Murray Sons & Co, Ltd Punchbowle

(2.89)
A cool full bodied mixture, with added latakia and a fine bouquet. For the experienced smoker.

Details

Brand Murray Sons & Co, Ltd
Blended By Murray Sons & Co., Ltd
Manufactured By Murray Sons & Co., Ltd
Blend Type Other
Contents Latakia, Virginia
Flavoring Other / Misc
Cut Shag
Packaging 50 grams tin
Country United Kingdom
Production No longer in production

Profile

Strength
Medium
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Extremely Mild -> Overwhelming
Flavoring
None Detected
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
None Detected -> Extra Strong
Room Note
Tolerable
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Unnoticeable -> Overwhelming
Taste
Medium to Full
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Extremely Mild (Flat) -> Overwhelming

Average Rating

2.89 / 4
8

13

3

4

Reviews

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Displaying 1 - 10 of 28 Reviews
Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Apr 14, 2014 Mild None Detected Extremely Mild (Flat) Overwhelming
I must be missing something here, when others have rated this 4stars. The smell when the tin was opened reminded me of days spent in England working like slaves in the hayfields. It has, for me, nothing to commend it. No nuances of taste, and if this should contain latakia my tin had obviously dodged the gnome that should have put some in. The aftertaste was as though I had chain-smoked 100 capstan full-strength cigarettes, including the bottom of a parrots cage. As a more senior person, I am not made of money, and having bought this phoney I feel compelled to suffer it to the bottom of the tin.

I have yet to try a Scandinavian tobacco that I enjoy. The more I try, the less likely that will be.

With cigars, the cigar connoisseurs talk about " ..a fag smokers cigar." This is the pipe smokers' equivalent.

I have been reduced to having to buy St.Bruno to mix this with to make it the slightest bit smokeable. Yeuch !!

Add to "room note" this smell made my wife retch and head for the door.

Pipe Used: BB , Peterson;
PurchasedFrom: Blameless.
Age When Smoked: Out of tin.
2 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Dec 13, 2013 Medium None Detected Medium to Full Pleasant to Tolerable
Murray & Sons - Punchbowl.

Lots of Latakia and just a splash of Virginia. The Orientals sit in the middle, outshined by the Lat'. The burn from it's good, but it has to be aired prior to smoking to reduce the moisture. The burn from it's fairly cool, only creeping toward medium if pressured.

Nicotine: medium to strong. Room-note: quite full.

Punchbowl: highly recommended.
Pipe Used: Commoys
PurchasedFrom: MySmokingShop
Age When Smoked: New
2 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Aug 18, 2013 Medium None Detected Medium Tolerable
I see that this venerable old English blend hasn't been reviewed on here for quite a while, so I thought I would remedy that!

Much about this tobacco is old-fashioned, from the tin through the classic Virginia and Latakia blend and on to the fine shag cut. Credit must go to Scandinavian Tobacco, the current makers, for respecting these traditions.

The presentation makes packing and burning easy, something else that the more edgy modern styles could learn from.

And oh, what a pleasure to smoke. A perfect marriage between the separate elements, ostensibly simple ingredients brought so skilfully together. It works its charm consistently throughout the bowl, with a wondrous exchange whereby both the Va and Lat seem to take turns in popping up to say "hello," never in competition, but always in co-operation.

Smooth and relaxing, totally delightful, transporting me to a calmer place. Honestly, it's that good.

Highly recommended.
2 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Oct 16, 2011 Medium Mild Medium to Full Tolerable to Strong
This was one of my favourite tobaccos during my first incarnation as a piper, back in the 70s and 80s. Trying it again on my return to the pipe this year, I found it as I remembered. This is what I wrote about it in my notebook: "Latakia mixture. Dry, smoky, slightly salty, reminiscent of Islay single malt whisky. Excellent." (Actually, to be strictly truthful, that's what I wrote about Peterson's 'Old Dublin'. What I wrote about 'Punchbowle' was "Pretty much identical to Old Dublin". There you are - two reviews for the price of one!)

I've just up-graded it from "Recommended" to "Highly recommended". I'm smoking it as I type, and it really is a wonderful tobacco. It doesn't taste salty any more, and neither did the earlier tinful after the first two or three smokes, but it is well-rounded, dry, dark, and with liquorice and dried-fruit hints. A wonderful tobacco - my firm favourite in the 80s, and again now, though it isn't made by Murrays any more, having moved to Denmark. I've just read some of the other reviews, and note that other reviewers have also compared it to 'Old Dublin'. Thanks to DK for reminding me what the middle member of the trilogy was. I'd been racking my brains - I knew there was another one, in between PP and Pb!
Age When Smoked: New
2 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
May 26, 2011 Medium None Detected Medium Pleasant to Tolerable
Picked this up in Coventry (UK) while on vacation. I was intrigued, as I had not run across this blend stateside.

Upon opening the tin, you can smell the telltale campfire aroma of the Latakia, with a slight sweetness on the nose, as well. It has the look and feel of higher-quality tobacco. My tin had a nice moisture level and smoked well from the first bowl.

It's a nice English mixture, with a fair amount of Latakia flavor, and a higher than average vitamin N level without a packing too big of a punch (no pun intended). Probably not going to win raves as "the best English ever", but a nice blend with good character and very little downside.

TonyC

Note: All due respect to odinbaal, as I hadn't read his review prior to writing mine. Kudos, my friend, I couldn't have said it better myself (though apparently I tried anyway!).
2 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Mar 26, 2011 Medium to Strong None Detected Full Strong
From old notes i wrote down a few years ago after smoking this.

"Upon opening the tin one is greeted by the familiar odour of latakia etc with a slightly fermenting mango fruit odour - uh oh!,,,;dont worry though as this overipe fruit smell goes within about half an hour of opening the tin & isn't a sign of things to come and doesn't return in anyform or flavour..

Full flavour(well nice without blowing its strength out of proportion,,its a medium english par),,,creamy salted butter(virginia's)licked from a slightly burnt and well seasoned old wooden cooking spoon(latakia).

More buttery than smokey(i could use other adjectives of simularity but they divert from what is the true flavour of this,,;so i could say soap and leatherish,but not really),,a true easy melt in the mouth classic IMHO.

Superb english(is it english?)not as complicated as "965 my mixture" or "old dublin",but no worse off for it - less is more sometimes and this holds its own in a way that makes others seem cluttered ,,nice baccy i thought;same strength as 965 i thought and it tasted like salted butter on slightly burn't on one side slice of toast (thick white sliced bread) which was toasted over a fire,,,;what it didn't have in it (oriental and cavendish)amplified the rest that was(virginia and latakia).

My tin was blended by "Murrays" BTW ;definately a buy again brand and its quality is on par with "peterson" or "dunhill" quality.

No casing whatsoever! - definately a plus! (when will blenders realise that casings are so unnecessary on english tobacco's?)

Don't let the name "punchbowle" put you off - this is an all day smoke easy,,and not as strong as you might imagine;this doesn't really have a punch - its just quality bowl.

The two components in this blend can be tasted separately like two instruments working in harmony to produce a combined single song."

^^Sadly while smoking this i must of dropped the clay pipe i was enjoying this stuff in ,because the rest of my notes are cursing the fact that i cannot get such a good flavour from my other pipes,,;quote;-"every other briar makes this taste like an old soapy sweaty paraboot"

Uncomplicated and no mystery topping as far as i can remember, to me it was like 965 without the condiments(absent orientals).. Honest strait forward and basic medium but quality english. (I have recently ordered some more tins of this.)

I shall leave it there and say that in my best clay(which i have since bought multiple spares of)this baccy tasted excellent and the absence of my best pipe taught me about how some baccy's require a golden ratio of bowl shape,capacity,material,and air flow to get the best tuning for my taste and cadence of puffing.
2 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Jan 08, 2006 Medium None Detected Medium to Full Pleasant to Tolerable
I think those who enjoy Latakia/Virginia in full measure will appreciate Punchbowle. It is sweeter than sour and does carry a heavy load of taste. The leaf, typical of Murray's, was well aged and smooth. Rich, creamy and smooth, Punchebowle is a crowd pleaser.

I can see where this was a classic.
2 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Mar 04, 2016 Medium Medium Medium to Full Pleasant
My reason for commenting on Punchbowle is that the lady in my local tobacconist in Liverpool told me that this blend is about to cease production very soon if it already has not.
Pipe Used: Petersons,falcons,bewlays and more.
PurchasedFrom: many places over the years
Age When Smoked: new
1 person found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Oct 01, 2014 Medium to Strong Medium Medium to Full Pleasant
Reminded me a lot of those classic English blends that have long since vanished and that's a good thing....that's a very good thing indeed. There'sa heavy nicotine content to this tobacco and if smoked too quickly it the big N makes itself known with a head rusd, but when savoured there are some pretty intense flavours within this tobacco. It smokes easily and leaves a wipsy ash in the bottom of the bowl - I detected hints of caramel and oatmeal and am immediately going to have another pipe full of this beauty.
Pipe Used: Falcon International
PurchasedFrom: Black Swan shoppe, https://www.thebackyshop.co.uk/
Age When Smoked: fresh
1 person found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Jan 23, 2014 Medium to Strong None Detected Medium to Full Pleasant to Tolerable
One of my favourite blends. Stronger than presbyterian mixture, more interesting than Nightcap, lat heavy that drives the blend and stays with it from beginning to end. Easy to smoke, with the classic latakia smell and taste that affirms it's presence. Couldn't taste the virginia terribly strongly, but it's certainly there.

Low maintenance, easy to smoke and keep lit. As others have commented, this is not a delicate or refined blend in the slightest, but in my opinion, this only works to it's betterment. Living by the sea, the salt rich air is a perfect companion. I'd like to store this, but I just go through it so fast...
Pipe Used: Briar, clay
PurchasedFrom: pipeshop.co.uk
Age When Smoked: always fairly fresh
1 person found this review helpful.
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