Kramer's Pipe and Tobacco Shop Father Dempsey

An amazing medium English blend that satisfies every aspect you want from an English blend. This will be a must-have for those who like latakia at an optimal level.

Opening the jar that I’ve stored my bulk Father Dempsey in for 2 years, you get hit with a barbecue sauce-like aroma; smoky, sweet, tangy, spicy, in that order. It’s a very pleasant smell. Packing this blend is easy. It’s the perfect moisture level; dry enough that it’s ready to smoke asap, but also still oily and pliable.

Upon lighting, the latakia is taking the lead, but it’s not a “heavy” latakia. Don’t get me wrong, the latakia is extremely flavorful, but it’s not that heavy, charred, bitter type of latakia. It’s a very pine-y and woody latakia. It pretty much remains the leader in this blend for the duration. Up next are the orientals which have a very floral incense and wood chip-y flavor. The flavor of wood chips comes in bursts, but you’ll know it when it hits you. It’s very pleasant and adds an extra dimension. There’s almost enough oriental action that it brings the blend close to the Balkan level, but it stays just under that. They also aren’t a very spicy type of oriental (though there is some spice in the retrohale), which adds to the blends overall smooth and creamy mouthfeel. They leave a bit of incense on the finish. The Virginias only really show up in the finish/aftertaste, which is how I like my Englishes. I’m not too fond of Virginia-forward Englishes, and the Virginias in Father Dempsey pretty much just add some sweetness and a bit of a dark fruit finish to the blend as well as some occasional earthiness, which is exactly what I want Virginias to do in an English. Overall, the blend is a smoky, creamy, woody, semi-sweet, fragrant experience.

For me, Father Dempsey sets the standard for what an English blend should be. Westminster comes very close, and if I would have to compare this to any other blend, it would be Westminster, though Westminster is a bit more bitter. I personally wouldn’t smoke this everyday (though I see how one could), but I think I could smoke this every time I itched for an English, and it would satisfy me plenty. And of course, one of the best things about this blend is that it can be bought in bulk for an affordable price. I would highly recommend this blend to anybody looking for an “everyday” or go-to English.

Father Dempsey is one of those blends that became an instant favorite just a few minutes into my first bowl.

The Latakia is perfectly balanced in this blend. So instead of a campfire knockout like Gaslight (which I enjoy), the Latakia here proviedes a toastiness and nuttiness that shines through and sets the stage for the whole pipe experience throughout the bowl. This blend is infinitely complex with no rough edges--no particular leaf is fighting for center stage. This blend is consistent from first light to cash. It smokes wonderfully, with maybe a relight or two through the entire bowl. This one leaves no moisture behind. The nicotine became noticeable around 2/3 of the bowl, but it's a soft ramp, which I prefer.

It's not an all-day smoke, but no Latakia blend is an all-day smoke for me. It's the perfect nightcap with a pleasant, toasty aftertaste.

My favorite English. I have tried many other English blends but I always come back to Father Dempsey. This is my go to English. Camp fire, sweet, spicy. Rich, Creamy smoke and mouth feel. Whenever I get down to 16 oz in my cellar I order more!

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.

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!

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.

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.

I love this stuff! After all these years of pipe smoking I got around to trying FD only a few months ago. It shot to the top of my favorite English blends after a few bowels. I won't waste time going over the fine points of FD. Others have written far better descriptions than I can. I'll just say if you enjoy English mixtures you owe it to yourself to give FD a try. You'll thank me later.

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.