Dan Tobacco Midnight Ride

This is my very first review (and possibly my ONLY one) but I just had to get on here and let my feelings be known about the demise of my VERY FAVORITE tobacco. I have been smoking pipes most of my life (I am 73 years old) and this blend has given me everything I ever wanted in a blend.

I first started out at eighteen years of age smoking Mixture #79 in the usual Dr. Grabow or Medico pipes purchased at the local Rexall drug store. Over the years, I was given a beautiful GBD Virgin pipe from Smoker's Haven in the mid sixties and so discovered the joys of a higher quality pipe. I smoked the original Blend Eleven from Larus Bros. for several years and was quite satisfied.

Then for some reason I decided to try the higher quality non-aromatics and after quite a bit of experimentation finally settled on Dunhill #965. I smoked this regularly for many years until it seemed to me that it had changed, and was no longer the 'great' blend it used to be. About seven or eight years ago I discovered Midnight Ride. From the first taste, I was in heaven! This blend IMHO beats al others and I have gone through many others including Rattray's offerings, McClelland's, and several from Greg Pease among others including Solani, Friborg and Treyer, Reiner, etc.

Sadly, I have only a few tins of Midnight Ride left and will have to find a suitable substitute (probably Abingdon.) Is there someting better that would be more similar to Midnight Ride, Greg? If anyone knows, please give me a shout at [email protected]. Also, if anyone has any ot this delightful stuff that they don't particulary care for, let me know.

My highest recommendation*****

I must say that this is a really really good tobacco. The Latakia and Orientals are in just the right proportion and shine at the beginning of the bowl, then fade to the background as the slightly sweet Virginia leaf makes an appearance tapered by the spicy Perique. The last third of the bowl is an absolutely glorious symphony on the palate. So many instruments playing their part, yet blending together so smoothly as to be almost inseparable and melded.

This is a multi-dimensional treat that I intend to savor on occasion, as I would not want to belittle it's character by being a glutton and making it an every day smoke.

Highly recommended this!!!

The first time I had a hoppy beer many, many moons ago, it tasted very bitter to my senses. But I couldn't stop drinking it. It grows on you. Now I'm a certified hop head, and the higher the IBUs the better. That is, of course, if it also tastes good. I don't want bitter for the sake of bitter. It's like hot sauces: I like 'em hot, but not just for the sake of hot. They gotta taste good too!

So a few days ago I cracked this tin of Midnight Ride (Dan Tobacco version - no idea if this is the same as the CAO version) and...it was bitter!

But I think I really like this stuff. At the first couple draws I was a bit disappointed, probably because my expectations were set for something different, i.e., just another interesting English blend. But this stuff has some real character once you start paying attention to it.

The smoke seems quite astringent to me. Reluctant to give up its goods. It's got a very earthy kind of smoke, not rich like campfire smoke but strong and austere. Kind of old school. Although discernable, there is precious little VA sweetness. It is quite unlike many other English blends in that it's more "spicy" than "rich." Which makes it a very welcome change when one is in the mood for a change-up.

Consistent from pipe to pipe, and with that trademark sour smell upon opening which I believe portends a significant Oriental-forward experience.

Though the lament for the passing (if that's what it is) of Dunhill's blends is sung by a bigger chorus, some of us have also felt a great sense of loss over the demise of DAN/CAO's Midnight Ride. I'm down to a handful of bowls of this excellent blend and I don't want to hold out hope that I'll encounter a dusty tin or two of this in some out of the way tobacco shop, so now is the time to let go.

Midnight Ride is a rich, full flavored night smoke in the English/Balkan family. The blend notes perhaps suggest an affinity with Dunhill's Nightcap, but Midnight Ride is altogether softer, sweeter, gentler. The tin nose is dominated by smoky Latakia (and why some reviewers seem to feel there is none present here is beyond me) with a dried fruit note in the background. In the pipe, the sugar-rich Virginias come out strong and by mid-bowl manage to bind together a beautifully complex, richly smoky tobacco. Though Paul Revere's midnight ride was frenetic, CAO's Midnight Ride is more designed for star watching and (given its absence from the marketplace) meditations on time, impermanence, death. It is, so they say, better to get those thoughts out before sleep, so that they won't poison your dreams and make you fodder for monsters.

It is unfortunate that DAN tobacco no longer prepares this or its big brother in the Revolutionary War series - the Latakia-heavy Old Ironsides. These were excellent and unique blends. DAN's current offerings under its own label are also fine (London Blend 1000, Bill Bailey's Balkan Blend) but none are copies of the defunct CAO blends. Pity that.

If you're lucky enough to chance upon a tin of Midnight Ride and you have the taste for a rich, sweetish, harmonious English blend, snap it up.

Dan Tobacco - Midnight Ride.

Rather large ribbons make up the blend, most of which are medium and light brown. Black pieces account for far less. It's quite tightly packed into the tin and a little dry.

This has a lot of flavour. Easily, the Virginia gives the least character, only a very mild sweetness. But the Perique, Orientals, and Latakia make this into more of a 'heavy weight' smoke. Don't ready yourself for a Lat-Bomb, though, this isn't one; the Lat' doesn't hog the smoke anywhere near enough. It's a spicy, fragrant, woody and buttery smoke. It burns nicely, neither too quick nor too hot, producing a thick smoke.

Nicotine: above medium. Room-note: I don't find it too bad.

Midnight Ride? Recommended:

Three stars.

Midnight Ride is very similar to Presbyterian Mixture in a lot of respects. For one, both fool many smokers into thinking there is Latakia present..... Neither contains Latakia but Midnight Ride does include Perique which is not found in Presby.

The tobacco is well conceived and burns clean with no harshness or bite. Perique fans will rejoice, particularly at mid-bowl. The Orientals have been revved up and will present an almost "English" taste to the overall effect.

I personally did not find Midnight Ride to be as impressive as I had hoped. Too little clout and too "smokey" tasting for my palate.

I don't want to send the wrong message across, this is some quality tobacco, except that my expectations were simply totally different than what this delivered. As subjective as it may sound here goes: this starts as what appears to be a balanced english, with even amounts of oriental and latakia. It starts out smokey just a bit, and spicy the same bit. As it evolves though, this definetly turns into a Balkan blend, as the smokiness fades away into the background and a strong spicy taste takes over the whole experience. Virginia? None detected as I have smoked several bowls of this concoction. If there is any (sure, there must be some, otherwise the latakia and orientals would kill you) it sure is mute to my buds. Perique? Sure, plenty of it, not the nice raisin type one but the peppery type that adds to the orientals, making it overwhelmingly/strong spicy, almost peppermint like. It's bearable, except that the peppery taste lingers on and on with you. I had my first bowl with a couple of glasses of water, and roughly an hour after finishing my bowl I could still feel that oriental taste in my mouth and in my nostrils. One more fact, it's pretty moist out of the tin. I almost always start out a new English blend in an unfiltered, and on my first smoke I did drain the pipe quite a lot. After my second bowl I switched to filtered, and that not only seemed to take away from the moisture, but also toned down the spiciness. Again, this is against my personal preference, as I do prefer my English blend on the moist side, as I feel it enriches the latakia. This here ... well unless filtered or dried, will sting you with that astringent spicy touch.

I have to confess. The only reason I bought Midnight Ride was tobacco shop owner's persistent insistence, that was 2 months ago. After I came home and read 2 mortifying reviews, I decided to take it back and tell him... oh wait! I was looking at Dan Tobaco's midnight ride! There's another one labelled CAO midnight ride? And it seems people can't recommend enough. What da?!?

Now, my tin didn't have CAO labeling on it. It simply says "An exotic blend of Oriental, Virginia & Perique tobaccos - Manufactured in Germany by Dan Tobacco" and where CAO version had yellow ring, this one has orange ring. That got me interested, I searched a bit and found this http://pipesmagazine.com/python/pipe-and-tobacco-news/dan-tobacco-re-introduces-old-cao-blends/

So now it's manufactured by Dan Tobacco for Dan Tobacco, no more CAO. Well, I have no idea how it tasted before but the one I have in my possession is one of the best English mixtures. Midnight Ride is creamy, nutty, spicy and very well balanced, you don't want to do anything else not to affect that balance but to concentrate on flavors, then concentrate on life and everything about lost and found.. that reminded me I had something else very similar to this description. Brazil Carmo Fazenda Kaquend Cup Of Excellence coffee!! A sweet, chocolaty, caramel-like coffee with a creamy mouthfeel which starts with lemon, berry, grape-like notes. Eh I was clever enough to combine both which turned out to be explosive! Ride Paul Revere, ride!

The tin is just about 1 yr. old. I have to say that I was rather impressed. A very nice change of pace from by usual straight VA's, burley's and Lat. blends. This has Lat. but it is not a Lat. bomb. Rather the Lat. and Orientals balance out with the Orientals leading the way just a little. The VA's are soft and just a little sweet, which is nice as the Orientals add that great bitter finish so the sweet and bitter play with each other throughout the bowl. The perique is noticeable but only so. It provides a nice bit of spice that moves forward sometimes and at others stays in the background but is always present. This one is not one for thinking. I needed to concentrate on the blend to pick up all the flavors. I will be picking some up for cellaring.

Update 2nd and last tin opened (1 bag in the cellar now, however) this with now nearly 2 yrs on it. Simply outstanding the notes above stand but there is a harmony starting to merge that was not as unified before. I will be picking up the bags from this point on. It is fast becoming a favorite.