Newminster No. 306 English Orient

The Virginias are grassy with some citrus, wood, earth, and a little dark fruit, and form the base of the blend. The Cyprian Latakia is smokey, woody, earthy, musty sweet in an important support role. The Oriental/Turkish offers wood, earth, some sourness, herbalness, vegetation, and smoke as well as sporting a little spice and some floralness as competition for the other components. The nutty, earthy, woody, mildly sweet burleys are in between being a condiment and a secondary player. The mild brown sugary black cavendish rounds out a few rough edges. There's a sweet topping that lightly helps out the black cavendish. The strength is a couple of steps past the center of mild to medium. The taste is a slot past that. The nic-hit is just past the center of mild to medium. Will not bite even if pushed. Well balanced, it burns at a moderate pace, cool and clean with a mostly consistent, mildly sweet and spicy, rather savory flavor. Requires an average number of relights. Leaves very little moisture in the bowl. Has a lightly lingering, pleasant woody, lightly floral spice after taste. Can be an all day smoke.

-JimInks

I absolutely love this stuff. For bulk tobacco, I haven't found anything better in an English blend. It is fairly well balanced. The nuttiness of the burley is there, along with the sweetness of the Virginias and the floral notes of the orientals (albeit, they are slightly weak compared to some higher-end blends). Of course, the Latakia takes the center stage, but not in a strong way. It melds very well with the other flavors, and stays around for the remainder of the bowl. The cut is a mixture of thin ribbons (almost a shag cut) and it packs wonderfully in every pipe that I have dedicated to English blends (about 10-12 pipes). It is a great "all day" smoke, and the price allows it to be smoked all day without spending a fortune. I keep at least 8 oz on hand at all times.

Again, I am reviewing this for what it is: a bulk English blend. One would be hard pressed to find one of this quality at such a cheap price. I would highly recommend it to anyone looking for a mild-medium English that they could enjoy all day. It's no Squadron Leader, but I have smoked much more expensive tobaccos that have been MUCH worse than this one. I'm going to try more Newminster blends now that I've discovered this jewel. Get some and try it. You might be surprised.

This is a very enjoyable smoke. The flavours come in chunks, rather than in a well blended way. I like that though! This is a robust product - each flavour that comes through has real pedigree. A classy product, I'll come back to it from time to time. The topping/flavouring (from the cavendish) is quite noticeable - I don't know what it is, but it's quite nice for a change of pace. This would probably be a great transition smoke for those moving from aromatics to English/Orientals.

I'm a big fan of English blends and have tried about 6 English Orientals. I like this one the best. The components play very well together and nothing in the blend seems to overwhelm. The price is awesome! Great job Newminster!

Excellent smoke. Reminds me of John Ayelsbury's English Mixture. Same dry sweetness but w/ Latakia and Orientals. Slightly smoky, spicy and floral undertone. Medium to full flavor but not overpowering. Just well balanced and a blend anyone can enjoy. Best of all where every you smoke this, it won't smell like burnt tires. Unfortunately P&C was out of English Luxus so I ordered this instead. It was a rewarding replacement and something I see adding to my rotation.

This is absolutely superb . This English blend is an orient forward english, with ample Virginia added. This burns well and is a gem of blending. The taste is complex enough to maintain interest.

You would be hard pressed to find a better bulk English. Highly complex, well balanced and absolutely DELICIOUS!!! I mean really as far as the tobacco taste goes there is really nothing quite like it. I can only compare it to Sillems London for its unique character. Highly Recommended.

Not exactly a blending masterpiece. The Burley, Black Cav, and the Samsun are weak. I don't mind that about the first two, but with "Orient" in the name I expected the Samsun to make a better showing here. Only comes out well at the end of the bowl. The Latakia and Virginias are in the right proportions. Mild to medium in body with medium flavors. It just didn't meet my expectations nor did it suit my preferences. It's not a bad blend though and others may like it more than I did so I somewhat recommend it.

a very nice english blend. love the taste and a wonderful noise. this is a great smoke after lunch with a starbucks french roast coffee. leaves a rich taste on the palet

Newminster - No. 306 English Orient.

When I opened the blend I was instantly impressed by the hydration of the ribbons, which are evenly cut, and there's no twigs in with them.

The first third of a bowl didn't make a good impression on me, it tasted far to busy with nothing particularly standing out. It seems confused about its identity: English? Yeah, right, there's nowhere near enough Latakia smokiness. After a third the flavour develops somewhat, there's still nowhere near enough Lat in the blend for it to be called an English, but there's a clearer taste of the Turkish tobacco. It also becomes a little buttery around this point. It's aggressive on my palate though: too hot and quite bitey.

The nicotine's medium, and I don't like the note.

Sadly for No. 306, I'll stick with my initial feelings; although the flavour develops it still isn't enough to gain anymore than two stars.

Somewhat recommended.