 965, same as the previous reviewer mentioned. In that sense, OLB is a bit more robust tasting, yet it is smooth as well. Where it truly deviates from 965 is the lack of a sharp flavor burst. 965 isn't a strong tobacco, but like the original Sobranie, it had a flavor that demanded attention from the first puff. This OLB lacks that signature, which I prefer but that may not be preferred by others. This is a blend to try if you've enjoyed 965 in the past or if you're looking for a smooth but rich latakia flavor without being overpowered by it. I don't know these blenders but they've notched a winner here.

When I smoked it, I wasn't aware it was supposed to more or less be like Dunhill 956, but I noticed some similarity. It doesn't have the tanginess of 956 and has less black cavendish, but it's smooth and the Cyprian latakia is richly smoky and woody sweet. The Virginia is smooth with a fruity sweetness and a little earthiness. The nic-hit is mild. No bite or harshness. Burns at a regular pace, cool and clean with a bit of smoothness, and a consistent flavor. Requires few relights and leaves little moisture in the bowl. While the latakia is the star flavor, and it's a good nearly all day smoke if you're used to English blends, it doesn't have enough complexity to stand out from the burgeoning crowd of English mixtures. Deserves two and a half stars, but not the quite three I gave to 956, so I reluctantly settled for two stars.

-JimInks

I am not going to get into comparing BO'LB to any venerable blends. To me it's really too complicated given the age of and variations that one can find in a blend like 965. However I will say this, for me Beck's Ol' Limey stands high up atop a mountain of Latakia blends and is firmly planted among my favorites.

There is a seamless integration of flavors that never has me thinking of the components comprising the whole, but only the whole itself. Beck's is very reminiscent to Penzance, not in flavor but in the characteristics inherent with that perfect melding of all the right flavors. Or better yet, “superbly balanced.” Any earthy or spicy tones are wonderfully supported by a subtle yet full sweetness that gently navigates the whole experience. The fragrant aroma is bewitching and for me sits just outside the realm of a good descriptor. Musky, acrid, sweet, musty, and uniquely pungent. All these descriptors can't really do the fragrance of Beck's any justice. One just needs to experience it. Altogether this is an expertly crafted Latakia mixture. Highly recommended.

This is from my local tobacconist, here in Asheville, NC. Randy Beck, the namesake of this blend and one or two of their other "Beck" blends, has unfortunately passed on, but David Barnes (the other B in B&B), and one of the owners and proprietors of the shop, is a great guy and fun to talk with while you sit and smoke. He tells great stories. Anyhow, not sure if he had a hand in coming up with this blend, but the stuff is top notch. Just don't expect it to be Murray's 965 or anything ridiculous like that, because it's not. It's Beck's Ol' Limey Bastard, and that's all. So that is how I will rate and review it.

It comes in bulk form from B&B only, although I believe 4noggins keeps it on hand as well, in case you aren't fortunate enough to live in this part of the country. Anyway, it's a ribbon cut, pretty easy to deal with, and it packs well, takes a light well, and burns evenly without much effort on my part. That's a good thing.

The experience may not be what some people expect, but it's usually because they think they're getting a 965 clone when that's really not the case. It's a pretty mild English, not one that blasts you with nicotine like, say, Nightcap (which is my overall favorite tobacco). It's probably more like Early Morning Pipe than anything if you have to compare it to something, but try not to do that and just try to judge it independently. The individual tobaccos all work together quite nicely and peacefully, creating a nice, tasty smoke that is good for right when you wake up or right before bed. It's just great stuff, very high quality.

I generally only give four stars to my personal favorite tobaccos, and I believe this is one of them. I always keep it on hand now, because it's such a versatile smoke and because English is mostly all I smoke. I like a good VaPer occasionally, but I prefer English, and if you prefer English, this is great stuff. It is NOT a Latakia bomb, it's very well balanced. Do yourself a favor and try it out.

I smoked a bowl of that Limey Bastid this afternoon. Tasted really fresh. The flavor was good but I kept getting strong hints of very fresh oriental leaf. I think this one will perk up with some age. The Latakia was very subdued. Congrats to Beck and Barnes for putting together a nice smoke!

Pipestud

Soft, smooth and big. Elegant and complex. Smoky, tangy, sweet notes. Many subtle flavors, note of dried apricots, leather and faint chocolate. High quality and delicious.

Felt like Latakia today and decided to try this blend. I fell in love with it right off the bat! First off it is a B and M store blend and is available at B and B and 4 Noggins only. In the pouch, it smells very sweet and fresh, the latakia coming through to the nose but also some of the spicy perique and Va. It is multi colored from khaki to dark black in a rough cut ribbon and for me it came at the perfect moisture level to just dig my pipe in and load up. It lights extremely easy, first flame and it stays lit well. Upon my first puff, I was greeted with a rich, spicy, creamy smoke and the room note was sweet and arogant and just made my mouth water more. This blend is a real dream smoke for an English type, very multi dimentional, wafting through from a sweet latakia, then to a perique spice, then a sweet VA and now and then the cavendish would say hi but then soon be gone. Just like my first bowl of this stuff, gone fast. I proceeded to smoke two more bowls and could not get enough of it. Just seemed to push all my buttons. The tobacco burns down the pipe at a faster pace than some English blends I smoke but never bites and never turns bitter or overwhelming. It also smokes all the way down to a dry medium grey ash with no dottle just dust at the end of the bowl. I can find no flaws in this blend, and I highly recommend it. This blender knew what he was doing and does it quite well!

Given to me as a gift, and wow...what a taste ! I ordinary smoke vapers or plain virginias.(stronger types) Never been a fan to Latakia.But this,Limey Bastard smells and taste like a good meal ..Creamy blue smokes,a little bit sweetnes,and a perfect amount of latakia, its never to much of that.Spicy notes as well and just a little bit of that latakia ..campfire ..smell. Cyrian Latakia or Balkan...i don't know but this one hit my palate like a ...i don't know...Love it !