B&B Tobacconists, llc Beck's Ol' Limey Bastard

I've smoked some of the replacements or blends that were very similar to MM965 (York Full, etc.) as well as the Murray's and Orlik versions. This blend tops them all. I will stand firm that this is much more tasty than the Murrays and far beyond the Orlik disaster.

This blend progresses quite nicely througout the bowl but is best at about the half-way point. Smokey and slightly sweet, it is a great all day smoke.

In my very humble opinion, Dunhill was Dunhill only when it was blended by Dunhill. No use chasing an old ghost by paying through the nose for a tin of the Murrays/Orlik versions on eBay (Let's admit it, we've all been tempted or have fallen into that temptation).

Available at 4noggins.com, I purchased 4 ounces of Beck's for half of what I paid for roughly the same amount of Compton's York Full (a great 4 star tobacco as well but just too expensive for me to keep in rotation).

Bottom line: 4+ stars for Beck's Limey &^%$#@@.

This is one of the blends recommended as a substitute for Dunhill 965... Of course we can argue which 965?... Murrays which is almost unavaliable or Orlik's which you can still find in Europe ... I haven't opened the Orlik's I bought yet but I sprang for and have smoked some of a 15 year old tin of Murray's and can compare the two.. Of course, each tobacco needs to stand on it's own and not have to imitate some long lost "idea of the perfect English tobacco"....( Would Plato agree that there is a perfect " Idea of an English Blend" that all aspire to?

Having said that Beck's is a wonderfully bright and alluring smoke.. There is enough Latakia to be noticable especially when the tin opens but it does not overwhelm... Instead the mid notes are full of the lovely Virginia. The burley is definately there, with a bit of bite that I did not notice with the MM 965....But how can you compare a tobacco that is 15 yo with a newly blended one, any way maybe in 15 years Becks will not bite either?

As you go along, the complexity of this mixture increases and changes with more and more subtle flavors coming to notice....

This mixture doesn't have to imitate anything... it can stand on its own as a lovely smooth English smoke with subtle and deep complexity expected of a great tobacco.... Now we have to compare it to the other great widely avaliable English blends...Squadron Leader Westminster and the like... WHat a job but someone has to do it!!!

If, like me and our brother Danny below youve never tried Dunhills or Murray sons concoction of MM 965 its an awkward situation if youre doing a comparison. I have tried Orliks MM 965 though and I liked it a lot. But struth mate, this stuff stomps all over Orliks. It packs, lights and behaves perfectly because its not soaking wet like other bulks. It flavourful and zesty but no bite. Its not too heavy and not too light. Its just right. I still love Westminster, Greg, but I do love this new Yankee, ol bloody Limey bastard too. Smoke the GLP with a s/m scotch and a good book and the OLB with a frothy and darts. Sorted!

This was recommended to me as a 'mild' English. Being a relatively new pipe smoker my tastes haven't developed as much as the gurus who write most of the reviews so you might want to consider this as you read my review.

I've tried several English type blends in the past and found them too strong fro my tastes and the wife (who is my 'room note' expert) did not care for the odor. This was recommended to me by Bruce of Bruce's Pipe & tobacco in Asheville NC and I really like it. It has enough of the 'english' taste for you to know that's what it is but not so much as to be over powering. I rated the strength as mild to medium but in a few months I might re-grade it to mild as my tastes change.

I've packed it using the 1-2-3 method and the Frank method. It burns well and stays lit either way after in initial light, tamp and re-light. Smoke it slow and savor the flavor.

Great smoke with great taste. Burns nicely and could be used as an everyday smoke

What we have here is an attempt at not too light, not too heavy, meet in the middle blend that will satisfy, if not wow, most smokers. Unfortunately there are some negatives which turn the balance away from a potential three star MOR recommendation to a more tepid and cautionary two star “somewhat recommended” status.

First, the positives: Has a fairly pleasing sampling of nutty flavors (black walnut, roasted chestnut, pine nut, sunflower seed) and subtle suggestion of gingerbread. Latakia is not overbearing or sooty. Now for the negatives: Soapy flavor upon first light, an acrid bitter note of walnut shell with the slightest elevation of heat stress, and here and there an occasional bitter Bay Leaf herbal flavor. Meerschaums tended to emphasize the bitter herbal notes and grassy chlorophyll, a 9mm filtered briar tended to soften and mute the overall negative tastes. My favorite four-star blends don’t have any soapy Propyl during lights, my favorites are not so temperamental about puffing cadence, and my favorites don’t have unpleasant episodes of bitterness which detract from the overall enjoyment. So there's no way this gets four stars from me.

It’s been decades since I last had the original Dunhill 965, and I do recognize the positive attributes here that others have mentioned, but certainly don’t recall the negatives I’ve described here. I also wonder about the bitter herbal note and what the cause could be. My batch is from May 2021, and my best guess is a rogue batch of bright Virginias that escaped proper pH treatment. If that’s the case, then once that supply is used up subsequent batches may be better, and this could also explain why some older 4-star reviews from smokers I tend to trust may be essentially reviews of a product different than the one I got. Hard to say.

I did my usual due diligence in comparing this with six others of its genre, meaning non-Lat-bomb blends, but allowing for Turkish varietals. In that class, which did not include unobtanium favorites like Germain Eighteen-Twenty, Arango Balkan Supreme came in first, Bastard came in last. So that helps me know how this fits into the overall hierarchy of which blends I want to spend time with. But the only way that can help you is if you are fairly certain that our tasting chemistry is similar. So I’ll simply suggest that if you’ve tried Arango Balkan Supreme and like it, then out tastes may be fairly similar. If you tried it and didn’t like it, then you can probably disregard anything I have to say about English/ Balkan blends. But also keep in mind that if you have an older batch than mine that you like, we may not be talking about the same thing.

My experience in latakiablends is somewhat limited. But I know when I come upon good tobacco. And this is really great. Perfect amount of latakia, a nice sweetness and very well blended. Quite similar to PS Balkan Blend.

Sweet.Very sweet english blend.Sometimes i can't get enough.I read Burley, Cavendish, Virginia, Latakia however i also tasted Oriental.Oh maybe i am wrong, try it and let me know.

This is a very mild english with a very mild taste. I would say that it would be a good choice for someone who is just starting to explore the english blends.