Drucquer & Sons Inns of Court

This is a crowd pleaser. If you’re a burley fan you’ll love the rich, earthy body of this blend even if you don’t like Latakia. It’s the faintly noticeable pinch of Latakia that will keep English fans entertained and searching for that whisper of smoky goodness. Heavier in nicotine and pure tobacco flavor, Inns of Court is an exemplary “American” style blend. For fans of C&D Epiphany: this is what Epiphany wants to be when it grows up.

For those of us who have smoked a few of these light Drucquer Englishes, I will say that its stronger than Trafalgar but weaker than Prince's Blend. For those of us who haven't, its an interesting but weaker form of English. The tin appearance is more of a uniform golden brown than other Drucquer blends I have opened recently and is cut into a typical narrow ribbon. Combine the color range with the narrow cut and you arrive at what might be a cigarette rolling tobacco. The old Drucquer catalog that I have describes Inns of Court as "A light blend to suit many palates". This is how I felt about the old Balkan Sobranie Mixture and I rolled some of it into cigarettes in college. Mostly I smoked it in a pipe. The flavor profile is interesting and affected positively by the addition of both Burley and Black Cavendish tobaccos. My problem with this blend is that its just too weak to satisfy me on an on-going basis and always leaves me wanting more. I rate this blend as three stars and recommend it to the reader and, if I want to roll a cigarette, this is my choice.

How does one describe this blend ? I would describe this as a uniquely American style of tobacco. The brown and white burleys along with the cavendish supply a delightfully dancing base of toasted nuttiness. An occasional cocoa note comes drifting through, with more persistence towards the end of the bowl. The red Virginias are slightly sweet, adding a touch of fig and molasses that persist when the bowl is warm. A slight touch of subtle spiciness is also always present.. The bright Virginias add a touch of citrus. Excellent burning, I have experienced no relights as I smoke this blend. I have shared roughly half of my 200 gram tin with experienced smokers of the Furniture City Pipe Society and they have all loved it. The only potential downside to this blend might be that the bright Virginia might be a little too pronounced at the beginning of the bowl if the blend gets a little dry, as my tin became at the halfway mark with the numerous times it was open and even that disappears when the bowl is properly warmed. By adding a half of teaspoon of distilled water and letting the. tin set sealed for a while resolved that extremely minor burble. Bowl after bowl the pleasure remains. This blend is very highly recommended by me and I would consider this my blend of choice if it was the only thing I could ever smoke. Treat your self to a delight that should not be missed and try this blend today

A fine ribbon cut blend of predominately virgina with a significant but lesser amount of burley forming the base. The condimental leaf is sporadic which is one of it's deficiencies. Most of the time the base tobaccos are the only thing coming through. The other issue on a personal note is the nicotine is rather high. I haven't had a lingering dose like this in some time. No doubt the natural burleys are obliging in that regard. But, these burleys are no way as harsh and acrid as is the case with other C&D made blends and melds with the virginias giving a characteristic tin aroma but they do add body and soften the smoke on the pallatte, no bite. Whatever the processing and minor casing to the blend seems first rate. I was also impressed that the perique wasn't the all too common super fruity-super cased variety that clashes with latakia, IMO. The perique wasn't immediately noticeable when the tin was first opened but after a couple of weeks it seem to be making it's faint scent more known. The latakia just barely contours the blend with it's smoky and earthy scent with an edge over the perique. One mostly gets a light flavor from the straight forward, round and slightly toasty smoke from the base. About half way down the bowl a very mild lemon rind and almost light spice developed that lasted until the end. I'm impressed with the quality but I'm giving it a conditional 2 stars due to it's higher nicotine that many might have an issue with and that there isn't quite enough condimental leaf for balanced character as a supposedly "light" english blend.

This blend is magnificent. My preferred smoke for the first pipe of the day and will satisfy most as an all-day blend. I have to confess that I love English blends but later in life I have found that my mouth doesn’t do well with too much oriental tobacco in the blends. I have searched for blends more toward the American/English side to fill in the gaps from my favorites, the cigar leaf blends. A couple of things that stand out to me about this blend is the masterful touch of either using high quality Burleys, or those Burleys in perfect proportions, to capture an amazing nut like taste. I don’t taste much of the black Cavendish, but there is a nice underneath sweetness (perhaps the combination of the Virginias and Perique). And the Perique adds a nice spicy taste. As a Latakia lover I am kind of shocked at how much I like this blend with so little of it in there. You owe it to yourself to try this one.

Tin note of tart Rasins, sour sweet, and mild smoky. Tobacco is a Ribbon cut of a yellowish tan and brown with a few bits of black. Moisture content is great. Burns moderate with few relights. The strength is mild to medium and nic is mild to medium. No flavoring detected. Taste is mild to medium and very consistent, with notes of fermented vegetation, very woody, molasses, Rasin, cocoa, very earthy, brown sugar, leather, spices, bread, floral, savory, sweet grass, tangy citrus, acidic/spicy, a sweet nutty background note, and a moderately peppery retro. Burley is leading with Virginia, Cavendish and Perique supporting. Latakia is supporting from the cheap seats. Room note is pleasant, and aftertaste is good.

Reviewers bring some perspective and baggage, but when made explicit it can help the review by focusing on what might be different about the tobacco. My perspective is from the land of the English/Oriental. My baggage is that I have usually found blends that are heavily burleys or "American" either insipid or too "nutty" (though not like any nut I have ever eaten). So my expectations were not high. What a pleasant surprise! Though there are five different ingredients, the blend has achieved PERFECT balance. The result is extremely pleasant taste and smell with absolutely no need to search for a hint of this or that component. I view it as a mild all-day or any-time blend. And I expect that people having different perspectives and baggage would agree. A terrific change of pace however fast or slow you are running.

Nutty, sweet, and spicy. To my mind, it’s a less citrusy/sweet Stratford, and a less perique heavy Bayou morning. My second favorite of the D&S offerings, right after Blairgowrie.

I've been smoking this for a while, and I don't know what I was expecting so I was a little dissapointed at first. Maybe I just didn't read the tin as close as I usually do. But as I've puffed away at this blend I think I've figured a few things out.

Opening the tin there is a typical nice ribbon with a mixture of some larger and smaller cut leaves. It's a light brown like hay but with some black Latakia and Perique hidden here and there. This has a sweet smell to me, like musty leaves with the barest whisper of Latakia campfire to the mix. The moisture it came at has been perfect right from the tin and I haven't needed to dry a bowl before smoking.

The taste is what has confused me the most. When I read on the tin that this had Latakia in it I thought it would smoke like an English blend. An English this is not. That being said the smoke is enjoyable, it falls in line with what I normally like to smoke on the regular. The Burleys in this blend are what stand out to me most and they are pleasantly nutty. There is a very subtle Latakia taste, and I'm hard pressed to find the Perique except for a slight background mustiness. Lady N is about mild to medium here. The taste is a square medium nothing too heavy or too light.

I think this is an easy all day smoking blend, the key word here is simple. I'm not sure if I would buy it again, but I definitely wouldn't say no if I was offered a bowl.

Happy Piping!