| I think Craig Tarler "nailed" EMP with Good Morning Blend. I am delighted that he is willing to provide a noble replacement of a famous blend no longer available.
I have always favored mild English blends. I prefer Latakia in small doses. Like I use pepper on eggs, just enough to know it is there.
I also love the larger cut of this tobacco. It smokes very cool and very tasty. This blend meets all my expectations for a light English non-aromatic. Good Morning will be an ideal blend to recommend to the first time smoker of Latakia. All things considered, another four-star blend from C&D.
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| I have to admit I love the Dunhil EMP, in fact I still have about 2 lbs of it left. So who better to tell you if the two are the same or not. I usually despise copy blends and wont even try them. But with the coaxing of a friend, I reluctantly gave it a shot. The color of the tobacco was very similar, but the cut seemed a bit different. As far as taste, it seems this one was close too. I do think that the tobacco could benefit from some aging. The herbal taste that EMP is famous for is intact for this one. I am very happy with that. The strength is on par with EMP. Overall with a year or so of aging this might be a very good substitute, for a tragically not available blend.
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| Tin: Appearance is similar to EMP, a very light brown hue with blonde, brown, and black here and there. A rather varied cut, thick broad cut to medium ribbon, with pieces of flake intermixed. Light smoky latakia and musty smells. Practically dry. Tin date on bottom: 042709.
Packing & Burning: Packing was a small concern, with the varied cut. Produces moisture from time to time that is bitter. Takes two relights down the bowl and puffing effort.
Taste & Aroma: Initially mild, slowly becoming somewhat richer. Smoky latakia does not stand out. An herbal spicy oriental is present. It is a refreshing and sweet aroma that is incense-like. The orientals take center stage, but while they are refreshing, there is a raw edge or green taste. Something tasted vaguely green or immature. Maybe it is the variety of oriental used. My reference for orientals is McClelland's Blending Oriental. While BO is tasty sweet, almost carmelized, GM is mildly sweet but green. While BO is fragrant and mellow, GM is also slightly bitter or tangy.
McClelland's Blended Turkish Ribbon is close to the flavor of the oriental variety used in GM, I suspect mostly Izmir.
The VA's in GM are lightly stoved, more like browned, because a toasty flavor provides the background.
In the last 1/3, it does settle down and become a little creamy, the green taste diminishing.
Nicotine: Rather mild to somewhat medium
Room Note: Pleasant
Overall: A toasty herbal incense predominates but seems green or unaged. This seems to be characteristic of the oriental variety used, as it is close to McClelland's BTR, as opposed to BO. Compared to EMP, well-aged EMP was richer, spicier, and smokier. Auld lang syne. 3.2 stars.
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