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Reviewed By | Date | Rating | Strength | Flavoring | Taste | Room Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| JimInks (2188) |   |
Mild to Medium | Medium | Medium | Pleasant to Tolerable |
The double toasted burley is the basic star; toasty, a little sweet, grassy, earthy and nutty. The Virginia provides citrus, grass and hay in a support role. The Oriental offers a sour note and wood in a minor way. The perique is slightly noticeable with spice, and a touch of raisins and figs. The coumarin is very slightly vanilla-like, and adds a nice floral context with some strength. The rum is richly sweet. The deep toppings do sublimate the tobaccos to a fair extent. Well balanced with a nice complexity, it has a very consistent flavor from the first puff to the last one, but needs to be smoked at a slow to moderate pace to catch them all. Burns cool at a moderate pace without bite, and has no dull or harsh spots (unless you puff fast), and leaves no moisture in the bowl. Barely needs a relight. Has a pleasant after taste. Three and a half stars.
-JimInks
13 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By | Date | Rating | Strength | Flavoring | Taste | Room Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Redd (117) | |
Medium | Medium to Strong | Medium to Full | Pleasant to Tolerable |
Finally, THIS Blend by D&R LONDON DOCK is about a close as you can get. It brings me back to a rainy day in the early eighties on a Sunday when I picked up my first pouch from Woolworth. Since my tobacconist De La Conhca on 57th Street was closed on Sunday. I really liked the smokey rum based and floral over tones This is a Wonderful blend. I wish they sold it in one pound bags
Pipe Used: K&P Peterson system #309
Age When Smoked: 1982
Purchased From: smokingpipes.com
7 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By | Date | Rating | Strength | Flavoring | Taste | Room Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| TallPuffO'Burley (499) | |
Mild to Medium | Medium | Medium | Tolerable |
I was given a small sample of this at the last Chicago pipe show which equated roughly three bowls worth. I requested the sample because I was intrigued by the tin note from the open container.
To my senses this tin note did not translate well to the smoking experience. The topping was weird, kind of perfumey to me. I know this may get me skewered by some of the fans of this blend, but there was something kind of Mixture 79 to this, but much different in the underlying base leaf composition. The topping was better than that of M79, but not by much.
In performance it also acted similarly to M79. the topping, pervasive at first, mellowed at about the half way point allowing the underlying leaf to come through. This is where I actually preferred M79 which gave me a nice nutty, sweet burley. London Dock had a sour tang likely coming from the oriental which took the predominant burley taste in an odd direction to my palate. The perique was also adding a little spice that also felt out of place.
If I can give credit to one thing, it is that this blend is unique. I have never tried the original London Dock, but if it is anything like this blend, then I probably would not have been a fan. It may be clear at this point that I did not like this blend and won't repurchase it. But as the other reviewers did enjoy it and due to its unique nature I will leave this one at 2 stars with no interest in revisiting.
3 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By | Date | Rating | Strength | Flavoring | Taste | Room Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| oldermanpipe (16) | |
Mild to Medium | Strong | Medium | Pleasant |
I bought a pouch of London Dock in 1971, when it was a product of the Kentucky Club group, and remember nothing about it. And I bought a pouch in the mid-Eighties, when it was blended by Middleton, and remember that it tasted like a chemical fire. As to Milan Tobacco's version...so-so. It can bite.
Now to D&R's iteration--it ain't bad, but neither is it really London Dock. This is something else. It is a bit too much from a newly-opened tin. All the casings aasault the nose, to the exclusion of the constituent tobaccos. But persevere, and the burley, Orientals and Perique will break through, affording a complex, though mild, smoke. The key to enjoying this blend is to leave the tin unattended, but closed, for a few weeks. The tobacco stays moist, but the objectionable initial tin aroma disapates.
After the period of neglect, this becomes a very interesting and flavorable smoke, especially for Perique and Oriental fans. This has a sharp spiciness, such as I have never experienced.
But be forewarned! This blend contains a cherry flavoring THAT NEVER GOES AWAY in the pipe. It leaves a truly nasty ghost, like the cheap perfume of a one-night indiscretion you'd rather forget. So, smoke it in a "sweatshirt" (a cob) and not a cashmere sweater, until you think you might want this gal to stick around!
Pipe Used: MM Washington
Age When Smoked: Fresh
Purchased From: smokingpipes.com
Similar Blends: Nothing I can think of. This is it's own "bad pony." Apologies to David Mamet for stealing that meme..
2 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By | Date | Rating | Strength | Flavoring | Taste | Room Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| DrT999 (269) | |
Mild to Medium | Medium to Strong | Mild to Medium | Pleasant |
While I can agree with JimInk's review in terms of the flavor of this blend, it smokes too fast, hot, and wet for me to really enjoy it. I do puff on the fast side, so that no doubt needs to be taken into account. Even a pinch overwhelms any neutral blend you might add it to. If you're a slow puffer and the flavor profile attracts you, give it try, but it's not for me.
Pipe Used: briars, cobs, and meers
Age When Smoked: 5 months when opened, then over 8 months
Purchased From: pipes & cigars
1 person found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By | Date | Rating | Strength | Flavoring | Taste | Room Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| newbroom (4) | |
Medium | Medium | Full | Pleasant |
I find the categorization of this blend as "American" rather than as aromatic interesting in light of the aromatic designation that Rowland receives. I would imagine that any pipe smoker would enjoy this blend. Interesting from tin pop to the last puff, smooth, tasty, and reasonably satisfying in the nicotine department. I think this blend would be great to share with a newbie. It's got a lot happening to keep you interested and burns easily and w/o excessive heat or moisture. Makes for a nice contrast bowl and would serve as an introduction aromatic blend for hardcore non aro smokers. (heheh)
Pipe Used: brylon, cobs, briars.
Age When Smoked: unknown
Purchased From: pipes and cigars
Similar Blends: Sutliff April Dawn.
1 person found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By | Date | Rating | Strength | Flavoring | Taste | Room Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Darth 69 (109) | |
Mild to Medium | Very Mild | Mild | Very Pleasant |
This is a rather dryer tobacco base characteristic of D&R with some aroma enhancement that doesn't translate much to the taste. The most oustanding elements are the aromas of cherry and from what I understand coumarin substitute. The coumarin note is a deep, dark vanilla and toffee like character that is very appealing; I wish the real stuff could be used which has an accompanying pronounced sweatness unlike the substitute being used. The cherry addition is rather baffling to me. I'm unaware that the older and/or traditional versions of this blend had cherry in it. I had smoke the Middlton version back in the day and it definately didn't have cherry in it so, I don't understand this blending choice by D&R. The cherry also adds an unpleasant almost phenolic undertone which I don't like.The rum went unnoticed. In my opinion aromatics fail if there isn't enough underlying sweetness to compliment the aroma as is the case here with flat taste. And I understand this is so common today due to current additive restrictions to tobacco. To take license and try to reinvent an aromatic this way is a disaster.
Age When Smoked: New
Purchased From: Smokingpipes.com
1 person found this review helpful.