Reymer & Brothers Brindley's Mixture

My cellar seems to have the right humidity for storing my pipe tobacco - by nature's doing, not my own. I have a 20+ year old can of Brindley's Mixture with the Faber, Coe and Gregg distribution label. The can has the older metal top lid with the lever opening. My tobaccos are either in a Pine wood cabinet (smells great after storing various tobaccos for over 33 years) or a drawer of similar wood.

After purchasing the tin 20 years or so ago, I wasn't a big fan of Latakia. I purchased it on the recommendation of someone who said, "If you like Captain Black, you'll like this." How many times have you received, and acted on a similar recommendation only to say, "No way!" Well, since at the time I wasn't ready to join "Club Latakia," I smoked very little of the tobacco. After reading reviews of this blend, I decided to give it a try again. My tobacco wasn't as dry as one would expect after the long term storage in its original tin, and looked surprisingly fresh. It seemed to have just the right consistency to touch that was necessary for a successful packing - which it did very well. It still retained its musty, Latakia aroma. I smoked it in a Hardcastle, sandblasted bent billiard, medium sized bowl. This is one of the two pipes I use for blends containing Latakia. I was not disappointed by any means. The tobacco had mostly the taste of Latakia, but I could taste the Burley as well. Not much of a flavoring beyond that to my taste buds. I could not detect any of the Virginia as some have previously described. Others have said there was deer tongue; no evidence of the green flecks in my tin. Some have described citrus and other flavors. I couldn't detect any. Just Latakia and Burley for me, which was not a bad thing as these days I prefer more naturally flavored smokes with very little casing or top dressing. The result was a dry smoke with zippo moisture left behind. The room note for others was not offensive. After smoking stronger Latakia blends, I've been asked by non-smokers, "What's in that pipe, goat dung?!" I didn't have that problem with Brindley's!

When I want a Latakia smoke, this is the one I would go to as it is not overbearing. I smoked Revelation way back when and I would compare Brindley's to that, however, Brindley's seems to be a better grade of tobacco (at least in my 20+ year sample). As stated, I have 2 pipes reserved for this blend as it leaves a fair amount of Latakia presence in the bowl after smoking.

I give it 3 out of 4 stars for the very well balanced tobacco that it is; even though Latakia is not one of my first chair players. A fine Latakia go-to for when the mood strikes.

Notes: Brindley's does come in several varieties -- the mixture and the slices, standard and English. They are all rather similar. The slices are more flavorful. The English version is smokier, closer to St. Bruno, whilst the standard version is just a fun, easy smoke. I am going to review the English version. Did I mention that it hasn't been produced in a long time?

Appearance: A firm pressed lightly topped dark brown flake with nut brown strands mixed in, also available as a ready rubbed mixture of medium cut ribbon.

Aroma: Sweet orange juice, lemon zest, a hint of lemony dishsoap wafting over a mild sweet nutty Virginia tobacco aroma, with a hint of smoke.

Taste: Oranges, citron, and cherry. Rather aromatic in a Lakeland way, not in a goopy way. Good Virginia tobacco flavor, walnuts, filberts, sweet chestnut, a bit soapy. Heavy. The mature Virginia leaf shines through with the topping adding strength to the smoke.

Comparisons: I would call the English mixture "Saint Bruno lite" in many respects, although that doesn't do it justice. Comparing the English to the standard mixture, the standard is a true crossover blend where the English is heavy enough to fall into the Lakeland category.

Bottom Line: Fans of Lakeland blends who find St. Bruno too strong will enjoy the English blend. English-aromatic crossover smokers who enjoy citron-orange flavor will find a winner with the standard mixture.

About a month ago one of our pipe club members brought in a 14oz tin of Brindley’s Mixture by Faber, Coe and Gregg (USA) whom he had gotten from another pipe smoker who did not like it. I tried a bowl and was able to get a nice size sample. The smell out of the tin reminded me of Deer Tongue, and I did notice a few light green flakes. It was good but I only had one bowl and had also been smoking other tobaccos. This also has a really sweet aroma to it and smokes sweet with little to no bite. I could not detect any Latakia and would not have known there was any except for the contents listing. Some reviewers have described this as an excellent drug store blend also. According to JimInks review, ‘this was Moe Howard's regular smoke according to his daughter Joan’. For those of you who do not know Moe Howard was the Boss Stooge of the Three Stooges. I had my Kindle with me on the porch and while smoking this watched an interview he had with Mike Douglas and watched a few clips. It was nice to laugh for a change. A good aromatic and I would recommend this one for the Aro crowd but is no longer in production. Glad to smoke a little history.

This particular Brindley's Mixture title may be a bit confusing. There are two versions; the aromatic and the English. I have not tried the English version (with Latakia) but have had both the currently produced Reymer & Brothers tin and the much older Faber, Coe, & Gregg, Inc of New York 14 oz tin variety. (And, just as an FYI, Faber, Coe and Gregg were the Reymer brothers-for whatever that's worth.)

Anyway, the older tinned tobacco was much smoother, more flavorful and less aromatic. A real tobacco tasting treat! More of a Burley sweetness rather than an overwhelming cavendish orange flavor that I detected in the new stuff.

Again, Brindley's Mixture also comes in the English variety which I suspect another reviewer above may have described for us.

First, before we get started, everyone should read the "forward" portion of Emeritus Account's review of 2005-09-05. It lays out the details of four Brindley's Mixtures from the past: Brindley's Mixture, Brindley's Mixture Slices, Brindley's English Mixture and Brindley's English Mixture slices. I agree with him in his statement about the slices versions - I always thought they smoked with more flavor and they were, by far, my smoking preferences. I prefered the English version to the standard and thought the slices of both were presented in a much more friendly manner; i.e., they came in a smaller and more compact package, were moister than the bulk versions and cost less. Also, in passing, I agree with reviewer Pipestud 2004-06-05 when he says that some of our reviews seem to be about the English variant and not the standard mixture. My review will be about the original Brindley's Mixture and not the second generation blend that came back on the market after a hiatus under the banner Reymer and Brothers and, oddly, the original blend in it's packaging is the illustration photo for this Reymer and Brothers review category. I was given an abundant sample of the original blend for Christmas and I know where it was purchased. It came from Paul's Pipe Shop in Michigan and I saw these tins at our 2018 NASPC show at their tables. It turns out that one of these tins was purchased by a long time pipe smoking buddy of mine. It was bone dry and he attempted to resurrect it with mixed results. It was remoisturized successfully but there is no way we can replace any lost oils or other essences that may have escaped over the years. My sample smoked somewhat weakly but I could recognize what the essence of this blend was by adding to it my memories of smoking this mixture many years ago. It smoked with a mild Burley and Virginia flavor spiced by a smattering of Latakia. I could not detect the deer's tongue in the mixture any longer and that's okay as I always thought it was a bothersome addition to the blend (or any blend, for that matter). The top third of the smoke was weak and uncertain in it's flavor but improved noticeably in the middle third. Fortunately, this stronger flavor continued through the bottom third of the bowl. In the old days, I always felt that Brindley's Mixture was a cut above most over the counter blends being offered. I still feel that way and am confident that I would have rated the blend the same as today - three stars.

I have smoked two fo these pouches of my six that I bought from JR cigar, and have joys and regrets about this blend. The biggest joy is I like this blend of burley, latakia, and topping. Like another reviewer noted this is somewhere between the land of aromatics and land of english blend and well it is a land well occupied by me. The downside of the blend is trying to find it. I bought the Swisher version and one wonders why more places do not stock this. Well worth seeking out.

A very different blend, this has some of the best cubed burley I've ever seen. It's dark, moist and looks great. If there is deer tongue in here, it doesn't stand out in color or flavor like C&D's Crooner, but I think the blend was mixed and then cased, so that could have turned the green specks brown. The casing is a little too strong for my tastes (definately orange flavored or some citrus fruit) and the whole blend is way too wet. The room aroma is wonderful and the taste is better than I expected. There's a lot of tobacco flavor underneath the orange. If this stuff dries out in a few months, I'll certainly keep smoking it. My 14 oz. "tub" from JR says nothing about Faber, Coe and Gregg but says it's imported by Swisher now. No idea who is actually making it or where it comes from...

This is a very diffent tobacco. the intense flavor that you receive from this tobacco at first light, is to say the least, suprising. The tobacco is a cube cut (I love cube cuts, they almost pack themselves), and when you fist open the container, you are greated with an almost candy like aroma. For some, this might offend, thinking they just fell into the clutches of another overly cased aromatic. Not true! though the aroma is very sweet, and at first light the inital flavor, almost an orange flavor, can be somewhat overpowering, if you take your time and allow the tobacco to settle, you will be rewarded with a full, and rewarding tobacco taste, with hint of that "orange flavor" coming in and out during the smoke. One word of advice, smoke it slow. Sip on the pipe, because if you don't, you will have a tounge bite of all tounge bites. But, sipped slow, you will never experience tounge bite. this tobacco burns fast anyway, no need to rush it. So just sit back, relax, and enjoy.