Dunhill My Mixture BB1938 Baby's Bottom

* (Update on 7-06) Baby's Bottom was a classic, hand blended tobacco obtainable only by purchasing it through the Dunhill store in London. Murray's never produced this blend during its 25 year run as Dunhill's blender and Orlik (the current blender of the Dunhill recipies) does not now and never has blended and produced Baby's Bottom. My review below was written when the London store was blending it.

---

I ocasionally order some of the Dunhill blends (that cannot be purchased in the USA) by phone at their England store. Baby's Bottom is the one I buy most often. My most recent tin was a gift from a friend, and since I had not visited this age old classic in more than a year, I dug right in!

This is a very smooth tobacco, and despite the significant Latakia content the accompanying Virginia leaf is very evident, both in the tin and at the match. Again, this is a traditional English blend that hovers more on the light side and is as smooth as -- well, as a baby's bottom.

Much more elegant in flavor than Early Morning Pipe and not nearly as heavy as 965, this one works best for me. I would not smoke it regularly due to its too traditional English taste (give me Virginias or give me death!) but will buy a tin or two again on down the road as it's a nice old friend.

The smell out of the tin is stronger than the taste of the tobacco. The Cyprian Latakia is very smoky, earthy, woody with a creamy, musty sweetness as the lead component. The various Virginias offer a hint of citrus and grass, some earth, wood and tangy dried fruit (thank the red Virginia for the last two observations). I suspect an extremely mild topping is here to aid in the smoothness of this product. The strength and nic-hit are in the center of mild to medium, while the taste is a step past that mark. Won't bite and has no harsh or dull moments. Burns cool and clean at a moderate rate with a very consistent mildly sweet and savory flavor that translates to the lightly lingering after taste. Barely leaves any dampness in the bowl, and no unburnt tobacco either. Requires few relights. The room note won't chase anyone away. The old saying "smooth as a baby's bottom" Dunhill used in ads for the original does apply to this version. It can be an all day smoke. Three and a half stars out of four.

-JimInks

Firstly, I never had the pleasure of sampling the original version of this blend, so there's no 'rose tinting' over memories of yester-year here: This is a review of the new Dunhill 2015 remake of the infamous 'Baby's Bottom' blend, which has been re-titled as 1938BB. Sadly, gone are the playful reclining infants from the tin face, which is now rather similar to the My Mixture 965 label. I'm informed that historically this blend used to be a bit of a specialist mixture that was only sold in Dunhill's UK stores in London and Oxford.

I've only had a few bowls of this so I won't say too much, as I think it's better to have a few (or a tin or so!) to get a real feel for a new blend. However, first impressions are that this is going to be a very serious rival for EMP in my affections.

Tin note is typically Dunhill; earthy, a good scent of fine Virginia, hints of dried fruit, a good deal of sweetness and a hint of chocolate. A fine ribbon cut [aren't they all] with a lot of dark Latakia, mature Virginia and some bright; giving the blend overall a 'black and tan' type look, packs and lights well straight from the tin. Room note is fairly typically english; it won't make you friends, but won't create new enemies either.

Smoking wise, there's an obvious parallel to EMP. I actually think that this has more Latakia in there, but it's extremely refined and well balanced out by the rest of the flavour; and is in no way a 'Lat Bomb' not as smokey as 965, Nightcap or Squadron Leader types. There seems to be more going on in terms of taste than in EMP though, and the sweetness of the Virginia's seems to shine through especially in the first half of the bowl. As with most Dunhill blends it does get a bit more robust and fuller in texture towards the end of the bowl, but remains tasty and smooth with a complex flavour profile all the way down. Good as it is right now I'd speculate that after a couple of years in the cellar this blend will be really exceptional (the re-release of Durbar seems to be starting to get there now to my palate)

Although I'm a fan of both the recent Dunhill re-releases: Aparitif and Durbar, this one might well be the best, and most versatile, re-release yet - Good all round/all day type tobacco, well worth buying a tin or three if you can get your hands on it 🙂

Dunhill - BB1938.

The smell coming from the mix is a bit like a softer Balkan. All of the usual suspects are present only toned down somewhat. It arrived with a good amount of water in it so I could smoke mine straight away.

The taste is, again, like a relaxed Balkan only even more chilled out than the aroma. There is a very gentle smoky note but by no means expect the standard 'in your face' hit of smokiness that's usually associated with Latakia blends. The flavour from the Virginia really brightens up the mix, it gives the blend a superb freshness. I don't really get much nicotine from this but that's a personal thing so I guess your opinion may differ to mine. I wouldn't say it's stupidly weak but I think mild is an apt description, well to my body it is! I struggle to identify much in the room note: I wouldn't say it's a bad one in any way but most of the character seems quite suppressed.

I honestly could see this one making a good regular smoke. It's very basic (and that's meant in a good way!), very relaxing, very smooth and one of the least biting tobaccos I have had!

Four stars.

Like MisterPaul, I've never had the pleasure of the original, and I've only had about 4 bowls of this so far. It only arrived yesterday. But this blend even with first impressions is going to be exceptionally popular. It fits well in between EMP and 965 for the presence of latakia, but is so amazingly well blended as to give a consistent Virginia taste accompanying the latakia. Little drying time required, burned clean to the heel, and did pick up a bit in strength after a bit of stoving in a deeper bowl. Nice spicy flavor from the red virginias throughout. I love all of the Dunhill blends, but this, excitement at trying a new blend aside, may well be the one I've been waiting for. Enough punch to make it interesting and enough flavor and smoothness to smoke all day long. Woke up today wanting more and I don't see that changing any time soon. This is by far my favorite of the three new re-releases.

Mostly darker brown to black in a short ribbon cut, this has a light latakia tin nose that borders on scentless. Came a bit too moist but was easy to dry out and a cinch to load. My tin was of the new variety and I never had a chance to smoke the original.

Two words best describe my experience with this - smooth and disappointing. It's supposed to be smooth, so that matches the claim. Taste-wise, this was sort of gutless... all baby's butt and no spine. The latakia was prominent but lacked any assertiveness. The Virginia bordered on characterless and didn't really lend any brightness or tang to the proceedings. Sort of a bland base tobacco with latakia, and very monochromatic. It ended with a bit more zing but I found almost zero complexity here, either in meerschaum or briar. I do get the impression that this met its design goals, however, as it was indeed smooth as an infant's behind. And I do think it's cool to bring back old, time honored blends. This is a blend that if I hadn't tried, I'd be chomping at the bit to do so, but I found this one pretty boring. Whether it mirrors the original, I can't say, but I'm guessing that based on its name, it was made to be a smooth smoke and not so much to be a flavor bomb. If that's the case, add at least one star. To me, it's good only if you want a pipe in your mouth and aren't interested in noticing the taste. It'll provide a bit of nicotine to satisfy a moderate craving but if you smoke for flavor, you may be as disappointed as I in this one.

This is a very well balanced English mixture. The Latakia is, I think, a little more to the fore than it is in comparable Dunhill offerings (EMP, for instance) but it does not dominate; it allows all the nuances to make their contributions at various times during a bowlful. This is a tobacco that is smooth (it lives up to its name), biteless and full of interest. It behaves itself in a highly civilised fashion all the way to the bottom of the bowl, and leaves nothing but ash behind.

It's a pity that this old blend was reintroduced only to be discontinued again, along with all the other Dunhill blends). Its many devotees will miss it, and understandably so.

Forty-seven years ago, as a college freshman, I was introduced to Dunhill blends. I smoked them on those rare occassions when I could afford the dollar to buy a two ounce tin. I continued to smoke Baby's Bottom and virtually every other Dunhill tobacco more and more as my budget would allow. Of all the blenders in those days, Dunhill was peerless. Whenever I was in New York City, I would make it a point to stop at the Dunhill store at Rockefeller Center and pick up a few tins of the exclusive tobaccos blended there. There wasn't one blend that I didn't like although I did have my favorites.

Well, those days are long gone. Even the store is long gone.

The quality of the Dunhill blends have deminished over the years. Just a few years ago, one could pick up a decent tin but now their (they're really not Dunhill's) tobaccos bear only the slightest resemblance to what once was. The resemblance is superficial at best. The current blend does not live up to the standards found in today's finer tobaccos.

Do yourself a favor and skip this one, unless of course, you can find and afford a vintage tin.

The description Baby's Bottom caught my interest of what unique this blend might taste so i had to try it!when you crack the tin you get coals,dark fruits,and grass.the moisture level is perfect ,packs nicelly lights easy and might need some relights.while smoking the flavours are simply great combining some sweet notes,coals and woods from latakia with dark fruits ,grass and some tangyness from the virginias.burns cool and slow pleasing you at every puff.no chance of tongue bite.the nocotine level is medium and the room note is tolerable.i was very curious to see a blend without orientals and it is really well balanced and pleasing.normally i won't recommend it as an all gay smoke but the smoothness makes it ideal for an all day smoking experience!definitelly a must try.

Having started pipe smoking while in college some 35-years ago, I have had the opportunity to try many different blends. Early on I found the Dunhill English blends to my liking...everything from Baby's bottom to Night Cap. But knowing that these tobaccos are not blended as they once were, I was reluctant to try a couple of ounces of Baby's Botton in order to rekindle an old friendship, but I did.

My blend reviews are generally generous in acceptance and not overly critical. After two bowls in two of my best tobacco burners, this Baby's Bottom left me feeling like I had just licked the gates of hell. This Baby needs a diaper change!

My hope is that this was just a bad batch...I hope. I scattered it as expensive mulch for my lawn, so as not to again be tempted.