Leonard Dingler LTD Nineteen O'Four Original

If you like your Burley robust and memorable this hard to find mass produced, OTC from the Republic of South Africa would be the ticket. As previous reviewer "Skando" accurately attests there must be some exotic "masculine Burley" in Leonard Dingler 1904 Original Blend, as there certainly is with 2 other Dingler mixtures I've tried - the Cherry and Vanilla blends. This 1904 batch was bought in a distinctive red, black and white, 50 gram (1.65 ounce) foldup pouch. Always pictured on these pouches is a chap, perhaps a likeness of mustached tobbaconist Leonard Dingler himself, clenching a straight briar, puffing away. This dapper, colonial era and well appointed personage stands in front of a shelf adorned with pipes and a sign reading "L. Dingler's Tobacco Factory."

Love my U.S. American Southland Burley, but this African leaf has a captivating, eclectic flavour, something hard to describe and very impressionable. This tobac will grow on you - a little bitey and raw at first - but after several bowlfuls a bonding process kicks in. Maybe a really high nicotine content is at work here? I discovered these 1904 blends in travels to Southeast Asia (e.g., the Philippines, Indonesia and Hong Kong) where the Scandinavian Tobacco Group and Swedish Match - who acquired Dingler in 1999 - aggressively market some of their other marquee brands including Pinkerton's Half & Half and Granger and the entire Borkum Riff lineup. Happy hunting!