Peterson Old Dublin

I can say the following with complete confidence: Rattray's Red Lion is a 100% Peterson Old Dublin clone.

Appearance: tin I opened was released in August 2021. The blend is a neatly chopped small ribbon in which most of the tobacco is the color of milk chocolate, with flecks of slightly lighter varieties and a small amount of dark latakia. The tobacco is perfect in terms of consistency and moisture, it can be stuffed into a tube right away, the strips are short and have no need to be crushed somehow.

Flavor: Overall, a very smooth flavor of a “classic English” blend. A bit of suede, some wood smoke, a bit of tar, a slight hint of sandalwood, an unexpressed “wine and plum” portion of cavendish in the background, mixed with a slight note of baked fruits and a faint spicy note. No flowers or hay, almost no sweetness in the scent. Everything is quite subdued. It won't be much of an exaggeration to say that the overall flavor of the blend reminded me of Dunhill (now, by the way - also Peterson) My Mixture 965, but less bright. Naturally, another similar tobacco I can call Robert McConnell Marylebone, but that one is a little more fruity and has more latakia in the foreground. The tobacco is very lightly flavored (by some sources I read). But I didn’t find a clue what (and why). At least the manufacturer doesn't give any information on it.

Taste: quite even, complex, however, as subtle as oriental tobaccos are in the flavor, so obviously they are in the taste, giving off soft, but perceptible sourish-spicy notes with a slight peppery tone, combined with woody, slightly astringent notes and a smooth earthiness. A little less noticeable, but distinctly smokiness and meaty latakia juice are present, although its density is lower here than usual for English blends. Some sweetness from the Virginia blend quickly comes down to a minimum, the tobacco taste becomes denser, but without bright tones, not counting the occasional burst of Oriental spice, which is already somehow prevalent. The tobacco smokes smoothly, cool and dry, forgiving the novice smoker of overheating without changing in taste. By the way, the shape of the bowl also does not affect the tobacco flavor - in bents and straight pipes it is almost the same. But the wider bowls more clearly reflect the taste of orientals. The blend burns into a dusty light gray ash, of which there is little left, and leaves almost no moisture. The strength of the tobacco is medium, in a very large pipe a slight nicotine hit is possible. The aftertaste is woody and slightly earthy, not persistent.

The smoke is faintly discernible in the room, it has the smell of smoldering wood and is easily weathered.

What's the bottom line? It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that Old Dublin belongs to the same family of old English blends as My Mixture 965 and Marylebone. Yes, MM965 is richer in taste and flavor, but the composition of all the blends is very similar, taste and flavor too. Anyone who tastes more like a slightly brighter latakia will take the MM965. Virginia and Cavendish are more prominent in Marylebone, which tastes sweeter than some Scottish blends. And Old Dublin and its clone, Red Lion, give credit to Oriental.

Neat stuff. Smells smokey and strong when opening the tin, with a little musty sweet grass. When lit, it has this wonder sweet smokey aroma. Tastes like it smells, but with a little grab on the sides of your tounge. About half way through, the spice mellows out and it becomes grassy and sweet. This is a pretty mellow one...wont knock your socks off, but strong enough to not be disappointed. I smoked it straight from the tin, it stayed lit jyst fine, but i feel a little drying with make it smoke even better. Pair this with a smokey scotch and you wont be disappointed at all!!

A nice and smooth mixture of Virginia's, Black cavendish, and Latakia. Each tobacco complements the other to create a well-balanced blend. The latakia is not strong at the smoke level, even when you can smell it strongly from the tin. The nicotine level is fine, the smoke doesn't bite at all, and smoked well for a long smoke. A must-try for sure.

Funny enough this was my first tobacco that I bought when starting to smoke a pipe, not to long ago. I went in to a store with pretty limited stock and I said to the guy to give me two tobaccos that he recommended. I don’t think he even looked. Just grabbed two blue tins. Old Dublin and a blue Solani. Both have become favorites.

The tin note is pretty much in your face strong. Leather. Bonfire. Lagavulin. When lighting it burns easy but I don’t think you will get the best out of the bowl by puffing to hard. I’m using a bent Peterson Dracula when smoking English blends with a lot of Latakia and it is a great match imo.

I am going to continue to explore the land of the English but I have to say, this is fantastic and I believe that the rest I smoke will have to be measured with this.

This blend is probably great when trying to switch from aromatics to non-aromatics (English blends in particular). I thought there was a hint of perique at first, but a simple glance at the tobacco description shows this cannot be. Pardoxically, it could be the black cavendish or an additive, burning slightly too tangy in the mix. I could not detect the orientals, and found the slight aromatic nature of the blend dominating too much for my taste. Still a decent English.

I've smoked a lot of Old Dublin over the years and always have a few tins in my cellar. You will get the incense notes the second you fire it and will taste subtle sweetness throughout the bowl. Smooth and does not bite but when pushed hard, the taste becomes sour and somewhat ashy, and at this point the smoothness is never back. I recommend sipping to get the best out of it. The room note is strong. Burns clean to white ash and leaves a pleasant after taste.

I bought this to try another Peterson Latakia blend.

Tin note is smokey and sweet. Nice ribbons as Peterson tends to do. Packs and lights easily enough. Taste is Latakia forward, but otherwise very well balanced. Has a nice sweetness to it. Nice smooth flavor that stays consistent. I really like this blend, I’m gonna have to buy more. I’d say this is more of a Scottish mixture than an English, but it doesn’t matter. Decent nicotine hit, but not strong. Could be an all day smoke for me, too bad they do t do bulk bags anymore.

Well worth trying. One of the better Latakia offerings from Peterson.

very very nutty experience with this tobacco that take a little step out from mild EM to stay at the edge with aromatic ones. Yes a hint of latakia is present and also a little spicy basma leaves but if you are seraching for a mild english, in my opinion 965 mixture is the right one. there is also an undefined nutty flavouring. A good smoke but non an excellent one.

A very classic english style tobacco blend. very smooth and nice balence about sterngth and flavor. it's quite nice with full body wine or whisky. quite enjoy it.