Peterson My Mixture 965

Once upon a time 965 was a blend I puffed at least three times a week for many years and I smoked my last can of ancient vintage in mid-2017 after experiencing a tin of the new stuff I'd recently bought. I was tempted to buy more than one tin of the new by the reviews of gifted writers from the recent crop of pipers. I am relieved that I didn't even though my Dunhill bin is down to the last few dozen tins blended in the 1980s and 90s.

I haven't typed a blow-by-blow compare of the contents and pleasures of my last tin of 3o year old Dunhill 965 with the most recent tin as that would've been too lengthy but I will say that although old and new 965 has a vaguely similar tin aroma and still requires a bit of airing to pack well and combust readily, the similarities end about there. Now I admit my mouth is old and probably unable to note the finer nuances of taste and smell that younger pipers can and though my ability to describe a smoking experience is not wondrous fair, after almost a half century of pipe smoking I believe the 2017 version of 965 is nothing more than a counterfeit - and a bad one at that. To me it's almost devoid of the finer qualities it once had.

I could not smoke a complete bowl of the new 965 as I found little in it pleasurable and a lot that provoked me. It's a harsh, pungent smoke that often crossed my line of tolerance for heat, sourness and nasty aftertaste. I can't promote this 'Scottish Blend' to any pipe smoker let alone a Scot.

I gave up on Dunhill about 2005 after some not-so-subtle changes to my Dunhill favourites. These changes were all to the worse and likely caused by many things such as small tobacco farms in faraway lands forced into government control that dictated what leaf was planted and how it had to be grown, harvested and cured, as well as the end of so many traditional family tobacco farms by educated sons and daughters who moved to the city in pursuit of better education and a modern lifestyle. Perhaps these things were inevitable but what's truly maddening was the utter destruction of so many worthy old brands and blends caused by the insatiable desire for market control by monolithic, soulless corporations propelled solely by greed. Other changes to the pipe tobacco landscape have been brought about by the fast times we live in and the image consciousness of recent generations who've chosen the quick and nasty stogie over the slower and more skillful craft of the pipe.

My Mixture 965? Move along here... this is not the tobacco you want.

404 reviews and a hall of famer. Only thing I can add is that the Macedonian Bright is superb. To me it steals the show. Love this blend. Get some.

Appearance: A slighly broad ribbon cut, about equal parts medium and dark colors. Ribbons are quite uniform, typical Dunhill attention to detail

Aroma: Lots of Latakia, with a good Virginia base. Little Turkish present to my nose.

Packing: Packs easily in most pipes, group 3 and up.

Lighting: Typical lighting procedure, not too quick or too slow.

Initial flavor: Just like it smells, lots of smokey Latakia, with some slightly sweet Va flavor.

Mid-bowl: Not very complex, just the two flavors changing intensity slightly as they interact. Dry and cool, and not too sensitive to puffing rate. You can smoke it while being active outdoors.

Finish: Nice, clean finish. No tendency to get harsher at the end, and no wet dottle.

Summary: An excellent blend, even though I normally prefer more Turkish with my Latakia. If you haven?t tried it yet, you should. Could be a wonderful intro to Latakia blends

What can I say about a tobacco I've smoked for over 40 years? I try other blends from time to time, but always come back to 965. There's 965, and all other pipe tobaccos. The only second-place blend I have every smoked is Balkan Sasieni, but even that is a distant second. One of the proofs is that 965 left the market and demand brought it back. (Peterson obtained it from Dunhill). When I heard it was going to be discontinued, I bought 75 tins. (My wife was not happy.) I love 965 for six reasons: for an English blend, fabulous sweet aroma -- from the tobacco and not flavorings -- not too weak, not too strong, wonderful nutty taste, burns great, and its calming effect -- like a well-made martini. Wish I could give it six stars. If you are a non-aromatic English blend smoker and are smoking other tobaccos.....why??

One of my absolute favorites. Although the description says "full bodied," I'd say more medium+. It's generally english in character, but not a full english by any means.

I enjoy this blend because, in part, of the lack of perique and medium latakia. To be clear: I really like perique and latakia. But, "english" blends like Nightcap accentuate the perique and latakia, sometimes to the detriment of the virginias and orientals. If I want a medium english flavor, I tend to go for this, Margate (if I want a little more herbal/grassy vibe), or Ashton Artisan (if I want just a little more oriental and sweetness).

This is a smoke I could enjoy every day, any time. It doesn't clutter the palate or overwhelm in any way. I always walk away from a bowl tasting like lovely rich tobacco -- no frills, no BS, just a good everyman smoke.

Theres a tannic, black tea note that pervades the blend which is cool, and particularly lingers on the aftertaste.

I also really enjoy how the orientals build over the course of a bowl. I find that a lot of middle english blends start more oriental and then fade into the virginias. This one does the opposite for me, and I taste the orientals creep forward mid-bowl into a great spicy balance. The evolution on this one being a little different is joyful and interesting.

I know this mix gets reviewed A LOT. So let me take a different approach and say what it ISN'T. It's not a lat-bomb, at all. It's not a balkan -- the orientals are balanced, not forward. It's not an overwhelming, end your night with a huge bang smoke. It's balanced, middle of the road, charming, and pleasant.

Don't smoke it immediately upon opening the tin. Stick it in a jar for a week, give it a little air, until the black tea and incense notes form in the jar. Then.... enjoy!

Regardless of the famous provenance, this current interpretation is not good, muted, bland, and frankly boring. No further purchases required and I'm not taking the chance of this being an off-batch.

Quite a shame really, I was hoping it might bear some vague resemblance since I adored the Murray's and pre-Murray's versions, purchased in bulk from the Duke street shop. My late pipe-mentor Uncle and I combusted lorry loads of the stuff.

If one is keen to recall the days of yesteryear Compton's York Full Mixture is infinitely better, worth the price and wait at least for me. Old Limey Bastard is superior too, although it does not have the 'transporter' qualities of Compton's.

So I do most of my smoking with a big, thick, deep Cobb and some of you might think that’s sacrilegious when smoking this blend, but I used 965 to break in a new Cobb and I wouldn’t have it any other way. This blend is similar to Peterson’s Nightcap with a little less Latakia dominance, but it’s still the lead character. Smokes cool, never bites and can be an all day smoke for the more experienced among pipe smokers. Some that have given Nightcap a 4 gives this one a 3 because I suspect that the Nightcap has a stronger nic hit and others don’t think it’s as complex as it could be, but I’m giving it a 4 because of it’s smokability and it’s just a damn good smoke. It’s an unpretentious English blend with plenty of Latakia, but won’t chase a less experienced person away…..I try and review pipe tobaccos not just considering my personal preferences, but with the overall quality of a product and if I think newer smokers could enjoy them if their thinking about venturing into new blends...I would also urge anyone that hasn’t tried one of Peterson’s English blends to read some of the 3 and 4 reviews, as there’s a few that have reviewed over 1000 tobaccos and they have been , overall, on point.

I really wanted to enjoy this blend and trust me I gave it about 5 years before I posted this review. I tried it new. I aged it a bit. Then I aged it more. Then I aged it a whole bunch. IE, I am currently smoking a jar from 2014. (this review is in 2020.) Honestly, I am still underwhelmed. If this was a blind taste test, I would swear this is a VaPer. The grassy overwhelms any of the supposed English components. This one is bland, biting and just not satisfying for me. I am not a Dunhill or Pete hater. This blend is just not that great. Any, and I mean ANY blend in the GLP lineup blows this away. I am a fan of Nightcap and I like (but dont love) EMP, but I see no reason to have this blend in the rotation. I will not be reupping this one. I have over 100 blends in my library at this point and am on a quest to whittle it down to less than 10 before I retire (quite some time away LOL) so this one is done for me. Once the jar is done, it will never be purchased again. I gave it the old college try, again and again and it just did not make the cut.

Your Mixture 965, because I want nothing to do with it. I saw this was an all time favorite of Hacker's in his 21st century guide to Pipe smoking, but I found it harsh and abrasive. Perhaps the blend has changed? I tried to cut it down by mixing in some lighter tobaccos. I even named the blend "Handsome Lake" after the famous Native American. But it is still awful, and I have dishonored the name of this important historical figure. All in all, this purchase was a tobacco catastrophe for me, lending me new respect for the art of blending (I'll leave it to the experts), and the knowledge that someone's trusted favorite is not necessarily to be trusted. No thank you.