Well aged pipe tobacco

[Smoke rings]

What is the oldest pipe tobacco you have in your cellar?

[Tobias Lutz]

I still have a few bowls of something from the mid 80s that Wayne hooked me up with, then there are a few tins with 10+ years. Not a whole lot beyond 5.

[OnePyroTec]

I still have a few bowls of something from the mid 80s that Wayne hooked me up with, then there are a few tins with 10+ years. Not a whole lot beyond 5.

mid 80s would be Deerstalker.

[NeverBend]

I still have a few bowls of something from the mid 80s that Wayne hooked me up with, then there are a few tins with 10+ years. Not a whole lot beyond 5.

mid 80s would be Deerstalker.

Hi Wayne and Tobias,

How do you like The Deerstalker?

Pete

[Tobias Lutz]

Hi Wayne and Tobias,

How do you like The Deerstalker?

Pete

I thought it was amazing. I had never smoked anything from that maker but this was really good.

[Branzig]

I thought it was amazing. I had never smoked anything from that maker but this was really good.

You just quoted that blender of it

[NeverBend]

I thought it was amazing. I had never smoked anything from that maker but this was really good.

Hi Tobias,

Glad that you enjoyed it!

All of the Elephant & Castle line was made by C.E. McConnell located at 164-8 Barking Road, London. Grand old company that was run by the most knowledgeable tobacco man I ever met, Ken McConnell. They made all of the Rattray line as well as tobaccos for Dunhill, Charatan, Davidoff, Ehrlichs, Astleys, F&T (others) and their own line.

Ken closed his doors in 1989 and Kohlhase (Germany) took over the manufacture of many of their tobaccos including Rattrays. E&C decided not to continue with the brand after McConnell was closed.

In my opinion, by the 1980, McConnell was the best tobacco manufacturer of non-aromatic tobaccos. They made the original (legendary) Dunhill Shell Mixture, F&T Golden Mixture, Davidoff Royalty and many others. The original Rattrays Red Rapparree could give an atheist religion!

The Kohlhase Rattrays re good but they're not as individual (or as much to my liking) as the original McConnell made mixtures.

Elephant & Castle was named after the London Tube stop (and area) of the same name. The line consisted of 7 mixtures: as below:

Blue Mosque - was shag cut pure Kavallah (Turkish cigarette).
Cromwell - a more potent version of Davidoff Royalty (medium English).
Isle of Skye - light Balkan (not a Scottish or Virginia) with a dash of original St. James perique (Balkan). This mixture was inconsistently produced.

My favorites:
The Stout - powerful and smooth with a heavy cake flavor. Wonderful full latakia mixture (full English).
The Deerstalker - sweet and rich (not partially rubbed) (mature Virginia flake).
The Roanoke - fuller and more complex than F&T Golden Mixture. Finest tobacco I've ever smoked (mature ribbon Virginia).
New World - made with cuban cigar leaf. Mild with lots of nuance and subtle flavors. (Turkish-Cigar).

Some tobacco varietals were known by different names when these mixtures were made. The Roanoke and The Deerstalker have a large component of Old Belt Carolina. If you see crystals in these mixtures it's from the Carolinas. Today the Carolinas sold are nothing like this. New World used Basma A that was the most distinctive and fragrant of all of the Turkish varietals and it was the most expensive base tobacco used in the E&C line.

The youngest any E&C mixtures will be are from 1989 (26 years old). Hope that you get a chance to smoke some more but they're rare.

Regards,

Pete

[Pugsley]

I have a few tins from early to mid 2000's. The rest are 6 years or younger.

[Griz]

Six years. That's when I started smoking with the briar.

Have some MacBaren VA #1 just over 6, and FVF right at. All that is needed it a little patience to age the rest.

[Herf N Turf]

Thanks to @commonsenseman , I am the proud owner of a tin of VA flake from 2000. Naught short of heaven.