Solani 779: English Mixture

When I first started smoking English blends I loved this blend. However its been several years since I've smoked some so I decided to grab a tin a few weeks ago.

The first thing I noticed was the strong berry topping ( very similar to Peterson University Flake). If I were to guess, I'd say it was a black currant flavoring. This is a great tobacco and the Syrian Latakia is great but the topping is just too much. My tin has been opened for a couple weeks and the topping seems to be increasing in strength. This would be a 4 star blend if it wasn't for the topping.

i love english blends and this is a very fine mild english blend.if you are into latakia like me, get it.you wont regret it.

Preface: I have been smoking Dunhill Standard Mixture Medium for near-on 30 years, believing that it has no equal anywhere on earth. But it is gone now, and so I begin a quest for my Holy Grail: A substitute to replace the standard on which all English tobaccos are based:

779 is a good, honest, medium to full English blend. For once, a tin description has it right: "A hearty blend which is easy on the tongue". The tin aroma is rich and wonderful. The tobacco was a bit too dry for my preferences, but nothing on the scale of some newer American blenders who shall remain nameless. Burning too fast, just when we were getting started, the trip was over. It doesn't have the time to develop something wonderful, which would give it the 4th star. For drier tobacco enthusiasts looking for a good honest English, this would be a fine place to start. Slightly fuller than Squadron Leader and King Charles, but in the same vain, save for the dryness. The strength is perfect for an after-meal smoke. 779 contains none of the harshness associated with the more robust Balkan blends. Decidedly English.

It is also relatively expensive, which will likely have an impact on it's popularity.

After retrying this mixture 2 years after, I have noticed a significant difference in the cut and composition of this blend. And a negative one, I am afraid.

From a cut similar to the White & Black, but definitely more rubbed out, a nice mostly medium brown and black leaf,a tin aroma closer to natural tobacco combined with some Latakia and oriental; a slightly sweet taste combined with bolder VA/LA taste and an agreeable room note, this blend has evolved in an acrid, somewhat low quality smoke combined with a disastrous, very acrid room note.

I opened 3 tins in the hope of realizing I just had one bad tin but alas! all three were similar.

I do not know who made those changes. All I can say is: please, give us back to older recipe which was fantastic!

It is a fantastic tobacco!

I love virginia tobaccos but cannot smoke them regularly because they rough up my tongue. This one has great virginia and just enough other tobaccos to smooth it out.

779 is my number one blend at the moment although the quest for a holly grail of pipe tobaccos is not over yet.

This is a great blend that will only get better with age. Very smooth English blend.

01/25/206- Opened a tin that I had celled since January 2004. Well I was right . 2 Yrs. age on it and it tasted great.

Just the fact that the tin resembles the Balkan 759 one can be considered quite offensive. The blend itself is an abuse to the word "English mixture". Syrian latakia? Sure, but after a bleach treatment. It burns too hot and the taste lasts for a few puffs, then disappears making place to a sour taste. Not for me.

I won't downgrade this blend because I don't smoke it every day. I am going easy on the English-type blends these days so I can better appreciate all the teriffic Virginnia Flake types. I find that if you smoke any English (Latakia, Perique, or Oriental) before the lighter, sweeter types you can't savor the milder tobaccos as well. When I get back into the English types, this will most likely be right up there with 965, Presbyterian, Squadron Leader, Pelican, Blackpoint, and many others. Among all the fine English blends the 779 does stand out as somewhat unique. I also agree that moisture content has a good deal to do with the enjoyment of this and many other tobacco mixtures. I smoked some Dunhill Med. English that had become quite dry a while back and it became quite acrid due to faster burning. Since it burns faster, the percieved strength is much greater. I will go along with a 9 out of 10 rating. The only real downside is many good competitors and a bit hard to find compared to Dunhill, C&D, G.L. Pease, and McClelland.

This is heaven! I tried this tobacco because of the good reviews here. They are right! My tobacco-dealer here in Holland ordered 5 tins for me. He tried one for himself and now he will be ordering it for his shop, for himself and for me! It has it all. It is a delicious marriage of tobacco's. The taste is absolutly not-chemical. The latakia is present but surely not overwhelming. For those who likes the English this is a "must-try".