Dunhill Durbar

I was pretty curious to taste this new incarnation of the Durbar, just come at the italian tobacconists at very premium price. Although I’ve never smoked the “old” one.

Nice tin aroma, Oriental forward I would say.

It comes in a ribbon cut on the slender side of the scale, in all similar to the other Dunhill’s blends. Easy lighting and burning maintenance without turning hot. No bite whatsoever.

The smoke is cool and solid. Oriental tobaccos are the main player, well back-boned by non-sweet Virginias and spiced up by the Latakia in perfect measure. Medium in strenght, full in body.

All in all a nice Balkan blend, which is only missing to hit me completely since it delivers a sort of “monolithic” experience from the beginning to the end. Seems to me it’s more similar to a Tashkent than a Skiff, which are the blends I would compare.

All the Best !

I bought it after a smal taste from a friend of mine. And I was very impressed, it's an heavy smoky latakia english, and it really kick your nicotine level up. It's a little bit too strong for my taste but very pleasant.

DURBAR: certainly an excellent English blend, but not the best, and not the best among Dunhill’s blends. From a quality point of view Dunhill is always the top and therefore congratulations to STG. Great balance, excellent tobaccos, this is the classic English taste, never over the top, but always delicate and balanced. Suitable for those who love English blends, for those who love English taste, for those who love Dunhill. Not suitable for those who can't stand Latakia and for those who prefer flavored blends. So, in my opinion and in my personal rating system (from 1 to 10), my score is 7/8 and three stars.

Received a sample with my tinsociety.com box.

I'm a fan of Apertif and found Durbar an interesting smoke also.

The oriental shine in my opinion and are well supported by the Virginia's. More nicotine than I expected and the room note was not a winner with the wife.

Easy to pack and smoke and burned down to ash with no relights. Last 1/3 of the bowl seemed to have less flavor each time.

Dunhill Durbar. I have never really been a fan of the Dunhills in recent years - as a younger man, I enjoyed 965 a great deal but never got on with any of the re-releases. Thought I would take a punt on the Durbar, and a couple of bowls didn't change my mind much. It was only with some perseverance that I have been able to appreciate it more. Described as a fine Balkan, it can be a little flat and carries too much of an ashy quality at times. At others, it is a dry and flavoursome smoke.

It takes its place with BB, 965, London, Standard Mixture and Aperitif, EMP and Nightcap, and many will miss it if if it is discontinued.

I had this recommended from a few friends. And in both of their recommendations they claimed two things, smoothness and tastefulness. One of them I can attest to, this tobacco is quite smooth in all the right ways. But on tastefulness I tend to disagree. As all Dunhill blends, this has a perfect ribbon cut and moisture content. Virtually packs itself up, lights easily and stays lit. The tin note is quite pleasant and has notes of plums and raisins. Sadly the taste or the room note do not share the same quality. This tobacco tastes like a mixture of sharp, high grassy bright virginias and perique. Though it doesn't contain any, but I presume this is due to the orientals. However, There are rare hints of the orientals or the latakia. I presume both are there to produce smoke and that smoothness. But both are not evident in the taste/aroma profile except for that spiceness. I found its taste and nic-hit to be medium but your mileage may vary on those. And the room note was pungent. However, the tobacco burns evenly, cool and well and leaves just pure white ash. If you enjoy citrusy, grassy Virginia mixed with spicy tobacco this will be your tobacco of choice, but it isn't my favourite ride.

Update: Changing the pipe and letting the tobacco dry a bit changes that grassy taste to a darker profile and allows the Latakia to shine quite a bit

Because I never have the older version of Durbar, I don't know what to expect before popping up a tin. Orient forward English blend; not as full and tasteful as Standard Blend. Worth trying, good smoke.

Well, it wasn’t a favorite, but it had an appealing distinctiveness, and I liked it better than the current MM 965. What I liked was the leathery aroma and the flavors of sesame paste and poppy seed from the Orientals. Orientals do take the lead here. On the negative side I occasionally got a taste of burnt chocolate which can only have been the Latakia interacting with some subtle ingredient in the pH tempering sauce, possible sweetened coffee (a common process for Latakia). My tin had two years on it, and then sampled over the next 18 months from the jar. Even at its best, without the distracting burnt chocolate note, there are plenty of other Balkans or Oriental-forward blends that I prefer, so I’m not losing any sleep crying about this no longer being available.