Newminster No. 17 English Luxus

The range of different Virginias offer a bit of grass and tart and tangy citrus with a small amount of tangy dark fruit, wood and earth. They are the base for the other components. The nutty, lightly earthy, woody molasses sweet burleys play an important support role. The smoky, woody, earthy, musty sweet Cyprian Latakia is also a supporting player. The spicy, plumy, raisiny perique is just more than in the background. The brown sugary black cavendish is rather sweet, and helps tone down potential harshness. I have a sense of a sweet topping, but it’s hard to identify it. The strength and nic-hit are just past the mild mark. The taste is in the center of mild to medium. Won’t bite or get harsh, and has few rough edges. Burns cool and clean at a reasonable pace with a very consistent sweet and more savory flavor all the way through. Leaves little moisture in the bowl, and requires an average number of relights. Has a pleasant, short lived after taste. An all day sweet American English blend.

-JimInks

I received a generous free sample of this stuff last time I visited my regular B&M. I've had a few bowls and I consider it something of a quandary for me.

Pouch note is unmistakably oriental - latakia is most certainly present and accounted for, but it's tempered somewhat by the intriguing presence of black cavendish, mexican burley and african virginias. It's a loose and moderately dry cut.

Lighting with my sample is easy. I usually do a charring light followed by a true light regardless of whether the tobacco requires it, but with this blend I've usually only bothered with the initial light. Up an running in no time, it burns a bit hot seemingly somewhat ashy (probably a technique issue rather than a blend characteristic) and here's where it gets interesting.

Taste is full and robust English, with the smoky and earthy Cyprus latakia first and foremost. The blend is labeled as a definite non-aromatic, but curiously the room note is unmistakably sweet with obvious caramel and vanilla layers, bolstered by the smoky campfire of the oriental - it's a rich and extremely pleasant note which I can easily detect myself, and which has received rave comments from non-smokers ("What's that amazing stuff you're smoking??"). It's the first thing I've smoked where the taste and the note have a weird inverse ratio: the taste is definitely English with a very slight sweetness on the back end, while the note is very sweet with a slight earthiness to the back end.

If you've enjoyed McC's A.M. Pipe or Boswell's Bear Blend, think of the taste of the former with a stronger oriental presence, and the room note of the latter with a fuller caramel presence - or think of Shortcut to Mushrooms on steroids. Very surprising. It's really the best way I can describe it. Definitely seems to fit the bill for those who want a very robust, semi-complex English blend for personal enjoyment, while also pleasing the crowd with a gorgeous scent.

HOWEVER, there's a kicker, and quite literally - WAY more nicotine than I'm used to. I never smoked cigarettes or cigars, and my decision to start smoking a pipe was more about the aesthetic and relaxing/meditative benefits more than anything, so constantly inhaling the smoke and getting nicotine hits are things I've more or less avoided until now (not necessarily a conscious decision, but it's just how I roll). With English Luxus I've strongly and consistently felt the effects of the nicotine, both as a head buzz and as an upset stomach - and again, I don't inhale (except to enjoy that spectacular note). I do snork, as with any blend I smoke, but that's it. After smoking this blend I always need a big glass of water and short walk to clear my head. Definitely a feeling of the tobacco dropping a bomb on me and leaving me to wander through the aftermath in a daze.

I'll gladly finish the sample but it remains to be seen if I'll return for more. Maybe it can work as a nice holiday treat once in a while, for Thanksgiving, Christmas and Easter. The unique balance of English taste and sweet aromatic note really struck a wonderful chord for me (and those in close proximity), but the nicotine content gives me pause. But to those of you who enjoy a good English toby and don't mind the Vitamin N, definitely give it a try!

This really tastes like it has Orientals in it, at least in the first half of the bowl. Not sure how they pulled that off. Peterson's Balkan Delight uses this same "magic trick". The Burley shows itself in the second half killing the illusion. The Perique is light offering a small amount of flavor and spice. The Latakia is only moderately applied. The Virginias are nearly invisible. The Black Cav adds some sweetness and, unfortunately, some harshness. The same harshness I get when I smoke P&C's Green River Black Cav. (a blending tobacco I haven't reviewed as of yet). The harshness is mild and only a small distraction from a nice tasting blend.

Medium in body and flavor. Burns well and moisture is just right.

I received a free sample of this from Smoking Pipes with an order and really enjoyed it. It is a really earthy sweet latakia blend. Reminiscent of many of the American English Genre where the burley stands out as much as any other element.

I think this would make a great introduction to latakia blends for the novice as well as an enjoyable all day easy smoker for the more experienced. Like all the Newminster blends, this will not break the bank and this only adds to its charm. I find this to be similar in tastes to HH latakia flake from Mac Baren. I think I prefer that one to this, but at the price point I still recommend this one.

Reminds one of C&D's Frog Morton on the Town but not as sweet or heavy. A light English that's not only smooth and full-flavored, but it doesn't make one's room smell like burnt tires with it's warm and pleasant fragrance. Or the fact that this is a blend that can be an all day companion. I like it for breakfast and late at night, personally. E-L is an excellent blend. The Latakia note is definitely present in the bag but it never overpowers in the smoke. At first I was a little skeptical of Newminster blends. Mainly due to the fact that MacBaren seems to be dominating the market right now (I do like several of their blends) . The collaboration between MacBaren and Villager works well with this blend. Highly recommended, considering I usually don't like Latakia.

I got a sample of this from smoking pipes with an order and I was so impressed that I ordered a 1/2 pound. I am an absolute lover of English tobaccos and really love Latakia. The tin note is wonderful with smoky Latakia and hay. It comes with perfect humidity for immediate smoke.

I roll this around my tongue, French inhale and savour this with every draw. I find no bite. I also find that the flavours of the blend are wonderful from start to finish. There is a very subtle spiciness as well which adds to the experience.

Newminster - No. 17 English Luxus.

I've had this cellared for a few months now, I need to be in the right mood for an English containing black Cavendish. Anyway, I felt I was in 'that mood' today so fired a bowl first thing.

Where taste is concerned, it's actually quite a decent smoke, not amazing, but acceptable. The application of Latakia's a bit bizarre: the pouch smells a lot heavier with Lat' than the smoke tastes; the flavour's nowhere near as smoky as the current description implies. No. 17 has a notable nuance from the black Cavendish, which gives the smoke a creamy vanilla quality, but also causes it to bite me. I find the Burley easy to recognise, but the Virginia and Perique are much lighter, the Virginia more-so.

Personally, even though the nicotine results on here cover a wide range at the moment, I'm with the lower section: quite mild, and I find it makes to much smoke in the room for the note to do that well.

This is an alright blend flavour-wise, but because of the bite and note I can only somewhat recommend it.

Two stars.

Part of the latakia lovers load from P&C, this one and Larry's blend came away the winners in my book. I really like that Luxus contains the burley and perique, and keeps the latakia subdued. It's more than a minor player, mind you, but it's reigned in and smoothed over a little. So not only is this more of a old-time traditional English format, but it's just smooth enough to be able to enjoy all day if it strikes you to do so. There is plenty of flavor to go around --I get mostly burley and perique with steady latakia backup. But like GentlemanZombie pointed out, somehow this blend puts off occasional oriental vibes. How they do that with no orientals included is beyond me, but I noticed it from the first smoke. In fact, I thought it did have oriental in it before researching a little more. One more point to add...this one, unlike most my English blends, seems to benefit greatly from aging. I've smoked it from fresh to about 18 months and there is considerable development I'd attribute to the burley and perique mellowing and melding. Smokes really well, not too wet, not too dry, and no tongue bite to speak of. Love it.

I was given a nice sample of this last week and a big thanks before I get started. I have been smoking this all day long. First, I started out with a small bowl Royal Falcon #480 but just was not getting much out of it so I switched to my Savinelli Series III Unfinished Author #320, (whew, what a name). This is a rough-cut English with a lightly sweet tin note. What I get out of this one is very little Latakia, hardly any Perique noticed and quite a bit of Burley. Not sure if the Cavendish has a light topping or not. To me this would best be described as an all day ‘American’ English blend. I hate to say it but before the end I felt like I was forcing myself to smoke this to see if I could get a little more oomph out of it but alas no dice. I am grateful for pipe tobacco gifts but for me this is one I will not revisit.

Pretty similar to the Peter Stokkebye of almost the same name. The alleged differences were the addition of perique to this one, a presence I never noticed, either in the taste, the aroma or the "throat tickle". Couldn't even pick it up in the snork, so I'm leaning towards it being an error on the part of whoever created this listing. Also this supposedly uses African Virginias instead of the PS' "Georgian". Do they mean Georgia in the U.S or Georgia as in Europe? Hard to say. But smoked back to back, any differences between this one and that may have been imaginary. Then again I only smoked an ounce of each, so who knows.

Here as in the PS, the burley and latakia were frontrunners, while the Virginia (or whatever location) were well to the rear. The Cavendish may have been unflavored or it may have had a bit of vanilla. It was sweet and decidedly non-Virginia (straight) derived but it provided a nice counterpoint to the nuttiness of the burley. I always really enjoy a sweetened burley. The latakia provided its usual smoke and spice. Here again, this is a very pleasant, easy to get along with English blend with the twist inclusion of burley. I actually seem to prefer English blends with burley instead of orientals because in blends of the latter persuasion they often don't do enough to offset the latakia. Here the burleys do, as they are equals. This blend is fun to smoke and I wouldn't mind getting a bit more. Try it if you enjoy burley and English blends by themselves and want to try them as a casserole.