Description
For C&D’s Sunday Picnic, Golden Virginias are combined with Perique and Izmir Turkish for a delicious and memorable flake tobacco. Overall, the blend is more savory than sweet and pairs delightfully with a morning coffee. Strength is medium with a bit of a kick but can be smoked any time of day. Very well ranked by pipe smokers, Sunday Picnic is designed to please straight Virginia smokers whether they like a mild or a strong smoke. Size: 50g. Note: now shipping in plain packaging.
About C&D English Pipe Tobaccos
What makes an English blend “English”, and the primary source of its singular fragrance, is the presence of Latakia. There can be sub-categories of English blends, such as Scottish, Balkan or even aromatic blends, but if it has Latakia, it’s an English blend. Latakia was originally produced in Syria, and was named in honour of one of their more famous ports. Initially Latakia tobacco is air cured, and then further processed by weeks of exposure to the controlled fires of aromatic woods and fragrant herbs. The end result is a condiment tobacco which possess a pouch/tin note that many find quite similar to a cozy campfire.
Due to lack of availability of Syrian leaf, 99% of the Latakia used in today’s blends is Cyprian in origin. Cyprian Latakia is actually a bit more assertive, leathery, and markedly sweeter than its extinct Syrian counterpart, as well as the obvious choice for Cornell & Diehl blends. Smoky Cyprian Latakia can be detected at levels starting between 3%-5%, with a palpable sweetness coming alive in the 10% range. If you stopped right there you would have the base of a bona fide English blend, and still have 90% room left over for possibilities. Having said, many an aficionado of the English blend prefers his mixture with higher levels of Latakia, with the component beginning to dominate at roughly the 30%-35% mark. Generally, you will see the presence of the Cyprian limited to 50%, but a highly skilled blender can “amp” up Latakia to 60%. Our own “Pirate Kake,” for example, contains a whopping 75% Latakia (and also happens to be one of our perennial best sellers).
