Dunhill Durbar

The most prominent flavor here is nicotine. You'll get the smell on your fingers when packing your bowl and in your clothes when smoking this low-grade. The nicotine knocked me out, I got a serious head rush after smoking a bowl. It's clear Dunhill values additives over any sort of consideration of quality.

I bought this blend because I like mild mixes of mostly cavendish with some lighter flakes like latakia, but it's hard to tell one type of tabacco from another in this blend, it's almost like smoking reconstituted tobacco, which I would recommend over this abomination. I almost sure this toxic smoke has given me some sort of cancer. Contact a toxicologist before consuming.

This is an long time favorite I smoke regularly but not daily. When I am in the mood for a blend with a judicious application of latakia and the distinctive flavor of what I take to be Turkish, Durbar is one of those I turn to. It is smooth, spicy, interesting and the orientals will not sting your lips or tongue. This is for a late night smoke in the big chair just before finishing up with Nightcap or 1792. Highly recommended to the Balkan lover.

Comparing the reviews of this blend points up the hugely divergent tastes of the folks who have smoked it. It is incredible to me that some find it harsh, unpalatable and nicotine-intensive, while others, like me, find it rich, smooth and complex. I should preface all this by saying that I am an accomplished cigar smoker and a former cigarette smoker of 20 years, so the fullness of the smoke is right up my alley and the nicotine does not bother me in the least (keeping in mind that I do not inhale either my pipies or cigars).

I enjoy both English and Virginia-based blends, so it is no surprise that I like this blend as well as I like 965, and even more than I like Nightcap and Early Morning, all of which IMHO are top-notch tobaccos. I can't help but wonder whether the English smokers who conferred unfavorable reviews were unfortunate enough to have purchased a bad tin. Given Dunhill's stringent quality control standards, this seems unlikely. Anyhow, this is my favorite Dunhill English blend, and I highly recommend it to those who like a full bodied smoke.

This is good stuff. The orientals in this blend realy shine through. The leaf is of good quality as is most of the dunhill blends Ive tried. This is not my favorite dunhill blend but I do enjoy it on occasion. Others have mentioned how some people may be put off by the room note of this blend, I can personally testify to this in that one day I was smoking this outside on a lunch break and one of the employees who smokes cigarettes put out his cigarette and said , " That stuff smells horrible, I am getting a head ache from it. It smells like sh##!" I laughed after he went back inside. I recommend this blend to oriental lovers. It also may be a good repellant to clear an area of annoying or irritating people.

I love this blend. It's thick and rich, full flavored, and moderately strong. I prefer this one's strength over (most people's choice of) My Mixture 965 for an all day smoking blend from the Dunhill line. This one is a solid performer and one of my go-to blends. I rarely find this one boring and recommend it to everyone who likes thick, strong English blends.

Another fine English from Dunhill. I like it better than 965. Not a crowd pleaser however. Smoke it away from the non-smokers please. If you are a hyper-active puffer avoid this one.

Update 7/27/04 One year later I got up the nerve to try this tough guy out again. I was drawn back to it, no matter how harsh my initial experience with it was. HOW TASTES CHANGE. It is still a manly man weed simmering with bold and musky tastes. But now it is quite *smooth* in taste compared to how I recall it. Of course I think my current tin is about 3 years old. And that could account for some differences. Or perhaps my palate has sufficiently matured and acclimated to the more astringent weeds.

The rating goes up. Next to Nightcap, my favorite Dunhill blend to date...

----

I rarely walk into shops that vend an interest of mine. I know my own impulsive streak too well. So when I walked into one of the first real-world smoke shops that I've managed to locate in my area, under the auspice of buying my girlfriend some clove cigarettes, I resigned myself to being in trouble.

Fortunately they had few pipe tobaccos. They *did* have some Dunhill though, and I had been meaning to sample this brand. One of which, highly recommended by the store owner, was Durbar.

My first bowl went unfinished and literally flung out of the pipe from my car window. I thought...boy... overly strong, smelly and tasteless. Who the $*&@ can I pawn this stuff off to? It had been a long day, I thought. Maybe it was me.

Subsequent bowls were much better. Still strong, and the tastes had improved. A sparkle of citrus-like orientals to begin with. I think of lightning bugs with little torches. This begins melding to an even, mellow nearly flat tasting, blend of VA and musty Latakia with a cigar overtone. Manly, musky, good at least for the smoker who enjoys this bent in their pipe. Towards the end of the bowl a nuttiness and some more fiery, fruity dances of yellow and red on the tastebuds. A nice pay off after a fairly challenging smoke (for me at least). The light Indo-Anglo Empire fusion of the pipe world? Such as the odd Indian fusion foods I sampled at trendy pubs while in England?

I've come to appreciate this blend and it could be a regular except for two things: it is still a bit strong for me nicotine wise, and the smell lingers to the point of bordering on stench. After a quarter bowl of this in an air-conditioned house, the place smelled like the dog had gotten into the Thai leftovers and was expressing his love of seasoned cuisine. As someone else said, you won't make any new friends smoking this leaf. On the positive note - very clean and good burning, top quality tobacco. Absolutely no trouble keeping this tough guy lit. It is also a very complex smoke which can keep you interested if you can withstand the few drawbacks. I've found after a couple of weeks open the blend definitely seems to "settle in" to a more palatable and relaxing smoke. I did experience the harshness on the tongue, throat, and nasal passages I've heard about resulting from Durbar. I can only take a bit of this leaf every now and again; I likely won't rush to reorder it.

On an off thought I decided to combine 1/4 of this with 3/4 of Frog Morton. The result was a fairly fun and exciting combination with Durbar adding the gusto and strength that F.M. tends to lack, and F.M. mellowing out the room note and adding some flavor to the mid portion of the bowl. The orientals still take over The Frog towards the bowl's end however and I still managed a fairly hearty nicotine kick even with this relatively small amount.

I have smoked this in a dedicated English briar and a briar I keep for light aromatic or mellower natural blends. No remaining ghost of Durbar, it seems to leave the pipe fairly clean and neutral.

This high quality hand blended English tobacco is most satisfying in both taste and nicotene strength. A real mellowy savory smokey kind of taste. It's broad cut insures a slow burn,and an easy light. I well prefer Durbar over 965. Sorry to agree with another but I too believe this to be Dunhill's best pipe tobacco.

This tobacco was a bit of a disappointment for me. I had high hopes after reading some of the reviews, and have been on a bit of a quest to find an English blend that I could work into a semi-regular rotation.

I will be brief. First half of bowl = boring and unimaginative. Second half = much more deep and flavorful. The virginia and oriental really didnt assert themselves until the latter parts of the bowl.

Yawn. Sigh. Shrug.