Milan Tobacconists "Our" London Dock

I purchased Our London Dock from Milans (along with Lucky Leaf) because I was looking for a light cased aromatic blend to satisfy my fiancee's nose. Our London Dock does have a light aromatic taste, although it did taste somewhat flat to me. This is probably due to the fact that I have gotten used to English blends (Sultan's Blend, mmmmmm!). I did detect the rum flavor, and it was light (again, it may be the English familiarity). I would say that this is a good blend. Milan's is my "go to" for my pipe tobacco, and there hasn't been one blend from them that I haven't enjoyed at least somewhat. Our London Dock is no different. I would, however, recommend it to the aromatic smoker, as they would probably gather more joy out of it.

Let me start by saying that I partial to Rum blends. When I saw the tin description on this blend I was fascinated. Turkish Burleys and Perique. I don't believe I've ever seen that blend of tobacco, especialy in an aromatic. No cavendish, I guess that makes this an English aromatic. I had to try it. I'm glad I did. This is a unique and wonderful blend, nicely sweet but the tobacco rules. A nice combination of flavors that odly enough reminded me of a fine Honduran cigar with sweet, malty, chocolaty dark flavors. Our London Dock, OH YAA !!!

This is as close to the old London Dock that was produced by Middleton years ago. In fact, I think it's a little better. Stays lit, smokes cool, and is relatively dry. Not recommended for beginners as it does burn the toungue a bit. Puff gently!

My notes encompass the original "London Dock" and Milan's effort for more clarity.

London Dock was my very first pipe tobacco when I started in 1960 (yeah, I'm that old!) and my liking of this tobacco is affected by a lot of nostalgia. The package note was rum, but the Perique added a pleasant, papery balance to the smoke. It lit easily, but often reduced to a slight goo at the bottom of a bowl. The rum casing was evident throughout much of the smoke, but the Perique and Turkish balanced the sweetness. I miss it. It was very popular. I do not understand why Middleton discontinued the blend in favor ordinary run-of-the-mill aromatics (maybe it was some mindless accountant's justification) and I wrote them and requested, begged, and pleaded for its continuance. "No way", I was told.

The Milan version is only an attempt. While it's not too bad, it is affected too much by the "baked cake/cookie" casing that seems to be found in so many tobacconist blends of today. That sweetness overrides the rum/Perique nature of their offering and the Burley seems to predominate. It packs easily and most often burns down to a gooey residue. There is occasional bite. Its room note is sugary, and there is little spiciness from the Turkish. I can say this with some certainty because I still have three unopened canisters of the original London Dock carefully laid away and the one that I finished a short time ago was uniquely London Dock, Milan's doesn't compare.

Eventually, I will finish all three canisters. I'll be very sad, but maybe Middleton will take pity by then. But I doubt it.

Sigh.

Imagine Milan has figured out that an aromatic can be made with quality tobacco and have some nicotine in it!! The batch I received is still alittle wet - needs some airing time. However, this is my second Milan blend and I am thoroughly happy with their blends so far. I do favor Jefferson Street over this one, personally.

1st 1/4: There is this flavor through out the bowl of semi sweet chocolate/rum which is very nice room note but adds alittle to much to the burlies bitterness and can be more like bitter chocolate/rum.

Mid bowl: The perique steps in and says, "How are ya?!" and with it the nicotine crashes this aromatic/burly party. Still, all learn how to play nice and you get tastes and aromas ranging from Rum, Chocolate, Vanilla, pepper, and nutty burly.

Bottom of bowl: The casing or topping is a ghost now just very light in the background. You are now smoking a Burly/Perique with some tasty turkish boldness.. wonderful smoke!!!

I would have given this 4 stars for the quality of tobacco, the room note and the nic level being very good and worth the $ - but the PG level at first is bitter. I will try drying more and see if this changes and I will update.

Over all and good aromatic (with nicotine!!)

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UPDATE 2/28/07 Bringing down to 2 stars just for the PG level I have to dry out and that ticks me off

This is a classic mild aromatic from the nice folks at Milan Tobacco in Virginia. There really isn't anything out there like it in my experience. Burley, Turkish and Perique blends are not common. The rum is a nice touch.

I really enjoyed this with some Irish breakfast tea on a cool morning. The customer service at Milan is top notch. It burned quite cool, and the Perique is there, but not strong.

Others have told me it isn't exactly like the old blend Middleton made. Some have told me this is better. It matters not a jot to me, as I never had the original. All I can tell you is that I liked it a whole bunch. In fact, I'm thinking of ordering some more...

John Middleton's London Dock (pouch version) was one of the first tobaccos I smoked 48 years ago. It was a regular smoke and was quite enjoyable and I was disappointed after it was discontinued. I purchased a 16oz sealed canister from Pipestud a while back. While it was the same artwork on the can as was on the pouches I was so familiar with, the smoking experience was not in any way the same. What I got was a true English mixture; meaning Latakia forward. After researching this, I found Middleton was not the original production house of this baccy (American Tobacco Co) and apparently changed the formula to what I was once familiar with. That being said, Milan's version is a close, but not exact, match as far as taste goes. I still have about an ounce of the Middleton version that came in one of those small, 1 ounce promotion cans John Middleton used to sell. If I use this Middleton as a reference rating of 10, Milan's is around 6. Don't get me wrong here. Milan's version, by itself, is a very nice smoke and recommended by me. It smoked relatively cool, without bite, and was a pleasant smoking experience. The pre-light draw had the "ghost" of what I was expecting and was also present (albeit ever so slight) with the light up. After that, it fell into the range of what I called 6/10 as what I was after was not present. Still a solid smoke; one I would classify as semi-aromatic as far as added flavorings go. A solid 3 stars.

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Never tried the original so I cannot compare, nor should it be. This is a nice "English" tobacco. It has a little topping, which I like. As for the "English", much more orientals than latakia.

This isnt bad, it has a nice flavor and aroma. It isnt as strong on the rum like the original and theres something else missing which i cannot put my finger on ? Its an ok smoke though and im sure some would really enjoy this blend. You can taste perique in the blend and can be a bit snappy if puffed too fast. Other than that its pretty good.