Dunhill My Mixture 221B Baker Street

One of the last tins of this blend, MM 221B is a rather dry, fast burning tobacco from Dunhill that doesn't have latakia in it.

I find this surprising as the taste and smell of this illicits latakia of some description. The description insists it latakia-free and it must the rather odd collection of orientals they have mixed in that gives this blend a mild, smokey, ruddy, rather earthy taste.

That isn't to say it is particularly flavoursome ; it isn't really. It reminds me of Robert Lewis' blends, in particular their orcilla mixtuxe. This doesn't have the same tang as that blend, yet it looks and smells very similar.

It comes exceedingly dry and burns down very quickly, leaving you with one very hot bowl. Halfway through this mixture and I haven't found any dark meaningful nuances of taste or flavour and I can't say I will miss this when it's all gone.

A pleasant, almost mellow blend of VAs with Burleys (maybe just a hint of Dark Fired VA?) A bit on the fast-burning side due to the thin short ribbon cut, the top note is just a hint of dark fruit. If a new pipe smoker wanted to try their first non-aromatic which was well-balanced, and not 'too much' anything (to much VA or Burley, too strong a topping, etc.) but just a nice straightforward mixture, this could be a good one to try.

I love Dark Fired Kentucky leaf and Baker Street not only contains some-you can easily make it out in the tin note-but it is one of the best variety I have had the pleasure to smoke! The tobacco components were well balanced and interplayed smartly together, resulting in a tasty, spicy, slightly sweet smoking experience providing good nicotine. Baker Street burns nicely, develops strength as you go down the bowl and leaves not only a dry bowl but a full sense of satisfaction. It's such a shame that this brand is no more because I only have 9 in hand. I will have to carefully ration them. I believe Baker Street will be excellent after 5 or 6 years of aging. Highly recommended if you happen to enjoy Dark Fired Kentucky.

When i opened the tin I was really turned off by the smell, I have to say the smell told me to throw it away. But of course I didn't. It was a little wet so I layed it to dry for a little while. And when it have had a little dry time it was perfectly smokable. I'm glad I didn't throw it away, cause it is pretty good. After smoking it I was craving the taste of it after a couple of hours. It was a nice addition to the tobacco collection. I will def grab this from time to time. It's not one I will smoke on the regular, but a nice smoke to enjoy once in a while. It's not so strong and I sense a little topping of some sort. This is not aromatic, it's simply a unique smoky tobacco.

In succinct, it is a disappointment. I expected a high grade, tasty, mellow Virginia-Burley mixture with plenty of typical Virginia and Burley notes to discover. Unfortunately an unsuitable casing overcasts both tobaccos. Only the primary flavours of mainly Burley and to some degree of the Virginias make it through the artificial casing.

I would not go as far as to say this casing is nauseous. It is more a kind of obtrusive, hindering the natural flavours of the Virginias and Burleys to deploy and therefore downgrading the whole mixture.

I have enjoyed the first tin I had opened back in 2018 very much. For some reason I have not enjoyed it as much the second time around. I am really not sure why. At first, the DFK was dominating both the tin note and taste and despite 3 1/2 years of aging, there was some slight tongue bite even when being careful. As for the smoking it was very unidimensional as the DFK absolutely led the show and I couldn't make much of anything else. Now that the tin has been opened for 4 weeks, the fruity top note is much more present, the DFK has reduced in intensity but the smoke does not reveal much more beyond said DFK and top note. Needless to say, this is slightly disappointing as the Virginias usually used by STG for their Dunhill line are clearly above average. In summary, a mixture that would have potential if it was not for the imbalance displayed in the tasting experience. Maybe a few more years of aging would change that so I will be revisiting at a further date.

Tin note: Sweet and sour notes, a bit of citrus and a bit fruity. Virginia in the front.

Tobacco: Lots of yellow and dark yellow leaves, some brown and black leaves. Perfect Dunhill ribbon cut, and perfect moisture. I take out enough for a bowl and let it dry for 5 minutes then light my pipe.

Taste and aroma: Molasses, dark fruit, plums, sweet, citrus (orange notes?) but also nutty, bready, dark chocolaty smooth.

Another Va/Bur in the style of University Flake and 3P’s, but also with a similar taste of Royal Yacht. The difference between Univ. Flake, 3Ps and this is that 221B is, in my opinion, much much better, more virginia oriented and smoother, not as rough as the other two. It’s more balanced. As for the Dark Fired, it’s there, but you really need to look for it, it gets pronounced after you get past half of the bowl, and the sweetness starts to fade, leaving a stingy nutty flavor. . The virginia is sweet and bready, while the burley is nutty and dark chocolaty, doesn’t have that earthy note to it, which is great. However, by the half to end of the bowl the burley does get more intense.

Very, very good burning. No tongue bite, burns equally and leaves a beautiful white ash.

Very pleasant room note, somewhat of oranges and dark fruits, which makes me think that it’s a good idea I opened this one up in December, I think it fits great with the winter holidays and could be a good smoke among others at the Christmas table without disturbing anyone (maybe on the contrary, impressing them).

Da gusto que se reediten las antiguas mezclas de las grandes casas. Baker street es una mezcla regular ( Virginia, burley) con algo de Kentucky. El aromatizado es casi imperceptible y amalgama perfectamente con los tabacos que la integran. Puede haber algo de frutas, puede haber algo de licor, eso depende de cada uno porque, repito, el toping es muy sutil. La humedad es correcta ( a mí me gusta un poco más de humedad) el corte es una cinta delgada y corta. Es un tabaco tranquilo que enciende y quema bien, que no genera exceso de humedad ni se apaga. El sabor es leve al principio y se va completando a medida que avanza la cazoleta. Arde un poco rápido por lo que no intenté apurarlo. Es un buen tabaco. Se pude fumar todo el día sin pena. Suave pero con sabor, tranquilo y equilibrado.

Tin aroma is wonderful. Tobacco flavour mixed with some secret topping. At first I wasn't able to detect dark fired in it, but sometimes I can, even in the smoke. This is probably the first blend which contains Kentucky and I like it. Probably it is because of its supportive role. The only thing that's missing to perfection in this blend is its inconsistency. That beautiful supportive casing should be present during the whole smoke. Anyway, this is very good robust and spicy blend and I am sad that it is no longer in production.