Grand Croupier Double Down
(3.13)
In a certain famous song, Johnny Cash once sung of how to acquired a Cadillac on the cheap: mixing and matching one purloined part at a time from the assembly line. The results may have been a bit funny-looking, but every piece was quality. In a similar spirit (minus the purloining bit), Grand Croupier's Double Down is assembled from all-sorts of quality Virginia/Burley blends; the price is low, the proportions are a spin of the wheel, but the components are quality, coming as they do from an artisanal blending house. The original all-sorts-of-all-kinds Grand Croupier blend even managed to impress our own office test-subjects in our own blind review.
Details
| Brand | Grand Croupier |
| Series | Grand Croupier |
| Blended By | |
| Manufactured By | Cornell & Diehl |
| Blend Type | Virginia/Burley |
| Contents | Burley, Virginia |
| Flavoring | |
| Cut | Mixture |
| Packaging | Bulk |
| Country | United States |
| Production | Currently available |
Profile
Strength
Medium
Extremely Mild -> Overwhelming
Flavoring
None Detected
None Detected -> Extra Strong
Room Note
Pleasant
Unnoticeable -> Overwhelming
Taste
Medium
Extremely Mild (Flat) -> Overwhelming
Reviews
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 Reviews
| Reviewed By | Date | Rating | Strength | Flavoring | Taste | Room Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 16, 2017 | Medium | Extremely Mild | Medium | Tolerable |
9/19/17 Latest batch has a lot of burgundy colored tobacco that must be red Virginia, also detect a tinge dark fired and the burly / perique, as always, are present.
1/25/17 More bright Virginia in this latest batch and of course the Burly is top notch. Still a real good smoke. After purchasing 4 or 5 pounds of DD I have never had a bad batch. OH, and thankfully, I've never found any black cavendish.
6/22/16. This is my third 1lb order of DD. It seems to be pretty darned consistent. This last batch has some small chunks of recognizable C&D blends. Some Briar Fox for sure. Some Pease Jack Knife and some small chunks of Night Train. I hope this hodge podge never runs out because I would go broke trying to reproduce it!
1/25/17 More bright Virginia in this latest batch and of course the Burly is top notch. Still a real good smoke. After purchasing 4 or 5 pounds of DD I have never had a bad batch. OH, and thankfully, I've never found any black cavendish.
6/22/16. This is my third 1lb order of DD. It seems to be pretty darned consistent. This last batch has some small chunks of recognizable C&D blends. Some Briar Fox for sure. Some Pease Jack Knife and some small chunks of Night Train. I hope this hodge podge never runs out because I would go broke trying to reproduce it!
Pipe Used:
Cob and a medium briar Billiard
PurchasedFrom:
Smokingpipes.com
Age When Smoked:
New to 12 months
| Reviewed By | Date | Rating | Strength | Flavoring | Taste | Room Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 04, 2017 | Medium | Extremely Mild | Medium | Very Pleasant |
Grand Croupier - Double Down.
Because each batch can vary I suppose this review may be redundant in a few months! Ahh well, here's what I think:
My pouch of Double Down has an aroma that's customary for a VaBur, and the moisture's good; this may partly be because I've had it for a few months. The bag contains lots of ribbons, but there's also a few clumps and a fairly high proportion of recognizable flake pieces; some of these still need a bit of a rub, for my preference.
My first comment's rather generic, I guess: quality. The smoke is clearly of a high quality. Where the actual flavour's concerned the Burley leads: rich, nutty, and slightly chocolaty. The Virginia's liable for far less flavour, I'd say about 25-30%. Again, tastes superior to other blends of this price, but doesn't begin to shine until a quarter of the way in; it's still easily second to the Burley, but adds more character to the smoke. The burn from D.D. is good: few re-lights, a medium speed, and I get no tongue bite from it.
The room-note's nice, and it's ameliorated by the weight of the actual smoke: light. And finally, I find the nicotine medium.
This batch is a four star one, I only hope other people get one as good!
Highly recommended.
Because each batch can vary I suppose this review may be redundant in a few months! Ahh well, here's what I think:
My pouch of Double Down has an aroma that's customary for a VaBur, and the moisture's good; this may partly be because I've had it for a few months. The bag contains lots of ribbons, but there's also a few clumps and a fairly high proportion of recognizable flake pieces; some of these still need a bit of a rub, for my preference.
My first comment's rather generic, I guess: quality. The smoke is clearly of a high quality. Where the actual flavour's concerned the Burley leads: rich, nutty, and slightly chocolaty. The Virginia's liable for far less flavour, I'd say about 25-30%. Again, tastes superior to other blends of this price, but doesn't begin to shine until a quarter of the way in; it's still easily second to the Burley, but adds more character to the smoke. The burn from D.D. is good: few re-lights, a medium speed, and I get no tongue bite from it.
The room-note's nice, and it's ameliorated by the weight of the actual smoke: light. And finally, I find the nicotine medium.
This batch is a four star one, I only hope other people get one as good!
Highly recommended.
Pipe Used:
Pete' Kinsale XL11 P'Lip
PurchasedFrom:
Smokingpipes.com
Age When Smoked:
A few months
| Reviewed By | Date | Rating | Strength | Flavoring | Taste | Room Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
| Dec 25, 2017 | Medium | Extremely Mild | Medium to Full | Pleasant to Tolerable |
I won't go into the fine details of flavour etc because your batch will probably be a bit different. But probably not much. If I was told I could only smoke one blend for the rest of my life it would probably be Double Down - I don't usually rate so ... highly. I almost feel I want to chew the smoke and swallow it down, it's that good. Very interesting, lots of fun, seems relatively available and the price is so low. If you are looking for a blend with consistency then it would be worth finding a different blend. However, if you are looking for an all time any time blend that fits almost any occasion, then you should definitely try this.
Pipe Used:
Mostly cobs
PurchasedFrom:
Smokingpipes
Age When Smoked:
Fresh
| Reviewed By | Date | Rating | Strength | Flavoring | Taste | Room Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
| Apr 29, 2023 | Mild to Medium | None Detected | Mild to Medium | Tolerable |
There's no point in giving a detailed analysis of this blend as no two batches are alike. There is no recipe because it's all just scraps thrown together. But at $20 a pound, you aren't likely to be dissatisfied. If you enjoy American Virginia and Burley blends, you'll enjoy this. I've never had a bad batch of Grand Croupier blends.
Pipe Used:
Irrelevant
PurchasedFrom:
smoking pipes.com
Age When Smoked:
Fresh
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