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

B&B Tobacconists - Beck's Ol' Limey Bastard.

The blend's presented as well rubbed ribbons, has a great moistness, appears to be an equal dissemination of black and brown tobaccos, with nothing untoward about the aroma.

It lights easily and I enjoy the smoke for the first few puffs: a touch of Lat'-smokiness, some clean Virginia traits, and a tiny amount of Cavendish. I even note a mild toastiness, it's quite a savoury smoke. But then, I begin to get a strange sort of bitterness coming through. I'm guessing this is subjective as no flavourings are listed; either way, it doesn't suit me. Assuming it's just a personal issue, I'll return to the more pragmatic things! It burns well, and doesn't get warm unless I really stress my pipe; and then it's just 'warm', not hot. It's a medium weight smoke, and doesn't bite me, at any point.

I don't like the room-note, and the nicotine's about medium.

I'll give this the benefit of the doubt and put the bitterness down to my palate. That said, two stars not one.

Somewhat recommended.

I bought this Bulk from 4Noggins about 6 months ago, the price was right. Upon reading many of the other reviews , there seems to be a consensus that this is a match for Dunhill's 965. I've never been a fan of D's 965, find it harsh, this is smooth and mild. Do I really like it enough to buy again ? No, it's got a top note of mild Vanilla , that's not for me. I think it reminds me of one of the "Frogs" . I really think many would like this if you're looking for a mild English.

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.

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.

My initial smokes with this were a solid 2 stars, but I've had a couple recently that were better.

Good overall English tobacco. I don't consider it anything special, but the elements are pretty harmonious.

My earlier smokes had some problems with tongue bite, and this blend tends to smoke wet for me, which is unusual for an English.

I prefer many other blends to this one including Squadron Leader and Westminster.