Drucquer & Sons Trafalgar

This blend is excellent if your moving into the realm of dedicating pipes to blends. I find it takes extremely well to an apple shape pipe for its small-medium bowl size providing a comfortable restriction to tasting time, something that factors to my personal enjoyment to the blend, Starting with the colour: The amalgamation is light and beige like with dark bits throughout and its really sort of a plain beauty to the tin as the interior reminds me of the exterior, The scent is Bright and refreshing but heavily Rich and warm rather than fruity or pungent, When I closed my eyes the slightly oaky and rich aroma brings about nostalgia, reminding me of being a child at my grandmothers cottage and watching the Aristocats Disney film, specifically warming feeling to the scene in the beginning where the Cats share a spiced cream with a mouse carrying a butter cracker.

Much similar to the scene With the first portion of the pipe there is this lightly sweetened and spiced flavour to a buttery textured smoke with hints of clove on a campfire and charred/earthy rock in the room note, the flavor tends to blunt towards the mid of the bowl as the palette adjusts and room note peaks. This point in I'm usually engaged in conversation with my friend or spouse so I actually prefer this in a daily blend, As the last third of the bowl begins to burn that's when I feel the latakia and perique's on the tongue, a spiced fruit sensation that finishes off the bowl well and leaves me feeling well relaxed as I sip into the last portion of my milk and Tea and the conversation winds down. I have smoked this daily for a week and this is my first review of a Tobacco. But let that sit for a moment. A relatively seasoned smoker of 6-7 years growing to appreciate this blend enough to break silence about reviewing. I think ill find myself reviewing more as I move into the realm of expanding my collections of tobacco and pipes. If your thinking of getting this blend as a addition to your collection of excellent English blends I have two words. Do it.

Update: raising to 4 stars. Been smoking more of this and really enjoy the fact that I can smoke it any time of day and all day.

Nice medium strength English. I generally don’t go for Perique in an English but this one is very delicate on the Perique and it shows up intermittently but pleasantly. I also generally prefer more of an oriental forward blend and this blend is more Virginia than oriental although the orientals are there, particularly on retrohale (where Perique shows up too). Not latakia heavy but it’s there in more than condimental amounts. Nic hit medium. Rich flavor but not overpowering in any way. Not sure I would buy again as it’s not exactly my preferred balkan flavor profile. But it’s a high quality blend for anyone looking for an all day English with a kiss of Perique.

This is an English style blend that doesn't beat one over the head with an overbearing presence of Latakia. The Turkish presence adds a touch of playfulness to the flavor, with spice being present. The Virginia's do add a touch of hay and grass notes and some small amount of sweetness the other components heady mixture of flavors that seem to come and go making the flavor progress. The real treat to the Smoke though only becomes present in the final third of the bowl when the ball is fully warm. Then all the flavors come out to play at that point and it is a treat not to be missed. What we have here is an English blend that allows all of the components to play without being overwhelmed by the Latakia. An excellent smoking tobacco it burns down to ash easily for me and it is a pleasant and potential all day smoke highly recommended I rate this for stars easily.

Very oriental heavy blend. Reminded me of my first journey into non aromatic tobaccos in the late 90's with Dunhill's Medium Mixture. The orientals are buttery, woody, and floral, but extremely well balanced with the va sweetness, which is just a hint. Small hits and wisps of smokey latakia shine through here and there as well as some spice and a bit of plum from the perique. It's quite a 'clean' and lovely blend. The flavors, as others have stated are full, but not heavy, though the other D&S blends are full flavored and heavy in my experience. Quite impressive!

This is a very good English blend w/Latakia. I've never favored English blends all that much with the exception of MM965, Old Dublin & Tree Mixture which I thought tasted more like Balkan blends. So, I thought I'd give this a try. If you were to take some Blairgowrie & mix in the right proportion of Levant, you'd have something akin to Trafalgar. I'm nearly halfway through my first bowl & that is my initial impression of Trafalgar.

This mixture, like Blairgowrie & Levant smokes mildly & still packs a pretty good dose of Vitamin N but not as much strength or flavor as Levant. Of the three Drucquer blends I've sampled thus far, Blairgowrie, Levant & Trafalgar, this is my least favorite with Levant taking first place.

This is a very comfortable blend to smoke however... no harshness or bite. It didn't produce as much flavor or sweetness as anticipated but at least the Latakia does not overwhelm & gives the other varietals a chance to attend the party & toward the end of the bowl, is not so notable. There is only a very slight sweetness in this mixture. I prefer the Balkan flavor far & above any English Blend I've ever smoked. This is a typical blend for those who prefer a "lighter," English Latakia offering & might find this blend quite appealing, as did I.

I'm staying with Levant which I thought was exceptional & produced a more suitable flavor for me. However, we're all different & taste is subjective & I'm sure there will be many who will favor Trafalgar tremendously & I hope they like it as much as I liked the Levant... my new best friend. Trafalgar can be an all day companion, will leave little or no condensation... depending on pipe quality & burns down to a dry, grayish white dottle.

This is a very good English blend w/Latakia. I've never favored English blends all that much with the exception of MM965, Old Dublin & Tree Mixture which I thought tasted more like Balkan blends. So, I thought I'd give this a try. If you were to take some Blairgowrie & mix in the right proportion of Levant, you'd have something akin to Trafalgar. I'm nearly halfway through my first bowl & that is my initial impression of Trafalgar. This mixture, like Blairgowrie & Levant smokes mildly & still packs a pretty good dose of Vitamin N but not as much strength or flavor as Levant. Of the three Drucquer blends I've sampled thus far, Blairgowrie, Levant & Trafalgar, this is my least favorite with Levant taking first place.

This is a very comfortable blend to smoke however... no harshness or bite. It didn't produce as much flavor or sweetness as anticipated but at least the Latakia does not overwhelm & gives the other varietals a chance to attend the party & toward the end of the bowl, is not so notable. There is only a very slight sweetness in this mixture. I prefer the Balkan flavor far & above any English Blend I've ever smoked. This is a typical blend for those who prefer a "lighter," English Latakia offering & might find this blend quite appealing, as did I.

I'm staying with Levant which I thought was exceptional & produced a more suitable flavor for me. However, we're all different & taste is subjective & I'm sure there will be many who will favor Trafalgar tremendously & I hope they like it as much as I liked the Levant... my new best friend. Trafalgar can be an all day companion, will leave little or no condensation... depending on pipe quality & burns down to a dry, grayish white dottle.

An English Blend that works well in my Trafalgar Pipe by Barling. It is a even blend that really puts all the parts of a blend to work complementing each other. A cool and rich smoke that is full bodied. It is probably my favorit English Blend and works well with a fine single malt Scotch or Bourbon.

Tin note of pungent, mildly smoky and sour fruity wine. Tobacco is a Ribbon cut of brown black and tan. Moisture content is great. Burns moderate with few relights. The strength is medium and nic is mild. No flavoring detected. Taste is medium to strong and mostly consistent, with notes of floral, toast, wood, spices, mildly smoky, tangy, savory, Rasin, plum, leather, dry rich earth, musty sour vegetation, grass/hay, citrus, bitter, herbal, zesty, a dark semi-sweet fruit background note, and a peppery retro. Virginia is leading with Oriental/Turkish, Latakia and Perique supporting. Room note is tolerable, and aftertaste is great.

Drucquer & Sons
Trafalgar

Blend notes: “A classic mixture, Trafalgar sets smooth, exotically spicy Turkish tobaccos in perfect balance with a variety of fine bright and red Virginia leaf, and just enough Latakia for an elegant "English" style, with a crisp, dry taste and a subtle campfire-like aroma. The result is a rich, stylish tobacco with lots of character, and enough complexity to keep the smoker engaged throughout the bowl, and throughout the day. - Gregory Pease”

As implied this blend is another by Greg Pease. It is a fascinating English blend in the moderate strength category — if you will, at the same strength level of Maltese Falcon or Wilke 400 or Pirate Kake or Spark Plug or Bengal Slices White.

One is immediately struck by the woody, earthy taste of sweet, campfire like Cyprian Latakia and the peppery, spicy Oriental leaf — a very interesting combination. In the background are several types of tart, vinegar like Virginias that provide (along with the Orientals) that provide grass and perhaps some tanginess. In the deep background is a bit of Perique which amps up the pepper with a bit of sourness. but not raisins or plums.

There are some excellent English blends that lean toward the mild end of the spectrum, ideal for newbies to Latakia or for those who want a milder smoke; examples of the milder ones might be ESF’s Thomas’ Blend, H&H’s Magnum Opus, GLP’s Westminster, H&H’s White Knight, or the SPC Plum Pudding.

Trafalgar is not in the mild category.

It is easily a 4 star out of 4 blend.