Peterson My Mixture 965

I like 965 because although it is an English, the latakia does not overwhelm the palate. There is enough latakia to certainly satisfy latakia lovers, but it is subdued enough to be enjoyed by those of us who don't want our palates overwhelmed by the stuff.

This tobacco is elegant and burns to a dry, white ash. You can puff as fast as you like because the blend is so cool, tongue bite is not a worry. Because 965 is strong, you will not be firing up multiple bowls of this stuff. It is not for everyday consumption either. At least not for me. I will smoke a tin over a week's time and then take a 6 month break before heeding it's call again. Enjoy this classic!

This epitomises the phrase "you don't know what you've got 'till it's gone". 965 was Dunhill's signature blend for years.

Somehow, 965 manages to marry good quality virginias with the sweetness of cavendish and spicy latakia tobaccos to create a very palatable smoke of good strength. The smoke never bit, neither did it show any bitterness. Just a great mixture of sweetness and savoury, cavendish and latakia.

Smoking it now, the tin has been opened for six months, and I am down to the last couple of bowls. It really is an exceptional smoke. The strength has been lost slightly, and the powerful latakia mellowed with time outside the tin. The tin was aged at least 5 years when I opened it, and I really feel like I am smoking the remainders of something very very special. Luckily I have a few more tins in cellar, but when they're gone, they'll be gone for good.

An update to this review. I have just opened a tin of the EU production, and it is still a fine smoke. Sweet, smokey, spicy - fully of flavour. There is no bite and the flavour remains consistant down to the dottle. There may be differences between this and the UK produced tobacco, but I cannot tell. It is certainly still head and shoulders above most other blends of this ilk I have tried. With 5 years of age, it should become a very fine smoke indeed!

What can I say about this blend that has not already been said. There are some reviews with which I agree and others which I do not. However, there are some things that I can point out in brief that will hopefully help others who have not tried this blend to know whether or not they should give it a try. 1) If you prefer English blends but have never tried My Mixture 965, then you absolutely need to try it. I trust that you will not be disappointed 2) If you do not typically like latakia-based blends but are open to trying one that should really be the be-all-end-all litmus test of whether you like a properly composed english blend, then this could be it. If you do not like this blend at least a little, you probably will not ever like English blends 3) If you love English blends and have been wondering which one is the absolute best value in bulk, then look no further. You can purchase this blend by the tin, and if you only smoke casually and infrequently (less than once a week), the tin may be the best route to go for you. However, if you are a daily smoker or smoke more than once a day and are looking for the best bang for the buck in an English (I have found it on sale for around $30 U.S for a pound), here's your blend. It is around $45 for 16 Ozs at pipesandcigars.com, but I have purchased it there for less on sale.

The tobacco packs very nicely and should not clog or restrict air flow even when packed tightly. It smells like any good english should smell - like leather, fresh cut wood, peppery spices, and real quality tobacco. It lights fairly easily when fresh out of the tin or bag, but it will light even easier once it has dried out a little. It does not have an propylene glycol added, so it will dry out if you do not take care to keep it seeled. In bulk, I have considererd keeping a little humidifier on the bottom top of the jar (distilled water only), but have not needed to yet - as I smoke through it quickly enough to not have the need. If you do this, remember to open the jar from time to time if you are not smoking frequently in order to prevent over humidification or mold. I must so, IT GETS BETTER WITH AGE!!!! I recommend aging in a well-sealed jar.

It tastes the way a good english should taste. It tastes like a combination of high-grade (non-sutliffy) pipe tobacco, quality cigar, smoky-peaty (think Islay scotch), and a good qualtiy dunhill cigaratte - I actually typed that and was not even thinking about the fact that this is also a dunhill product, although it is a coincidence.

It burns very evenly and will not require relighting with proper tamping. In fact, it leaves very, very little ash in the bowl. You will know when it is done and ready to dump because it just gets to a point where there is nothing left to burn.

I notice from time to time that my clothes smell a little more like I have been smoking a cigarette than pipe tobacco from time to time, although not nearly as pungent. The smoke is typically not pleasant to non-smokers, but then again, for whom and why are you smoking the tobacco in the first place.

A few other important points are:

1) the tobacco burns failry cool - you will not get tongue bite (this is not some syrup infused Sutliff tobacco made from tobacco scraps and chemicals), and the bowl should not get too hot if you smoke it properly (and have properly borken in your briar) 2) As far as I am aware, I have not smoked the 965 from the previous manufacturer. I believe that I have only ever smoked the Orlik version. Please keep that in mind when reading my review, as many others have pointed out some disappointment with the Orlik blend compared to the previous verision (Murray I believe that I have read).

If I told that I could only smoke one pipe tobacco for the rest of my (if it was just one tobacco then it would be cuban seed nicaraguan that was handrolled by one of Don Pepin's finest and most likely had a Tatuaje label on it), then that pipe tobacco would most likely be My Mixture 965 - although SG Squadron Leader,MacBaren Navy Flake and a few others would defintely need to duke it out first.

Umm.... Yes.

I really do love 965. I've smelled it from bulk bag and tiny tin, old and new. Yes, the newer production lacked the huge amounts of Latakia from back in the day, and they've remedied that somewhat. I also found that the first thing this requires upon purchase is to empty the entire contents into a Mason jar (you're shocked, I know) and leave it in your basement for about 2 months to marry and meld. But once that's done......

Something about 965 just sets it as the baseline English blend. The Latakias are pungent and musty and loamy. There's almost a figgy note in some of the older blends. It's rich in the nose. It's like smelling beef gravy. You can already hear your wife b*tching and you haven't even packed your pipe yet. Get a big one. If you're going to suffer her complaining, you may as well earn the scorn. I prefer this in a monstrously huge Don Carlos that has a bowl about the size of a film canister.

Oh, how wonderful. Right out of the gate in third gear with latakia. Huge volumnious clouds of latakia. Does it stay lit? God I hope not, I want any excuse to fire it some more and get more of these billowing air pockets swirling around me. Birds drop dead from the sky and mosquitos run for the hills. Children hold their noses and wave their tiny hands in impotent disgust. Wives' faces implode in derision. Who cares? This is a great, great blend. And now that I'm about 1/3 of the way through the bowl, I actually do notice it's a blend. There's other stuff happening here. Orientals, virginias, not brassy or tart but enough to lift the whole mix and keep it up off the deck. But make no mistake, the Latakia is the fat lady singing in this play, and she will not be denied.

Some will say this deserves a worthy beverage, like a stout. Somehow, I disagree. I'd think a beer (such as the Greek import "Athenian") or even a fine tea would be what you'd want, to cleanse the palate. But I don't have time for such nonsense, I'm too busy enjoying this stuff.

Just barely this side of overly full, you could smoke this one with some regularity before your tongue cried for mercy (or variety.) It truly is the quintessential English blend, and you won't often go wrong in comparing other newcomers to it.

Just make sure it gets some quality time (6-8 weeks) in the bell jar first, or your flavors will be all disparate and unpleasing.

Open the tin, and 3 dominant scents welcome you: sweetness, smokiness and a vinegary sourness (from successful fermentation). Nice and rather powerful scent, but not one to instantly fall in love with. As always, scent and smoking are different animals.

A typical Scottish Mixture, indeed, and a Hall of Fame mixture, too. For many pipe lovers it might be the best Scottish Mixture ever. I remember 965 quite differently in several aspects when I smoked it in the early 80’s. But I don’t want to get into this.

The Virginias and the English Cavendish, as a courting couple, form the body of this mixture. The bright and obvious sweetness lies unequivocally in the Macedonia Bright (a sweet Oriental). The darker, more settled sweetness, as well as the discreet nutty, creamy taste, originate from English Cavendish, not from Burley, as it normally does. To my knowledge, there is no Burley at all in this mixture. The Orientals (other than Macedonia Bright) provide and enhance the natural tobacco aromas and add some spice to this blend. Latakia is there, as in all Scottish Mixtures, on a small scale though, just to provide a decent woody, leathery smokiness.

Overall, an excellent all-day mixture, although it might be too dominant on the diverse sweetness for the dedicated English, Balkan and Latakia smoker.

Last but not least, like all Scottish mixtures, this mixture has the quality of a “transition mixture” for Danish smokers who want to become English smokers. Try it.

I am not a worshiper of Dunhill blends. I think that they have suffered over the years from being bounced from producer to producer, and in some sense have rested on their laurels while failing to ensure that top quality has been maintained. With that said, this mixture is essential to anyone wishing to keep English style blends in their cellar. I think the description is fair also in that you cannot really consider yourself a smoker of English blends if you cannot smoke and enjoy 965. It is at core of what an English smoke has to offer.

This blend has been reviewed to death, so I will keep it brief. The cavendish makes all the difference, and is what sets this apart from other English offerings from Dunhill and others. It is a very "English" style cavendish, and if you have not experienced this style of smoke you are in for a treat, as it has none of the funky, gloppy flavor and consistency of some danish or american offerings. What it does, in conjunction with the VA's, is provide a sweet backbone (but not overly so) to the richness of the latakia. Yum, Yum, Yum!

The overall experience is one of luxurious fullness in the mouth and a rich refined flavor that few blends from anyone offer. The tobacco packs, lights, and burns easily, with no tongue bite or issues. This blend truly is perfection.

With respect to strength, I do not notice the nicotine until the second half of the bowl, which is why I have rated this at medium to medium strong strength. I can smoke a large bowl of 965 without being too loopy, but I feel it. If you look at how English pipes were (and are) generally shaped and sized, you will notice that the vast, vast majority are not too large, and do not offer a huge bowl capacity. My humble opinion is that there is a reason for this as English blends which often offer a fuller flavor and stronger nicotine content are best enjoyed in small to medium quantities. Even my oversized GBD's and LX or ELX Ashton's do not have the same bowl capacity as a largish Italian or Danish pipe (My ELX Ashton, despite being about the size of half a baseball bat, still holds less tobacco than my "standard" sized Kai Nielsen or Neerup). Keep this in mind when choosing a pipe for these types of blends, and you will improve your experience.

As stated above, this mixture is essential and should be kept on hand at all times if you enjoy this style of tobacco. Sillem's London is similar and equally (yes, equally) good, and to my palate a little drier than 965. I enjoy both regularly.

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.

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!