London Mixture is a bit of a kissing cousin to Standard Mixture (medium). The main difference is that London tends to be a bit sweeter. Just a bit. The balance of flavor is just a hair more toward the latakia side as well with the orientals rounding it out. The virginias used are matured nicely and I think will mellow well with age, although they do a fine job as they are now.

I have also noticed that the cut of the tobacco in a fine ribbon is key. The flavors tend to dance more. You get that ever changing complexity that English smokers tend to look for. Other blenders tend toward medium to wide ribbons and the flavors are not as sensual. They generally dont dance as much as run relay races with each other. This is the genius of the Dunhill blends. They are ALWAYS balanced.

To be honest, I love the strength of London as well as the other Dunhills. It seems as though all you find these days are light weight blends from most blending houses. I can't figure out if heavier strength smokers are fewer in number or if the surviving blenders and upstarts are just not managing their strength well. Either way, if you like nicotine, you can't go wrong with any Dunhill blend, with perhaps the exception of EMP. But it is designed SPECIFICALLY to be lighter, being a morning smoke.

If you like medium-full English mixtures, you cannot go wrong here. Moisture is perfect out of the tin, packs well, stays lit, and smokes dry to the bottom of the bowl with a satisfying strength and fantastic flavor. Cheers

Update: 3/6/2011~ Had some time to really kick-back, frank-method packed a Savinelli Saturnia 111 of LM, WOW...really nice AM pipe for me, nice flavors...will enjoy many a tin of this blend

The tobacco opens up when gently savored at a leisurely pace, and patience will be rewarded with balanced and delicious smoke. Despite the Latakia, I wouldn't call this particularly heavy in body or texture; it's a shade or two heavier than EMP, perhaps a whisker lighter than SMM. It's soft and rounded, smacks a bit of licorice.

I was curious to smoke this in comparison to Pease's Westminster which, according to Pease, was an attempted copy of the old 1970s London Mixture. For my money, Westminster bears only a cousin's resemblance.

All the aromas were right when I opened the tin, but too much Latakia in the smoke gets my nose going and after the second bowl the tin was destined for the bin. No such problem with the re-launched 965 and EMP, where the blends are altogether more balanced and subtely complimenting.

Last week I picked up numerous tin's that included London Mixture. I didn't smoke the previous incarnation by Murray's or Orlik, but if it was anything like the new 2010 release blend, then it's a winner.

A nice medium English with a predominantly oriental punch, and a nice balance of VA and latakia coming through in the smoke. Very pleasant when puffed at a leisurely cadence.

I think this sits between Nightcap and MM965 in the strength department. Next stop 'Standard Mixture Medium'. Will be interesting to see if there are many differences between LB and SMM.

A truly exceptional mixture. I should have stocked some...I deeply regret not doing so!

Again, this was not an Orlik made tin.

Opened an Orlik tin late last week and it’s gone. London Mixture is/was a great English tobacco. Its balance of leaf, flavors and consistent strength are wonderful. Like a lifelong friend, I was always comfortable with it. I know how to handle it, how to light it, how it will finish. I never tired of it. Concentrate or not, smoking it is second nature to me, say familiar. Virginian, Turkish and Latakia, what’s not to like in the benchmark? I’ve begun to look for a replacement and what a chore. Also, the Latakia, too me seems so unique from other blenders, could it be a casing or topping or some proprietary process that I so love? I don’t know, but I’ll miss it when it’s gone.

The good news is that we may have Dunhill in the states again as soon as Nov. 2009.

I like full English blends but they tend to be too one-dimensional once you get to a certain Latakia content. London Mixture I love because because you get the interplay of the sweet Virginias with the spicy Orientals and then just a tiny bit of Latakia in the background. I am very enamored with this blend and hope to be able to get more of it in the future although I find it gets a little cloying when I smoke it too much.

If full English is your thing, this isn't for you.

Burns a little strange, doesn't tend to go to a fine ash, rather it stays as a black clump that needs to be banged out. Heats bowl but smoke is very cool. One light is usually sufficient.

1-2-10 Update: becoming more my thing! I tried going back to the little tobacco shop in Tappahannock where I bought this and my tin of Durbar a year ago, and all the Dunhill was gone. The proprietor spoke of availiability issues-tell me something I don't know. A year ago, he had Durbar, London, Elizabethan, Royal Yacht, and Three Year Matured, but now only a large selection of drug store blends along with a lonely tin or two of MacBaren aromatics. Had some good cigarettes, so I got a pack of Dunhills and a pack of American Spirits which I still indulge in occasionally and headed for home. The day was not lost, however, as I enjoyed back to back 45 minute bowls of London Mixture on the journey and the return, and found it to be a lovely smoke. I like Durbar better, but the London is pretty close. Nice long smoke with no bite. Upon returning, I found an aged tin of C&D Bowlegged Bear in my mailbox. I will sample and review it as soon as my blood nicotine levels get back down to a safe level.

An excellent and complex English mixture, nutty, spicy with just the right amount of Latakia. You can compare LM to Presbyterian Mixture, but more spicy, a little bit more nicotine and Latakia. No tongue bite!

Thanks to Murray's for a few most enjoyable hours!

London Mixture: R.I.P.

I received this in a large trade some months ago and I was not all that excited to try it. My long-ago memory of it was that it was a decent, if uninspiring blend. This was the newer Orlik manufacture. Overcoming biases is not easy but I really enjoyed this tin. It has a nice, lightly smoky flavor, with the orientals taking center stage during the first 1/3 bowl. The lightly sweet virginias then add a different angle on sweet from the orientals... kind of a light fruit sweetness to the orientals nut sweetness. The latakia wisely stays to the rear until the final 1/3 bowl, where it takes on a more prominent role, although still decently muted and used as a spice. This blend was almost like three different ones throughout the smoke, and it was most enjoyable when I was in the right mood.

I rate this one just behind 965, and well ahead of Standard Medium, Nightcap and Early Morning. Skillful blending and a light but steady hand on the latakia make this a winner!

The Virginia leaves a mild sweetness with the Oriental and Latakia tobaccos blending well together. Although My Mixture 965 and Nightcap are my favorite Dunhill blends, London Mixture follows very closely behind.

The flavor is good and the tobaccos produce as good quantity of smoke. The nicotine level is not high, but does make its presence known. To me it smells good in the tin and while smoked. The aroma in the room after smoking a bowl is agreeable to me as well. It smokes cool and if puffed at a reasonable pace does not produce heat or tongue bite. Three stars for Dunhill London Mixture.