This was somewhat early in my re-introduction to pipe smoking, and I was unprepared for the nicotine rush which followed. It nearly knocked me down, had me wobbling weak-kneed down Main Street, and when we got home, was put in the back drawer for a while. When I found the courage to come back to it, I tried blending it with other varieties, to help tame the beast. I find it adds a nice smokiness to a bowl, with a rich earthy/nutty flavor.

It slowly grew more palatable with time, but I would only recommed this for those who crave a big nicotine hit, and enjoy a full-bodied smoke.

Tony

But just yesterday I finished my 4th bowl and man it grew on me.

The flavours are subtle sweet, cool smoke with a wonderfull undertone of latakia.

These 2 tins are Murray's (needless to say as they are 8+ years of age) and in wonderfull condition. I'll be having a blast with these.

If ever you find a tin, I highly recommend it.

Well I certainly don't regret the purchase. What a strong and thoroughly pleasant smoke. Sweet, smooth and creamy with just right right amount of latakia. A bowl of this blend burns cool doesn't bite easily and only gets better as you smoke it. Downright incredible.

I'm glad I've had the opportunity to try Dunhill MM965.

1-21-10 I have some Durbar and London Mixture left, and have learned to appreciate them more, as I would with this one if I got some more.

It is definitely way stronger than what I usually smoke, and I could see what the appeal in this blend is right away. Packs great, burns terrifically, and is easily the most behaved, lowest maintenance tobacco I've tried. I guess my sweet tooth still prevents me from embracing blends like this regularly, but it's good to know that there is a whole other pipe world out there to discover someday.

I had a couple of older tins, and I'm intrigued to try it now...just to compare.

I like the aroma in a room after smoking My Mixture 965, but my wife doesn't, so the room note is listed as "tolerable to strong". If you haven't smoked this and you can find some (its scarcer than hen's teeth now) by all means try it. Its a legend in the pipe smoking world for good reason.

It is a classic and must have.

It is indeed high quality, the white ashes proving it, creamy and tasty... I just find it a little boring and by mid bowl (I even ask myself "are we there yet?") I'm tired of it. My preferences go towards spicier, tangier english blends, without cavendish (or with just a pinch, like Black Mallory)

If creamy, deep body, and smokey are your keywords (and kind of sweet, in a english manner, from the cavendish) have some, you'll rate it 4 stars.

And it *still* is, although it's now produced in Denmark.

Smoky with just the right amount of sweetness and spicyness to round out the flavor, creamy and well-balanced, but never bland, MM 965 is a blend that can be smoked all day, every day without missing a thing.

Like all of you, I was despondent when I learned of the demise of this line.

I sought and bought a few pounds after hearing the news, but was skunked. Apparently, "they" were cleaning the bins out, and it didn't taste like my 965. I know --- we've all heard this before from old folks like me, but this was NOT my tobacco. It was missing a large component. I suppose that, due to age and derailing physical systems, particularly taste, my critique should be heavily disclaimerized. (We all should keep the "disclaimerize" button close to hand!) But, hey -- I know my pipes, and my tobacco, and this weren't it!

On a whim (read: trying to get my total up to a hundred bux so I wouldn't have to pay shipping) I bought four ounces of the Altadis substitute. Surprise!!! It is, as the saying has it, up in smoke. Two days to burn up 4 oz. Tasted like 965. Smelled like 965. Okay -- not quite on the money, sure, but WAAAAYYYY closer than the 'real' stuff I have in the cellar.

So, until sanity returns and we can find this again, give the Altadis substitute a try.

Only problem with them is that, by the time you read this and decide to gamble a few bux, the blend will change and it'll taste utterly different, and you'll wish I'd hit the "disclaimerize" button mentioned above a little more frequently. Hope you Altadis execs are reading this.

This is a great tobacco mixture cavendish, plenty of orientals and just enough latakia to make her presence known but not to overwhelm the palate, this is a satisfying smoke the whole way thru even though it can be bitey I'm, assuming that this comes from the Virginia in the mix or me over puffing; this is a sweet nutty tasting sometimes bitter in a good way smoking concoction I could smoke this in a consistent basis if it was available. If it never comes back I can see why latakia smokers and in distress since this could be a great mixture at anytime of the day, I'm sure glad that I had the opportunity to try this one. The only reason why I'm not giving it 4 stars is because I'm mostly a Vaper smoker, but I cannoot find nothing wrong with this one.

Has anyone tried the Altadis 965 Match ? I have not.

***Does ayone know if dunhill pipe tobacco will be re-released?***

Contact British American Tobaco (BAT) and demand that they either manufacyure all of Dunhill Pipe Tobaccos or sell the rights to someone who will. It is insanity to let this and other Dunhill pipe tobacco blends to die out. Shame on BAT!!!!

Somehow, 965 manages to marry good quality virginias with the sweetness of cavendish and spicy latakia tobaccos to create a very palatable smoke of good strength. The smoke never bit, neither did it show any bitterness. Just a great mixture of sweetness and savoury, cavendish and latakia.

Smoking it now, the tin has been opened for six months, and I am down to the last couple of bowls. It really is an exceptional smoke. The strength has been lost slightly, and the powerful latakia mellowed with time outside the tin. The tin was aged at least 5 years when I opened it, and I really feel like I am smoking the remainders of something very very special. Luckily I have a few more tins in cellar, but when they're gone, they'll be gone for good.

An update to this review. I have just opened a tin of the EU production, and it is still a fine smoke. Sweet, smokey, spicy - fully of flavour. There is no bite and the flavour remains consistant down to the dottle. There may be differences between this and the UK produced tobacco, but I cannot tell. It is certainly still head and shoulders above most other blends of this ilk I have tried. With 5 years of age, it should become a very fine smoke indeed!

Original review: Found a couple tins in a store recently. The guy there told me that he thought they were a couple years old. Upon opening, I found the tabac in great condition, perfect for packing and lighting right out of the tin.

Tin aroma is delicious, and often in my office I'll just open it and smell it (I don't smoke in the house so this is my cold weather fix)...almost as good as smoking it!

Not much new to say here...it's a very good blend, I would certainly offer some proudly to my pipe smoking friends, but it's still not my fave. It's about in the same place in my heart as Westminster. Squadron Leader is a bit higher on my rating system, and Stokkebye's Balkan Supreme is higher still. Right now, Compton's Balkan is on the top of my rotation. This Dunhill offering takes...oh...let's say fourth or fifth place in my list of English blend preferences.

Certainly good enough, though, to search high and low for more. I'll buy more whenever and wherever I see it.

The room note has to be among my absolute favorites, the smell can brighten up a dark night. It can make a rainy day feel happy, and a sunny day perfect. My Personal notes give this a 10.0 (Dunhill if you read this don't take the 965 away!!!)

The description above tells a lot. It's a nice spicy, sweet, rich, nutty mixture that smokes cool as long as you don't overdo the puffing. It bursts open on your tongue with the first draw and the spicy sweetness stays with you throughout the bowl. I find this to be an extremely complex and refined tobacco and it is still my favorite English blend. It's full bodied without being overly strong, as Nightcap is. GREAT after dinner smoke, but I've found I can enjoy this at any time of the day, although as a committed VaPer smoker, two bowls of this in any one day is plenty. And single malt lovers, this goes great with a dram of Highland Park or Lagavulin, although I found it clashed with Talisker.

No confirmed pipe smoker that enjoys latakia should miss this blend. Truly a classic.

Opening the tin reveals a very high quality tobacco with no stems and a smokey aroma from the Latakia. Packs, lights, and stays lit well. If found to have a slightly high moisture content on opening, an hour or two of drying should do the trick.

Very full and flavorful smoke. Pine Smokey initial taste with a kind of sour after tang that is not unpleasant but takes a little getting used to. I find that personally I am only occasionally drawn to MM965's quite unique taste. So although I keep it on hand, it is not one of my "go to" tobaccos.

Non-smokers will probably not like the room note and even some smokers might not be overly fond of it.

-----------------

Bottom Line: High Quality, Strong English Blend with no bite (as expected in an English); very distinctive Smokey taste with a sour tang that while not unpleasant, is perhaps an acquired taste.

taste is rather different from tin aroma. lacks character. in particular, i'm disappointed with the "macedonian bright" orientals, but there's also a void where i expected the depth from the cavendish.

after a while, it seems to pick up a bit, but then towards the last third, it slowly deteriorates to an ashy unpleasentness.

i can't recommend it as is, except, perhaps, as an investment for long time aging - there's something in the tin aroma that suggests that there may be something good in store. i will try baking a tin, too, as suggested by skando below.

addendum: i baked it. c. 3 hours at c. 80C. very much improved.

After rehydrating it, I have had a dozen bowls or more, finding myself to experience MM965 twice in the evening (while I have quite never more than a bowl after dinner) the first leaving me wanting the second. I have just dedicated it three Mastro de Paja medium bents, always with nothing less than enthusiastic results... and reconsider my relation with the english mixtures, which was partially lost in the years in favour of more virginia-oriented tobaccos.

The colour of the mix has gone to the dark side, to something in between the MM965 of old and Nightcap. The strength and whole body of the smoke went definately to Nightcap. This make the baking "experiment" a true success, and I'm planning to try with a shorter version of the process.

One star up.

UPDATE DEC16/2008: ------------------ I must cut one star off... The same tin was left aging from 2007. Upon re-opening, I do realize that my memories (and my infinite love to Dunhill's tobaccos and pipes) has deeply influenced my former review. What now remains (and was, I think) of this tin has nothing to do with the glorious MM965. The tin aroma takes me back to the beginning of the 80's: I was used to smoke an italian "english mixture", disappeared many years ago, named "DERBY" (something affordable for a student, at half the price of any Dunhill's mixture) which was approximately similar to Standard Mixture Mild... I don't know what is now being imported in the U.S. of the Dunhill brand (I still see reviews of Nightcap and even London Mixture, which have disappeared from time) and which is their quality. In Italy we still got only two of them: MM965 & Early Morning. I can do without both, and will let them sleeping.

Another "three stars" review! This has been a very pleasant surprise. During the last years, I have faced several delusions from the english mixtures - the latest came from SG's Squadron Leader, too bland - so I have concentrated my attention mostly on the Va's (and variants). But I'm always keeping a couple of EM in my tobacco cabinet, just for a change of pace. 965 needed one month and more in the unsealed tin, but now I can appreciate its medium-to-full, spicey, smokey, creamy but still round taste. Not the 965 of the old times, but still a focal point to compare all the EM stuff.

It started off poorly, dry and hot like a sunstroked meadow, and it was downhill from there.

There were a few draws that somehow slipped into my mouth that were sorta smooth and pleasant and almost made it seem like tobacco, but most of the time, from my very first puff on, it's been a savagely hot, unpleasant experience. All the notes I was getting from this thing were nothing more than painful noise: any subtle undertones were, for me, smothered by overtones of smoldering rubber or plastic.

I've tried several bowls of this stuff, and this blend is just not for me. I honestly don't know how it's for anybody. Indeed I dislike this blend so much I don't think I'm going to try any other Dunhills, because obviously they're doing something very wrong by my standards. This blend just proves how variable and subjective a thing is taste, because I actively hate this blend. I'm amazed it's in the Hall of Fame (at least for all the wrong reasons :) ).

I seem to be on a radically different page than every other smoker on this one. Since I don't like mysteries in my personal life I will continue to try it once in a great while just to see if I can divine how almost everyone else can possibly enjoy this straw.

---

Update 12/27/08: Hearing this was discontinued, I went and bought the remaining stockpile at the local tinderbox, and have placed orders at some online stores to get as many remaining tins as I can to cellar. I have also ordered the new Altadis blended 965, and will post my review as soon as it arrives, and my request for it is added to the database. 965, is a serious tobacco to be discontinuing. What is Dunhill thinking?!

On a side note, I did some online research on latakia, and the Cyprian variety, as I thought from the taste, is indeed smoked with wood from the "stone pine" tree, and the Syrian variety is smoked with oak wood.

---

Original review:

This is some damn good tobacco! It tastes a lot like London Mixture but the cavendish adds a lot of sweetness. Nice, full flavored, sweet & smoky. I can almost put my finger on some pine wood the latakia was smoked with.

The real anomaly with this blend is the room note. For me, it is the most pleasant smelling English mixture on the market, room note wise. I was quite surprised with the scent.

Is it better than London Mixture? It depends on your tastes. I say get them both and rotate depending on what you are in the mood for. I smoked my first bowl of this at the top of a mountain peak while shooting some black-powder rifles. I first tried it out in a Sasieni billiard. The mountain air also adds to the aroma quite a bit.

In the package (I bought it in bulk) it smells just like a peaty scotch sans the alcohol.

My only real complaint, which I have with about every English mixture, is that I haven't smoked any since last night around 6ish (It is 8:10 A.M.) yet I am still tasting it. The curse of latakia...

The nicotine is about a medium but if you puff rapidly it will reach a medium-strong rating, just barely. Rattray's Black Mallory for example, is much stronger.

This is not a good DGT blend, it becomes bitey after a relight. Dry it for an hour before lighting up or it may need a pipe cleaner pass to wipe out the moisture if you smoke quickly.

Highly recommended. If you don't think London Mixture is sweet enough, try 965.

Good Smoke!

Definitely it?s not an all day smoke for me, but this does not decrease its value. Cavendish, Oriental and Latakia create an harmonious combination of flavor and enjoyment, with Latakia to have a very distinctive presence. There is no tongue bit at all. I regretted because, of my long time, negative mood towards Dunhill smokes, I didn?t buy this amazing smoke. New entry in my top 5.

I also hear those who smoked some time ago (Made by Murray's), the my 965 and I envy them because they all say that it was much better.

While the cheap and often ill-placed tin label is nothing short of an abomination compared to the wonderful old Murray's painted tins (and while Orlik has the terrible habit of gluing the interior envelope to the tin bottom), the venerable Danish blender has done a superb job in recreating this most classic of English (read: Scottish) blends. Creamy and rich, with hints of vanilla, leather, and coffee over a solid core of toast and nuts.

In my experience, 965 has always been a blend best smoked young, as its can tend towards flatness after a time, and in that sense let us hope that the good folks at Orlik - who are leagues more consistent with their products than Murray Sons & Co. ever were - continue to furnish us with a goodly supply of this old standby.

Today, most Dunhill's blends are looking like cheap Chinese copy of once famous tobaccos. Even one may see it from how package looks like... And the sensation of smoking - it is poor, tasteless and without any pleasure.

Fortunately, there are other manufacturers of good English blends which are representing British tradition of its best. Dunhill, with this blend, as well with Nightcap lost fame.

Sic transit gloria mundi.

What can you say about a classic? I go back to this from time to time.

[Update 2009] I can't get it and I miss it. You don't realize what you have until it's gone. Raising it to 4 stars

You can?t go wrong with MM965, it is simply the best.

--original review-- I love this tobacco! I bought a really old tin and it's just amazing. Not familiar with latakia blends, when I first opened the tin I thought "this tobacco is off!" but I gave it a try. Such an experience! Sort of nutty tasting and leaves a creamy feeling in the mouth that no other tobacco has done. The smell can be a bit "over the top" for non smokers so I would suggest to leave this one at home. I can't buy it anywhere anymore, the shops don't stock it. I found a sort of replacement in mixture medium but that does not give the same satisfaction... I have to be in the mood for this one, it's not my everyday smoke as it where.

This is based on some bulk I bought a couple of weeks ago from a shop: A little moist, but no problem with gurgle. Smooth and full. Consistent. Easy, all day english. Latakia component is present but not dominant. Must be the Cavendish that evens this out? Not as smokey and strong as I prefer, but good.

This is what I thought London Mix. would've been like. The only Dunhill left that I am interested in trying after this is EMP, and then my sampling of this brand will be done.

I am still a student of the pipe (smoking a little over a year). I have unfortunately, not experienced the majesty of vintage 965 yet so I do not have a comparison of Coke Classic to New Coke. New is all I know. With that being said, I actually like this blend a great deal.

I had a 4 hour drive back home ahead of me so I googled, found and stopped at a pipe shop. They didn't have tins of 965, only bulk so I bought a few ounces. I loaded up my pipe (Frank method), fired it up and hit the road.

It seemed a little thin at first mostly top notes and highs. As I got further into the bowl it began to round out in the mid range with the Latakia/Oriental starting to come through nicely. Towards the end of the bowl is when the magic happened for me with a very rich and flavorful smoke. It was a wonderful, friendly and very enjoyable smoke.

Many thanks to Britannia for the beverage recommendations. I was hoping someone would do this for various blends.

If you've never had vintage this would probably be a great tobacco, but for vets I understand how changes in a blend this popular could bring about harsh reactions.

I hope to one day have the much loved 965.

I have no trouble with relights, nor do I find an unpleasant aftertaste.

I first started smoking this tobacco in 2002 and was immediately enthralled by it. The tins I purchased were the ones that state Made in the UK in association with Dunhill.

In the past year however, I noticed that the tin design has changed. An adhesive label is now placed on the tin with the mention Made in the EU in association with Dunhill. Here's a photo: http://fujipub.com/elfumador/dunhillmymix965tin.jpg

Given the negative reviews I have been reading on the New Version of 965, which according to some reviewers is made by Orlik, I was under the impression that the reviewers were referring to this newly designed tin and that the tobacco it contained was inferior to its predecessor.

Allow me to humbly demystify a few things:

Tinned vs. Bulk

Thinking that I best avoid this newly designed version, I tried the blend in Bulk. The tobacco seemed to be of lesser quality, the cut was not uniform, it didn't burn as well and lacked the nutty and smooth character I used to enjoy. I thought this was the end of my relationship with Lady 965.

Conclusion: The bulk version strikes me as a vulgar imitation.

Once I finished the 50 grams I noticed something a little odd on the ziploc bag. The label stated that the tobacco was made in the USA (Lane I suspect?) For this reason, I thought I should try this new EU version many seem to complain about before giving up.

The Newly designed Tin

What a Relief! The blend is still excellent. The leaf quality is apparent, the cut is uniform, burns great and the taste is superb!

I really don't know whether there is a difference between the made in UK vs. the made in EU version. Perhaps they are identical and were both made by Orlik. Given that I started smoking this blend in 2002, I am not sure if I even tried the Murray's version. A more seasoned pipe smoker out there may answer these questions.

In any event, all I can say is that this version still tastes like the first tin of 965 I purchased and remains excellent in my opinion.

The fire has rekindled, 965 is my favorite once again.

12/15/2002 After my first unpleasant dunhill experience with London Mixture, I was slightly reluctant to risk it again, 25 $ canadian is steep! But this one was definitely worth it. The taste was nutty, with a hint of sweetness and a smokey kick, extremely satisfying. The smoke isn't as mild as Frog Morton for example, but that is a plus, in the sense that I never find the urge to inhale to really enjoy the flavour (too harsh for that) I find this one is ideal for outdoor smoking considering that it burns quite slowly and is prone to go out if left unattended for more than 2 minutes (indoors that is). This mixture is extremely versatile and can be consumed at any time of day, no strong aftertaste and no tongue bite. This one is a keeper :)

Tin purchased January 2008. Something has gone terribly wrong with this blend, once upon a time the premier Scottish/English. I've seen drunks with better coordination. None of the elements come together with any harmony until the bowl says "Uncle", and by then it's a bit late. The quality of the leaf selection isn't up to standards expected from the house that Alfred built. This one must be from the shed that Albert Duhill built out of old cardboard boxes.

Thank God I still have a few pounds of the eighties mixture stockpiled in case of emergency.

I hereby declare a state of emergency.

PS - I did buy this as a 2oz. bulk package. Maybe the tin is different.

I was quite surprised at the tastiness of the Latakia in this mixture. Perhaps the negative comments about new Dunhill production have been overstated-still I haven't had the opportunity to try vintage tins, so my review is limited in scope.

My only complaint-and this wasn't a deal breaker-was that the strength of the tobacco required that I have something to sip on. A nice hot cup of tea tones down the harshness quite nicely and then you can really enjoy this classic!

As a side note, I recently purchased 4 ounces of the Altadis substitute for this product. While having never tried the original in tins, only bulk, this was close to my experience with the original 965. It wasn't quite as harsh or drying on the mouth as the original, which is fine by me, but it wasn't quite as full tasting either.

I think that the substitute is good to keep on hand, but certainly won't replace my Squadron Leader.

If you like this blend, you will most likely also enjoy Red Rapparee (RR has more Virginia), Black Mallory, Squadron Leader, Balkan Sasieni, and Dunhill Durbar (no longer available).

-- Robert, Bonsall Calif.

This blend is a mixture of tobaccos of various shades of dark brown. The aroma is earthy and rich with Latakia. I love the cut of this tobacco, it is easy to pack and lights easily. My supply of this tobacco was bought in bulk. I find that it has about the right moisture content.

It smokes cool and clean. It has a nice nutty flavor with some smokiness from the Latakia and a hint of burnt Marshmallow sweetness. The flavor is rich, but does not overwhelm the palate. It is rather smooth and is easy on the tongue. It has the typical Latakia room note. Pleasant to a smoker, not so delightful for the non-smoker. This tobacco is a bit too rich for an all-day smoke, but is enjoyable with a cup of coffee in the morning or a glass of single malt at night.

I find 965 to be a dependable and tasty English blend. While it doesn't set off any fireworks for me, I keep returning to it because of its ability to consistently please my tongue. 965 is one of the best examples of a standard English mixture.

I hoped to be able to review 965 after smoking my first tin, but unfortunately I have a very strong reaction to something in the blend. After researching forum.pipes.org I find that I'm not the only one. Since I enjoy a range of other tobaccos and styles of blends, it seems I must be reacting to the brown cavendish. It's a shame, because this blend is tops.

But fair's fair, and this blend is excellent, whether or not I can smoke it on a regular basis. I highly recommend trying it. But before you commit to buy a pound, make sure brown cavendish agrees with you.

It is very smooth; not super-creamy smooth like RVL#2, but sufficiently so that it is not too dry (as I find Westminster to be). I find myself just giddy at how delightful it is to puff away on a bowl of this while listening to Strauss' Blue Danube Waltz at this moment. All I can say now is that I need more pipes! And more My Mixture 965!

FYI: This tin was bought recently from smokingpipes.com, and is the first tin I've tried. I would normally wait longer to review a tobacco, but I've smoked enough of this to know how I feel about it. I have no idea how old the tin is, but rest assured I will be buying more to stock when it's time for my next order.

Upon initially opening this tin, I found the tobac to be dry enough to pack without any drying. I soon found out it was a tiny bit wet, but nothing worth mentioning. I could dry it out a bit more but frankly I enjoy the taste the way it is. I'll let time dry out the rest of the tin and just smoke it the way it is.

965 burned pretty evenly taste wise from top to bottom, the Latakia expressed throughout the bowl with just the right amount of flavor.

This is a great smoke. It should be tried by anyone venturing into classic tins of tobac.

I have aged it (1 year) and gone back to it, thinking the first time was a fluke. I've used different pipes hoping that would help...

I normally smoke English blends and lots of Balkans, but I must've missed something here. I don't taste the latakia and I don't like what I do taste. It's not that it's strong, just flat. I mixed some more latakia in it, maybe that'll help me finish off what I have left...then I'll be sure NOT to buy any more!

After aging several tins a couple of years this has turned out to be a much better smoke. 7 out of 10 stars.

I think this is a fine offering and will suit many quite well. For me, I will smoke the rest mixed in with a stronger blend and probably not purchase any more...though I do think this is quality smoke. My sample is based on the bulk offering and not the tin.

This is great - truly great - stuff. I am sure others have written anything worth saying. I notice they do tend to compare with EMP. Personally, I find 965 much better balanced and I do not think that it is so much stronger than EMP as people usually state. Further, it also does smell like a cigar but not in such an offensive way as 965.

Halfway through my 2 oz bulk bag, I dislike this tobacco intensely.

First, it is too strong. Not as unpleasant as Nightcap, but when I go running for four double whiskies after a smoke, I'm sorry but it's too strong.

Second, the flavoring is very dry. Not even a hint of sweetness to round out the taste. It's not a bad taste, and if it were a weaker tobacco I could see myself smoking it on a rare, rare occasion.

As it is now I am flicking through some cheap aromatic blends to mix with this to get it down the hatch. I'm too poor to just throw it away, so I'll have to use up some perfectly good berry or vanilla flavored aromatic to get rid of this unpleasant smoke.

I am not a regular connoisseur of latakia blends (shock horror), so perhaps my comments on this fine blend are all the more valuable. 15 years of pipe smoking probably prevent me from being a novice, even though I prefer aromatics to anything else, yet even I cannot find anything negative to say about MM965. I don't think that my forays into latakia blends are particularly adventurous - Barney's, Punchbowle, and Balkan Mixture being the main attempts at this genre. I am a man of simple and limited tastes.

MM965 is perhaps the best example of a latakia blend that I have indulged. No idea whether the tin I am am almost completing is the 'wonderful old incarnation' or the 'inferior new weed' that some speak of, but it is satisfying, easily smoked and tasty. A clean burn, a reliable and consistent smoke from the start of each bowl through to its conclusion, and a relaxing and flavourful hour from the first unscrewing to the last dregs that I am about to pack.

I will buy this again.

I think this blend is where you can find the biggest difference between the top half of any bowl and the bottom. The former is great; the latter is sublime.

Later, when I run out of my other tobaccos, I forced myself to try this. It was a pleasant surprise. It didn't have that "tar smell / taste", it smelled SWEET.

On first bowl, I was so confused I almost forgot to enjoy my smoking. On next bowl I started to like this, and now, when I'm almost finnished my tin, I love it.

It doesn't leave bad aftertaste, it's full, pretty strong but still sweet. Pretty complex tobacco. Give it a try!

Unless you're in a bind, try one of the many fine English blends on these pages if looking for something new.

Old Review: I have been smoking pipes for 40 years and smoked literally hundreds of tobacco brands, always in search of the perfect tobacco. I bought a tin of 965 perhaps 15 years ago and from my very first bowl I knew I had found it. It just doesn?t get any better than this blend, and even though I continue to search for another that can match it for pure enjoyment, I have never discovered one. Indeed I would be a happy pipe smoker if no other blend existed. There is an underlying sweetness and nuttiness here that is simply delicious. Never bites, and I tend to be a heavy puffer. While I enjoy the occasional pressed Virginia, Balkan and many other English blends, I find I reach for this one from the first bowl in the morning and throughout the day, usually only stopping for an occasional heavier English as an after dinner smoke. I have no idea what is in the ?Cavendish pot? included with 965, but I suppose it is that recipe that heightens the other tobaccos and brings out the smoky, velvety, tangy, all at the same time flavor. If you love good tobacco, pay little attention to the reviews of those who prefer to smoke raspberry goop in their pipe, and treat yourself to a bowl of what tobacco was meant to be. I recommend the tinned version, as the bulk is never as good and always seems to have a faint but noticeable stringent taste.

I really do love 965. I've smelled it from bulk bag and tiny tin, old and new. Yes, the newer production lacked the huge amounts of Latakia from back in the day, and they've remedied that somewhat. I also found that the first thing this requires upon purchase is to empty the entire contents into a Mason jar (you're shocked, I know) and leave it in your basement for about 2 months to marry and meld. But once that's done......

Something about 965 just sets it as the baseline English blend. The Latakias are pungent and musty and loamy. There's almost a figgy note in some of the older blends. It's rich in the nose. It's like smelling beef gravy. You can already hear your wife b*tching and you haven't even packed your pipe yet. Get a big one. If you're going to suffer her complaining, you may as well earn the scorn. I prefer this in a monstrously huge Don Carlos that has a bowl about the size of a film canister.

Oh, how wonderful. Right out of the gate in third gear with latakia. Huge volumnious clouds of latakia. Does it stay lit? God I hope not, I want any excuse to fire it some more and get more of these billowing air pockets swirling around me. Birds drop dead from the sky and mosquitos run for the hills. Children hold their noses and wave their tiny hands in impotent disgust. Wives' faces implode in derision. Who cares? This is a great, great blend. And now that I'm about 1/3 of the way through the bowl, I actually do notice it's a blend. There's other stuff happening here. Orientals, virginias, not brassy or tart but enough to lift the whole mix and keep it up off the deck. But make no mistake, the Latakia is the fat lady singing in this play, and she will not be denied.

Some will say this deserves a worthy beverage, like a stout. Somehow, I disagree. I'd think a beer (such as the Greek import "Athenian") or even a fine tea would be what you'd want, to cleanse the palate. But I don't have time for such nonsense, I'm too busy enjoying this stuff.

Just barely this side of overly full, you could smoke this one with some regularity before your tongue cried for mercy (or variety.) It truly is the quintessential English blend, and you won't often go wrong in comparing other newcomers to it.

Just make sure it gets some quality time (6-8 weeks) in the bell jar first, or your flavors will be all disparate and unpleasing.

When Dunhill blends became unavailable in the U.S. I had to experiment with other blends to find suitable replacements. I tried P.S. Balkan Supreme and found not only a suitable replacement, but a much better blend indeed. They say Dunhill Blends lost quality once production shifted to another blender. I don't know if that's the truth, but if a slightly cheaper blend such as Balkan Supreme can surpass the supposedly super premium blend that Dunhill 965 was thought to be then I'd have to agree that the quality wasn't there.

I think it may have been all hype, and now that my palate has been trained to the subtleties of quality tobaccos I find other blends such as GL Pease blends to be of much much higher quality.

I'm not saying someone won't enjoy this more than any other blend, after all pipe smoking affords unique flavor experiences to match the unique taste buds of individual smokers. In my opinion, now that Dunhill blends are no longer available in the U.S. others who were previously mesmerized by them will be forced to look elswhere and maybe, just maybe, realize the quality that was lacking in the modern incarnations of the Dunhill blends.

I am generously giving this blend 3 stars for the simple fact that I did enjoy it for a while. If I would have tried this blend after trying some of the stuff I've recently smoked then my rating would have to be 2 stars.

I don't think I'd go through the trouble of ordering this from Europe while there are much more balanced offerings available.

I tried both the UK and EU versions. They are different, but both excellent.

I might be one of the few fortunate ones to "meet" them both at around the same time. So I cannot say that I have any nostalgic preoccupations for the UK one.

The UK tin was obviously more aged than the EU one, and for this reason more round in taste. I will keep a couple of tins cellared and do a side by side comparison in a year or so.

This is my all-day tobacco, and I think that I could live with either of them. But, of course I do not have a choice ...

And last but not least, I am surprised to get good comments about the room note when smoking 965. Strange.

Given the large number of reviews for this tobacco, it's obviously fair to say that many pipe smokers have at least tried it.

I like it. I'm about half way through my first tin and find myself loading it in my favorite pipe quite often.

Nice moisture content when first opened, my tin has begun to dry somewhat. But my poor treatment of the tin has not negatively impacted it.

Lights easily and burns to a fine white ash. I have noticed just the slightest of tongue bite if I try to rush it. Generally, that's not a problem for me as I thoroughly enjoy a contemplative, slow smoke.

Recommended.

I will smoke 965 regularly.

If you do not want a robust taste this is a nice mild smoke noting the latakia in it. Has an autumn aroma about it, an all day smoke I would think as mild as it is.

One of my favorites is by Dan tobaccos; Bill Baileys Balkin, full bodied and flavor, a Genuine robust smoke, free of flavorings.

SAVOR THE FLAVOR YA ALL

SCIENCE: WHY IS TIN TOBACCOS DIFFER FROM BULK

Well it's not bad at all, quite mild "English flavoring" (Latakia, etc.) with aroma that doesn?t stay in your nose hours later, like other heavy English blends (Esoterica Margate for example which I couldn?t stand for that reason).

I don't know if it?s the Dunhill name alone, but it's definitely a quality mixture, well worth to smoke once in a while, actually it got me starting to experiment with English blends again, its that nice, very relaxing experience indeed.

This has always been an odd English to me, I always blame the impression on the brown Cavendish and its light touch of sweetness to an otherwise English blend. The Latakia seems to be in good proportion for an English blend and provides for plenty of smoke. The Oriental is not an overly tangy addition, I just notice the Oriental being there and that?s about it. Comparing the two versions side-by-side, I can not smoke the bulk version for long. The bulk is a harsh smoke for lack of a better term, and stays that way throughout a smoke. The tinned version is not as harsh and is an enjoyable smoke. The tinned version is a lightly woodsy tasting smoke for me that I enjoy but does not seem as flavorful as other English blends. Both tend to give me a good nicotine hit especially low in the bowl. The tinned version is probably what I?ll put away in the cellar.

It was a flood of over-rich, nutty, confusing flavors, a rather cigarish aroma (which isn't a bad thing...when it's a cigar), and a huge build-up and an even bigger letdown.

Each person has his/her own tastes and prefers different things in the world of tobaccos and everything else, but at least for me, this was just too much, too quickly. Sort of like Summerfest's Fireworks displays. Lots and lots of good fireworks, but blasted together so fast and so closely that it's just a bright flash that hurts the eyes, and prohibits enjoying each part fully.

So if you are looking for a full-bodied English tobacco with moderate Latakia PLUS a nice hint of sweetness (very light), then give this a try. If you don't like it, then give some of the other English blends out there a try because 965, while the best in my opinion, certainly is a bit different than most.

UPDATE ON THE NEW VERSION: My first impressions of the new Orlik version were good. I found the tin aroma virtually identical (I did a side-to-side comparison with a Murray's tin). The taste was very similar but a hint sweeter with a tiny bit more bite (not bite in a bad way - just a bit sharper).

After trying the Orlik version for over a year now I must say that I enjoy it and it is true to 965 BUT it is a bit lighter in body and has less nicotine than the original.

*** Update Dec 2006 ***

This new 965 is a waste of time & money. Toooo bad the new blender had to screw it up this way. A very good tobacco has been lost to the world. I won't be purchasing any more of this new 965 !!!

***UPDATE***

I have had the oppourtunity to sample the new made in EU/Orlik tin.

I'm very..very pleased. This is what 965 is all about. Smooth, creamy, smokey, hint of sweetness comes & goes. An absolute treasure and immediately reminiscent of the great tins from the murray days. Thank you Orlik and if this kind of quality is what we can expect from Orlik's handling of the Dunhill line I'm pleased..and will be stocking up on all my fav's EMP,965,Nightcap etc! 12/04/06 Excellent!

Like most quality English blends, it smokes down to a lovely whitish ash, with minimal dottle present. While smoking, it very seldom bites and is always a cool smoke.

Yes, I can't deny that there are more exotic and exciting blends out there, but as with Penzance, you're not likely to find me running out of this stuff.

My wife hates it, so it must be good! Definitely as a result of the latakia, so I'm limited to when I fire this up.

It is definitely smokey in taste and aroma, but also sweet. The Latakia isn't overwhelming like in some full English blends, and it isn't real spicy like olthers. It's just a very carefully balanced blend; one that has appeal across a broad spectrum.

If you hate latakia, you probably won't like it. If you are undecided about latakia or English blends, give this one a try.

If there be one thing to detract from Dunhill's 965, it is that they have, to a small extent compromised the good old British reserve that is to be found in all of their other blends. The Virginia is at times too sweet, the Orientals and Latakia to deep and dusky, and the Cavendish outright cloying and sickly sweet should 965 be smoked too fast or too often. This can be an unpleasant surprise from an otherwise wonderful tobacco that one might have desired as an all day, every day companion.

Regards, A. Morley Jaques

Most of the Dunhill blends are dominated by Latakia and (personally) I think it detracts to the variety of tobaccos used in the many Dunhill blends. The 965 is a pleasant break from the aromatics that I normally enjoy and allows me to explore an English mellow non-aromatic tobacco. Try it..I think you will really like it.

08/11/2006 The more I smoke this, the more disenchanted I am with it. 965 is a great smoke, with quality tobaccos, but Dunhill's Standard Mixture Medium and many other blends top 965.

Many commentators have said that this blend is not for the beginner. One can keep drinking a relatively unflavourful wine by the glass in search of the absent taste or be satisfied with a few sips of a mouth filling, aromatic wine. I usually suggest MM965 to beginners and they mostly like it. Now that it will not be available - or at least not available in its past glorious form - there are many stellar blends from the US and Europe with which to begin pipe smoking.

I can only give two stars right now to the tobacco of many, 965. Who makes all these European blends these days? I have no idea. Orlik, Murray, K&K, Butera, Germain, Esoterica, Murray's, Bob's, Buddy's, Billy's, Eke& Zeke, hmmm well. I've got a friend who smokes only 965, so I'll do my best. . . . I can only give two stars because the last three tins I've had were SO different from one another. The first of the three was the same as the last I had had for years, a staple. A two and a half star tobak for me. Good body, good Latakia, and not too much Cav. Nicotine medium. Then came a dissapointment. Way too much green. Green Orientals. Sweet in all the wrong way and every flavo(u)r was un married, unfriendly, and it just could not dance. Last tin, like the good old stuff but with less of my dear friend nicotine. There are much better Latakis blends. Sorry Peter!

Like Nightcap, perhaps it was all the praise about 965 that left me wanting something more. This is a fine tobacco in many respects. It?s blended nicely, has a number of fine elements: Virginia, latakia, perique, a touch of oriental? It?s definitely lovely in the tin with its speckles of light and dark colors, like a grassy knoll covered with damp autumn leaves. The tin note is grassy and musty, characteristically Dunhill. It?s a well-pressed, moist ribbon cut that pulls easily and packs well into any bowl. It?s without a doubt a standard among tobaccos.

Overall, though, it left me a bit flat. It has a rich, nutty quality, with less power and zeal than Nightcap. It can be smoked all the way down the bowl, and at times, is very pleasing and subtle. I prefer the oriental tease of Aperitif and the Balkan bounty of Durbar. So far, those are my favorite of the Dunhill line. 965 has balance and elegance, but it never really reaches grand scale, at least not the kind that everyone here sings about. Desert island stuff? Probably not. Perhaps, like Nightcap, this was a superior blend way back when, especially before the days of blend outsourcing, which I believe Dunhill and others do these days.

Very good, though, and I would enjoy smoking a bowl from time to time when I desire something lighter, less chewy and complicated.

Three of five stars

----------------------- update - april 10, 2006

I am adding another twist to this review. I had the opportunity to try this blend in bulk form, which I did not realize existed. A good friend of mine picked some up at the venerable Jack Schwartz cigar shop in Chicago. It's so much better than the tinned product, probably because it's not made by Dunhill's tinning source. Bulk '965' is much truer to form and more Oriental than English with a rounder complexity and a deeper finish. The Balkans really project while meshing beautifully with the cavendish. This reminds me a bit of Nat Sherman's discontinued but no less magnificent '536' without the mahallah and buttery softness. If you have a shop in your area that offers '965' in bulk, do try it. I think you'll be much more pleased than what Dunhill has been cooking up in its tins of late. I'd like to know if there's any 'Nightcap' around in bulk, as I will definitely revisit that disappointing number as well.

Three and a half of five stars

It's not bad, but if you like this I'd highly reccomend getting Peretti's British Blend. As far as the Dunhills I've tried goes, I would say that the Nightcap stands out as the best of the bunch. If you want to try Dunhill, go with that one.

For the record, I am not really a Cavendish fan at all, but it works in this blend, just a little hint of it.

I don't have much to add, except that I really enjoy this blend.

There are other English blends out there, and I plan to try them all, but there will always be an open tin of this in my house. Smoke it in three different Kirstens, and it is great in all three.

My wife says that it really stinks, both in the tin and when I smoke it.

July 2004

965 is like smoking velvet. Rich, smooth, cool. Well balanced, well behaved. Burns cleanly and I don't think you could force this stuff to bite if you hooked a ShopVac (tm) up to it.

My Mixture 965 is a necessity, plain and simple.

******UPDATE******

Since the writing of this review, a couple of things have happened. First off, I have found that the cavcendish has become more and more pronounced. Maybe it's just me. It has become boring to me. Secondly, the tobacco is no longer tinned by Murray's. I will no longer smoke 965. If you didn't like it before, you should try the Orlick version of 965. It tastes nothing like the real thing.

"This [name any dunhill blend] is not the same as it was, yadda-yadda, and our beloved 965 is nothing like what it used to be..."

You've heard and/or contributed to the hype. The previous version was a harsh experience and made me turn green like a cheap cigar on an empty stomach would. The new version ain't messing around either---you have to be patient with this stuff or it will send you reeling. Slow and steady is best.

But the quality of the leaf and the marrying of the blend (even though this hasn't been in production with the new manufacturers for very long) are far, far superior to the 965 offered at the end of the Murray's production.

The new version is smoother, and much, much less harsh. Balanced in cut and moisture, loaded and smoked with ease and pleasure. This is a 965 I can enjoy, and will keep around.

Yes, this is an almost totally different experience from that of the previous incarnation, but in my opinion, a vast improvement has been made.

Murray's (OLD) Version:

965: The impetuous darling of the english blends. Adored by millions, held up as the grail by many here, 965 seems to set the bar for many pipe smokers.

But for me, it's EMP turned up to "11". I'd probably like 965 a whole lot more if I could stand the nicotine hit. Not sure why this blend makes me turn green, but it's just too much. I'm overwhelmed by it.

But do try it. If you can stay on the bull you'll win a ribbon.

Autumnal brightness ablaze, aged aromatic leather, cafe con leche and bisteca con pepe verde all amalgamated.

Classic as the OED.

The first time I ever smoked 965 was in 1963... a pleasure then and certainly one now. While the flavors have married and become "rounder" due to aging, this medimum plus English has always been a treat. Due to changes in the manufacturer of this product, I have smoked a few tins as recent as a few months ago, and while it still comes through as dunhill 965, it is none-the- less different.

Smokeable in a variety of pipes I prefer it in a group 5 size straight billiard, with a tapered bit.

This mixture has stood the test of time and I suspect it will continue to do so, even with new manufacturers, least wise, I hope so.

Very much worth a try if your not familiar or if you want a change in pace from your regular rotations.

Start: I enjoy the initial start-up of every bowl I smoke. Mix 965 was rather disappointing in this regard. If you?re an occasional nasal sipper the first few puffs of the bowl is not the time for that. 965 will sting your nose with an ashy bite. Nothing special or unique is noticed at this stage. Having said that lets move on?

Mid-Bowl: Wow. What a difference! At this point 965 comes into its own and delivers its merits. A tasty English with a smooth smoky note. Go ahead take a sniff at this stage?its lovely.

Finish: No real notable changes for me just a good smoke. An occasional ashy flavor can enter in from time to time.

English blend with a little sweetness, this could be a good morning bowl. But I probably won't keep a lot of this around for the ashy notes distract...nevertheless less a very decent smoke.

Update: The ashyness must have been from the pipe I smoked it in for I had a much more pleasant experience in a different pipe.

It is indeed a noteworthy blend--rich, creamy, smooth, and cool-burning. It pack easily and requires few relights. The individual elements merge beautifully, and I find it a very pleasant English indeed. It is also unique; whether you're sniffing the tin or enjoying its room note, 965 is unmistakable in its character. Only afterwards does one notice its strong nicotine jolt. Newbies beware!

Is it the greatest English mixture of all time? I don't think so. But it is certainly a great pipe tobacco, and, with some of the C&D Englishes, at the top of my list when I'm in the mood for latakia.

This blend has a following- indeed some of my friends- but I for one can do without it ever again. I recommend this blend to the pipe smoker who enjoys English Aromatics that produce copious amounts of thick black perfumey smoke, but it is not a blend for me.

Old 965 is a famous, somewhat full and slightly sweet English. This is not the same but not aweful unless you are a die hard. Looks similar in cut but smells sweeter.

A 965 fan may say this is no longer even an English. It is more sweet than English. The same sweetness that was a hint is now louder. You can still sense the latakia. In the tin and on the tip of the tongue. No bite if puffed slowly. Older 965 was more bullish in flavor too.

This may open up 965 to more smokers, including upgrading (or changing) light aromatic smokers to an Aero-English. But we must not curse, as the Dunhill name stil inspires pipes and blends alike worldwide for all. Like what Arnold Palmer did for golf.

So try a tn before you dispair and don't like in the estate market all the time. I was to do a review of this for payless pipes before Katrina hit my home town, N.O. Everything's changed now, so why not pass on the info here? But we'll be back.

Thick clouds of strong bluish smoke arise from the tobacco, but strong should not be read pejoratively as it is rather pleasant and enjoyed by nonsmokers I have been around. I do not know why but whilst smoking this the back of my throat develops a 'tickle' early on that becomes more aggravted as the bowl progresses and it can also be a touch hot if puffed too rigourously.

I really wanted to like this blend but it just does not agree with my mouth which becomes irritated by 965, even more so upon a relight. I find the smoke to be really quite harsh and unrefined. Moreover this leaves an unpleasnat aftertaste in the mouth as if one had been sucking on a piece of coal for half an hour.

Undoubtedly this is a fine mix but I wish the tin aroma translated into the smoke produced. To be sure this packs a nicotine wallop as I felt slightly dizzy and sedated afterward, as if I had had a little too much to drink-a rather pleasant feeling! I will probably finish the tin but will be unlikely to buy it again-while not for me this may be ideal for a cigarette smoker who wants to gravitate towards a pipe. About 5.5/10

I give it 2 stars out of respect for the many other, more experienced smokers who love it. Just goes to prove that not everyone's palate is created equal.

At first light I received the initial greeting from the latakia and smelled the sweetest perfume from the first burning strands of leaf. After the charring light and tamp it was a nice long slow smoke that got increasingly sweeter the further down the bowl it got. This was certainly not the harsh charcoal-like smoke that I had feared.

One of the things that surprised me about 965 is how slow it burns. Right now I am smoking it in a large Neerup freehand that I first lit up at 1:30 p.m. and it is now 4:15 p.m. and it is about 75% finished. This is without any breaks in smoking with the exceptions for the occasional tamping and relights. I think it should be finished by 5:00 p.m. which would make this a nice 3.5 hour smoke. Very nice.

"My Mixture 965" will definitely be a staple in my tobacco stock. It is the benchmark English blend and for good reason. I would not recommend this to a beginner smoker but as a reward after some years of experience and refining of tastes. It is truly a sophisticated blend that should be appreciated as such. 965 is great as a nocturnal ritual to clear the mind and soul of stress. It produces a tranquilizing effect causing the lucky smoker to hear the call of blissful slumber while drifting into a meditative state of "Tobacciana Nirvana".

I smoked a few bowls of this six months ago, tired of it and went on to other boutique blends. While cleaning up some early 20th century english pipes, I remembered the tin and thought it fitting to reawaken the long neglected briar with an appropriate mixture.

Again, I found this to be a stalwart, though uninspiring blend. It took until a third down the bowl to identify any defining characteristics and they were unremarkable as well. I suppose it serves well as a benchmark to which most pipe smokers can relate, but there are so many others I prefer. I don't know the British equivalent to Sears and Roebuck, but this would be it: a point of departure. 965 is to English like Prince Albert is to burley.

I have to respectfully disagree with those who proclaim 965 to be the definitive English blend by which all others must be judged. 965 may well be the best-selling English blend, and in many smokers? opinion the best-tasting English blend, but that doesn?t make it the definitive English blend. Call me a purist, but in my opinion the use of cavendish in this blend disqualifies it from meeting the classic definition of an English blend (i.e. a blend that epitomizes the definition of classic English smoking mixture?a Virginia base with Latakia and perhaps other orientals added). If you want to taste a truly definitive English mixture, try Gawith?s Squadron Leader, Robert Lewis? Tree Mixture, Pease?s Renaissance, Esoterica?s Margate, or perhaps even Dunhill?s London Mixture; if you want to taste one of the most popular and best-selling English mixtures around today, then give 965 a spin.

After being extremely disappointed by the "flatness" of this blend, and recently becoming a bit more interested in cavendish mixtures - I've started to reconcile the mass appeal 965 has. I stand by my initial comments that the strong points in this blend are marketing, pedigree, and accessibility - not tobacco excellence (reach for Margate or Raven's Wing if you'd like to try that). Though I can understand the occasional bowl of something soft and nutty vs. "exotic" and spicey tasting ala Durbar. Dare I suggest some of the C+D cavendish based English blends (such as Santa's Mistake - if you can still get any) actually do what 965 attempts to only they pull it off with more flavor and less taste enhancing and preservative additives. I find the comparisions to Night Cap "light" interesting as I feel there is an wholly different quality of latakia and perique in that blend.

I have considered 965 to possibly be a great English with which to break in a new latakia oriented pipe. It leaves a nice rich cake in the bowl.

That said, if you haven't tried it, you HAVE to. It is a benchmark.

Tiger

The reasons? Well, it is a perfect mix. Very full, rather strong, but never aggressive: I like strong tastes, but while I love Nightcap, I think that 965 is much more suited for all-day smoking. It never tickles the throat or bites the tongue, regardless of how you smoke it. Just a bit in the nose, maybe, but it's an otherwise well-rounded mixture.

What shocks me is that this doesn't come at the expense of taste: this is one of the tastiest tobbaccos I have ever tried. Every mouthful of smoke gives you an almost culinary sense of fullness, as if you were eating some delightful "lasagne". It really makes you crave for more and more, never tiring: I find it perfect as appetizer, or after dinner, or in every other moment of the day. This is a tobacco that simply makes you love the taste of... tobacco! That burnt-wood, exotic taste that I have always been looking for in a tobacco...

I am a guy who loves to try different tobaccos to change tastes, but I feel that My Mixture 965 is a blend that MUST always be present in my collection, because it never grows tiresome. And it should serve as a warning to all "aromatic fans": don't try and go looking for taste in those boring and syrupy cherry-vanilla-fruit tobaccos... There's twice the taste in this and in London Mixture than in ANY aromatic, and it is a TRUE taste, the taste of real tobacco...

I also tend to recommend it to beginners: in my opinion, it is a much better choice than the usual drugstore tobaccos, or than the ultra-classic Early Morning Pipe. I began smoking a pipe with EMP, and I was a bit disappointed. And don't fear that it might me TOO tasty: it never goes over the top, and it is much more straightforward (which doesn't mean it lacks in subtlety) than my other beloved: Nightcap. Nightcap is even fuller and tastier, but it might be TOO spicy and "grand" for someone. 965 has also the advantage of releasing its taste from the start and keeping it very stable for the rest of the bowl, while Nightcap evolves and changes: nice for experienced smokers, but a bit disconcerting for someone else.

Packs easily, burns well (leaving a dry light grey ash), doesn't require a great smoking technique, tastes great. What else could you want?

A recommendation if you like this tobacco: as I said it is very similar to Dunhill London Mixture, but in my opinion it is less sweeter and "licorice" tasting, verging on a "salty" tone instead. Probably due to the lack of Virginia? You may want to try both, anyway.

Curious note: Many say that this kind of English blend (heavy on Latakia) can be unplesant to wives around you. To my surprise, this is a tobacco that my wife LOVES to smell when I smoke it! She hates aromatics, or "sweet" tobaccos: she prefers the room note of english blends, especially London Mixture and 965! Her sister, too, once asked me if she could try to take a puff out of my pipe when I was smoking this kind of tobacco! She, too, loved the smell of it (and she isn't even a cigarette smoker)! So it seems to be only a matter of taste... It has a strong room note, but someone may like it very much (and my cigarette smoking friends LOVE it).

UPDATE February 2004: After a couple of years and some tins more, I can say that this tobacco suffers from batch variations. Some tins can be great, while others can be nauseating, with a taste that is sweetish and spicy but in the wrong way, or because of a weak undistinct taste. Recently, it has become almost impossible to find a good tin... Not a very subtle tobacco, though, even when you get the good tin, and it probably has become stronger in nicotine while becoming generally worse in taste. I prefer London Mixture by a long shot, now. The rating reflects the average between the old 965 (****) and the new one (**).

Until I tried 965, I thought that Nightcap was the quintessential Dunhill English blend. I found 965 to be slightly sweeter, less heavy on the latakia, and more complex than the Nightcap, but still more full than Early Morning Pipe. I really like this blend and will always keep a tin on hand for Saturday afternoons--I'll save the Nightcap for post-large-dinner puffing with a glass of port ala a nice Honduran Hoyo Excalibur or Cuban Cohiba Robusta.

Lights with moderate ease, 3 matches usually, although drying will assist lighting somewhat. Like all the Dunhill English mixtures it comes too moist for my lighting, but it's no trouble to dry it out a bit. The burn is very complete, no harshness at the bottom of the bowl, although a few relights are required if it has not dried out a little.

Smells lovely in the tin, similar to Nightcap but milder, and without the scent of Perique. I have been complimented on the aroma, so what need is there for aromatics? If its Latakia I want to smoke, I'll smoke it.

The lack of virginia takes a lot of sharpness out of the blend, this is made up for by the spicy taste of the Oriental tobaccos, so the smoothness does not make this blend seem flat. All the tobaccos used here are of the highest quality, as is to be expected, and blended well. The flavour builds as the bowl progresses, not changing greatly, the complexity of this blend comes from the subtle interlplay of the various ingredients, with attention, you can taste each of the components, or just enjoy the full flavour as they work together. The Latakia taste will surface strongly if you puff harder, it becomes more apparent if the burn gets a little fiercer.

Wonderful stuff, I could smoke it all day.

Sumptuous, classic, luxurious... Mind the manly laugh...

I will be cellaring this blend. It is THAT good.

DJM

I grew up smelling this stuff, and it was the first blend I ever smoked. I always have some on hand and recently popped a tin that had been aging for more than a year. What a treat!

Dunhill 965 may no longer be the bellwether of English blends to some smokers, but it's a classic and the benchmark to which I compare every English I smoke. My Mixture 965 is a blend that, if it's to your liking, you can safely return to time and again -- a consistent performer.

Yes, some English blends are better; many are worse. In the end, I know I can always count on 965 to deliver (and the flood of sense memories of my childhood is a bonus).

If you've never tried this blend, now's the time to do so.

I'm sold.. I had no idea that Latakia could taste so wonderful! This blend is heavy and strong, yet extremely cool on the palate. The cut is even with no stems. The quality of the tobacco is simply outstanding. It is well balanced and very transparent - It's possible to "decipher" almost every nuance during the entire bowl.

Some say that this is not the best introduction to English Mixtures, but for me it was. A wise guy once told me that a neophyte should start with a strong tobacco, instead of those mild bright VA's, because the strong dark flakes never bite the same way as the light ones does. I think the same thing goes for Latakia, because afterall: Either you like it or you don't. So why not start with the real thing? I love it!

Jakob Kiilerich, Denmark

Tin Aroma: Dusky and earthy, just like an English blend should be. As a matter of fact, this has become the aroma that I think of when someone says "English Blend" to me. I have been known to sit and sniff the aroma for almost as long as it takes me to smoke a bowl of it. If I could get air fresheners that smelled like this, I would be set.

Ash: Dove gray

General Notes: this is quickly becoming my default blend, the one I reach for when nothing else is calling out to be smoked. I could (and do) smoke it all day while working, and all of my pipes seem to love it. Unlike some English blends, the taste is there from the get-go, it doesn't need any time to "warm up". I also find it almost impossible to make it smoke hot, no matter how hard I puff on it. This tends to be my first ( and often second) smoke of the day. I try to buy a pound of this every time I drive past JR on I-40, and just chuck it in the closet. Some of it should manage to survive for a couple of years without me smoking it, and then we can really see what this blend can do.ww

Although I concur that this could be considered nightcap light, this is a good thing, because no matter how much I love Nightcap- it's just too rich to smoke all day. The cavendish in this blend brings a slight sweetness throughout the bowl until the very end when things get a little more spicy. Even though there is a lot going on with the blending here- it is not the most complex smoke- not nearly so as Apertif for instance. The flavors that do make themselves known, do so upon first light and don't change a whole lot during the course of the smoke until the end. This blend doesn't bite no matter how hard you try although it does get a tad bit peppery if you puff to hard. The latakia is very prevelent but not what you need if you are looking for a fix. In that case you should fall back on either Penzance or Nightcap. I should mention the room note also- when I was smoking it around my mother, she told me I should get rid of the nasty stuff and put something of more quality (i.e. better smelling) in my pipe. Oh well- you can't please everyone! All in all a classic tobacco and one you can't go wrong with if you are a lover of English blends.

**UPDATE** I had to downgrade this rating simply because after trying EMP and London Mix, I have found this to be a trifle boring. I won't give it the lowest rating, however, because it is still very high quality Dunhill tobacco.

I don't dislike it. It's a bit of a "dry" smoke for me, gives me nose itchies. I do find it burns very regularly (probably because of the longer cut) and looks great in a small ziplock baggie. There's a good distribution of lights, mediums, and dark browns, and the startlingly thick strands of what must be the Latakia spicing, laced throughout. It packs well, much more spongy in the pipe than you'd expect from the almost crumbly appearance.

It is easy to light, and burns a bit quick for my preferences. I sometimes pack this one extremely tightly (like, cram it into an over-small pipe) for windy days or for coaching the kiddies out in the winter time. Very outdoorsy woodsman type stuff.

I like it well enough. Not the Balkan 15 of my tobacconists in Tampa (Smoke 'n' Snuff, I'm asking to add it to the database) but close. I could go with a little more Oriental tang and a little less smooth easy-tastin' non-presence.

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Additional notes: this has become an "all day" favorite of mine. It's a bit stronger than a usual all-day smoke, I think, but that's OK by me. There's some kind of affinity with the cigarette in the taste and complexion, which I don't appreciate, not having been a cig smoker ever. I'd recommend this to someone who was trying to downgrade from cigars or cigarettes to pipe, because of that similarity. The Latakia content is a subtle hint, almost sneaks in the back door. I'd like more tang, less bland. But it doesn't bite.

But alas, it wasn't meant to be. After multiple bowls of this stuff, all I get out of it is a stomach turned upside down, a lousy, ashy taste in my mouth, and a room that reeks so badly I have to open the windows.

Strange. I've never had any other tobacco hit me like this one does when it comes to the nicotine content. Even after a dinner, half a bowl and I need to eat something to settle my stomach. Like smoking a pack of cigarettes in one sitting.

The taste of 965 is rather numbing. It's very dark and smokey, and after a while it becomes bland, almost sour in my mouth. Starts to get that ash-tray taste every time. This is unfortunate, as I could sniff this stuff in the bag for hours. It smells absolutly out of this world in the package - all smoky and leathery - and the cut is great. But that fabulous balance that exists in the bag goes right out the window when I light this up. Oh well.

Finally, the room note. I LOVE the smell of pipe tobacco - almost everything I've ever smoked has left a room note I could enjoy - other English blends included. But after smoking this, oof, I need to air out the room. It's like I burned a pile of leaves on my couch. Even the room note I couldn't handle.

It may seem like I'm really laying into this blend, but the truth is once I get this stuff out of the tin, it has pretty much zero redeeming value for me. Obviously others feel differently, so you should at least try 965, but I'll be damned if it doesn't leave me feeling like I've been on a tilt-a-whirl eating cigarettes.

And more importantly it leaves me feeling like I wasted a chance to smoke something else. edit: Just a note, I may come back and revise my review with time. For some reason I can't seem to totally phase this stuff out of my rotation, no matter how hard I try! We'll see...

That said, I let it sit for a while, still disappointed in the smell. I actually thought something was wrong with it until I went back to the shop and smelled some of their bulk Englishes. That's how Englishes smell.

The smoke, however, was a very pleasant surprise. It lit easily and stayed lit. Up until that point, I had smoked aromatics exclusively, and learned aromatics don't stay lit as easily. Non-cased tobaccos are more reliable in that sense.

The flavor, going back to the campfire experience, is that of smoking a botanic garden. It's quite a nice sensation. It's as if someone scoured a forest floor for moss, juniper, and pine needles, and packed it into a tin. It brings me back to camping trips in the Sierras.

A word of caution: if you smoke inside and like the day after smell of vanilla aromatics, you might think twice before smoking this inside. As much as I liked the taste and room aroma when smoking it, the room smells nothing like that botanical forest aroma I alluded to.

Realize that this can be strong stuff, and you may take on a greenish tinge if you're not careful. But take it easy and smoke slowly. This is a tobacco worth savoring. I expect to smoke several more tins of this for many years deep into my sunset.

I'm one of those pipe smokers who does not have an absolute primary choice of blend. I have my favourite English mixture, favourite Virginia blends, etc., and I will go on record proclaiming this as my English/Scottish mixture of choice. It is quite amazing how the different elements present in the blend stand out and yet, at the same time, coalesce into a singularly pleasurable smoking experience. There are times when more of a Balkan blend is what I want, and that is when I head for the Odyssey, Caravan, or Balkan Sasieni. When I want something a bit more full in taste, yet smoother, I'll reach for this.

Unless you simply can't stand anything but cloying aromatics, I heartily recommend this blend to you.

22 December 2003

Since posting the above review, I have downgraded my recommendation to "Might try it again, but will not keep it on hand". It took me some time to realise that I don't care for the coexistence of Cavendish and Latakia. "965" is a quality blend, but I prefer "Nightcap" over this one.

Whatever the reason, 965 is a great blend. I'll throw my two cents worth in here and echo the majority of the above reviews. This is a must try.

The burn: One of the best burning tobaccos I have smoked to date.

The taste: There has been a lot written concerning the venerable My Mixture 965, so I?ll keep it brief: If you like English latakia blends you?ll have no problems with this. 965 will take you back and deposit you in the English countryside, if you only close your eyes. This is one helluva a tobacco and my yardstick for English blends. Available also in bulk - the price can?t be beat.

The nicotine kick is notable, but I grew accustomed to it after a few bowls. I think a word of caution is in order if you react strongly to nicotine; smoke this at home when you?re done for the day.

I like 695 a lot, but do not wax eloquent on this mixture. I find it a little "light in the shoes" latakia-wise. I think that the substitution of cavendish for virginia- the thing that defines 695 apart from the myriad other Dunhills for me- is not a good tradeoff, IMHO. Still, it does give 695 a smooth, cool "cloud-like" texture (for lack of a better descriptor) that is a unique and sometimes welcome change from other English blends. As is typical of almost Dunhills, I find My Mixture to be heavy on the nicotine content.

For me it makes a good "on occasion" smoke. Some esteemed reviewers note a tongue bite, but I find 695 very inoffensive on this point. In fact I often turn to 695 when I have suffered tongue bite from another tobacco (like MacBaren's aromatics) and want to go easy on that tasting muscle. Maybe I would call 695 a good "convalescent smoke"... All in all, a good, but not great, tobacco.

The qualities of this tobacco make it an autumn tobacco for me. Since I don't smoke a lot when it's hot, the approaching time of year when the leaves turn brown and windy chills blow down my collar when taking a stroll through the woods, mark the beginning of Henry B's pipe smoking season - autumn and winter. And it's great to have this tobacco in your pipe, when you come home, the scent of wet wood and fresh air in your nose. For a 'traditional' English blend (i.e. a Latakia blend) it is very smooth. It may be considered very forthcoming by those pipe connoisseurs, that prefer to have only a little Latakia in their tobacco. There are a lot of nuances, that keep you wondering, what you are tasting. A mild sweetness is always present, and the smoky Latakia rounds things off. It is a welcomed change of pace for me, cause I seem to grow a little tired of pure Virginias lately. At last - Cavendish put to good use ! I can see myself smoking this a lot this year. Well done, Dunhill.

BTW I don?t smoke indoors so my Room Note rating is just a guesstimate.

This tobacco is foul. I threw out my first tin because I was convinced it had gone off. "No," I realized upon sampling the second tin, "it's supposed to taste that way." My Mixture 965 tastes like wine that has reacted with the cork and gone bad.

To all those who haven't been smoking a pipe for long, I have some advice. Don't make My Mixture your first incursion into the land of latakia. Try G. L. Pease's Mephisto instead. Wonderful stuff.

Nice pure tobacco taste with a pleasant "nuttyness" to it that keeps me coming back for more. Very traditional room note which others don't mind.

It's not as strong as some others and the smoke isn't as heavy as some of my other favorites but it's prefect as a regular everyday smoke.

Not much more to say, I guess it's easier to write a long review when something isn't as great as 965 is.

I ALWAYS have a tin of this on the go no matter what else I have open, or no matter what I'm doing. I simply love it.

To make this brief, I can't smoke this blend without it biting my tongue. The flavor is good but it's a hot blend. In the 80's it bit me, in the 90's it bit me and the last bowl I smoked of it (2003) will be the last ever.

This one gets my vote of "most overrated tobacco of all time", hands down.

To each his own, eh?

Unforftunately, I found nothing compelling to keep me with this blend. The flavor was nothing spectacular and with other more interesting blends around, even in the Dunhill line, I don't see myself buying it again.

Subsequent smokes showed a nice, rich smokiness, at times a bit fat, probably from the cavendish.

This burns cool and is very easy to enjoy.

Like so many others, I believe 965 to be the very best English Blend out there. It is absolutely perfect in every way. It is always my first smoke of the day and often my last.

Before the confusion sets in, I?ll explain. I live in Poland, and all Dunhill mixtures are atrociously expensive here: about 32 to 36 z³oty for a 50 ounce tin. That is indeed only about eight dollars, but I, like most other Poles, earn only about 1,400 z³oty a month. So perhaps that?s the best testimony about the quality of this blend, for it?s about like someone in the States paying $30 for a small tin of 965. Is it worth it? Of course.

When I first tried 965, I was stunned by the depth of the nuttiness in the middle of the bowl. I remember my first smoke, and I literally stopped in my tracks when I noticed it.

Since then, I?ve become more attuned to the fine balance of the mixture and that in fact has become my favorite aspect of it: you can virtually choose your flavor. Want something slightly sweet on a winter?s night? Listen to the Macedonian or Cavendish. Out for a fall afternoon walk and want something embracing? Concentrate on the Latakia. Not looking for anything in particular? Sit back and let the flavors mingle on their own. Balance, I think, is the key to this blend, and you?ll find a thousand notes here if you listen carefully.

Surprisingly, as most have commented, this blend doesn?t bite, even if you draw on it like Sachmo in reverse.

Regarding the nicotine content: I am an occasional cigarette smoke, so I find it pleasantly acceptable, though for new comers it might very well make for wooziness if smoked quickly.

Overall, it?s a perfect tobacco. Softly falling snow, a Brandenburg Concerto, and a bowl of 965: a Sunday afternoon doesn?t get much better.

When first opening the can I found 965 to smell much sweeter than I expected and it contained much more light-colored tobacco than I expected. Perhaps thats the Macedonia. The sweetness almost has me convinced that there's a light flavoring of some sort though I'm starting to think thats just my lack of tobacco experience.

My overall impression is that this tobacco is very pungent with a backdrop of sweetness. To me it smells much like old leather. It's a bit stronger than I expected. When I first tried it it didn't taste right to me, possibly because I'd been eating the wrong things beforehand, but later, after some earl grey tea, rye crackers, and havarti cheese, i tried some and found it excellent. The only problem with it is that even though I just bought my first tin it feels like I've been smoking this forever, and it almost seems boring somehow. Anyway, I don't think this will be one of my regulars though it is quite good and I'd recommend that everyone who likes Latakia try it at least once.

This tobacco is elegant and burns to a dry, white ash. You can puff as fast as you like because the blend is so cool, tongue bite is not a worry. Because 965 is strong, you will not be firing up multiple bowls of this stuff. It is not for everyday consumption either. At least not for me. I will smoke a tin over a week's time and then take a 6 month break before heeding it's call again. Enjoy this classic!

It can be difficult to put your finger on exactly what it is about a particular blend but this one has a balance that many English blends can't seem to find.

I find this blend to have a nice full body with lots of flavor without being overly strong in terms of nicotine.

Very tasty and a must try.

First off, I really want to like this tobacco. In the tin the aroma is absolutely divine. Deep and earthy with leather overtones. I am imagining deep wingback chairs, log fires and Islay malt now. It has a dark overall appearance, with light and medium brown pieces thrown in. I should not say thrown in any way about this mixture. It is prepared with the utmost care and diligence one would naturaly assume of Dunhill.

It packed and took to the fire just grandly. Not complaints there. I was immediately treated to an explosion of rich smoke and powerful tastes. There is nothing at all understated about this tobacco.

The first third of the bowl gave me a terrific English blast of tobacco. Thick and chewy, slightly musty, old books and hounds. Heaven in a tin can. Then it hit me.

That blasted Turkish. I know it is an indispensable part of the mixture, and it would not be 965 without it but it just kills the whole thing for me. My mouth burned like a house afire. I have tried my best to like it but I can not. Another excellent blend ruined by my tasters. Alas, we cannot have it all. I know that this blend is not for me becuase of my peculiarities, but I highly recommend it to anyone who loves and appreciates high quality English blends.

Aroma: Lots of Latakia, with a good Virginia base. Little Turkish present to my nose.

Packing: Packs easily in most pipes, group 3 and up.

Lighting: Typical lighting procedure, not too quick or too slow.

Initial flavor: Just like it smells, lots of smokey Latakia, with some slightly sweet Va flavor.

Mid-bowl: Not very complex, just the two flavors changing intensity slightly as they interact. Dry and cool, and not too sensitive to puffing rate. You can smoke it while being active outdoors.

Finish: Nice, clean finish. No tendency to get harsher at the end, and no wet dottle.

Summary: An excellent blend, even though I normally prefer more Turkish with my Latakia. If you haven?t tried it yet, you should. Could be a wonderful intro to Latakia blends

My Mixture 965 is a benchmark latakia english . A must for the fan of medium latakia blends .

The result is a great blend, memorable in fact: less ecstasy-enducing than Nightcap perhaps, a little easier on the palate, especially in the beginning, where Nightcap can seem bitter, but a wonderful, full-flavoured English-style mélange, touchingly autumnal and true.

To read sea stories by.

Like Balkan Sobranie White and Sullivan's Gentlemans Mixture, this tobacco is a standard reference point among english latakia blends.

Although I have never detected any casings, I tend to mentally classify it along with FrogMorton as a crossover blend, probably because of the large amount of cavendish in the blend, and the relatively low amount of latakia present.

This blend lights well and burns quickly. There is a fair amount of moisture generated by the cavendish which combined with the fast burn makes this tobacco prone to tongue-burn in anything but a calabash.

The flavor of 965 is a not-unpleasant barnyardy smokey flavor, with a musty aromatic quality from the cavendish, and additional sweetness from the macedonian. The lack of Virginias seems to leave this tobacco unbalanced by the dark flavors of the cavendish and latakia. As for room aroma, the consensus seems to be mostly positive, with comparisons to burgundy (from the macedonian) and leather (from the latakia), which pretty much sums up the flavor as well.

Appearance: This is a finely-cut tobacco consisting of medium to short ribbons varying evenly in color from golden-brown to black with some birdseye stems with an interesting woody texture.

Packing and Lighting: The cut of 965 makes it easy to drizzle pinches into my Jobey 'Asti' Canadian for filling, yet it doesn't seem to clog the airhole or pack too tightly. Drawing through the unlit pipe yields a nice leathery flavor - this is another tobacco that I'll sometimes put in a pipe for dinner in a non-smoking environment as I can 'use' the pipe unlit and get a nice flavor.

The first match raises a small crown and brings up a dusky sweetness which transmutes almost immediately into a full nutty taste and a semi-sweet aroma which mirrors that in the pouch. A few puffs and a light tamp later a re-light tames the sweetness even more and the smoke becomes reminiscent of burning autumn leaves (which I miss sorely since the Environmental Protection Agency banned the practice) and distant fireplaces in a cool autumn evening.

This is a mixture that is medium in strength and definately FULL of flavor. There are many nuances - burning hardwood, old leather, musty books and faint hints of exotic spices - this is one of the most rewarding smokes for an inveterate English lover like myself. I never allow myself to run out; if I had to pick only ONE tobacco to smoke for the rest of my life I have to say that this would be the one.

Exposition: As the bowl burns on it increases in strength and the flavor becomes slightly more unified. The neat thing is that what it unifies /into/ seems to change with my moods and which pipe I smoke it in. My Jobey emphasizes the nutty and leathery flavors, whereas my Italian pipes bring out the musky sweetness of the Cavendish and Macedonian. In my Tinskys, it is pure campfire heaven.

This is an easy blend to smoke hot, both due to the cut and the fact that I keep mine rather on the dry side. Taking my time, though, produces just enough warmth and moisture to bring out the flavor and my pipe never gets more than warm to the touch. Also, I have never been bitten by this at all. The room aroma is heavy and natural and seems unwanted my most non-smokers indoors. Outdoors, I get many compliments - it makes people wistful as they remember some wonderful night by the fireplace or a special camping trip.

The Story: Midway down the bowl a sharpness appears; far from unpleasant, this shows up as a tickle on the palate and a spicy flavor that I (when I first tried it) mimics incipient bite. But no! Stop puffing for a minute and it fades gently, leaving only a pleasant aftertaste.

The flavor changes very little as the bowl is smoked, only increasing slightly in heaviness and sharpness. This is so gradual that I find it barely noticeable unless I put the pipe down for a short while and come back to it. The aroma hardly changes, and the sidestream smoke from the bowl remains sweet and nutty - if I had an Oom-Paul, I'd reserve it for this.

Denoument: The end is approaching and there is still no sign of sour, bitter or ashy taste. Relights become a bit more frequent but not because of any moisture - I don't dump the ashes at all as there is very little produced and I like to coat the bowl with them (by shaking the pipe with a cleaner in it and the bowl covered with my thumb) and I think this also helps it burn cooler. I don't mind, since the relights just blast me with the flavor all over again anyway, and the burn is so even that this process produces the kind of thin hard cake I like best. I break all of my pipes in with this or McClelland's 2015 (a Virginia/Perique flake), which has the same effect.

Actually, the only way I can tell that the bowl is done is either the draw becomes too easy (no resistance from ashes) or I can't get it to stay lit. The flavor is still pleasant and there is no bitter dottle, which is a problem I have with aromatics.

Pros: Just re-read the above paragraphs, as I think I have effused quite enough on the virtues of this, my favorite English mixture :)

Cons: The room aroma is too heavy for most non-pipers, and the flavor and strength can be a bit much for those not accustomed to heavy English blends.