American Tobacco Co Dill's Best

I get the distinct impression that I may be the only person to have tried this blend in a long time. Mine came in a 1 5/8oz package, dated 1948. I only paid $5 for it, so I didn't have much of an issue with opening it. It was dry as a bone but re-hydrated well in less than three hours. The smell of the package was a sort of old basement smell, as that is where it likely came from. When the tobacco was re-hydrated it smelled of mildly sweet iced tea mix with a strong dark coffee note as well. The cut is what I would consider a very fine cube cut, making packing it quite easy.

The taste from the smoke itself was surprisingly pleasant. It has a very mild coffee and dried fruit taste, and the smell was mostly the same. I will say that it bit me a little, but it might be that I over-hydrated it and not the tobacco itself.

I wouldn't recommend that you go out of your way for this blend, but if you do find an old tin or package don't be afraid to try it.

I got two generous samples of Dill's Best. One is of unknown vintage, and the other is 1945. I have been smoking them in a Westbrook poker just to reduce variables. They both came pretty dry, and i hydrated them a little.

The cut is a chopped narrow to medium ribbon. The tobacco is dark tans and browns. From the slight whiff of hay in the pouch note, I would guess Virginia-based without the description.

I codger scooped and gave it a firm tamp with my thumb. The smoking experience was a little quick but uneventful. It burned cool and was easy to keep lit. It is a fairly mellow smoke with a slight taste of dried fruit and some earthiness. The snork gives a few mild cigar notes. There is not much cigar leaf in my samples.

I can see this being a pleasant OTC back in the day. I can also imagine it did not have the following of an ERR.

This one is hard to find and always needs hydration due to the very moisture compromising hinged top and only a very yellowed cellophane inner wrap. The Virginia flavor is noticeable but the cigar leaf is really kind of overwhelming and crusty looking among the bright (which is very dark now due to age). I'm not sure when production ceased, but it had to be at least 50 years ago as I've only found a couple of those hinged tins of this one.

This was my first pipe tobacco. It was in '62 and I told the merchant that I wanted it for my father, as I was only 16 and underage. It was still available in foil pouches at this time. I really liked it a lot but didn't have anything to compare it to. It was old-timey, smooth and unflavored as best I can recall.