Hearth & Home Daybreak

When it comes to pipe tobacco, I am what a "foodie" is to food. I love many, many blends. However, I MUST have a bowl of Early Morning Pipe each and every day. When it comes to "match" type blends, I find most fall far short. Daybreak is not only very close, its an excellent blend in its own right. In some ways it may even be a bit richer and fuller than EMP. Russ managed to capture the flavors of EMP and the strengh too. Now that EMP has returned to the American market many may ask. "why buy Daybreak?" and the answer is simple, it's available in bulk and it's darn good. Daybreak still has a space in my cellar. Highly Recommended!

Have Been dealing with Pipes and Cigars.com for a few years now and I am extremely well pleased with the service and the products, especially Russ' blends. I smoke several presently and plan on smoking more. This latest offering- Daybreak is no exception to this overall evaluation of Russ' ability as a blender and the guys in the ordering department's courtesy and helpfulness.

I am not really qualified to judge the merits of Daybreak as compared to anything "Dunhill",Early Morning Pipe or otherwise. It is not that I haven't smoked most of the Dunhill tobaccos as I have but it has been some time ago. I am not part of the mourning Dunhill beatification crowd though I do admit that at times Dunhill did make some nice blends. So did several other now extinct companies and memories (however over-polished and exaggerated) cannot fill even a single miniscule pipe bowl. Sad but as the Cajuns say "Ehhhhhhhhhh la!"

Russ' Daybreak more than adequately fills the niche left by the absence of Early Morning Pipe. In fact, if my failing memory doesn't completely fool me the blend Russ has made is better.

Better? Yep!

Packs and lights remarkably well. Tastes fine and is the perfect strength of an early morning smoke with my good friend Latakia. Being an high quality English blend the room note will probably not make many of the "Significant Others" around you jump for joy but I don't have to worry about that(he said a little smugly) since my wife likes the aroma.

I really don't believe that there is a better English bargain available and one other thing that might be kept in mind and that is that this is an American blender's blend. For both patriotic and practical reasons it makes sense to choose this tobacco. We all know about the persnicketty, fussy and spotty problems with overseas tobacco houses and no matter how much we enjoy the blends it is rather an irritation to be at their whims of supply. The blend itself is one of the best if not the outright best buys in this style and catagorey of blends. Why bother with anything else? Anyway, great stuff,good price,nice people to deal with.What else is to be asked for?

The Piper at the gates of Dawn says "Thanks, Russ"

I smoke Dunhill daily, usually with coffee in the morning. I purchased this tin along with five other varieties in a six tin sampler for about $35 or $6 per tin, so affordable - yes. Upon opening the tin, I immediately spotted a number of ticky tacky bits that I removed and threw away... mostly big dried veins and woody bits that belong in your garden's mulch pile. Moisture level is ready to smoke, which I found convenient. Upon second lighting, I had a good flavor, as good as EMP. And smoking the entire medium sized bowl was easy, mostly due to the ideal moisture level. Attentive tamping is needed to prevent this chunky tobacco from getting airy and weak tasting, but the flavor is good till about the last third of the bowl, which is dominated by an ammonia like tinge. I haven't yet felt any N and If Id been smoking EMP, 965, or Nightcap, I would have been enjoying this bowl long ago. Do I want annother bowl of this stuff? Perhaps, but I've got leather tongue and the roof of my mouth is getting raw. I wonder if there are preservatives in the mix. Honestly, I think it would be a shame to smoke this stuff while pretending that something much better isn't available.

Russ Ouellette deserves some major praise for creating such great pipe tobacco blends. This is the third English-style blend I've tried in the pipesandcigars lineup and I enjoyed every bowl! I have never tried Early Morning Pipe by Dunhill, but if this is as similar as it claims to be, I can understand why pipe smokers became such devoted fans of Dunhill blends.

What makes this blend so great? It is perfectly balanced; about as well-balanced as any blend I've ever tried. The tobaccos all harmonize beautifully as you smoke it. The taste is smokey, woodsy, buttery, and it lingers in your mouth and nostrils for a short time after you smoke it. I received compliments on the room note and enjoyed walking back into the room after smoking this. It is an excellent blend to enjoy with a strong cup of English tea after a hearty breakfast in the morning. It also matches very well with a good beer - and all by itself, if you so choose! It smoked well in all the pipes I smoked it in (briar, meerschaum, and corn cob), provided a dry smoke, and burned down to a nice gray ash at the bottom. If you are wanting to begin smoking English blends, or if you are already a lover of English blends like I am, try this blend!

A friend sent me a tin of EMP and this to see how close I thought they were to one another. Since I am no fan of EMP, I guess I viewed this as a favor. I first smoked 3 bowls of EMP, then 3 of this, then alternated. They looked different in the tin but smelled very similar - that is, incredible. Whatever the specific orientals used, they are extremely fragrant and mouth watering. The ribbons of both were easy to load and took the match effortlessly.

The burning bouquet of both was exquisite. I would go so far as to say that both would win my vote for Tobaccos I'd Most Enjoy Being Around, as long as others were smoking them. Both failed for me where it counts - in the taste. I'm not sure what it is - needing more or less latakia, a tastier batch of Virginias, different orientals, or what. They were just too bland and flavorless for my tastes. Granted, they are designed for a "first smoke of the day" and I usually don't get to that, even on weekends, until 10:00 or so. So they aren't made for my tastebuds. But likely, they are made for a lot of people.

This one tasted so close to EMP that I would probably have trouble distinguishing them by taste alone (although at times I thought this was a hair richer). For that, Russ deserves 4 stars for this one. But since I grade based on my personal taste, this earns 2 stars, same as EMP. In other words, I can appreciate and respect the goal for this one, and it is well earned. If every blends design goal were as clear as this one, I'd probably grade more objectively. But since usually all I have to go on is my own tastes and point of view, all I can say is that I just can't buy into Daybreak with my tastebuds. But if you enjoy EMP and haven't tried this one, wait no longer.

Probably the best light English blend I've had. Great balance to it. I look for a Virgina component that is more earthy than sweet and sharp; for a blend where the oriental component is fairly prominent; and where the latakia serves more of a soft, supportive presence than a dominant player. This is it! It's now 1 of my staples and an all day blend for me. Earl

This is very much like Early Morning Pipe. If you miss that or can't find it, this is a fantastic substitute. It's not an exact match, but doesn't try to be. It is far more reminiscent of EMP than emulatory. There is possibly more Oriental flavor to distinguish it from the classic Dunhill blend. I love EMP and if we don't see it again this will replace it in my rotation. It just may do so even if we do see a proper return of EMP.

My video review of this blend can be found here:

https://youtu.be/001Howsd3-Q

I just finished off a sample of this provided by a forum friend and was impressed. I have not had EMP in a while, but I would say that this more closely resembles that blend than any other I have smoked.

I did several of the bowls with Coffee and really enjoyed it. I think that this and EMP could be used interchangeably and I am not sure the smoker would feel they were missing anything by smoking either. That is, of course, until they try squadron leader. 🙂

Like EMP, I could not really detect the latakias over the Virginias and orientals. It seems to deliver more a citrus sweetness than any smokiness. As I prefer to have a little more smokiness with my breakfast, I tend to prefer Squadron Leader over either of the blends. But I do recommend this blend.

I can only express what I taste, and that is a great light English blend that needs no comparison to EMP et al. to shine on its own. 24/7 smoke despite the name. Earl (reviewer immediately below) sums it up perfectly. Stumbled across Daybreak almost by accident among all of the more vaunted tobaccos in my house and now can't get enough of it. Light yet full, approachable yet heady, yada yada. Tastes are obviously personal, but this is in my wheelhouse with a perfect balance of quality Virginia and Oriental and just the right amount of very defined and smokey-rich Latakia. Simply put, extremely satisfying. May have to sell an awful lot of other tobaccos that I have stored since this stuff will keep me from opening them unless I tire of it (doubtful). Great value, too, for what that's worth.

Russ carefully does not describe this as a copy of the lamented EMP, and that's wise -- it's an homage, or a reflection, but not a copy. Slightly heavier than EMP, with perhaps a bit more oriental flavor, it is still an excellent light-medium tobacco, and very well suited to a morning smoke. After two months of having it in my rotation of tobaccos, I decided I didn't want to be without it and bought a couple pounds. Taste is smooth and balanced, slightly sweet, with a subtle richness that goes well with a walk in the cool morning air. There is no soloist in this ensemble; it is entirely dedicated to harmony, and it does it very, very well.