Kramer's Pipe and Tobacco Shop Father Dempsey
(3.47)
Though originally blended to match Father Dempsey's own preferred smoke, this full-bodied English mixture is now Kramer's most popular house blend and has been enjoyed by the likes of Cecil B. DeMille, Henry Wilcoxon, Samuel Goldwyn, Gene Barry, Mike Kaplan, Mel Tolkin, Fred McMurray, and many others.
Notes: The good father, an Irish priest, and my father Allen Kramer (who came to American as a child from Russia), may have seemed like an odd duo, but they became fast friends. When Father Dempsey was assigned to the Church of the Good Shepherd in Beverly Hills, right behind our shop, he would always come in for a visit. The Father was used to buying his tobacco at Dunhill, but told my father he'd rather buy from his shop, if he could create a comparable blend. They spread out his blend on the tobacco bar and my father studied it. He was able to identify the different tobaccos, but not the proportions. So they kept trying different formulas until finally Father Dempsey said, "Stop right there! This is better than my old blend ever was." And soon so many of the Father's friends and parishioners were coming in asking for "Father Dempsey's tobacco" that it came to be called just that. My father would say it has the aroma of a campfire burning--a smooth and full-bodied Latakia based blend.
Among those in our rolodex who chose Father Dempsey's blend were Cecil B. DeMille, Henry Wilcoxon, Samuel Goldwyn, Gene Barry, John Conte, Ricardo Cortez, Howard Duff, Herb Edelman, Mel Frank, Mike Kaplan, Jesse Lasky, Sr., Fred MacMurray, Robert Sherman, and Mel Tolkin. Father Dempsey is gone now, but when he passed away he left his statue of the Virgin Mary and baby Jesus and the medal he carried through the battle of Dunkirk to my father--and of course, the legacy of what is Kramers most popular house blend.
Details
| Brand | Kramer's Pipe and Tobacco Shop |
| Blended By | Allen Kramer |
| Manufactured By | Sutliff Tobacco Company |
| Blend Type | English |
| Contents | Latakia, Oriental/Turkish, Virginia |
| Flavoring | |
| Cut | Ribbon |
| Packaging | 2 ounce tin, bulk. |
| Country | United States |
| Production | Currently available |
Profile
Strength
Medium
Extremely Mild -> Overwhelming
Flavoring
None Detected
None Detected -> Extra Strong
Room Note
Pleasant to Tolerable
Unnoticeable -> Overwhelming
Taste
Medium to Full
Extremely Mild (Flat) -> Overwhelming
Average Rating
|
3.47 / 4
|
Reviews
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Displaying 11 - 16 of 16 Reviews
| Reviewed By | Date | Rating | Strength | Flavoring | Taste | Room Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 18, 2022 | Mild to Medium | Extremely Mild | Mild to Medium | Tolerable |
I had heard a lot of praise for this blend, so wanted to give it a try.
This blend comes in a ribbon cut with some chunky components. There is the whole gamut of colors here. The tin note is of most english blends, with the latakia and orientals being forefront in the nose. The blend came for me at a perfect moisture level, so I gave it no air time.
The tase here is one that at times I found solid and at other times I found a little one dimensional and boring. I mainly smoke Virginia blends, so when I do occasionally reach for an english mixture, I like a bold, spicy, incense like in your face experience. This is not that. It is very much a steady freddy. It has that traditional english taste. The Virginias are present as a good base. This is not one of those blends that has a lot of transitions in the bowl. Some tobaccos I look forward to the last 3rd of the bowl as the taste intensifies and darkens. This blend was completely uniformed and unchanged from charring light to dottle. This was the case for me in all manner of pipe shapes and sizes.
It was a good tobacco for me in the sense that I could light it in a big bowl and it just did its thing while I puttered around. Did not require much attention. I could see this as being an all day smoker for people whose taste lies right in the english range. This blend did not have that huge wow factor for me, so that is why it gets three instead of four stars. For the record, In the Kramers hollywood blends of fame, I prefer the Cary Grant mixture. It has this underlying sweetness that I find very intriguing.
This blend comes in a ribbon cut with some chunky components. There is the whole gamut of colors here. The tin note is of most english blends, with the latakia and orientals being forefront in the nose. The blend came for me at a perfect moisture level, so I gave it no air time.
The tase here is one that at times I found solid and at other times I found a little one dimensional and boring. I mainly smoke Virginia blends, so when I do occasionally reach for an english mixture, I like a bold, spicy, incense like in your face experience. This is not that. It is very much a steady freddy. It has that traditional english taste. The Virginias are present as a good base. This is not one of those blends that has a lot of transitions in the bowl. Some tobaccos I look forward to the last 3rd of the bowl as the taste intensifies and darkens. This blend was completely uniformed and unchanged from charring light to dottle. This was the case for me in all manner of pipe shapes and sizes.
It was a good tobacco for me in the sense that I could light it in a big bowl and it just did its thing while I puttered around. Did not require much attention. I could see this as being an all day smoker for people whose taste lies right in the english range. This blend did not have that huge wow factor for me, so that is why it gets three instead of four stars. For the record, In the Kramers hollywood blends of fame, I prefer the Cary Grant mixture. It has this underlying sweetness that I find very intriguing.
| Reviewed By | Date | Rating | Strength | Flavoring | Taste | Room Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Feb 05, 2022 | Mild to Medium | Extremely Mild | Medium | Strong |
I had picked up a couple of tins of the Father at some point on sale but had not had a chance to try one until recently. I mostly smoke burley and VA / VAPER blends but I really was in the mood for an English style with the cooler weather.
The tin seemed to have great moisture level when popped and the tin note was smoky. I loaded up a smaller pipe for the first bowl and found it easy to pack and light. Required a few relights in the first half but burns really well straight from the tin. Not being a latakia regular, the smoky/campfire notes really lead through the bowl. Very consistent throughout the pipe but not overly impressive. My next bowl was in a larger chambered pipe and this really seemed to help "bring it alive". I could pick up more notes from the orientals and the smokiness was the base. It really is smooth and well balanced and I could see this having a place in my normal rotation for those occasions when an English/Scottish blend calls out. The wife didn't appreciate the room-note AT ALL... which speaks to the latakia and her unappreciation of it!
The tin seemed to have great moisture level when popped and the tin note was smoky. I loaded up a smaller pipe for the first bowl and found it easy to pack and light. Required a few relights in the first half but burns really well straight from the tin. Not being a latakia regular, the smoky/campfire notes really lead through the bowl. Very consistent throughout the pipe but not overly impressive. My next bowl was in a larger chambered pipe and this really seemed to help "bring it alive". I could pick up more notes from the orientals and the smokiness was the base. It really is smooth and well balanced and I could see this having a place in my normal rotation for those occasions when an English/Scottish blend calls out. The wife didn't appreciate the room-note AT ALL... which speaks to the latakia and her unappreciation of it!
Pipe Used:
various
PurchasedFrom:
Smokingpipes.com
Age When Smoked:
1 year
| Reviewed By | Date | Rating | Strength | Flavoring | Taste | Room Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
| Sep 18, 2021 | Medium | None Detected | Medium to Full | Pleasant to Tolerable |
Kramer hit a home run here with the Father. A fine English with the components coming together in good harmony. I did find that pipe selection does seem to have an impact on the overall flavor of the smoke. It seems that a wider bowl brings all of the subtleties out a bit more. For that reason, slightly less than 4 stars. Still, one of my regular rotations blends.
Pipe Used:
Various
Age When Smoked:
9 mos
| Reviewed By | Date | Rating | Strength | Flavoring | Taste | Room Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 27, 2021 | Medium | None Detected | Full | Strong |
As others have already noted, this is a very lat forward blend. Medium wide, mostly dark, ribbons, tell the tale. There's not much going on here. Though it will scratch the itch, and it's a decent enough smoke, you won't get a lot of complexity. Smoky Latakia takes center stage all through the bowl, made tolerable by the muted Orientals and Virginia. It has a tendency to burn a mite warm, but if you moderate your cadence, it won't nip. The blend as a whole is just very smoky with some wood, and an earthy, leafy after taste. 2.5 stars rounded up to 3.
| Reviewed By | Date | Rating | Strength | Flavoring | Taste | Room Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
| Apr 11, 2020 | Medium | None Detected | Medium | Pleasant to Tolerable |
Not much to add to this already raved about blend. This is one of my new favorite morning smokes! Pairs well with black coffee, French Pressed.
Tin notes of woody, slightly smoky latakia. Plays well with the slight sweetness of the Virginias. Some say they detect an added flavoring, I'm not so sure I do. Definitely do not consider this a full blend as stated. Medium, maybe. Lights and packs very, minimal if any relights.
Tin notes of woody, slightly smoky latakia. Plays well with the slight sweetness of the Virginias. Some say they detect an added flavoring, I'm not so sure I do. Definitely do not consider this a full blend as stated. Medium, maybe. Lights and packs very, minimal if any relights.
| Reviewed By | Date | Rating | Strength | Flavoring | Taste | Room Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 03, 2018 | Mild to Medium | Extremely Mild | Mild to Medium | Pleasant to Tolerable |
Decent, middle of the road English, not bad at all but not especially interesting either. The sample I had was some of the recent tinned production, not the bulk from the now closed shop, so the original may have been a little different, nevertheless this is what we can get now. With so many English blends on the market, this one didn’t impress me enough to try again.
Pipe Used:
Various briars
PurchasedFrom:
Smokingpipes.com
Age When Smoked:
Fresh
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