House of Windsor Country Doctor

Jean Hersholt was a Danish actor who starred in a radio show about a Minnesota physician named "Dr. Christian" from the late Thirties until the early Fifties. The show was so popular that six spin-off movies were made in the Forties (I own one on DVD), and it was briefly a TV show in 1956, the year Hersholt died. It took place in the quaint hamlet of "River's End," where the quiet and kind Dr. Christian got into many "adventures," always helping the townspeople out along the way.

Hersholt was a passionate pipe smoker, and the enduring popularity of his radio show led to the development of Country Doctor pipe tobacco in (I think) the early Fifties. That's Hersholt on the tin, lighting his pipe. Over the decades, Country Doctor remained sporadically available, and if one looked hard enough, you could still find it online in the late Nineties in a 12 oz. tub. House of Windsor then acquired the rights to this fine old blend, and it has enjoyed a renewed popularity in recent years.

Country Doctor is often compared to Revelation, and that comparison is apt. Burley, Virginia, latakia, and perique are expertly blended for a rather stout smoking mixture, heavy on the nicotine. Its tin aroma is divine; you can smell the straight tobacco along with perique, latakia, and a faint berry topping. Most inviting.

Upon lighting, the smoke is piquant, but as you settle into the middle third of the pipe, burley takes the dominant role, with the Virginia, latakia, and perique staying present throughout. Bite is minimal, and there is a delightful, smokey richness that suits my palate perfectly. Relights help reveal the evolving flavor the tobaccos, but you will go through few matches as this is a remarkably easy-burning smoke. I highly recommend this for fans of latakia, perique, or burley. This tobacco is versatile and should appeal to a wide variety of pipe smokers.

Easily one of the best old-style blends on the market today, and (with Briggs and Revelation) a testament to the quality of HOW's burley offerings.

This blend is no longer produced by Philip Morris, and is now being made by House of Windsor. I recently purchased tins of all of the House of Windsor re-released tins featured in the Summer 2003 P&T magazine. Country Doctor has easily moved into the top-5 of my all-time favorites! I was shocked by this, but what a blend it is! This tobacco features wonderful cube cut Burley in the foreground, with Virginia, Latakia and Perique in the background. There is some sort of elegant fruit topping that adds a sweetness that is indescribably delicious.

Country Doctor can be puffed on all day with no bite and no palate overload. The Latakia and Perique are so far in the background that they can easily be overlooked. Yet, there is just enough condimental leaf there to rev up this blend.

The aroma in the tin and at the match is also heavenly. My palate craved this stuff and I smoked three consecutive bowls while recently watching a 2 hour movie on the tube.

And fear not you nicotine addicts (of which I am one), this has enough to keep you happy.

I cannot tell you just how highly I regard this Country Doctor. He'll get plenty of visits from me!

The mildly smoky, woody Cyprian latakia and raisiny, very lightly spicy perique are mere condiments here, but they add sufficient bass notes. The earthy, nutty, toasty burley is the main star, with the grassy, barely citrus sweet Virginia playing back up. There is a sweet topping that I cannot identify. At times, I get a slightly sour tangy taste mixing in with the sweet, which may come from the burley. Has a mild nic-hit. It's a decent smoke, but burns a little fast and rather hot half way down the bowl, though it avoids biting you. Has a fairly consistent flavor, and a decent after taste. Could be an all day smoke. Sutliff makes a match blend of this that is better with more burley taste and a cooler burn rate.

-JimInks

So here I was the other day, driving around Las Vegas and as I was sitting at a red light I look over and see an old Smoke Shop, I try to hit up every one I see hoping for a long lost goldmine. On a whim I turned in and entered the store, in a ray of sunshine, sitting on a dusty shelf staring at me is a filled shelf of vintage House of Windsor 10 ounce tins! I purchased Barking Dog and Country Doctor to start leaving Revelation, Field and Stream etc for next time.Opening the bulging tin the aroma of berries and matured tobacco, my preferred traditional OTC cuts (cubed and short ribbon ala Carter Hall) in various dark shades of both brown and black leaf. I immediately packed a bowl as the leaf was dry but not crumbling and settled in for a long smoke. Wow I have not smoked CD in a decade (or more) and had forgotten how much I enjoyed it for the simple OTC cut and flavor yet also complex. Aging has done wonders both on lack of bite and sweetness. I tasted the perique more when it was fresh but it's a Burley forward blend and as others have stated the condiments are there in salt and pepper amounts which is great. HOW was never known for it's leaf quality but maturing the Virginia has really elevated CD and I truly wish it was still available, the matches never give me the same satisfaction (Edgeworth match excluded) and the tin art was magnificent. I will purchase all he has left and put the other tins up on Ebay for the price I paid ($20 for 10 ounces) so others can try and enjoy these lost HOW blends.

To me it tasted like and English blend with a very light topping of cherries. I mean a very light topping of cherries as in one drop per two ounces. Best of the English blends I've tried, but I am a fan of aromatics and PA.

I'm with Pipestud on this one. The tim aroma is absolutly wonderful. This is one that I have been smoking all day for the last 3 days. I belive this is one blend that I will always keep on hand.

**Update**. Still a very nice smoke, but it tends to run a little harsh at times and so is a little unpredictable. I'll keep some around, but for me, in the HOW line, Revelation gets the nod.

I can only echo what most of the previous reviewers have said and perhaps add a comment or two. I am smoking a pipe full of this tobacco as I write and all I can say is: it almost didn't happen.

After reading the reviews here I just had to try some of the HOW blends and CD was one of the first I tried. The first four bowls, tried in a couple of different briar pipes, just didn't work. I found it rough, smokey and minimally flavorful. Then I reread the reviews and noted that the first reviewer, in passing, commented on not overpacking the pipe. I've been smoking a cube cut simple burley tobac for years (Tinderbox Blend #2) and when I'm done it my pipe looks like it's been loaded with an industrial press. My idea of lighting said mixture is to not "touch the match", but to set it on fire. Ok, Ok, I know, some really bad habits there......

So I sat and carefully underpacked the fifth bowl, and lit it by just barely touching the match to it. WHOA!!!! As one reviewer said, "this is definitely your fathers tobacco". It has that wonderful old time pipe smell that comes from a burley blend that has a bit of mild topping and just the right amount of other leaves mixed to give it balanced and mild flavor. For me it smokes dry and cool. I take care with relights and make an effort to smoke it very slowly. Any regular burley smoker should try this. It's now in my regular rotation.

As a fan of Barking Dog and Union Leader, I felt I should locate some Country Doctor and have a go. I must say that HOW blends are not easy to come by in Canada, so I turned to an American agent for my purchases. Firstly, I love the packaging. I am not old enough to have experienced much of the tobacciana of yesteryear but when blends arrive wrapped in a foil pouch and campy box you can call me sold. Pouch aroma is lightly fruity with a hint of pungency, likely eminating from the odd strand of Perique contained within. There is a goodly amount of color present in the blend and the cut is rough and tumble. This is assuredly your father's tobacco. At lightup, initial flavor is somewhat muted but quickly morphs into a solid burley ride, with traces of virginia and perique. If there is latakia in this mix, I never tasted it. Nothing overtly wild occurs during the smoke, but the flavor is fine and spicy. I like to smoke this when fly fishing as it burns well and makes me nostalgic(did I mention the foil pouch?). Worth the search.

Someone said this would be their "desert isle" tobacco. I wouldn't go that far but I do like this very much. It is a good medium English type blend without any soapy taste or burning twig flavors that sometimes are associated with that type of blend. I do like Revelation a little better than Country Doctor due to relative strength issues. On the strength meter I would give C.D. an 8 and Rev. a 6 or 7 out of ten.

This blend is no longer produced by Philip Morris, and is now being made by House of Windsor. I recently purchased tins of all of the House of Windsor re-released tins featured in the Summer 2003 P&T magazine.

Country Doctor has easily moved into the top-5 of my all-time favorites! I was shocked by this, but what a blend it is! This tobacco features wonderful cube cut Burley in the foreground, with Virginia, Latakia and Perique in the background. There is some sort of elegant fruit topping that adds a sweetness that is indescribably delicious.

Country Doctor can be puffed on all day with no bite and no palate overload. The Latakia and Perique are so far in the background that they can easily be overlooked. Yet, there is just enough condimental leaf there to rev up this blend.

The aroma in the tin and at the match is also heavenly. My palate craved this stuff and I smoked three consecutive bowls while recently watching a 2 hour movie on the tube.

And fear not you nicotine addicts (of which I am one), this has enough to keep you happy.

I cannot tell you just how highly I regard this Country Doctor. He'll get plenty of visits from me!