After politely asking for a few blends (all with little or no response from him) and having to endure condescending answers and snide remarks, "Mr B." made his "recommendations:" Margate (which tastes like the bottom of an ashtray), Tinderbox's Virginia (which tasted like the cardboard box an ashtray comes in) and this dried out weed which tastes like flat air that has been boiled and thrown in a dryer. B." (getting his name even was like pulling teeth) who acted as if my presence there was a complete nuisance. I walked in to what resembles a very quaint pipe museum of sorts (and if for nothing else, you should go to check it out for the history), where I was "greeted" (in the form of silence-I was the only one in the store) by a "Mr. I went to the original Tinder Box on Wilshire, as it had been recommended over the Tinder Box chain's Special blend and boy, what a disappointment this was (along with my experience there). James Whitmore smoked Special for 50 years.nuff said. After he struck a match to it he immediately tossed it in the trash and called the Santa Monica store to order the original Special. He went to a local TB and purchased 2 lbs of Special. As the story goes James Whitmore was at a film shoot in Tucson, Arizona when filming ran over. It is a classic American mixture which should only be purchased at the original Tinder-Box if you want to smoke the real deal. It is virginia based and has a light amount of latakia and a pinch of deer tongue. i have noticed there is some cube cut burley in there. In the 90's it had some chunk cut burley in it and they had to change the mixture and a different burley is used. Special has slightly changed throughout the years. The other Tinder Boxes carry completely different mixtures which do a disservice to these legendary American Mixtures. Most of the older blends are still hand blended at the Santa Monica store. It is blended at the Santa Monica store in an old cement mixer they have in the back. I am so grateful to my wife for getting her American pal to send me some as it's made my Christmas!Įd Kolpin invented Special over 50 years ago. The nicotine level isn't too strong, if you like your "N" then you will have to take quite a big puff of smoke but really the deep flavour is so satisfying any nicotine worries seem superfluous to me! I find this to be the quintessential 'no messing around' tobacco, it burns great, tastes classic, gives a simple room note and doesn't fluctuate in flavour. I find the flavour of the smoke to be perfectly rounded, none of the tobaccos are too headstrong at all, the Virginia and the Orientals are of equal weight with a slight smoky touch from the Lat' giving the taste some extra zeal. The smoke is good in temperature, I find it cool to medium and no matter how much vigour I use it doesn't bite me. I find mine easy to ignite, it only takes a short go with the flame to begin a good burn. The mix is prominent with medium brown pieces and a small amount of lighter constituents all at a great moisture amount. This one was part of my 'bucket list' for tobaccos but living in the U.K Tinder Box blends are a little tricky to obtain, well more impossible so when my wife presented me with this on Christmas day was nearly cataplectic from excitement! The smell from the mix is a very deep and intense one, it smells similar to their Philosopher only a little less strong with Lat'.
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