Ted's Pipe Shoppe 300 The Founder's Blend

The very nutty, toasty, earthy, woody, and slightly sweet and sharp cube cut burleys are the dominant component. The spicy, dry and lightly buttery sweet, earthy, woody, slightly floral Orientals are important supporting players. There’s a bare hint of an unflavored “soda note” from the yenidje as well. The smoky, woody, musty sweet Cyprian latakia rises just above being a condiment. The various Virginias provide some citrus and grass along with a little tangy dark fruit and earth, and are all condimental. The strength level is medium while the taste is a step more potent. The nic-hit is almost medium. No chance of bite or harshness, but does have an occasional rough edge. Burns cool and clean at a reasonable pace with a fairly complex, consistent deeply rich flavor from start to finish. Leaves little moisture in the bowl, and requires an average number of relights. Has a pleasantly lingering sweet, savory, spicy campfire after taste. Not quite an all day smoke, but it’s a filling one that is repeatable. Reminds me of Barking Dog with a tad more complexity, smoothness, and richness.

-JimInks

Blend No. 300 is a wonderful change of pace. I generally smoke VA or Va/Per blends. On a visit back to my old stomping grounds, I found myself back at Ted's Pipe Shoppe (the tobacco shop of my college days). Over the past 15 years, I have learned to how to smoke the more natural blends and turned away from aromatics. So, it was time to try Ted's natural blends... No. 300 was a wonderful surprise! This mixture is burley-based (as Ted's blends generally are), some Virginia flake, and a handful of various orientals. The burley give this blend the necessary body, while the Virginia flakes and orientals add a subtle sweetness which is all but addicting! I am not surprised that Ted smoked this blend! This tobacco burns dry, long, cool, naturally sweet, and down to a fine grey ash every time.

For the smoker who prizes natural burley, Virginia, or English blends, you will be pleasantly surprised with this wonderful blend. #300 is now part of my regular rotation. I know, many people enjoy Ted's Killarney... but #300 is by far Ted's best blend, and rightly so. Highly recommended!

Update: Blend #300 is now my go to blend.... I was reluctant to give this blend the highest position in my smoking rotation... I mean, after all, it only comes from a small tobacconist in Tulsa, OK... But this is the most all-around pleasing tobacco I have ever smoked! Considering all the blends available, this is truly significant. Thank you Ted's, may your doors remain open for another 50 years!

This is, by far, the best tobacco that Ted's puts out. Most of their blends are mild to a fault. This one is similar to Barking Dog and other American-English tobaccos. There is more complexity than in Barking Dog, but the strength is there. C&D's Junkyard Dog has more kick, but this is pretty close. And, unlike other Ted's blends, there is a good nicotine hit here. This one is strictly for the English or Burley smokers. The orientals do provide a hint of sweetness, but it is only a hint. It smokes dry and doesn't ghost your pipe. If you use a big pipe, be prepared for a long and enjoyable smoke. If you are using a smaller pipe, the smoke is still enjoyable and gets the job done in a hurry. I recommend you try this one last out of all the other blends at Ted's. If you start here, everything else will be a disappointment.

I'm a new reviewer but a pipe smoker for 40+ years, starting with aromatics and naturally progressing to natural tobaccos including English blends, Va/Per, Burleys and Orientals. This one is a little hard for me to classify definitively. I would call it an English blend due to the Latakia but it is much more than that. This is probably the most complex tobacco I have ever encountered and the mix of the Orientals with the mellowness of the Burley, the sweetness of the Virginias and the earthiness of the Latakia is magical. They present themselves, individually, throughout the bowl. They are fleeting nuances of the various condiments as the Burley provides a mellow backdrop for the interplay of sweet/sour/spicy flavors, always changing, never boring and holding my interest to the end. This is one tobacco that I always keep on hand for those times when I can relax, contemplate and enjoy the ride.

I smoaked Balkan Sobranie back in the day & Im used to McClellands Bombay Extra, Arcadia, and a variety of Balkans, but this is something else again. It started out in my Radice twin-bore like a good strong oriental, then midway through developed a wonderful sweetness (the virginia flakes?), then down toward the end I experienced something elsea kind of buttery softness that I suppose must be the burley and mahallah. I dont know what mahallah is, but Ill be smoaking more of this. The oriental note also returned in the last quarter of the bowl. This is an old-fashioned flake blend made to be gravity fed; I couldnt get it to respond to Hannas Air Pocket Method. Complex and highly recommended.

This is my Favorite tobacco from Teds ,Ive tried 2 others from Ted,But once I tried the 300,It is all I get from there,Its my all time favorite tobacco,

I get it a few times a year when I go to Tulsa ,which is a few miles away ,Im usually a drug store Burley smoker or cigar,cause Its easy to get, But a few times a year I get the 300,And whats great with it,

Is That i can smoke on it a couple weeks then add a few onces of Burly,And press it ,or let it sit for a few days and its almost just as good,

It has a smokey sweet Burley taste (Med English),thats great,Not to strong not weak,and you can keep adding more burly to it as it gets smoked down and it will retain allmost all the great qualities,

I love this blend and if I had better access to it and a little extra money It would be my full time blend,It does cost a little more than drug store burly, But its not bad.Its better than a good cigar,which I love,,But this is one of the few that can totaly blow away a good cigar.So for that reason alone the price is great.