Dunhill Durbar

I've tried both versions, the commercial one and the hand-blended in the London shop. The first is fuller, tastier, in the sense that after a bowl your tastebuds are really tired! But it's so good I'm glad they worked so much! It's really spicy, more turkish-oriented than any other Dunhill I've tried before. Excellent. The hand-blended version is slightly lighter in taste, but with a balance that verges on perfection. The great difference is into the Virginia used: Cavendish in the commercial version, straight VA in the hand blended one. This, together with the less amount of orientals, makes the second a sweeter and rounder tobacco.

05/21/05 Update.

Bought another tin of Durbar .. must have had a bad tin. No pepper at all and smoother than the other tin. This tin has been a delight. Changing my rating to 8/10.

Also very fortunate to win an eBay auction for three 2 ounce tins of SUllivan & Powell "00" Oriental Mixture. Can't wait for it to arrive to see how it compares.

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This tobacco would be the one for me if not for the peppery perique-like pop at about the middle of the bowl. I just don't like perique at all. I thought maybe I was having a bad day and the pop did not occur, so I waited a couple of days and packed a well broken in Savinelli Autograph with Durbar and again began to savor the wonderful taste and aroma. But mid-bowl, there it goes again, the perique pop. None of these reviews or the Dunhill blurb mentions perique, but it's got to be something grinding the pepper midbowl. Alas, I shall keep searching for a Sullivan's "00" replacment.

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.

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...

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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.

I'll just ante up tuppence worth on this stuff by saying that this must be the best Dunhill tobac they offer, at least what us folks over here can get our hands on. Quality leaf, nice flavors in the lightly sweet & nutty categories with a subtle sharpness from the VA's. Just good woodsy, leathery, rich English flavor. A refined blend, I, too, prefer this to 965. I have a fondness for many of the Schurch English blends, but Durbar is most assuredly a "gotta keep a tin of this around" kinda tobacco. Personally, I think I could do this all day, but not every day. I like a bit o' variety. Works for me.

While the quality of this blend is unquestionable, there are two factors that keep this off of my daily rotation. First, there is something in it that irritates my throat. Second, I find the nicotine kick too high for my taste, this is definitely a sit down, go nowhere for a while blend. Apart from these, this is definitely a tasty blend. It packs easily, it is at the right moisture level, is complex, and smokes to the bottom of the bowl with no fuss. Of the Dunhill blends that I smoke, I find this one to require more attention to keep the tongue-bite demons away.

Dunhill's strength is their ability to blend tobaccos, and to my way of thinking a good blend is characterized by the difficulty in trying to separate the parts rather than how quickly they stand out.

That being said, this is a fine Dunhill English blend. The tobaccos compliment rather than overpower each other. The Latakia, Virginia and Oriental tobaccos are all represented in the smoke, but none jump out and scream at any particular time.

The blend packs easily and burns smoothly. Overall a nice cool smoke with enough of a unique taste to make me come back again.