Tobaccos Drucquer & Sons - Trafalgar

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	JimInks (3046)	2016-09-30		Medium	None Detected	Medium to Full	Tolerable

The earthy, woody, tangy dark fruity, bready red Virginia also has a touch of vinegar, sugar, tart citrus, and spice. The tart and tangy citrusy, lightly sugary, toasty, floral and grassy bright Virginia is a shade less obvious. The buttery sweet, dry, sour and floral, woody, earthy, herbal, vegetative, musty Turkish adds a little spice in an important supporting position. The smoky, woody, earthy sweet Cyprian Latakia plays a complementary role. A whisper of perique provides raisins, plums and spice, though it’s often not very noticeable. The nic-hit is a shade closer to medium than it is to mild. Medium in strength, the taste level is a step above that. There’s no chance of bite or harshness. Well balanced, you’ll observe nearly all the inherent aspects of the tobaccos in every puff. Burns at a moderate rate with a cool and clean, deeply rich, fairly smooth consistent flavor. Requires an average number of relights, and leaves little dampness in the bowl. Not quite an all day smoke, but certainly repeatable during your smoking day. Has a full after taste, and a smoky campfire room note that may chase your mother-in-law away. You may be grateful for that.

-JimInks

46 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	clanobucklin (105)	2016-10-03		Strong	None Detected	Full	Pleasant to Tolerable

This is a very enjoyable Full English. When opening the tin I can smell the Latakia but its not as apparent as some other English blends I have smoked. The taste of the Latakia is there in spades once lit though. Not a Lat bomb but refined to the palate. The taste is pure English as there are no sour notes which to me denotes a Balkan. I find this slightly Fuller than Levant. This is not to take anything away from Levant - sometimes I want a classy smokey refined English - while others I want to get a down and dirty earthy Balkan. Think of it like comparing Ale - if Levant is a Double IPA - Trafalgar would be a Guiness. This is a Delicious, Complex and slightly Chocolately. A Great Fall/Winter Blend. Highly Recommended!

Pipe Used: Chacom Pipe

Age When Smoked: New

Purchased From: Smoking Pipes

24 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	ACWBill (1)	2016-12-19		Medium	None Detected	Medium	Pleasant

I rarely smoke two pipes full of tobacco in a day. I did with Trafalgar. I bought this before knowing that it was blended by Greg Pease. I would have guessed this based on the quality of the tobacco. It has a typically English, woody and musty tin aroma. It immediately reminded me of what Rattray's Seven Reserve USED to be when I smoked it every day. It is bit stronger than that, but mild enough to keep my tongue from chapping. This is truly an all-day smoke. The character is wonderfully sweet and spicy, and the room note like a small campfire. I love this tobacco. I have a 100 gram tin opened and stored in a sealed jar and put another 200 grams in the cellar. I also bought several other Druquer & Sons based solely on the taste of this tobacco. I smoked it a Bruce Weaver Lovat. The tobacco lights on the first try and is of perfect smoking condition right out the tine. It required only one re-lighting and burned to a fine gray ash. I can't say enough good things about Trafalgar. Admiral Nelson would be proud of the blend! : )

Pipe Used: Bruce Weaver Lovat

Age When Smoked: Brand New from Tin

Purchased From: Smoking Pipes.com

Similar Blends: Rattray's Seven Reserve from the 80s and 90s..

16 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Beer (345)	2019-08-28		Medium	None Detected	Full	Tolerable to Strong

I have been an enthusiastic fan of Caravan for 15 years, and this blend has the same quality: dry, tangy, full of Oriental character... but with a little bit more in terms of intensity. While a bit too intense and flavorful for an everyday smoke (which on the other hand Caravan could be, if Westminster were not even better at that game), this intensity and richness (which doesn't translate as "heaviness") also makes it bolder - while at the same time not losing any finesse.

Just compare this blend with similar offerings from other makers (even historical ones): others with such a composition always have a hint of muddiness, a thick kind of heaviness. Trafalgar has none: intense but clean and focused.

I have never tried the original blend, of course, so I can't say if this "homage" is close to it or not. For sure, it has a distinctive G.L. Pease signature (which means it's great as all his Latakia mixtures are).

A large bowl of Trafalgar, sipped slowly (perfect cut, perfect moisture, which makes it a joy to pack and light), is a marvelous experience.

14 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Jan Teeter (5)	2019-07-01		Mild	None Detected	Mild to Medium	Tolerable

Starts off as a real mild English, smooth and elegant with no rough edges. The orientals and Virginia work together to create a woody sweet flavor backed up by smoky notes from the Latakia. The perique is light and almost non existent at this point. (Luckily this changes later.)

The smoke is thin and wispy, delivering a nice cool smoking experience. Just enough to taste the tobacco, but not enough to overwhelm and linger on your palate. I have smoked the Levant mixture by D&S and this is quite a bit lighter and much more smooth.

Midway through the bowl the strength picks up to in between mild and medium. The orientals start producing a Peaty flavor similar to a macallan scotch. The perique comes now in a big way , creating a tingle in my nose and adding a plumy sweetness to the retro-hale.

Onto the finish - full of plum and figgy fruit flavors taking over the smoke. At this point I had to scratch my head ... wondering if this was an English. The tobacco now has adopted the fruitiness of a navy flake.

I absolutely love the progression of flavor this tobacco delivers! It doesn’t need age to perform well, you can smoke this now. Four stars without a doubt!

- Jan

Pipe Used: Radice Rind Lovat

Age When Smoked: Fresh

Purchased From: Smokingpipes.com

Similar Blends: Nothing I’ve ever had.

9 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Pryhosm (248)	2020-12-15		Medium	None Detected	Mild to Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

I am on an Oriental kick lately, maybe because I like them. The two tobacco's I didn't quite "get" as a novice pipe smoker back in the day were Oriental/Turkish and Burley. I have figured both out. One I am in love with and the other is very mood dependent. This is a really great blend. I have found solid Oriental blends hard to come by with McClelland exiting the building, GL Pease and C&D are a go to for all things good, my biggest problem there is that they crank out too many for me to choose from. This is a stand out and if this was an early creation of Mr. Pease, well then that speaks to his prodigy like strength as a blender. Tin note is quintessentially sour Oriental, slightly smokey from the Latakia the VA's are earthy and the Perique is not noticeable (I find this to be true through the entire smoke, although it may contribute to the nic strength). The flavor is fantastic. This is a well balanced, sophisticated tribute to tobacco blending. No topping or casing to rely on, only the natural flavors of the leaf. The Oriental/Turkish tobacco's are the lead players. They are spicy and buttery, buttery is one of the things I love most in a good Oriental. It is what gives the "malt" to Balkans and when done well in an Oriental forward English, like this, they provide that wonderful dairy land addition to my pipe! The smoke is dry, like a white brut sparkling wine. The flavors open up as dry, light spice from the Orientals and earth and sweetness from the red VA. The Latakia provides some slight sweetness and smokiness. The combination of the first 3 noticeable components provides a mineral like flavor or more of a sensation. I am hesitant to make references to the taste of blood or a penny but there are those earthy minerals that add an element to the blend that tends to bolster the woody and spicy elements of the Orientals. This is a complex blend if you take the time to reflect on the smoke, or you can go about your business and get a straight forward light English. I like that: solid and flavorful when distracted, nuanced and layered when you are in the mood to think about your experience as you let the day wind down. One final note: I get a sense of nostalgia while smoking this blend, it is a modern blend by a modern blender but it is seems to adhere to the most basic elements of tobacco blending one that relies on history, experience and the passing of knowledge from apprentice to master. It is what is so great about pipe smoking and what separated pipes form cigars.

Pipe Used: Briar’s and cob’s

7 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	nkulk8r (90)	2019-01-17		Medium	None Detected	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

Wow. Just wow. I love this tobacco. (I also love Nightcap, Quiet Nights, Father Dempsey and John Cotton’s Number 1 Mild -- not comparing, just saying -- but does it get any more quintessentially English than Trafalgar)? Westminster is a Greg Pease Balkan that’s been reviewed and highly rated (revered) as an English. I’ve been dating Westminster off and on for almost five years now -- I just got around to reviewing Westminster -- and I could only just render it 2-stars (notwithstanding the 58% of reviewers who awarded it 4-stars ). No matter how hard I tried, Westminster has always been a 2-star gig for me. I undergo one bowl of Trafalgar and -- BAM! – I’m absolutely head over heels in love with the stuff. (I appreciate the brazen sophistication of Quiet Nights – another Pease master blend – but then I find the Trafalgar taste to be slightly more elegant, its flavors more favorably refined than the Quite Nice). Being only the fourth one to review this blend (which is really hard to fathom, given Trafalgar’s release date) and with the first three reviewers having already said pretty much everything there is to say about Trafalgar, the only thing really left to say is that Trafalgar is as classically English as its name. Highly recommended; not to be missed. 4-suns.

6 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	ScienceSmoker (60)	2022-01-22		Medium	Extremely Mild	Medium to Full	Pleasant to Tolerable

A friend suggested Trafalgar since I'm a fan of old fashioned English blends. Upon opening the tin, there's an immediate musty sweetness that hits me. The scent is reminiscent of C&D's Epiphany... which is possibly the Perique. But it also has a much stronger English-ness about it.

It's a tad too moist for my liking... so I dried it out for about 15 minutes before smoking. First few puffs... sweetness, spice, really nice English flavors. The Virginias are tangy and sweet and a bit spice-y. The Orientals add a really nice dry herbal flavor. And there is just about the perfect amount of latakia in this blend, adding just the right amount of that sweet smokiness. In contrast to other reviewers, I actually think the Perique adds a really important, and substantial flavor. That sort of fermented plum flavor is big part of what I'm tasting in Trafalgar. Overall... really great blend. There's no bite, plus it burns smoothly and maintains a nice consistent flavor throughout.

Bottom line: Great old fashioned blend with a touch of Perique which gives it something special. 4 starts.

Pipe Used: Dunhill Shell Briar

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	wbradk (16)	2019-12-17		Medium	Medium	Medium	Pleasant

I generally prefer aromatics, and have for 40 years. Trafalgar is so superb that I am reconsidering. Tasty, complex, with just the right aura of spice, this is a remarkable blend that personifies the very summit of the English blends. Blender G. L. Pease has written about his memorable experiences in the original Drucquer sore; it must have been an amazing place... Now it is many months later...this amazing tobacco continues to be a favorite. I like it best as I am working on a bottle of wine, as I am doing now. Simply fantastic.

Pipe Used: Various older briars

Age When Smoked: New

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30167)	2019-07-02		Strong	None Detected	Full	Tolerable to Strong

A few years ago I deleted all my one and two star reviews. As the saying goes, when discussing people, "if you have nothing good to say, don't say anything". I decided that this should apply to pipe tobacco reviews also. Why write about a blend that you can't recommend to other pipe smokers. Fortunately, Trafalgar is not such a blend. With regards to Trafalgar; I found this blend to be perfectly blended and delicious to smoke. This is a mixture that deserves the highest accolades. It exhibits layers of flavor and is very satisfying. Unfortunately, it is too full for my tastes. That doesn't mean that I can't recommend it to pipesters who enjoy full-flavored blends. For those, I heartily give Trafalgar a well-earned 4 star rating, and Greg Pease kudos for having created it. Update: I've recently found that I can occasionally enjoy this mixture after dinner and especially with a nightcap.

Pipe Used: Lorenzetti Constantine 9mm Filter

Age When Smoked: Fresh

Purchased From: Smokingpipes (Exclusively)

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	King Weed (228)	2020-03-21		Mild to Medium	None Detected	Mild to Medium	Pleasant

I want to start out with Trafalgar's absolutely stunning tin presentation. Ranging from lemon yellow to orange to tan to a ruddy brown to an almost black component; this blend looked as good in the tin as any blend I've ever opened, and had Greg Pease's signature all over it. Unfortunately, the tin aroma did not quite reach this same high level as the appearance. The tin aroma was somewhat subdued and distant with no one component standing out. I compared it to the only other Drucquer tin I have open, Prince's Blend, and discovered that both the latakia and perique were fainter in Trafalgar. I also noticed the difference the presence of the Oriental(s) make in Trafalgar, as it has none of the grassiness in the background that you find in Prince's Blend. Rather, it has a more subdued and slightly woody background aroma. When I lit this blend up, I found the subdued and distant tin aroma was replicated in the pipe aroma and taste. The top third smoke was of a somewhat confused and weak nature and I couldn't get a whole lot out of it. Fortunately, this all reversed in the middle third and an Oriental-forward light English emerged that was both satisfying and unique to my recent English smoking. The bottom third finished in a more ordinary way with the Orientals now dropping back to a secondary position. All in all, a beautiful and beautifully blended light English that, unfortunately, always leaves me wanting more. I recommend this blend on the basis of it's appearance and that beautiful and Oriental-dominated middle third smoke; three stars.

Pipe Used: Ashton ELX Sovereign Billiard

Age When Smoked: two years old

Purchased From: an Ebay seller

Similar Blends: I know I've smoked a few blends like Trafalgar in the past; I just can't name them.. I agree with reviewer ACWBill 2016-12-19 that this blend is what Rattray's 7 Reserve looked like in the 80's and 90's; before it lost it's wider color range and became more median brown in color.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	gladi8tor96 (143)	2019-12-30		Medium	None Detected	Full	Tolerable

Very oriental heavy blend. Reminded me of my first journey into non aromatic tobaccos in the late 90's with Dunhill's Medium Mixture. The orientals are buttery, woody, and floral, but extremely well balanced with the va sweetness, which is just a hint. Small hits and wisps of smokey latakia shine through here and there as well as some spice and a bit of plum from the perique. It's quite a 'clean' and lovely blend. The flavors, as others have stated are full, but not heavy, though the other D&S blends are full flavored and heavy in my experience. Quite impressive!

Pipe Used: Savinelli Bent Billard

Age When Smoked: Fresh

Purchased From: Smoking PIpes

Similar Blends: Dunhill - Standard Mixture Medium, G. L. Pease - Westminster (Heirloom Collection).

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30167)	2019-04-17		Medium	None Detected	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

This is a very good English blend w/Latakia. I've never favored English blends all that much with the exception of MM965, Old Dublin & Tree Mixture which I thought tasted more like Balkan blends. So, I thought I'd give this a try. If you were to take some Blairgowrie & mix in the right proportion of Levant, you'd have something akin to Trafalgar. I'm nearly halfway through my first bowl & that is my initial impression of Trafalgar.

This mixture, like Blairgowrie & Levant smokes mildly & still packs a pretty good dose of Vitamin N but not as much strength or flavor as Levant. Of the three Drucquer blends I've sampled thus far, Blairgowrie, Levant & Trafalgar, this is my least favorite with Levant taking first place.

This is a very comfortable blend to smoke however... no harshness or bite. It didn't produce as much flavor or sweetness as anticipated but at least the Latakia does not overwhelm & gives the other varietals a chance to attend the party & toward the end of the bowl, is not so notable. There is only a very slight sweetness in this mixture. I prefer the Balkan flavor far & above any English Blend I've ever smoked. This is a typical blend for those who prefer a "lighter," English Latakia offering & might find this blend quite appealing, as did I.

I'm staying with Levant which I thought was exceptional & produced a more suitable flavor for me. However, we're all different & taste is subjective & I'm sure there will be many who will favor Trafalgar tremendously & I hope they like it as much as I liked the Levant... my new best friend. Trafalgar can be an all day companion, will leave little or no condensation... depending on pipe quality & burns down to a dry, grayish white dottle.

Pipe Used: Cob, D. S. Huber Bent Dublin, Cavicchi CCC

Age When Smoked: A few months

Purchased From: Smoking Pipes

Similar Blends: Lighter English Latakia offerings... I'm not a heavy hitter w/English blends & tend to stay with quality Balkan mixtures due to more sweetness & Oriental flavor...

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	TheLoyalPiper (3)	2023-04-25		Mild to Medium	Medium	Mild to Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

This blend is excellent if your moving into the realm of dedicating pipes to blends. I find it takes extremely well to an apple shape pipe for its small-medium bowl size providing a comfortable restriction to tasting time, something that factors to my personal enjoyment to the blend, Starting with the colour: The amalgamation is light and beige like with dark bits throughout and its really sort of a plain beauty to the tin as the interior reminds me of the exterior, The scent is Bright and refreshing but heavily Rich and warm rather than fruity or pungent, When I closed my eyes the slightly oaky and rich aroma brings about nostalgia, reminding me of being a child at my grandmothers cottage and watching the Aristocats Disney film, specifically warming feeling to the scene in the beginning where the Cats share a spiced cream with a mouse carrying a butter cracker.

Much similar to the scene With the first portion of the pipe there is this lightly sweetened and spiced flavour to a buttery textured smoke with hints of clove on a campfire and charred/earthy rock in the room note, the flavor tends to blunt towards the mid of the bowl as the palette adjusts and room note peaks. This point in I'm usually engaged in conversation with my friend or spouse so I actually prefer this in a daily blend, As the last third of the bowl begins to burn that's when I feel the latakia and perique's on the tongue, a spiced fruit sensation that finishes off the bowl well and leaves me feeling well relaxed as I sip into the last portion of my milk and Tea and the conversation winds down. I have smoked this daily for a week and this is my first review of a Tobacco. But let that sit for a moment. A relatively seasoned smoker of 6-7 years growing to appreciate this blend enough to break silence about reviewing. I think ill find myself reviewing more as I move into the realm of expanding my collections of tobacco and pipes. If your thinking of getting this blend as a addition to your collection of excellent English blends I have two words. Do it.

Pipe Used: Barling, Trafalgar Fossil, 1818

Age When Smoked: Fresh

Purchased From: Smoking Pipes

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	RAV (12)	2020-08-20		Medium	None Detected	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

Update: raising to 4 stars. Been smoking more of this and really enjoy the fact that I can smoke it any time of day and all day.

Nice medium strength English. I generally don’t go for Perique in an English but this one is very delicate on the Perique and it shows up intermittently but pleasantly. I also generally prefer more of an oriental forward blend and this blend is more Virginia than oriental although the orientals are there, particularly on retrohale (where Perique shows up too). Not latakia heavy but it’s there in more than condimental amounts. Nic hit medium. Rich flavor but not overpowering in any way. Not sure I would buy again as it’s not exactly my preferred balkan flavor profile. But it’s a high quality blend for anyone looking for an all day English with a kiss of Perique.

Pipe Used: Briars, cob and meerschaum

Age When Smoked: Fresh

Purchased From: smokingpipes.com

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	LannarkGent (145)	2020-03-31		Medium	None Detected	Medium to Full	Tolerable

This is an English style blend that doesn't beat one over the head with an overbearing presence of Latakia. The Turkish presence adds a touch of playfulness to the flavor, with spice being present. The Virginia's do add a touch of hay and grass notes and some small amount of sweetness the other components heady mixture of flavors that seem to come and go making the flavor progress. The real treat to the Smoke though only becomes present in the final third of the bowl when the ball is fully warm. Then all the flavors come out to play at that point and it is a treat not to be missed. What we have here is an English blend that allows all of the components to play without being overwhelmed by the Latakia. An excellent smoking tobacco it burns down to ash easily for me and it is a pleasant and potential all day smoke highly recommended I rate this for stars easily.

Pipe Used: Peterson Kinsale xl

Purchased From: Smoking Pipes

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30167)	2019-02-26		Medium	None Detected	Medium to Full	Pleasant to Tolerable

This is a very good English blend w/Latakia. I've never favored English blends all that much with the exception of MM965, Old Dublin & Tree Mixture which I thought tasted more like Balkan blends. So, I thought I'd give this a try. If you were to take some Blairgowrie & mix in the right proportion of Levant, you'd have something akin to Trafalgar. I'm nearly halfway through my first bowl & that is my initial impression of Trafalgar. This mixture, like Blairgowrie & Levant smokes mildly & still packs a pretty good dose of Vitamin N but not as much strength or flavor as Levant. Of the three Drucquer blends I've sampled thus far, Blairgowrie, Levant & Trafalgar, this is my least favorite with Levant taking first place.

This is a very comfortable blend to smoke however... no harshness or bite. It didn't produce as much flavor or sweetness as anticipated but at least the Latakia does not overwhelm & gives the other varietals a chance to attend the party & toward the end of the bowl, is not so notable. There is only a very slight sweetness in this mixture. I prefer the Balkan flavor far & above any English Blend I've ever smoked. This is a typical blend for those who prefer a "lighter," English Latakia offering & might find this blend quite appealing, as did I.

I'm staying with Levant which I thought was exceptional & produced a more suitable flavor for me. However, we're all different & taste is subjective & I'm sure there will be many who will favor Trafalgar tremendously & I hope they like it as much as I liked the Levant... my new best friend. Trafalgar can be an all day companion, will leave little or no condensation... depending on pipe quality & burns down to a dry, grayish white dottle.

Pipe Used: Cob, D. S. Huber Bent Dublin, Cavicchi CCC

Age When Smoked: A few months

Purchased From: Smoking Pipes

Similar Blends: Lighter English Latakia offerings... I'm not a heavy hitter w/English blends & tend to stay with quality Balkan mixtures due to more sweetness & Oriental flavor...

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	JaWiBr (558)	2023-02-12		Medium	None Detected	Medium to Full	Tolerable

Tin note of pungent, mildly smoky and sour fruity wine. Tobacco is a Ribbon cut of brown black and tan. Moisture content is great. Burns moderate with few relights. The strength is medium and nic is mild. No flavoring detected. Taste is medium to strong and mostly consistent, with notes of floral, toast, wood, spices, mildly smoky, tangy, savory, Rasin, plum, leather, dry rich earth, musty sour vegetation, grass/hay, citrus, bitter, herbal, zesty, a dark semi-sweet fruit background note, and a peppery retro. Virginia is leading with Oriental/Turkish, Latakia and Perique supporting. Room note is tolerable, and aftertaste is great.

Pipe Used: James Upshall Smooth Acorn (4) (P) (FH)

Age When Smoked: 3 years

Purchased From: smokingpipes.com

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