Tobaccos Sutliff Tobacco Company - Mixture No. 79

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Michael Kindt (18)	2014-09-27		Medium	Medium to Strong	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

Having smoked a whole pouch of Mixture No. 79, now, I'm upping my review to four stars. I love this stuff and do not want to be out of it.

ORIGINAL: Went garage saling with the wife this morning and dashed into my tobacco shop to grab a pop. They still sell the reasonably sized cans. Lo and behold what do I see--Mixture No. 79. Despite selling the throwback 12 ounce can of pop, it's a modern tobacco shop, meaning it's a cigarette/cigar shop that sells Captain Black and Prince Albert. They also have a selection of horrifying plastic pipes from China.

I was pretty surprised to see Mixture No. 79 there. I've always wanted to try it, just to say I did. For some reason I'm attracted to polarizing tobaccos. Universally loved or panned tobaccos are actually kinda boring if you think about it. Perhaps this is why Samuel Gawith is one of my favorite producers.

Mixture No. 79 is or was the blend of choice for millionaire pornographer and creepy old man, Hugh Hefner. Despite this, I bought a pack...seven bucks! Two and a half bucks more than the Prince it sat next to. In the car, I removed the cellophane and a very strong aroma of anise or licorice filled the air. "We may have just flushed seven bucks down the pooper," I said to the wife.

"At least you didn't get the canister," she said. Always looking on the bright side, that one.

The tobacco itself doesn't have such a strong licorice smell, thank goodness. Kinda fruity or something. Hard to place. Still pretty licorice-y, but not eye-wateringly so like when I first opened it.

Cut is a shag or a chop (or both). Pretty random-looking. Color is mottled, various shades of brown, some blonds, some blacks. Also random-looking. PG is present in the leaf. I can feel it with my fingers, but it doesn't seem to be overdone.

Taste is...wait for it...quite nice. I am enjoying this. No licorice at all translates. YAY! for that. An American attempt at a Lakeland, perhaps? There is a perfumey quality to it I like. Smoke is cool...not cool as in temp, but like a menthol cigarette, yet without the menthol. I am sipping this but I could see how it would bite if I started puffing away at it. I like how the strange licorice-y root beer-y smell of the tobacco itself is not present at all in the smoking. It has a flavor unlike anything I've ever smoked. It's uniqueness is what calls to mind Lakelands, but it is not like a Lakeland (if that makes any sense, haha).

Probably won't repurchase, but I can say the seven bucks wasn't wasted.

68 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	zulujerk (146)	2006-02-10		Mild to Medium	Medium to Strong	Mild to Medium	Tolerable

If you were ever curious enough to wonder what it would be like to smoke a urinal cake, here you go.

36 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	JimInks (3023)	2015-05-23		Mild to Medium	Strong	Full	Pleasant to Tolerable

The burley does show through the toppings at times, and is a little nutty, woody and earthy with a slight sharpness when it does. The base burleys in this product are the same as those in Heine’s Blend. The strong, sweet toppings have a number of flavors mixed in, including wintergreen, licorice (lots of that), sarsaparilla, vanilla, possibly pineapple, etc. The perfume and soap others mention is certainly ever present. I can see this appealing to smokers who like Lakeland scented tobaccos. The strength is a step short of medium, while the taste is full. The nic-hit is a couple of slots past the mild mark. Burns cool at the reasonable rate with a very consistent taste, though it may need some dry time. Doesn’t bite or get harsh. Leaves little moisture in the bowl, and requires a few relights. The lingering after taste seems a little more sour than the taste you get while smoking. The room note is a little pleasant. How you rate it obviously depends upon whether or not you like the toppings, and while many hate it, it’s popular enough to continue production. Because it’s such a polarizing blend, I rate it two out of four stars in an effort to be objective in my rating.

-JimInks

33 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	A. Morley (97)	2004-05-05		Mild	Very Strong	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

It would seem that it is to be my lot to take some kind of sick joy in all of these blends that are either passed over or outright hated by so many others. I like Mixture No. 79, you see. Like is the opperative word here. I love Prince Albert, I love Grousemoore; at times, though, and not infrequently, 79 suits me right down to the ground. My severe burley fixation is most likely a governing factor herein. I have always liked the quality and cut of burley employed by H. Sutliff, having, as it does, a softer, seemingly mor herbal note than that of many other drugstore brands.

That infamous casing that is so feared by so many others about, while not in keeping with modern and conventional tastes, is both complex and masterly. It is at once like unto the flavor found in many old style candies and that perfumish, eighteenth century style of blending only found today in those blends of a truly ancient pedigree. I have smoked this in a clay many a time, in fact. I love how I will, throughout the bowlful, get just the first hint of a Captian Black sort of sweetness which will then fast give over to the floral notes that are in such fine blends as Bourbon Street. By golly, what's good enough for Hef is good enough for me. Let's hope that he will soon come back to the fold, whatever blend he should choose.

Granted, this is easily induced to smoke hot and a little wet at times. I would be interested to see how it would perform in a pipe with a filter, Medico, 9mm., or otherwise.

Regards,

A. Morley Jaques

29 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	fr_tom (393)	2015-06-07		Mild to Medium	Strong	Full	Pleasant

OK - I am sure I am going to lose all credibility with this review, but I have tried M79 and found it better than people seem to think. In terms of flavor, I get floral, licorice, root beer, a little vanilla and maybe a little herbal/menthol. It is full flavored, but not overpowering. It has a lot of tastes in there, and they are pleasant enough. They are not what I am used to. The tobacco base is a solid burley with a little nuttiness you don't get much of since there is so much going on.

I am not going to go out of my way to buy this again, but if it were all I had, I would smoke a lot of it. It is really a 2.5 on the scale and a little underrated. It did not smoke hot or wet for me. It is different, but I did not find it as bad as legend seems to say.

20 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	BurleyTwirp (11)	2013-03-12		Strong	Medium to Strong	Full	Very Pleasant

This tobacco does not conform into any particular category. It is unlike any other. The flavoring must be tried to be understood. I think it's absolutely excellent. The taste and aroma are similar to Dr. Pepper. Again, not completely, but if you try it you'll see what I mean. Also, I'm a guy that hates goopy, chemically aromatics, so believe me when I say this isn't one of those. There's one disclaimer, however: This tobacco is ONLY enjoyed when smoked slowly, with labored puffs. There is a period of unavoidable tongue bite in the very beginning, when the pipe is first getting fully lit. After the 1-3 charring lights, let it cool down by smoking slowly. If this pace is kept for the rest of the smoke, you can then give Mixture 79 a fair analysis. Hopefully, more people will be willing to get past the initial minor tongue bite to find one of the most enjoyable tobaccos ever produced.

20 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	KinnScience (30)	2014-01-26		Mild	Medium	Medium	Tolerable

I suppose Middleton is shutting down PA, Carter Hall, Walnut, etc. I think that blends like, SWR, mixture 79, etc. will also soon pass on into history. Some say there will be "replacement" blends offered using the recipes .. by some company or another. I do doubt they will reproduce this blend at any point, but perhaps there are those who do enjoy smoking Mixture No. 79 by Sutliff; I however would not be among them. I have tempered my original review of this, in consideration for those who may find something redeeming in this tobacco, though I would strain to imagine what that would be. However, during my travels I took note of a people who enjoyed the rind of a fruit, dipped in salt that was so bitter it was nearly impossible to keep on the tongue. There are people who bury fish heads in mud for a month and then dig it up and consume the putrid flesh. There are others who eat boiled eggs wherein the embryo has developed into a partially formed duck. So it stands to reason that there would be some within a population of respectable size, who might enjoy this tobacco. I have never eaten the flesh of rotted fish, but I have tasted "balut", the aforementioned egg of the duck; it did not taste like chicken, nor did it remind me in any way of peking duck, and I remember I required a significant amount of the local beer in order to distract my palate in hopes of avoiding an unpleasant reaction. All this is to say that, while I cannot decide which experience I would choose should it ever be necessary to revisit one of the undesirable experiences; suffice to say that I would prefer not to. again, experience either of the two.

If you find yourself in, what I would consider, the unique position of finding some enjoyable aspect of this tobacco, you might want to consider acquiring a substantial amount of this blend, as I would not expect it to survive any decision process which might reflect a demand driven market.

Pipe Used: cob

Age When Smoked: less than 1 year

Purchased From: drug store

17 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	jdr2008 (5)	2013-12-01		Mild to Medium	Mild to Medium	Mild to Medium	Pleasant

Being interested in old name blends, plus all the bad reviews I have read about this particular blend, sparked my interest in giving Mixture No.79 a try.

I purchased a fresh 2 oz. sample from 4noggins and received it quickly through the mail. The tobacco was dark brown in color with just a few flecks of light brown mixed in. I could smell licorice and other components that I could not discern. All in all, the sample smelled very good to me.

I loaded up a MM 5th Ave that had been broken in, and used the 3 step method after I let the tobacco dry for about 30 minutes, it was a little to moist at the time.

The first light gave me a soapy floral flavor that was not overpowering, but was quite unusual for me. The final light gave me the same soapy floral flavor, and I continued to smoke.

The soapy floral flavor that I taste is not overpowering and I find quite enjoyable, the flavor is not harsh or bitter, but smooth and light. I find it to almost disappear after the 1st quarter bowl is smoked, other flavors that become pronounced, is the burley which has a slight tangy taste to it, with a slight sweetness throughout the smoke, the finish is almost like a root beer/ Dr.Pepper taste. As for myself, I enjoyed this blend and did not find it horrible whatsoever.

13 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2009-06-15		Medium	Medium to Strong	Overwhelming	Tolerable to Strong

I tired this bend in the mid 1980's. My first reaction was who put pin-sol in my pipe. I smoked 1/4 of the bowl, promptly emptied it and threw the pouch in the trash.

12 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	wintermute (90)	2009-07-01		Mild	Medium	Medium to Full	Strong

When I pull the pouch out of the box, there is a strong smell of anise. When I open the pouch there is an even stronger smell of perfume. When I pack the pipe, the perfume smell meets me even before the first light. When you finally get around to setting this perfume counter on fire, the headache can really begin. I love Burley and strong tobaccos, but I don't like strong cologne.

I have come across a snus tobacco that has this same taste and the snus manufacturer claims a kind of tobacco called Gotland. Maybe that's the secret to Mixture No. 79!

Anyway, the makers of this stuff ought to be ashamed. And, consider this, a tub of this perfume-counter nightmare costs twice as much as Prince Albert. I have a faithful brier dedicated to the Prince, while I had to sit and apologize to the cob that was forced to endure this stuff!!

11 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2008-12-20		Medium	Medium to Strong	Medium to Full	Tolerable

Update: 12/20/08. I recently ordered some misc smoking items which included a new Kaywoodie Super Grain, and two zipper pouches. I also ordered a large tin of Mixture No. 79. This tobacco has changed. I think this stuff is really great now. In the past, I hated this tobacco like mostly everyone else. Tobacco in a large tin is always better than in the foil pouch. Mixture 79 is no exception. Vanilla and anise predominate the burley, but the tobacco flavor comes through nicely. I will not smoke this everyday, but it is a welcome change of pace. I do advise, however, that a person delegate one or more pipes for exclusive smoking to this mixture.

I remember trying this stuff when I was in the service 35 years ago. I think I sent in a coupon for a free package. Anyhow, I thought it was the worst tobacco I ever smoked, and gave the pouch away. It indeed tasted like soap.

Receiving this as part of the free sampler, I thought I read reviews on this site before I gave or threw the package away. I could not believe that Hugh Hefner smoked this stuff. Some people actually liked this stuff. I had to try it again.

I packed this in a thick walled corncob and lit up. It had the same soapy flavor with anise or whatever, but, I have to say, it mellowed to a relatively flavorful smoke, with all the negative points in the background. I was really shocked. The other day I played golf and grabbed The Mixture 79 pouch to take with me, thinking I'd smoke less if I didn't enjoy it. Outside, this tobacco shined.

Not a great tobacco, but a once in a while change of pace. Hef could not be all wrong.

11 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Big Blue Jazzman (73)	2007-08-31		Medium	Strong	Overwhelming	Strong

When I was a lad my mother overheard me saying a foul word. She made me smoke a bowl of Mixture 79. I have not used that word since. It's amazing how anyone could smoke this and give it 4 stars, and then say they wouldn't purchase it again.

11 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2009-05-21		Mild	Strong	Mild	Strong

Normally I'm a sucker for standing up for the underdog. Which in this case represents Mixture No.79. But this junkyard dog needs to be impounded. It wasn't so much the taste that was awful, but the smell. It was utterly vile. Exactly like the perfume mentioned by many below. It isn't fitting for such a smell to come from one of my pipes. I'm grateful that I used a cheap cob to try it.

10 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	PeterD (91)	2012-09-22		Mild	Mild to Medium	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

...I smoked this tobacco in the early 1960's...along with other OTC tobaccos from Europe as well as stateside... From the flavoring standpoint it was quite different than PA, CH SWR, etc. I rather enjoyed the distinct difference and found it quite good.

While I prefer strong Virginia plug/flake tobaccos, I have been re-acquainting myself with the old OTC's...In the last several weeks I have smoked close to a tub of this and frankly, I like it better today than I did 48 years ago.

I don't get a "vanilla" or "anise" flavoring, though perhaps a soapy flavor to begin with...not too different from some of the lakeland tobaccos which I smoke regularly. There are some mild floral notes weaving in and out of the smoke, and a fairly strong burley taste, like hickory nuts, but other than that, I find it a pleasure to smoke.

While this will not make my top 10 tobaccos, it, along with several other OTC's will make it into my rotation of regular tobaccos. I'm glad I re-acquainted myself with this mixture, and recommend it to anyone seeking a change or simply wishing to experiment a bit.

If you subscribe to the rather negative reviews on this mixture, you really owe it to yourself to try it as unbiased as possible...just my take on things...

Enjoyed in a group 4 or larger pipe...

...a pipe is to be savored...

9 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Pipestud (1829)	2002-09-19		Mild to Medium	Medium	Medium to Full	Strong

I have been told by old timers that this crimp cut burley mixture was often used (in small doses) to "pep-up" cheap Virginias. Well, all I can say is that I'd sure hate to load up a bowl of any kind of tobacco that needed Mixture #79 to save it!

Yes, this blend has been around for eons, but old is not always better. I can see where some may enjoy the Anise flavoring though, so I will offer a hesitant "Somewhat Recommended" rating.

9 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	HabaneroHardy (395)	2018-05-26		Mild	Very Mild	Very Mild	Unnoticeable

I finally got around to trying Mixture No.79. If it was good enough for Hugh Hefner then it must be good enough for me. It had a nice licorice smell when I opened the bag. I looked up anise and found that it grows naturally in Egypt where the seeds are used and smells similar to licorice root. I find this to be an average pleasant blend for what some call Over the Counter (OTC). Apparently, Hugh had better taste in women than pipe tobacco but in all fairness, I do not think they had the designer selection we have today. 3 stars due to its unjust bad rap.

Pipe Used: Various Pipes

Age When Smoked: New

8 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2016-09-25		Mild to Medium	Medium	Mild to Medium	Pleasant

I have been a pipe smoker for over 56 years. If you look at the more than 160 reviews I have posted to this site, you will see every genre represented. This blend is the most controversial of them all. Statistically, 25% love it and 75% hate it. I'm with the former. I think that this is one of the most delicious aromatics available. And it's been available for over 100 years. Other than needing a lot of dry time before smoking, it is perfect. The anise and vanilla and whisky make for a very tasty smoke. I don't taste any of the lakeland soapiness that other reviewers have eluded to. The chunky burley, with the added rubbed out virginia flakes, burns cool and dry from start to finish and there is no black cavendish. The anisette is upfront, with the vanilla and whiskey in the background, but adding the delicate sweetness that I love. It is a very satisfying experience. It smolders beautifully without large plumes of smoke. A real delight. Sutliffe has improved this blend tremendously from what I remember from 50 years ago. I think it's the quality of the tobaccos that has made the difference. This blend puts a smile on my face and makes me happy to be a pipe smoker. Update: I recently ordered a half-pound of bulk Mixture 79 from Smokingpipes. In bulk, this blend is #600. It is much chunkier than the pouch version. Besides the lower cost, I prefer the bulk. Update: I have been enjoying Mixture 79 mixed 6 to 1 (about 14%) with Sir Walter Raleigh Regular. It provides a cooler smoke . A lovely blend for aromatic smokers. Update: If you age Mixture 79 for at least six months, the anisette becomes less pronounced and the vanilla and rum become more inclusive.

8 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2009-05-30		Medium	Medium to Strong	Medium	Tolerable

i got this blend for free at a cruddy little discount smoke shop in my area, and after reading the awful reviews here, i had to try it. I have to say that i did not hate my first bowl of the stuff, and found it unremarkable. a few days later and i decided to load up new cob that i have reserved for the testing of awful blends. I couldn't even finish it, in fact i took two puffs and tossed the bowl and pouch right into the trash. just awful, like smoking a senior center or your grandma's perfume cabinet. not worth the 2 bucks they charge. Stay away unless you make a hobby of trying bad blends like i do.

8 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Bbrown626 (150)	2020-04-21		Mild	Strong	Mild to Medium	Pleasant

I do not understand the hatred towards this blend. As drug store blends go, this is well above average. The licorice casing is the star with some undertones of vanilla and a sweetness I cannot put my thumb on. If you are looking for a licorice blend, then this is worth a try. The burley adds a little nuttiness to the taste also. I bought this in bulk and Burns well with few relights as log as you keep it tamped down. Room note was pleasant, not so much the after taste.

Pipe Used: Medco Crest Dublin

Age When Smoked: New

Purchased From: Pipes and Cigars

7 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	dixcreek (182)	2016-05-27		Mild	Medium to Strong	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

Well after seeing how this blend had been hammered I decided to give it a shot. This stuff has been around for years so obviously someone has to be smoking it! The pouch note is anise and liquor, which was pleasant. Cubed cut was easy to Load in the bowl and it took fire well. Upon on lighting the first thing that came to my mind was that this was the love child of Sumbaca and Grousemoor. So far so good, I suppose that it is good because I happen to like both of those blends. This stuff stayed lit and actually smoked like a champ in all pipes used. I actually think that a good cob is the best weapon for this mixture. Flavor was consistent throughout the smoke with some pronounced sweetness coming in the latter part of the experience. Found little Dottle and very little goop. No bite in any of my smokes but I'd didn't hammer it to hard either. I can say I found Mixture 79 to be a solid smoke that you either like or you loath. If you are averse to either Lakeland scent or anise I say stay away and invest elsewhere. Will I purchase more, most likely in a tub this time as I feel that time in a good mason jar will only enhance the blend. As you know, if you have read any of my reviews, I tend to rate most tobaccos with a 3 or a 4. Reason being I rate on each blends own merit and not on others expectations. I cut my my teeth on home cured burley and Velvet so maybe my expectations aren't to lofty. I just know what I like and I happen to like Mixture 79.

Pipe Used: Grabow briars and cobs

Age When Smoked: New

Purchased From: Pipes and cigars

7 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	chetking (54)	2010-07-21		Mild	Mild to Medium	Mild to Medium	Very Pleasant

In the 60s during my university days Mixture 79 was at the absolute top of the line of drug store brands and a prominent feature at tobac emporiums. You could always maintain your "cool" and not be afraid to flash the aluminium lined 79 pouch at a frat party or night spot and risk appearing declasse. In fact, it was the "It Blend" at my Big 10 Conference school.

So I was rather shocked, very shocked to read many fellow reviewers dissing what was then one of the premium popular mass offerings. Perplexed me so much I immediately ordered a 14 oz. tub of old 79 to check on the veracity of these accounts. Got a good priced mail order deal from Black Cat Cigar Co, East Norriton, PA 19401 for $24.95 - a great deal for New Yorkers who now have to pay over six bucks for 1.5 Oz. of Mixture 79 at the tabacconist - if you can find it.

My old sweet and mild aromatic blend was as solid as ever and I'm glad I ordered it. H. Sutlife still sings! I give it an unqualified ** star rating: sweet bouquet as I opened the tub, healthy brown and golden broken flake appearance, a succulent, gentle, mild and overall pleasant smoke all the way. Going to take a few ounces of this and mix 3-to-1 with Paladin, Middleton Cherry or Admiral's Choice Cherry Cavendish because Mixture 79 Cherry (another old pleaser) is either out of production or nearly impossible to find.

Many of my reviewer colleagues trashing 79 - well, I think they were really just piling on. This is and always was a thrill of a pipe smoke and I can certainly understand why Mr. Cool Sophistication himself, Hugh Hefner, smoked it arduously until 1985 when he had a mild stroke and the Doc ordered him to quit smoking everything. Happy Hunting!

7 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2007-01-12		Mild to Medium	Strong	Overwhelming	Tolerable to Strong

You know that stuff you spray on fishing lures and plastic worms to attract fish? Well just pour some of it on a cotton ball and stick it in your pipe and smoke it. You will have the same thing as smoking this stuff.

7 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Pipestud (1829)	2005-10-09		Mild	Strong	Medium	Unnoticeable

I thought I had reviewed this foul weed before. So, I checked the Search by Brand and sure enough, I had. Oh well, here it is again.

I have been told by old timers that this crimp cut burley mixture was often used (in small doses) to "pep-up" cheap Virginias. Well, all I can say is that I'd sure hate to load up a bowl of any kind of tobacco that needed Mixture #79 to save it.

Yes, this blend has been around for eons, but old is not always better. My suggestion is that you pass this one by unless your schnoze is no longer capable of detecting odors and your tongue is protected by an asbestos sheath.

7 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	D.K. (58)	2020-12-15		Mild to Medium	Mild to Medium	Mild to Medium	Pleasant

Rough cut blend (Definitely NOT ribbon cut) of tobacco smothered in what appears to be Dr. Pepper. Very soft-drinky rootbeery tutti-fruity aroma. It's ok, definitely not horrible. Definitely not great. In the vein of a Capt.Black regular with Cherry type smoke, with a watermelon jolly rancher in your mouth. I remember seeing so many pictures and interviews, and celebrity shots of Hef lighting his pipe. Always lighting. I know why. This stuff is always freaking going out. Those rough moist chunks just need sooo much fire to get a good smolder. You can roll snake-eyes real quick and scald your tongue off. I let this dry for a full day, but I'm thinking more like a week. Maybe totally dry, and rehydrate back to a comfortable level. Like I said, it's not bad. I'm not a bit upset I bought a tub.

Update You know, I was plugging along on another bowl of this, still trying to figure it out, and low and behold I got the menthol kick! Holy cow, there is a menthol/pepperminty substance in there. I'm thinking this blend really changes with bowl design and air flow, 'cause there is ZERO way I could have missed that in half dozen bowls. No mistaking. Maybe the "additive" is not in the blend equally? Perhaps settles in the canister? You may as well Just leave your pipe in the canister with the tobacco, 'cause it will cast a 79 shadow from now on.

BTW, change the above description to smoking Captain Black regular, mixed with Cherry, while eating a horehound hard candy and watermelon jollyrancher, drinking rootbeer and chewing Wrigley spearmint gum. Its so freakin weird. I love it.

Pipe Used: No-name freebie, old clobbered grabow

Age When Smoked: new

Purchased From: JR's

6 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	DavyCrockettwashere (33)	2018-12-27		Mild to Medium	Mild	Mild to Medium	Very Pleasant

My Dad smoked this for years until recently passing away. Going through his items, I found a tin of the 79. Dad could never understand why I didn’t like this blend. I would try the 79 here and there with the same results. It tasted weird to me and I was happy with Sir Walter Raleigh,which is still my all day pipe tobacco. Something happened recently. It was like Luke Skywalker when Obie passed and then the force was with him, because now I like the blend. Maybe it’s just that my taste buds have changed, but I really enjoy this “weird” tobacco. Or, just maybe the reason is Sutliff has changed this blend. I think the blend has been changed quite a bit. Long gone is the granulated tobacco. Now, there are long brown shreds of tobacco. Large pieces of chopped tobacco. The “weird” flavor that pipe smokers love to hate has been toned down. I remember 79 being a cinch to light. Now it will take five to ten lights to get going. As for (the Sutliff of California) Sutliff is an old Richmond,Virginia company.

In the pouch this tobacco is almost wet and needs next to a week of drying time. The tin I got was from Dad, so it had been opened enough to be smokable. This blend is definitely a hybrid, and by that I mean nothing else I’ve ever smoked, smells or tastes like it.

I detect a good amount of anise, which can give off other flavors being slightly floral. The vanilla is almost unnoticeable as is the wee drop of whisky. The flavors go well with the nutty, chocolate burley tastes. The room note is nice, smells great in fact.

Either Sutliff has changed the recipe or my taste buds have changed. Whatever happened, I enjoy it now. May the force be with you too.

Pipe Used: Stanwell, Savenelli,

Age When Smoked: New

Similar Blends: Lakeland Gawith’s..

6 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	canvas (337)	2018-06-28		Mild	Medium to Strong	Medium to Full	Tolerable

EDIT: A recent pouch of 79 left me lacking, as the shredded bits were torn into almost a powder (though still retaining their bouncy rubbery feel), and the taste wasn't quite as nummy.

I bought a pouch of 79 shortly after Hugh Hefner died. I read he smoked it for a long time and wanted to test it out as a some kind of tribute. It sat forgotten for quite some time, and took almost a year before breaking the seal.

The initial aroma forms a soapy, black licorice, anise, old-time candy mish mash. The sort of smell one might find from fancy bathroom soap. For this reason, it reminded me of Samuel Gawith's Lakeland blends, as they also taste akin to Violet candies.

Everything was moist and it packed well enough. The lit product tasted pretty much the same as what I smelled initially. It does stain the mouth afterwards, in the way a Menthol cigarette tends to linger (so you may want to be wary of ghosting the pipe you are using). Aside from the intense flavoring, the nicotine is light and I had little problem smoking successive bowls.

I'll assume this stuff has such a low rating, since it smells more like perfume than tobacco, still, it IS meant to be an aromatic and I rather enjoyed it.

Purchased From: pipesandcigars.com

6 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	oldcodger (74)	2014-05-10		Medium	Medium to Strong	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

Sutliff Mixture No. 79 is one weird tobacco. It garners scads of very negative reviews. Yet it has sold well for decades while myriads of "good" pipe tobaccos have disappeared.

Mixture No. 79 is a burley blend, all burley but with some variance in color from tan to brown to dark brown. The darker colors predominate. The cut is slightly chunky. This rates about medium in terms of ease of lighting, but less than that of most OTC brands. It seldom requires a relight. Tongue bite is minimal. as is the case with most burley or dominant burley blends.

The nicotine level is medium.

The pouch aroma and taste are unique. Sutliff's description mentions vanilla, but the predominate note is licorice (or its taste twin anise). Many pipe smokers do not realize this, but the overwhelming majority of pipe tobaccos have licorice (or anise). This is a powerful sweetening agent, but in most blends it is used in an amount small enough to sweeten but not give an obvious taste of its unique flavor. The amount used in Mixture No. 79 is by no means moderate.

The room note is one of a kind. As with most aromatics, the majority of people find it pleasant. But there is a minority who find the aroma of No. 79 to be perfumey in a cheap toilet water sort of way, and not acceptable.

I find Mixture No. 79 to be a fine change of pace smoke, but not one that I enjoy smoking frequently. I prefer considerable variety in my smokes, so by change of pace I do not mean every three or four pipe fulls but every three or four days. A pouch will last me a couple of months.

One of the frequent complaints against this tobacco is very valid. It does ghost a pipe, as much so as any mixture I have smoked. This is no big deal if the several smokes it takes to eliminate the ghost is another aromatic. But with other types of pipe tobacco the ghosting is quite disconcerting.

6 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2009-01-13		Mild	Strong	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

It smokes dry, mild, is not bitey and is inexpensive; that said, there is something about the flavor and room note that screams old woman. It taste like the way they case this blend is by storing it at the bottom of your grandmothers purse along with black licorice for several years. It has that faintly floral and talcum powder odor that seems to be omnipresent around elderly woman and it tastes like it smells. A quarter way through the bowl I found my self becoming extremely nauseous. I got 3/4 the bowl and then stopped because I realized I was needless torturing myself, as if in penance for even daring to sully my pipe with it.

6 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Sherm Natman (5)	2019-01-23		Medium to Strong	Mild	Full	Pleasant

This is a heavier, darker, and more full-bodied smoke than Prince Albert (which is very clean, moderate, and basic). While there are a lot of extra flavors added to this, they more or less escaped me upon smoking; as all I got was a strong, dark tobacco flavor from the smoke, and with no chemical tastes detected - nor any of the advertised flavorings either, for that matter - and that was just fine with me for what I like. Warning: Do not be alarmed or put of by the strong "menthol/Skoal" nose-hit from the pouch; while quite moderately strong in the pouch, the pouch-smell had little transference to the mouth-taste for me. I only got the very lightest of impressions of any detection of black licorice/menthol while actually smoking Mixture No. 79 - and only along the very edges of the sides of my tongue. As everyone's taste sensations are different you may have a wholly different smoking experience. The point is, don't judge Mixture No. 79 out-of-the-bag. Will I smoke this one again? Sure, I can see it being an alternative smoke when you are in the mood for something a bit heavier than PA; but, will I rush to smoke this again? Probably not; but I will definitely be finishing the pouch, and picking up another just to have on-hand for days when I want a heavier smoke, but do not care to dip into, or carry-around, some of my heavier, quality tabaks. If you are looking for a readily-available (Drug Store, Gas Station, RYO Store) pouch tobacco with a heavier, full-body smoke, give Mixture No. 79 a try - it might just be the one for you. As far as the "urinal cake bandwagon" is concerned with regard to Mixture No. 79, I will admit, my immediate thought regarding the pouch-note was: Mennen Speed-Stick; However, as I said above, I experienced none of that during actual smoking. Give it a try for yourself.

Pipe Used: MM: Legend Straight Stem

Age When Smoked: Fresh, out-of-the-pouch

Purchased From: Local Brick and Mortar Store

5 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	StevieB (2076)	2017-09-21		Medium	Medium to Strong	Medium	Tolerable

Sutliff Tobacco Co. - Mixture No.79.

I ordered this a few months ago but the package was impeded and held up by customs. But, after paying the surcharge I finally received it. Wish I hadn't!

O.k., the Burley tastes good-enough, I suppose, but the topping wrecks it. It's sharp, bitter, musty, too loud, and foul. I can see no pleasure in it. Once the burn's settles it becomes even worse when a floral/perfume flavour comes through. It burns hot and fast.

Nicotine: medium. Room-note: tolerable at best.

Rank.

Not recommended.

Pipe Used: Jake Hackert

Age When Smoked: New

Purchased From: Smokingpipes.com

5 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	MarkTheLad (46)	2017-05-31		Very Mild	Medium	Medium	Tolerable to Strong

This seems to be a very polarizing blend of tobacco for some reason, however I am not one of the haters. I put off trying it for a long time due to the negative press that it received, undeservedly so in my opinion. I actually like this blend, the tin note is of vanilla, a little anise, slightly flowery and a nice natural tobacco smell. It produces a nice thick smoke in which I taste the nuttiness of the burley, the vanilla and something slightly flowery that just kinda comes and goes. I also get a hint of the anise, it's very light though. It burns well and I only had 1 relight which was my fault and not due to the burning characteristics of the tobacco. Sometimes the toppings can be a just a little much and I lose a little of the natural tobacco flavor, so I like to blend this 50/50 with Sir Walter Raleigh and that mixture is my go to smoke right now. My wife gave me a thumbs up on the room note, although I only get just a little of that, but what I do get, seems to be very nice. If you have an aversion to flowery tobacco or anise, then you may want to steer around this one, otherwise ignore the haters and try this for yourself, you might be pleasantly surprised.

Pipe Used: Peterson Old Dublin X221

Age When Smoked: 1 week

Purchased From: Local store

5 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Philo Beddoe (221)	2016-10-29		Mild	Medium	Medium	Very Pleasant

I tried this blend about 25 years ago, shortly after I first started smoking a pipe and found it overwhelming. Over the years I wrote it off as perfumey dreck and thus avoided it like it was radioactive. Well...recently, I've been enjoying the YouTube videos from Artful Codger and was inspired by his love of this blend, a blend that I had considered the worst level of smoking hell. Why...how, could he possibly enjoy this awful, grandmas perfume soaked blend?

So, I decided to go out and dared to give it another try! You know what, it's not half bad, I dare say I even enjoy it....yes, you read that right, I enjoy Mixture #79. I taste a nice Burley tobacco flavor, with a casing of black licorice and vanilla, with a very light dash of a Lakelandesque floral. I enjoy black licorice and vanilla and Lakelands for that matter, so this blend really is quite nice. Will it ghost a briar, probably, but I like it enough to dedicate one to it, as well as my various meers.

I do understand why so many guys dislike Mixture #79, if you try it too soon and you don't know what you are in for, it's a hell of a surprise! If you have smoked only codger Burleys and drugstore vanilla and cherry aromatics, then Mixture #79 can be a bit of an odd duck. However, now we have this wonderful resource of the Internet and TR.com and all of the various forums etc., so new pipe smokers are much more informed about what they are smoking.

If you enjoy Burley and you enjoy black licorice, then I urge you to give this mixture a try, or another try if... like me, you found it off putting many moons ago. I wish to thank the Artful Codger for inadvertently encouraging me to give Mixture #79 another try.

Pipe Used: Various meerschaums

Age When Smoked: New

Purchased From: Local smoke shop

5 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	pop pops pipe (28)	2014-09-04		Mild to Medium	Medium	Medium	Pleasant

I just ordered a tin of this from WV Smoke shop. I haven't had it in years and wanted to take a trip back through time. I loaded up my Kaywoodie Gold burl, gave it a somewhat tight pack, and lit . Yes I remember, first thing that hits you is the perfume aroma and strong anise taste. After 2 minutes though it settles down quite nicely. Tasting anise and Vanilla in intervals. This is an old time formula, as in late 1700s all the way thru to late 1800s style. If you like bond street known now as bourbon st, Condor, Rich Dark Honeydew, and other non Balkan English blends you may like this southern American twist on things. It's an acquired taste so you have to try and smoke more than one bowl.It's actually a good tobacco if you smoke it proper .

5 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2013-06-11		Mild	Medium	Mild to Medium	Pleasant

What one needs to know up front is that this blend tastes like lightly caramelized dryer sheets.

Obviously, no normal person would find that delightful at first, but get through a couple ounces and you'll find yourself warming to the idea. I like it a little more each time I smoke it, and I began by not liking it much at all. I imagine the rabidly negative reviews are for the most part indicative of "first smokes," while the much rarer positive ones suggest someone who stuck with it a while. Since there are thousands of tobaccos that don't require a similar "breaking-in" period, I can completely understand those who question why Mixture No. 79 would be worth that kind of effort. For that, I have no answer. I can only say the flavor has grown on me, and has become something I reach for frequently.

* As an experiment, I tried blowing some of my second-hand Mixture No. 79 smoke on damp laundry before drying, and found it had no discernible effect on wrinkles or static-cling. Hmm.

5 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2010-01-25		Mild	Strong	Medium to Full	Tolerable to Strong

UPDATE 1/28/19

Smoked another few bowls of this. I found this sample less flavored than my original one, but still pretty nasty. I'm surprised by this a bit because I enjoy Lakeland tobaccos and I love licorice. But this stuff is beyond foul. I realize that sometimes seeing a tobacco you love lambasted by many on TR might make one cry "foul" and dream up all manner of conspiracy theories, but sometimes the tobacco is just that bad. This is one of those times. Kudos to those that actually like this stuff. It's just not for me and, obviously, not for many others either.

ORIGINAL REVIEW

I received a pouch of this as a free sample with a tobacco order.

The pouch aroma was heavy on the licorice/anise, which I found really nice - I love licorice! This flavor transfered to the smoke; however, it was laced with an extreme soapy taste and the aroma of what seemed to me to be bad men's cologne rather than women's perfume. I don't always trust the nose when I'm smoking, but that's my perception.

Mouth-filling smoke that I found extremely foul. I tried two bowls of this, both in meerschaums because I didn't want to ghost a briar. I will not be trying this again.

5 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	WildCody6 (1)	2022-03-02		Mild	Mild to Medium	Mild to Medium	Very Pleasant

There is just something about 79 that I absolutely love. It’s very hard to keep it burning properly but it’s worth the effort to me. The licorice topping goes very well with burley. I like to mix roughly 85% 79 with 15% War Horse Green to help with the combustion problem and it also kicks up the vitamin N a notch

Pipe Used: MM Cobs, Meerschaum, Briars

Age When Smoked: Fresh to 1 year

Purchased From: Pipesandcigars.com

4 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	BigAl (1)	2021-10-26		Very Mild	Medium	Mild	Pleasant

This is one of my favorite tobaccos and I can only assume that it's many detractors are put off by it's unique casing. Yes, the licorice can come off as bit floral, and this topping mixed with the woody burleys can give off a medicinal or herbal vibe, but therein lies this blends peculiar charm. It is also true that the blend is not without some idiosyncrasies. It can be difficult to light. It can burn a bit wet. It can get a little sour if heated up. However, once these minor distractions are dealt with the smoker is rewarded by wonderful burley forward smoking mixture with a flavor and room note that serves as a reminder of what American men smoked in decades past. The burleys are woody and sweet, the virginias a bit grassy (I do think there is a little bright virginia in here) and the topping holds it all together. This tobacco is highly recommended. Don't just sniff the pouch, load up, take two puffs and proceed to pile on. Give it time. Smoke it slowly and you will be rewarded with all of the goodness that lightly floral sweetened burley blends have to offer.

Pipe Used: Cobs, Falcons, Briars

Similar Blends: Great Outdoors, Match Field and Stream, some Uhle's blends.

4 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	MRBROWNNOSE (18)	2020-11-27		Mild to Medium	Medium	Medium	Pleasant

Man I really do not understand the hate for this blend. If you read thru the reviews of Mixture 79 some of these people make it sound like toxic waste or something just god-awful and that's just not the case IMO.

For the taste, Mixture 79 has a Anise slightly Licorice flavor and even though I do not like Black Licorice AT ALL but the flavor used in this (as well as Field & Stream and several others) is more of a sweet flavor and not a strong Black Licorice taste so it passes with flying colors in my book.

Apparently this stuff was one of Sutliff's heavily advertised blends. Have a old pipe smoking book/pamphlet (The Art Of Pipe Smoking) that mentions this blend many times as a perfect smoke.

Mixture 79 burns well with few relights but does come slightly damp and could benefit from a little dry time, I just leave mine in a plastic bag and around a year later it's still ok.

This is not quite a 5 star blend for my taste but I did pick up a pound to put away and I do enjoy this classic and recommend giving this blend a fair and honest chance (more than a bowl (or less in many cases lol) try it is several pipes on different days over time to form your OWN OPINION keeping in mind our tastes are all different.

Pipe Used: Peterson Dublin Castle, estate cobs

Age When Smoked: New, and close to 1 year

Purchased From: Smoking Pipes, p&C

Similar Blends: Field & Stream.

4 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Tim (2)	2019-12-30		Very Mild	Medium	Mild	Pleasant

This was the first pipe tobacco I smoked. It was what my father smoked. I almost never smoke it these days it is too mild for me and I've discovered I really enjoy the flavors of tobacco so I almost nevrr smoke any aromatics.

Having said that though, I've got to believe many of these negative reviews are written in fun. This was my favorite drugstore blend when I smoked them. It's cheap, easy to load, burns well, tastes good, has a pleasant room note and doesn't taste like cherry or apple or some other awful thing. TBH and odd as this may sound, I used to pick up a slightly soapy taste and yet it was not a bad flavor. If I could no longer get non-aeros I would go back to it. If you're stuck for tobacco some day and have to go to a drugstore or one of those cigarette stores, give it a try I bet it will be as good as anything else there, and better than most.

Pipe Used: various

Age When Smoked: new

4 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	JustAnotherJim (2)	2017-12-19		Mild	Mild	Mild to Medium	Very Pleasant

I'll begin with the tobacco's biggest weakness. It is burly. Burly always tastes vaguely of cigarettes to me and I am not a big burly fan. The burly made me hesitant, but what got me interested was the Anisette topping. Anise flavoring, whether in booze, black licorice, or tobacco, is a deeply divisive subject. If you hate it, don't bother. I learned to love Anisette hanging around Greeks longing for the old country while drinking Ouzo (Anisette on steroids) and Retsina (a Greek wine that is not unlike turpentine and has no connection to Anisette, but is weirdly pleasant after about the 4th glass).

Here's the catch. I don't taste anise flavoring in the tobacco. I don't smell it in the air. I dragged my wife out to the porch. She didn't smell anise either but said the room note was tangy and quite pleasant.

"Tangy" really was the perfect word. There is a definite sweetness along side the tang. The overall effect was similar to a cherry tobacco but without the cloying sweetness of cherry. (I really dislike cherry tobacco.) It had all the advantages that cherry's supposed to have without the disadvantages.

Some burly blends (what I think of as drugstore tobaccos) have a dusty flavor that screams cheap leaves and too long in the warehouse. This is certainly not my sense of No. 79. It seems like a high quality blend if burly is your thing. So, if you like smoking burly tobacco, this might be an interesting blend. If you are looking for a licorice hit or an ouzo high, I suspect you aren't going to get any of that and be disappointed like I was.

Pipe Used: Corncob and Peterson billiard briar

Purchased From: Pipes and Cigars

4 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2017-04-15		Mild	Medium	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

I haven't had this since the mid-nineties. I didn't mind it then, but it just wasn't something that I would choose over my preferred smokes at the time.

I am making my way through a pouch of the most recent iteration of M79, and I must say, I like it. The base tobaccos are good quality, the topping is something I enjoy, and it burns easily and dryly right down to the heel.

If you like OTC burley tobaccos at all, try a pouch of this old blend and judge it on its merits: you may be surprised.

Age When Smoked: Fresh

4 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	usafvol1 (16)	2017-01-16		Mild to Medium	Very Mild	Mild	Tolerable

I think the nostalgia regarding this tobacco is better than the tobacco itself. If you want to get a feel for what our grandparents smoked, which was usually store bought, cheap stuff, then this is for you.

The aroma in the pouch is pretty intense anise/licorice. Yuck. Nobody likes licorice these days. It burns pretty good, with a room note and flavor akin to a generic cigarette. The only purpose I see in smoking this tobacco, is if you're gonna be out working in the yard/shop/garage, etc., all day long, and simply just want to smoke to pass the time.

Pipe Used: Viking 301

Age When Smoked: Fresh

Purchased From: P&C

4 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2009-08-03		Medium	Strong	Medium to Full	Very Strong

I agree with pretty much all the 3 & 4 star reviews below (what few there are!). This blend is clearly love it or hate it, but I do not think it is fair to say it is a badly made product.

If you are deciding whether to purchase this blend may I offer this advice:

1. Buy a SMALL 1.5 oz. pouch, NOT a tub. Then you won't regret it if you realize you don't like it.

2. FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, devote a pipe you do not care about when trying this - it will leave a ghost in your pipe like nothing else out there, even after only one bowl IMHO. I smoked this in a Dr. Grabow I devote to soapy/perfumey Lakelands.

3. Ask yourself the following: Do I like anise-flavored things?

Not sure? Go buy some black licorice, black jelly beans and, if you are really wanting to test your love of anise, some strong European licorice candies like Salmiakki, Katjes, or Panda licorice. If you like the taste, proceed to hunt down a pouch of Mixture No. 79.

4. Ask yourself the following: Do I like perfumed/scented Lakeland tobaccos?

Mix. 79 is an American version of this niche of pipe tobacco. If you have never tried such tobaccos, Mix. 79 may be a cheaper way to decide whether you should plop down the dough for an expensive (in the US, at least) tin of Ennerdale Flake or Grousemoor.

This tobacco represents a style that is from another time...and, of course, tastes change in the course of 80+ years. But it is worth a try.

4 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2009-02-23		Mild to Medium	Medium	Mild to Medium	Very Pleasant

I don't know why lovers of lakelands don't stand up for this blend more - sure, I'd rather have a good rich slice of G&H in my pipe, but you know what? This stuff isn't half bad in the perfume-blend department. There's some halfway decent burley in there, too.

Shied away from this for a looooooong time because of how badly people talked about it, but finally I realized that what was said - tastes like soap, smells like granny's perfume - are exactly what I ENJOY about blends like Ennerdale, Condor, &etc.

Figured, what the heck. If I can find an OTC that approximates the lakeland enigma of enigmas, I'm in for the pocket change.

4 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Seanv (35)	2020-12-19		Very Mild	Medium to Strong	Mild to Medium	Tolerable

Pouch purchase. The cut is chunky and rough. Some darker cubes and lighter strands. I have found a lighter pack works best with this one since the cubes expand when hot.

Initial aroma is a hodgepodge of sweet and sugary toppings. I dont get the fabled root beer aroma directly but I can understand why some say they do. I get some perfume and some anise aroma for sure. I think the pouch note is nice.

This stays lit easily. I have experimented with varying moisture levels and found my sweet spot. I prefer about 20 mins of dry time pre packing.

Flavors of that sweet perfume and sugar are up front. As the bowl progresses I get more of the nutty Burley than the sweet topping though it remains for the whole bowlful. At times I have tasted the infamous root beer flavors but not in each puff. The anise is there for most of the smoke and I like that. Room note is sweet and tobacco forward. I get whiffs of the perfume notes occassionaly while smoking but not much in the room note.

Overall, this is blend gets dragged through the mud for being so unique. I recommend it and will keep some around. The ghosting is real with this one so be aware. I smoke this out of a cob but I am thinking of dedicating a briar. 3 stars.

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	manxman (82)	2020-12-13		Medium	Very Mild	Extremely Mild (Flat)	Tolerable

I would not consider this an aromatic, I did not find it to be. Just burley. I understand this was a favorite of Hugh Hefner. For the life of me I cannot fathom why. Obviously, HE could afford better tobacco. For reference, I bought the bulk version, not the tub or pouch. Thank god I only bought a few ounces.

Pipe Used: Briar with filter

Age When Smoked: Fresh to 5 months

Purchased From: Pipes &cigars

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Bubba Rogowski (2)	2020-12-12		Mild to Medium	Medium	Medium to Full	Pleasant

I've been on a Pilgrimage to try the "old codger" blends that I remember my Grandfather smoked. I tried 'em all. The only 2 that were acceptable were Velvet and Mixture 79. They are not great, but remember, technology has advanced to make better pipe tobacco. When I feel nostalgic I can enjoy 2 tobaccos that my Grandfather smoked. Mixture 79 is an old school drugstore tobacco.......it is what it is. Don't expect too much from it and you won't be disappointed. Are there better pipe tobaccos out there? Yes. Are these 2 horrible? No.

Age When Smoked: new

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	mel64us (46)	2018-12-10		Medium	Medium to Strong	Full	Overwhelming

Let me start by saying that I enjoy many OTC blends along with many upper level English and Burley blends. My go-to blends are Carter Hall, Captain Black Royal, and Peterson Old Dublin. I smoked Mixture 79 occasionally in the 1970's and it wasn't too bad. I don't know if the blend has changed, my tastes have changed, or both, but I can't stand the soapy perfumed aroma and flavor of this anymore. I used to mix it with Cherry Blend at times and that doesn't work for me either. If you smoke and enjoy Mixture No. 79, more power to you.

Pipe Used: Cobs, Dr. Grabow, Medico.

Age When Smoked: Fresh

Purchased From: Local tobacco store

Similar Blends: .

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	TruckinDan (3)	2018-03-01		Mild to Medium	Medium to Strong	Mild to Medium	Tolerable

A part of the joy of pipe and cigar smoking, for me, is in sampling the favourite tastes of the famous and infamous. This particular tobacco was Hef's bowl. Whatever you happen to think of the man, I naturally had to try it. I immediately regretted the decision. It tastes rather like I'd imagine an old and well used Playboy magazine; shredded and cut, then left to age in a back alley adult book store would smell, with a dash of hooker perfume added for pizzaz. I struggled to gently puff through one bowl of this tongue searing concoction when my girlfriend remarked at how miserable I looked and suggested that I smoke something I'd enjoy instead. I promptly dug this unpleasant substance put of the bowl of my Peterson and started loading my Comoy's with Half and Half, an old stand-by. I bought this from Pipes and Tobacco as part of a comparison package they had dubbed a "grudge match". The other tobacco was the Half and Half. The Half and Half won hands down. I wonder if therr is anyone I know who I dislike enough to give the rest of this to, or if I should just give it a proper burial in the trash.

Pipe Used: Peterson Derry zulu

Age When Smoked: Fresh

Purchased From: Pipes and Cigars

Similar Blends: Every other English style blend I've ever tried, at the risk of insulting English blends..

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Black Sheep (25)	2017-07-21		Medium	Strong	Medium to Full	Tolerable

It begins strong, a bit sweet, and with an odd nose; followed by discomfort, anger, regret, and finally sadness. I don't know what this tastes like, I don't want to know.

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	TallPuffO'Burley (632)	2015-09-03		Mild to Medium	Medium to Strong	Mild to Medium	Tolerable

I finally got a chance to try this much maligned mixture. It was never one I tried early on and watching it repeatedly get bashed on forums made it clear that I would not be buying it. Surely, someone would try it and hate it and offer it up. Well, it took me getting my nephew into pipes and he bought a pouch and gave me a healthy sample.

So I tried with as open a mind as possible and the first bowl was a bit of a shock to the system as the topping is pretty intense. Normally, you would associate aromatic toppings with things you eat and drink. This one is more like a cheap cologne covering a bit of BO.

Well, the sample was large so it took several bowls to finish and something happened. I started to acclimate myself to the topping and it bothered me less. Note that I still can't really say I liked it, but would prefer it to say, grousemoor. The topping is really pervasive on the first third, but it does settle down and the last half of the bowl or so uncovers a very nice burley base that is pretty good.

I have been told that this base is the same used in Heine's blend. I am definitely looking forward to trying that one in the future as it may be right up my alley. So with this blend and blending the subjective and objective I am leaving at two stars. It did not repulse me and there are some people who like it. It has some good leaf under it and it can be tasted. And it is a mild smoker that will not bite.

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Perique (163)	2014-11-06		Mild	Medium to Strong	Medium	Tolerable

Their respective merits not withstanding, if you took the worst elements of a Lakeland blend and combined them with the worst elements of an American "codger" burley blend, you might come up with something a bit better than ole Number 79.

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2012-02-12		Medium	Medium	Medium	Tolerable to Strong

Granted, Mixture 79 will never be a world favorite, and will never make my Top Ten list, but it's nowhere near as bad as Reviews may make you believe. I would call it unique rather than horrible. It reminds me a lot of Whitehall, which was a blend that I smoked a bit in the 1960s and 70s. Not to be confused with Whitehall Black Tie.

A sniff test of the baggie it came in reminded me faintly of old-fashioned root beer barrel candy. The moisture is no worse than many Premium blends, and less moist than many I have smoked. The tobacco itself is a mix of light, medium, and dark Burley which is similar to Carter Hall is its cut. Mixture 79 can be packed and lit with little or no drying, and anything that might be mistaken for perfumey will burn off quickly, leaving an oddly satisfying slightly sweet flavored smoke with a hint of bitterness which is enjoyable a way I never would have imagined. Sutliff claims Mixture 79 is topped with vanilla, which some may sense as perfume, or like the root beer I noticed.

I'm smoking a bowl as I write this, and with each puff I'm liking this old-fashioned blend more. So much so that I'll definitely order a tub of Mixture 79 next month. And time will tell if somehow this could become a Top Ten blend for me. Maybe it helps that I already enjoy American Classic Blends, and that I don't have a negative opinion of Sutliff and Altadis, but judging it on its own merits, I do like it. So if you've been curious, or been tempted, I'd say its time to give Mixture 79 a fair chance.

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2005-07-04		Medium	Medium	Medium to Full	Pleasant

Ah, Mixture No. 79. From the reviews here, you might wonder how a blend this (apparently) nasty has managed to be around as long as it has. I count only three positive reviews of this fine old tobacco here, and none of them is a rave.

Well, here's the first rave. I don't just like Mixture No. 79, I love it. It is one of the staple tobaccos in my life, and it has never disappointed me. To this pipe man, a bowlful of Mixture No. 79 is a slice of heaven, a pleasure that offers many rewards.

This is an uncommonly well-behaved tobacco. Usually a charring light isn't necessary; one careful stir of the flame and you can smoke for a good ten minutes before needing to strike another match. Many of my fellow reviewers complain about tongue bite, and this blend does have an unusual tendency to bite ferociously if not smoked carefully. I try to smoke as slowly as possible, and usually end up with just a mild tingle on the tip of my tongue.

As the venerable A. Morley Jaques noted above, this is a "complex and masterly" mixture. It does have a certain soapiness, it does have some floral and perfume scents, but it also has a hint of vanilla and a persistent, creamy sweetness that I can only describe as sublime.

Another notable aspect of this tobacco is its remarkable consistency. Far too many tobaccos get sour at the final stages of a smoke, with many that end up all but unsmokable in the final third or fourth of the bowl. Mixture No. 79, however, gets better and better through the course of a bowl, and your last puff will be as flavorful and rewarding as your first (and I always enjoy the scent of this blend's first light). This is truly an aristocratic and refined mixture.

This is decidedly not for everyone, but if you want to try something different, something unique, something with a little history behind it, you can do a lot worse than 79. This was the blend of choice for Frank Sinatra's pipe, and Hugh Hefner smoked it exclusively from about 1959 until 1985, when he had a stroke and swore off the briar forever. The Playboy Mansions in both Chicago and Los Angeles always featured packets of Mixture No. 79 stacked on shelves in every room so that Hef could fill his pipe no matter where he was. He smoked 10-15 bowls of this per day. Not a bad lineage, I'd say.

Mixture No. 79's room note is delicious and and I love the smell it leaves in my moustache. All in all, I find this a magnificent blend, and not at all deserving of the near-unanimous derision it receives here. It's not to everybody's taste, but what blend is? I, for one, despise latakia, which many of my fellow pipe smokers adore. To each his or her own. I'll stick with 79.

WARNING: Mixture No. 79 does have one unfortunate habit: it will make any pipe in which it is smoked taste like 79 forever. That is a bad thing for anyone who doesn't smoke this tobacco exclusively. Try it in a cob to protect your good pipes if you end up not liking it; it smokes beautifully in a Missouri Meerschaum of any size.

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2003-12-22		Mild	Strong	Mild to Medium	Pleasant

Hey, Hugh Hefner made this stuff famous!

Okay, it is, because of the flavoring of anise, an acquired taste. (The manufacturer says that the topping is "natural vanilla flavoring," but I don't taste vanilla. I taste anise.)

If you like licorice or an anisette such as Pernod, as I do, this tobac is a nice change of pace from the heavy latakia blends I usually smoke.

It burns quietly and well, and it keeps its flavor to the end of the bowl, defying the dreaded "burley curse." It ~does~ have the tendency to bite if smoked too quickly.

The room note is pleasant.

As other reviewers have mentioned, the flavor stays in the pipe, so beware.

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2002-09-23		Very Mild	Mild	Mild	Pleasant to Tolerable

In the interest of maintaining some form of balance in this fine compendium, I feel it necessary to say I like this blend, which is true.

It is not one of my favorites. It is not very noteworthy. It WILL bite the inexperienced who expect more than it offers. And it CAN be unpleasant to those who don't like burley or anise. The key word here is MILD. 965 this is not. If you want that much flavor, stick with English-style blends with Latakia, or you WILL fry your tongue looking for big taste. It's not here. This is an extremely light, nondescript tobacco with a hint of liquorice. That's it. And I'll say it again. I like it.

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	WalrusMustachePiper (7)	2021-12-07		Mild to Medium	Medium	Medium	Very Pleasant

If i was an old codger back then that would be the stuff i smoke everyday, Very Good stuff, one of those blend that take you back in time. If you love old school OTC burley blends you gonna love this , delicate vanilla rootbeer like aroma with anise . I plan to cellar a lots of Can of this stuff before they take it out of the market due to all these unbiased bad reviews .

Pipe Used: Sasieni Fantail , Cobs

Age When Smoked: New

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	PaulMcCoy (78)	2021-10-12		Mild to Medium	Strong	Mild to Medium	Tolerable

People either love it, or they hate it. Most don’t care for it. I think it’s really dependent on if you like licorice or not. I personally hate it. If you like licorice, give it a shot. The mechanics are good, and I like the tin art, but thats about it.

Pipe Used: Missouri Meerschaum Legend

Age When Smoked: New

Purchased From: Local B&M

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Sparky1 (1)	2019-09-26		Medium	Strong	Medium to Full	Pleasant

This tastes like Prince Albert with a heavy Lakeland-style topping. It has the potential to bite the living daylights out of your tongue if smoked too quickly, so regulating your cadence is a must. It will do in a pinch for those who are fans of the burley/Lakeland combination only because it's easy enough to find in local cigarette and drug paraphernalia emporia, but if you happen to live in Boston or are willing to wait for a shipment to arrive in the mail, the big four from L.J. Peretti (Original/No Name/100/101) can scratch that particular itch without endangering your sense of taste. There is a reason I don't smoke this often.

Pipe Used: Basket briar

Age When Smoked: Reasonably fresh

Purchased From: Some random corner store in NYC

Similar Blends: Prince Albert doused in Lilac Vegetal.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	noquarter (23)	2017-10-18		Mild	Medium	Mild to Medium	Very Pleasant

Bought a 2oz sample to try. I was suprised that it really wasn't that bad. I don't think it will ghost a briar like a lakeland. If one can tolerate Carter Hall with its subtle ghosting, then this is just ok. I sometimes add a pinch to sone strong burleys for a little licorice/anise flavor. Best smoked in a cob. Easily gets a 3, but I'll give it a 4 because its cheap, readily available and much maligned on TR you just have to try it.

Similar Blends: Codger burleys.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Theosprey247 (73)	2017-02-24		Mild	Mild	Mild	Tolerable

Back in the day I once dated a woman loved black licorice. I hate the stuff, so naturally I've avoided this blend. All the negative reviews naturally made me want to try it. The pouch note reeks of anise not a good sign. I load my cob and apply fire to leaf and guess what? It didn't taste like Satan's sweaty balls. Instead I got a smooth smoke with a hint of vanilla. In fact it's kinda boring. Oh, and unlike that woman from my past it doesn't bite.

Pipe Used: Cob

Age When Smoked: New

Purchased From: Smokingpipes.com

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	BigMac11 (1)	2015-07-07		Mild	Medium to Strong	Mild	Very Pleasant

I find the aroma quite pleasant, and is overall a wonderful smoke. My grandfather is the one who encouraged me to try this particular blend, and I don't regret it.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	glenn2586 (14)	2015-02-28		Mild	Mild	Mild to Medium	Tolerable

This stuff is growing on me. Like nothing I ever smoked before. Smoke it slow to really enjoy it. Hey Hugh Hefner smoked this stuff. And Hugh could have smoked any tobacco He wanted. Give it a try.

Pipe Used: corn cob

Age When Smoked: new

Purchased From: cup o joes

Similar Blends: nothing.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2012-11-24		Medium	Medium	Medium to Full	Pleasant to Tolerable

Nothing bland or wishy-washy about this blend. Extremely distinctive aromatic with a good nicotine kick. People either love this or hate it, so I approached it with some trepidation and went light on the purchase, opting for the pouch instead of the tin. Count me among those who love it; I think it fired off every pleasure receptor in my body. There's no in between on this one, so every pipe smoker should try it at least once and see where they stand. This is now my favorite drug-store blend and I'm glad I chanced it. Has a real "old-time" feel, which makes sense for this old-time blend.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	albfneto (184)	2012-04-26		Medium	Extremely Mild	Medium	Unnoticeable

Is a good quality pure Burley based mixture. Also, is traditional, their formula have more than 100 years...

It is good, but it haves not a sweet, but still a bitter residual taste. However, this bitter taste is a caractheristic of The Burley.

The flavour, in the Pouch, Box, the information is that the flavour agent is Vanilla, but is not only pure Vanilla, This blend have Anise also.

I recommend it, but only as component for making personal housemade mixtures, or for the fans of Anise or pure Burley Tobacco!

for other people, it is sometimes unpalatable and sometimes have soap taste!

...........................November, 2012.......................

Updating my Review: I bought a new 50 g Box (with a internal pouch) of this tobacco very recently. Seems that the composition of the Blend was changed. Now,the Anise and the Vanilla are v weaker

Pipe Used: many

Age When Smoked: recently purchased

Purchased From: From Tabacaria Virtual, Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2012-03-21		Mild to Medium	Medium	Medium	Very Pleasant

I just bought this tobacco and I loved it! It is a must buy for anyone who likes aromatics. The taste reminded me of something alcoholic. Well this will be my new favorite tobacco.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	TK Pipe (101)	2011-10-29		Mild	Mild	Mild to Medium	Pleasant

Mixture 79 … Here is an OTC blend that I'm sure that I must have smoked a pouch or two many years ago (60's) and for whatever reason, I haven't smoked it since. But after reading so many negative reviews on this site regarding this blend, I just had to give this old timer another shot.

My sample came in a pouch/box that contained tobacco ranging in color from yellow to black. Sutliff calls their #79 a mild and aromatic tobacco, and I agree with that description. As for being an ARO it's not the typical overpowering guppy type, this one smokes cool, mild and dry. As for it's flavor, kind of like a faint root beer or sassafras/tobacco taste, a unique smoke for certain. Not for everybody, but I sure will no trouble finishing my pouch. If you just can't stomach ARO's forget this one, but if you favor them, this one is not a bad choice.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2011-07-28		Mild	Medium to Strong	Medium	Overwhelming

I've avoided reviewing this blend after reading so many negatives. 79 has been an occasional go to for the better part of forty years. The basic burley taste is full and quite enjoyable. The bowl aroma half way down is pure ambrosia. I mentioned the "occasional go to" . Heed my warning. This blend produces the vilest room note and the most negative feedback from smokers and nonsmokers alike. A secret pleasure but smoke with care.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2011-07-14		Medium	Mild	Overwhelming	Overwhelming

My Dad smoked this and I do not see how. Everything the last two reviewers said, double that for me about this blend. This weed has always been a mystery to me as how anyone can like it. But some do and I'm happy for them. If you try this, try it in a pipe you are ready to dedicate to it or smash afterwards. No thanks.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2011-04-11		Mild to Medium	Medium	Medium	Pleasant

I keep a tub of this around and smoke it occasionally. One of the first "Drugstore Blends" I smoked over 20 years ago. I must say it is definitely different! My Grandpa was a Firefighter for 36 years and smoked this out of a Falcon Pipe for years. It holds a special place in my heart for that reason. Being around for 100 years or more, it must have some fans other than me and my late Grandpa!

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2011-02-14		Mild	Medium to Strong	Mild	Pleasant to Tolerable

I used to smoke this in the early 70's. I haden't had any in about 30 yrs. until I broke down a bought some for old times sake just the other day. It still taste just as I remember. Several reviewers have called this a love it or hate it blend and I can't disagree. I however am in the middle on this one. It ain't the greatest tobacco I've ever smoked but neither is it the worst. I started smoking this because a friend of mines father smoked it. This gentleman was an MD and chief of surgery at a local hospital. I admired him and thought that any tobacco that was good enough for this educated, respected and prousperous man was good enough for me. The good doctor loved this stuff! I think he sprinkled it on his morning oatmeal. He never used a tobacco pouch but instead carried a good sized tin of ole' 79 around with him. I think he used it for chew as well and I'm not joking. Anyway, I can't give you a great description of the taste because it's something that much be experienced. I have wondered for years what the little bits that look like dried orange peel are. Maybe it's best I don't know. Drop a few bucks and try some! You'll always wonder what it taste like if you don't.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2010-09-04		Mild to Medium	Strong	Medium to Full	Tolerable to Strong

I mean no disprespect to those who enjoyed this blend in the 50s and 60s. In fact, that's why I purchased it: because it has stood the test of time. Of course, so has caster oil, and we all know how great that tastes.

Mixture No. 79 has a menthol-like smell and flavor. There's a strong licorice flavor as well, and these two tastes just seem to be fighting for dominance throughout the smoke. My girlfriend helpfully suggested "maybe it's meant to be smoked if you have a cold?"

Definitely not to my liking although, clearly, some people genuinely do.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2010-07-27		Mild to Medium	Medium	Mild to Medium	Pleasant

This blend should be noted as having an aquired taste, not just a half of a pipe full. I smoked it back in the 50's and 60's and enjoyed very much. I'm glad to see that it is still available, although any pipe tobacco is hard to find in the Los Angeles area unless you want it for a hookaa (which will deaden the taste of even the vilest leaf) I sometimes blended it into some cube cut burley to lessen the aromatic's.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2010-07-06		Mild to Medium	Mild to Medium	Medium to Full	Pleasant to Tolerable

My father used to smoke this blend and I started in college. I have always liked the taste and am surprised at so many negative comments. It may be that it is an acquired taste but I've rarely run into anyone who didn't like it.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2010-01-28		Medium	Medium to Strong	Overwhelming	Tolerable

I received a complementary 1.5oz pouch with a recent online order and was quite excited to give it a try. Being relatively new to pipe smoking I made one of two mistakes that can be made in trying out an unknown tobacco: I loaded a pipe without first checking the reviews on this site. Luckily I didn't make the second mistake of loading it into an expensive pipe. By chance I decided to load it into one of my corn cob pipes for the first go around.

As I opened the pouch and drew in my first whiff my anticipation grew even more. I love the smell of anise and had hopes of a licorice flavored smoke. I loaded my corn cob and fired it up.......Whoa! WTF? My anticipation quickly crumbled in a mouthful of pure flowery perfume flavor. I tried to work my way down the bowl thinking things might improve, but I was wrong. Half way into the bowl I couldn't take anymore and dumped it out. I'm not sure yet, but I think I may have ruined my $5.00 corn cob.

Be very wary of paying money to try this blend. If you believe your taste may be suitable to such a blend, find someone to bum a bowl off of first if you can. If you lack access to such an individual then buy the absolutely smallest amount you can find.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2009-08-14		Medium	Medium to Strong	Medium to Full	Pleasant

I must admit it... When I first tried this blend it reminded me of Field & Stream only stronger on the floral notes. I didn't care for it. So I put it away and 2 weeks later I gave it another try. Not as bad, I thought. I tried it a third time 3 months later and... I loved it! I am a Lakeland smoker (The mighty Condor being my favorite) and this fits nicely into that category. If you don't like the Lakeland style, don't bother. If you do, give it a try.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	JLong (36)	2009-06-25		Medium	Very Mild	Medium to Full	Pleasant

Hoo boy, after reading the comments below, I feel like I'm sticking my neck out saying how much I like this blend so I'm giving it 2 stars as somewhat recomended. However, my personal taste buds give it 4 stars.

First off the pouch aroma is seductive and I've never smelled anything that smelt so good. Sweet and liquorishy is all I can really say.

It loads like a crimp cut. Easy to light and stays lit throughout the bowl.

I do like strong tobacco and that is what I get at light up. I get very little flavor at first. But, the tobacco and nicotene taste is there and I like it. About 3/4 bowl, pleasant hints of liquorice and sweetness come through the full bodied smoke. I don't sense any soapy or perfumy flavors others mentioned. After I finish a bowl, I am left very satisfied.

Will this become a daily smoke? Probably not as Balkans are my go to blends. I will however keep a pouch of this around when I need something different like I do with Prince Albert. Mixture 79 seems great for innatentive smoking like when putzing with yardwork or something. It's hard to puff this stuff wrong. I've been smoking it in a cob but will dedicate a Dr Grab to it because it's liable to ghost a bowl of something else.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2009-06-22		Medium to Strong	Very Strong	Very Mild	Very Pleasant

The tub aroma is of licorice, vanilla, and floral/herbal scents. The tobacco is a heavily sugared and flavored cavendished, coarsely plug-cut burley which should be broken so as to ensure easy burning and proper airflow.

This blend is pure burley of good quality, a mixture of light and brown, which has been significantly sweetened and highly flavored. The flavoring is straightforwardly stimulating and refreshingly aromatic. The smoke is mild, creamy, and sweet with a clean finish which leaves the palate refreshed for another bowl.

A high water mark for old-style american aromatics, Mixture No.79 is a constant delight which is never tiring or cloying. It quickly ghosts a briar. This went well in a chamber of any gauge.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	strongirish (249)	2009-04-05		Medium	Medium to Strong	Full	Pleasant

Over the years, I like to smoke this occationally though it's too aromatic to smoke all the time. I don't think it deserves the bad rap it gets, it has is place and when in the mood for it, I like it. When I do, it gets positive comments on the room note. It is sweet, purfume tasting and is like eating an orange liquirice candy. But it has it's followers and has been around a long time. I does own the pipe after smoking so suggest it in a cob.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2009-01-20		Medium to Strong	Extremely Mild	Medium	Tolerable

Okay, we all know things change over time. In tobacco the quality and quantities of various components of a blend vary from time to time. the manufacturers try to cover this with their use of casings and flavourings. Then tobacco changes once it has been blended , while in storage. Sometimes for the better, sometimes not. The Mixture 79 I have came in a can with a ZIP Code and no UPC.(Zippy came along in the 1960's and UPC in the mid-seventies) So it is at least 30 years old. It came in a purchase of a lot and was not the reason for the purchase, but there it was.

On opening the tin there was no discernible smell other than the tobacco. None of the overpowering casing that other reviewers have castigated the fresh product for.

After a light steaming to bring the moisture level up to tolerable levels, despite being sealed it was a trifle on the dry side, and into a cob. (Having read other reviews I feared putting into something more precious to me.) Now I can't tell you whether this is due to changes in the formulation, or the result of aging, but this tin of Mixture 79 is quite acceptable, if somewhat bland. Very rough cut, burns well, easy to light.

I am not a burley devotee, but I do smoke it as a change of pace, so some of this will probably be blended in to soften mixtures I find a little harsh, but it was a welcome bonus on my purchase. Maybe on my next trip to the US I will pick up the new product just to see how it compares.

So if you like plain old American burley and you can find an old tin of Mixture 79 I suggest you try it. If you have a new tin and don't care for it, I suggest you give it a chance to mature, and just possibly you will find a pleasant surprise years down the road.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Dr.sadik (120)	2008-12-20		Very Mild	Strong	Extremely Mild (Flat)	Pleasant to Tolerable

why one star, well please let me explain! the tobacco is mainly comprised of burly tobacco and knowing thatvthe burly act as sponge for flavors added by casing the had apparently over flowed this blend with what ever they did. dont get me wrong i love heavily cased aromatics and i even smoke some super value from time to time but this one just couldnt make it without burning my tounge so bad that i took an oath never to try it again (i took that oath after 3 seperate purchases of this blend). the vanilla can barely be tasted and the cheap foil covering seems to impart an odd aluminiummy flavor to the tobacco of that make any sense. dosent burn well with definte left overa in the heel (aka dottles). and the worst part is that it is the highest priced drug store blend. to each his own but this blend will never touch my pipes again unless its the last tobacco on our beloved planet.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2008-10-14		Medium to Strong	Medium to Strong	Medium to Full	Very Pleasant

This Mixture is actually pretty underrated, it's a love/hate tobacco.It' s a very unusual aromatic and the anise/wintergreen casing smells tastey but I recently purchased this stuff again seeing it on a counter at the drugstore.I don't know if it's the level of moisture in the pouch or what but it was completely unsmokeable.It was so soaked in casing 2 weeks of drying time didn't work.it's a darn shame too because this used to be a nice aromatic.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2008-08-12		Medium to Strong	Extra Strong	Extremely Mild (Flat)	Pleasant

I first tried this tobacco about 37 years ago and couldn't get along with it then. A couple of years back I got a big free sample box from Altadis and it contained a pouch of Mixture 79. With much trepidation I filled a cob that could easily be discarded if the tobacco was a dog.

It was worse than I expected. A perfumey taste that had a slight resemblance to licorice but reminded me more of an old lady who has put on half a bottle of cheap perfume. I didn't make it halfway through the pipe and it and the pouch went in the trash. Normally I score a tobacco in three categories but I will simplify this one by saying it gets a big fat zero. Too bad I can't give it no stars.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2008-07-22		Medium	Strong	Overwhelming	Strong

im suprised that a human being would sell this to another. completely horrible, tastes like perume!!!!!!!!!!!! -10 out of 10

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Old Puffer (42)	2008-05-03		Very Strong	Extra Strong	Overwhelming	Tolerable to Strong

Strange, I smoked a pipe on and off for 8-9 years and never tried this blend out. Started puffing again in earnest about a year ago and have been reveling in the worlds choices of baccys. After reading reviews, here, about M79, had to try it to see what all the fuss was about.

Biggest mistake; ordered 8 oz. of this stuff. Should have paid more careful attention to the reviews, but what the heck, live and learn. This is the most terrible thing that I have ever put in my mouth. The taste is so complex, it is hard to describe, but I think it is like a strong bar of musk perfume flavored soap with some cherries and bitters thrown in. And after a few puffs, it is like someone washed my mouth out with it. Tried hard to make it at least acceptable by blending it with everything from plain burley, plain Virginia, to latakia, and even Our Best Blend. All it did was ruin each mixture. I will give it credit for easy lighting, staying lit and no bite. Can't speak for the bottom of the bowl because I just can't take it down that far.

I know that I am sounding crude, but if anyone wants the 7+ ounces left, you can have it for the price of mailing.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2008-03-21		Mild to Medium	Mild to Medium	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

After successfully enjoying No. 79 indoors, I was going to give it rave reviews but since then, my wife has admonished me to stop this practice. Okay, if you?re buying into the current premium tobacco craze without closer scrutiny, not unlike the cigar boom of the 90s, you probably hate Mixture No. 79. Don?t get me wrong, I?m all for handcrafted tobacco blends and quality ingredients but there are budgetary concerns to my pastime. I first tried Mixture No. 79 about 15 years ago, when I needed something to smoke in my truck while sitting in traffic on the freeway. From that experience, I remember a pleasant mass market smoke that was a heck of a lot better than the stale drugstore brands at the local supermarket and the frankly unpalatable plain wrap brand at the local drugstore. I am now on my second pouch of No. 79 within the past year and don?t really mind the soapy aroma. Short puffs produce a mild smoke that lifts your spirits without the feeling that you?re about to overdose on nicotine, like some brands. Tongue bite remains at a minimum in a somewhat clean pipe. I can see how some people have adverse reactions to the wintergreen athletic gel-like odor of the No. 79 pouch. At $3.19 per 1.5 oz., and I don?t remember if this included New York State?s horrendous tobacco tax, it?s still a relative bargain. However, I wish there was an ingredients list because I try to avoid the artificial stuff. Nevertheless, next time I reach for the decorated white pouch inside the script-covered white cardboard box, I will think of supporters and opponents of Mixture No. 79 alike.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2008-03-17		Mild	Mild to Medium	Mild	Pleasant to Tolerable

As much as I cherish the memory of my childhood matriarchs, I would much rather have a smoke that reminds me of chopping trees with Grandpa than playing checkers with Gran. Immediately upon lighting up this stuff reminded me of my great-grandmother's house--as others have noted, it tastes like an old lady's perfume smells. Soap taste is definitely present. I imagine it's a bit like smoking pressed rose leaves. About midway through the pipe a pleasant pine flavor tried to come to the fore, but failed.

I can certainly understand why this is considered a classic. This stuff was old when great-gran was young, and, as another reviewer noted, it has the same kind of taste of some old-style candies. The burley is top notch. Older taste buds than mine might love the casing. And it does burn very nicely. This aromatic is certainly not goopy, by my definition, and the room note was fine.

It was a decent but strange smoke my first bowl, but I grew to dislike the lingering soapiness long after my pipe was out. After I discovered how mightily it lingered in my favorite knockabout pipe my dislike turned to bitterness.

If you're of the Great Generation, perhaps you should give it a try--but in a pipe you were thinking of getting rid of anyway. I can't recommend it for anyone else. I gave it to my wife to use as potpourri.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	BigSwede (89)	2008-02-01		Mild to Medium	Medium	Medium	Pleasant

Update: 7 years after posting this review I still enjoy a bowl of this from time to time. Remember this blend started selling in the 1930s before every pipe smoke expected aromatic tobacco to smoke like choco-vanilla-honey. A few minutes into each bowl the floral/anice flavoring dies down considerably and the burley starts to come through. Forget all the hyperbole. Great smoke? Well no, but not bad.

39 years ago I could go to the local drugstore and find any of nearly 40 so called "drug store" blends sitting on a big shelf. I smoked my way through most of them (starting with a now defunct blend called "Burgundy") and have only a dim misty memory of Mixture 79, other than several pipe smokers (mostly older men) had recommended it. I remember liking the initial somewhat floral fragrance in a weird kind of way, a little like the Field and Stream of it's day. I moved on to other stuff.

Fast forward to now. I decided I had to try this to see what all the big fuss way about so I ordered some from JR. It evokes such a huge emotional reaction that I couldn't wait to light up. Well I'm still wondering what all the fuss is about but I've found a new blend for my rotation. Yeah, no kidding. Color me suprised.

In the tub it's pretty moist so the first order of business was to leave the lid off for several hours and let it air out. I've smoked a number of other brands that give that initial whiff of flowers/perfume/whatever, including Field and Stream and Tinderbox Blend #2. If smoked dry it's less intense and within a few minutes settles down to a relatively smooth, low key woodsy burley flavor. I get about an hour our of a midlin' sized bowl. It doesn't bite, stays cool, smokes slowly down to dry ash. It pretty much reminds of me of the older anise flavored drugstore blends once popular. I love this for when I am doing something else, like reading, typing or driving. I recommend that anyone interested in this stuff find a pouch, smoke it on the dry side, try a few bowls and forget all the hysteria. It has a fairly nice room note too!

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Frosty (29)	2008-01-03		Mild to Medium	Very Strong	Very Full	Strong

Not my cup of tea. An American burley take on the English Lakeland expression I suppose. I am frankly surprised enough people smoke this to warrant it's continuation. Quite pricey in my area.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Darth 69 (117)	2007-12-06		Mild to Medium	Medium to Strong	Medium to Full	Pleasant

Mixture 79, the old time classic or that infamous blend. I remember my reaction almost a couple decades ago when I first open the pouch. I threw it in the trash. What the hell is this? Licorice, root beer, menthol potpourri? It took some courage to dig it out and actually try smoking a pipe bowl. Back into the trash! But, when boredom sets in courage reasserts itself. Well, this could also mirror a similar experience for someone who had tried english tobacco for the first time. With some persistent dabbling, the insight may occur as to their virtue and why others fancy them. And I have come to fancy Mixture 79.

What I really like about this is the toasty, thoroughly cased round sweetness of the burley base, perfectly done and not a goopy cavendish. That intense pouch aroma and medium flavor seems to be birch or something along the lines of the previously mentioned licorice, similar to V.I.P. and Four Seasons. Along with the more or less cubed burley base, about 20% of some flakes in the american sense of blondish virginia mixed in. This is an intense aromatic with an almost perfumery nature that I see as being an American burley analog to the intense floral quality of some English Kendal tobacco. It can get a little hot in the pipe so, take it a little slower. A true American classic that I'm going to be hooked on for the moment. The king of drugstore tobaccos that can outsmoke many a premium burley blend.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2007-10-02		Mild to Medium	Mild	Extremely Mild (Flat)	Pleasant to Tolerable

They should add 7 and 86 this stuff. Another soapy blend which I threw out after only a couple of bowls.

My mother told me of my Uncle who used to smoke this stuff. I can see why he quit.

If you are looking for soapy flavored lawn clippings, HERES'S YOUR BABY!!! If you like quality tobacco, KEEP LOOKING!!!

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	DakotaPeacePipe (33)	2007-07-26		Mild to Medium	Medium to Strong	Full	Pleasant

Had not smoked this in several decades when I received a pouch in the Altadis sampler. I have memories of this as 37 years ago when I started my career one of my first bosses (dear Orville, may he Rest In Peace) smoked this to exclusion. I had already taken to the pipe and Orville urged me to try his favorite, but after almost four decades virtually all memory of the taste had faded. Based on the near derision in which most of the reviewers herein hold this blend I was prepared to be revolted. I must confess I at least tolerated it 37 years ago and was most surprised to find that today I actually like it! In my experience the character of this tobacco changes throughout the bowl but always staying pleasant and flavorful: at first light there is indeed a flowery explosion of flavor, but as the experience lengthens the underlying burleys seem to predominate (perhaps this smokers taste buds simply go into overload?) for me it is also without bite or in the least bit harsh. Believe I will buy a tub and put it in my rotation. PS: To those who regard this blend as requriing a "hazardous material" rating, my pipe smoking mentor, Orville puffed on this incessantly to age 96 to no apparent ill effect.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2007-06-20		Medium to Strong	Strong	Full	Pleasant

i smoke pipe tobacco for two reasons only....first, for the effects produced by nicotine....second, for the taste...this is a mysterious and polarizing blend...you either love it or hate it....mark me down for loving it...i found a couple of dusty pouches at the liquor store round the block...upon lighting the first bowl i thought that i had anything other than tobacco in my pipe...the smell and flavor are rather shocking at first...some have likened it to granny's perfume or smoked flowers....i let it go out and then relit about five minutes later...from my childhood came memories of saturday mornings at the barber shop and the fragrant scent of the "pinaud" talcum powder...little dapper gentleman on the can with cane and twisty moustache...i stuck with it and the payoff was a full earthy, nutty. and totally toasty delight....i couldn't believe how much i liked it....i am acquianted with nightcap,penzance,and yes even the lionized balkan sobranie...i scapped-up the remaining pouches around the corner and bought a 14 oz tub....the weed in the tub needs much drying to keep up with what's in those pouches...maybe not the most popular idea, but i highly recommend this stuff...try it again and don't leave before the miracle happens!

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2007-06-19		Mild	Medium to Strong	Medium	Pleasant

Fear & Loathing in a pipe bowl.

Those of you who fondly remember having your mother wash out your mouth with soap may actually enjoy this travesty of tobacco.

Miss ya, Doc !

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Old Schoolr (14)	2007-06-04		Overwhelming	Extra Strong	Overwhelming	Overwhelming

Foul in the extreme.

I received this in the Altadis sampler. The packaging gives no clue to the evil which lurks inside. When I tried it my 1st act after dumping it from my pipe was to warn the other two recipients of the sampler that they smoked this at their own risk. This is like smoking the fabric softener sheets that one throws in the dyer. It has both the terrible cheap perfume odor & the smell of burning synthetic material that those sheets are made of. The plastic smell/taste is really overwhelming. There?s mention in these reviews of this once being the favorite of Hugh Hefner & that Hugh no longer smokes the pipe. I?ve seen the cable program starring his three current girlfriends & I think that he?s replaced his plastic tobacco habit with plastically enhanced girls (good for him). I just hope the girls don?t smell like the toilet water used in Mixture 79.

I?m sorry for my criticism but I?ve never been so disgusted by a pipe tobacco.

(I give this 4 Stars? Negative 4 Stars)

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Redd (117)	2007-05-24		Medium	Medium	Mild	Tolerable to Strong

Unlike their Dutch Master Cherry Canvendish which is at least Four Stars. Mixture '79 should be no stars. I don't understand why this is still on the shelves. It is simply rotten. Poor Taste and weak aroma packs well and stays lit. The flavor is Licorice close to Feild and Stream but worse. I guess if you don't know about this blend you will once you try it. Everyone trys a box of this stuff sooner or later. Better later then sooner. PUUUUUUUUU!

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2006-11-30		Mild	Mild to Medium	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

So, when I took up the pipe this is one of the first mixtures I bought. Fortunately it was not the first mixture I smoked. Had it been, I'm sure I would not have continued pipe smoking.

It has a very pleasant aroma in the pouch. It lights easily and stays lit, which is a plus I suppose. There is however, something harsh (or maybe acrid) about the flavor, with a certain flatness that some might call dull. It certainly didn't live up to the expectations I had when I first opened the pouch.

I tried it in several pipes, but nothing really changed. I found it to be a dull, bland mixture. I did manage to salvage the purchase price - by keeping the opened pouch in my library for a few weeks where I was able to enjoy the aroma.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2006-10-06		Mild	Strong	Overwhelming	Strong

Please don't buy this stuff. I think the only reason it sells is that people are curious to see if it's really as bad as others say. It is. If no one buys it maybe they will stop making it. Many, many great tobaccos have been discontinued but #79 has been in production since the 1800s. Yes, that many people CAN be wrong. Now we know what really killed Sinatra and why Hugh Hefner quit smoking his pipe. Mixture #79 is the most vile tobacco available and people actually pay for it. Thankfully, I received mine in a pass-it-forward. I trashed it rather than subject anyone else to the dangers... I would give it less than one star if I had the option because I'm not really sure it IS tobacco.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Captain Pete (83)	2006-10-06		Mild	Very Mild	Mild to Medium	Pleasant

I have a confession. At one time I smoked this stuff, though I don't really know why. I wasn't even sure that I had ever smoked it, but I found an unopened pouch of the stuff in a moving box in my garage that had been there at least five years. So I know I must have smoked it a couple times. Okay, I know I DID. But I didn't inhale, and didn't like it LOL! Now I remember why I smoked it years ago; as a (ahem) mix in to cover the smell of what was really being smoked.

Now, when you come across a five+ year old tobacco in your garage, and vaguely remember having smoked it in the past, curiosity piques. I couldn't for the life of me recall what the stuff had been like, and wasn't even aware that it was on this site so that I could check reviews. So I opened the box, broke the seal on the pouch, and cautiously peered in. A very faint licorice aroma escaped, and I immediately remembered what this stuff was doing in that moving box full of other junk that I just hadn't gotten around to throwing out in five years and two moves.

Okay, so now I really gave it a good whiff. The licorice like aroma had somehow just escaped on opening, and was almost not even there at this point. What I saw looked fairly good; shags of brown tobacco with little sugar crystals formed on them. Hmmm, had this stuff developed a mellowness with age? Had it somehow gotten better?

At this point, I decided to break out a corncob that I was getting ready to toss out anyway, and I loaded it up. If memory served me correctly, this stuff tasted like bits of cardboard drenched in some kind of artificial anise flavoring, a really bad one at that. What can I say, I was in a masochistic mood, so I lit up.

What came forth from that pipe was totally unlike anything, and completely different from what I remembered and have subsequently read here. Was it good? No. But, it wasn't so awful as to have me gagging uncontrollably. At first it even seemed a bit pleasant, sweet, not even any tongue bite at all. Then it hit; that soggy cardboard taste. Geez, this stuff is awful. But, it served a purpose at one time in my life, an ignoble one though it may have been. And for those of you who wonder how this stuff has survived for so long, here's you answer. Those who smoke it don't care about the taste, only that it keeps Mom and Dad from knowing what they're really smoking.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2006-10-02		Very Mild	Mild to Medium	Mild to Medium	Pleasant

I tried this blend years ago and hated it. Now, I must say, I find this quite enjoyable from time to time. Very old fashioned and simple, it definitely has a very interesting flavor! I am going to kep a tub of this around from now on. I know there are quite a few pipers out there who hate this blend ( I know I used to! )...my apologies to them, but this is a great occasional treat for the Aromatic Tobacco smoker!

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	SopwithCamel (255)	2006-02-17		Mild	Medium to Strong	Medium	Pleasant

I have reviewed this in other listings on this website. It is a strong, floral, and cool, almost minty aromatic. It is not awful, it just isn't my cup of tea. It burns cool and dry so long as you sip it. It will flavor the pipe, so don't try it in one of your treasured briars! The square cut makes it a cinch to pack. Try it in a cob. After about a third of the way through, the casing burns off, and the burley comes through.

Henry Sutliffe apparently concocted this blend in 1925, in his shop in San Francisco. It has been a big seller ever since. It is one of the few otc blends available where I live, so somebody is smoking this stuff! If you need celebrity endorsement, Hugh Hefner, and Frank Sinatra enjoyed this blend. Who knows? You might like it...

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Tantric (321)	2006-01-12		Very Mild	Very Strong	Very Full	Pleasant to Tolerable

I agree with the esteemed Pipestud that old is not always better, but I also agree with SopwithCamel that Mixture 79 is not that awful. It is definitely unique in its odd medicinal, almost chemical taste. Then again, I believe that?s the nature of the cavendished Kentucky burley. It has a smoky, slightly sweet and bitter, and yes, floral quality. I had previously experienced that particular flavor/scent in Larsen?s Kentucky Flowers, but it was not as pungent and assertive as in Mixture 79.

A dear friend of mine, and unrepentant NYC dweller, was kind enough to recently send me two pouches of Mixture 79 (thanks Ali!). I must say in his behalf that he is an excellent writer, literary critic and chess player, but he is not exactly well versed in pipe tobacco. Nicely chopped (rather than cut), and austere in presentation, Mixture 79 is obviously a machine processed tobacco, along the same lines of Prince Albert, Carter Hall, etc.

In the pouch the moisture level tends to be high and the aroma is very strong. As a safety measure I left the pouch open for a whole night and most of the next day before loading the tobacco in my pipe. It did help a little bit. Still, it took me sometime before I actually got it going. The casing (topping?) was overtly present the first few puffs. It is hard to describe its very peculiar flavor. I would say it is reminiscent of a smoky-maple and flowers-soap (indeed, if anyone complains about the British blends being soapy, have them try this one!). To a certain extent, I would also say this is the American equivalent of Gawith?s Grousemoor.

Mild in strength, it is highly advisable to smoke Mixture 79 very slowly, keeping the pipe stem from your lips, so as to avoid tongue bite. Eventually, as SopwithCamel suggests, the flavor tends to settle down, yielding a rather nice Burley nuttiness. Oddly enough the room aroma seems to be rather pleasant for non-smokers. And yes, you shouldn?t smoke this in your favorite briars, unless you are a die-hard fan of Mixture 79. Would not recommend this as a beginners tobacco.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2005-11-21		Extremely Mild	Extra Strong	Overwhelming	Tolerable

I hope not to offend those that find this a pleasent smoke. For me...this is just plain nasty. I dislike any of the Lakeland-type tobaccos. "Floral" essence, my butt. Dial soap is more like it. 99 and 44 hundreths percent pure crap-o-la.

I was "gifted" a pouch of this with "only 4 bowls used". I suspect that I was the 5th owner of this pouch. Now, I am trying to think of anyone who I don't like enough to gift a pouch ( minus 5 bowls).

On the serious side... After opening the pouch, the colors of the blend were nicely blended ( probably by cement mixer). from bright yellows, to blacks. The pouch aroma was I will admit subtly enticing. A bit moist, but here in Colorado the low humidity quickly takes care of extra moisture. It packed well, and took to the light quickly.... The initial taste was a shock, pure Dial soap with a oil of wintergreen kicker. Surely somewhere in this smoke is some tobacco... I suffered thru about 15 minutes and headed for the OUTDOOR ash-can. No way did I want this in the den any longer than required. Hopefully I didn't break any hazardous material laws in adding this to the refuse can.

If this is to your liking...best wishes and a long life.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	SopwithCamel (255)	2005-09-10		Very Mild	Strong	Medium to Full	Pleasant

I enjoyed reading A Morley's review of this blend, and I personally feel he has the right perspective.

This stuff is good quality burley, topped with anise, and maybe some oil of wintergreen (which is what modern root beer uses instead of sassafrass). This might account for the cool feeling in my mouth when smoked.

The first time I tried this, I didn't know what to think. It is very strongly flavored, but not wet or goopy. It packs very easily, and when fresh doesn't burn too hot or bite. After a minute or so, the tobacco flavor comes through, something that rarely happens when I smoke a modern aromatic. The burley used is good quality, and doesn't make my mouth taste like an ashtray.

It is floral, soapy and herbal. This isn't an accident. There have been many blends over the years that fit this profile: Bond Street, Bowl of Roses, many English scented flakes, etc. None of these blends are bad, perhaps not to one's taste, but that is another matter.

A very interesting(!), old fashioned blend. Try it if you feel adventurous in a clay or cob. You might be surprised. This stuff would have vanished long ago if no one liked it.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Ducksbreath (125)	2004-11-26		Mild to Medium	Extra Strong	Mild to Medium	Very Pleasant

In years past, I would try this in the ubiquitous box/foil pouch, and it would invariably be a dry, fetid horror which I soon threw away.

Trying it again, though, after many years, I've only found it in the 14 ounce tub.

Fresh in the tub I was suprised how moist (not P and G moist) the tobacco was, and I readily could identify two cuts of burley and also about 20 percent bright leaf which I assume is VA.

Yes the topping is overpowering anise/aftershave, but after a few days it seems to tone down a bit, and in smoking this very fresh sample, it melds to some degree with the underlying tobacco (which is, imho, of some reasonable quality).

So this isn't that bad, to my taste. However, I also like Kendal Flake, which uses similar overpowering aromatic elements (but added to high quality VA).

Made now by Altadis and formerly by Consolidated, when it was available in bulk, my main complaint besides lack of strength is, of course, the tendancy to bite, because it is mild and topped, but only if too much is asked of it (as a previous reviewer noted). I actually like the room note, though I'm only on my 10th bowl so far. I like to smoke it in the car, for added aromatic effect.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2003-12-04		Very Mild	Mild	Mild to Medium	Pleasant

This is one of my Dad's favorite blends. I guess it's a Virginia,(as in the state) thing I don't know. I have tried this tobacco many times just trying to like it but have got nothing from it except tounge bite and a- (can I say funky here?) thankyou..a funky taste that is not tobacco-y. I never have seen what he sees in it,but just like wine, drink what you like, and to heck with what everybody thinks about it,as long as you like it. Wanna know what I think about this tobacco? It's floor sweepings from the PM cigarette factory dusted with gold bond foot powder.:)

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	TheOtter (61)	2023-02-15		Mild to Medium	Medium to Strong	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

This is a polarizing blend, and it seems to be rated down here. Let me just say it is worth a try. It comes in pouch form, which is perfect to sample it. The anise flavour is very pronounced here, so I suspect that many people do not like licorice and hence voted this down. The tobaccos offer a floral note with that licorice casing, and the result is something different and fascinating for the taste buds. I found the flavours to be strange at first, but it grew on me towards the end of the pouch. I wouldn't buy this again (at least for a while), but I thoroughly enjoyed trying it.

Give it a go. 3/4 for daring to do something different.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Nick Prof. (27)	2022-07-02		Medium	Strong	Full	Pleasant

Updated review, March ‘23: the pouch should be of around 1 year aged. The tobacco has a very rough cut, it seems it may need some drying time, though I may not leave it more than 10-15 minutes myself (it might need more time than a quarter). It needs a number of relights, which might depend on the drying time. The taste… not sure how to describe it exactly… is somewhat a “thick” smoke experience, it’s peaty, earthy, lightly woody, of course with a decent amount of toppings. I definitely get the whisky and the vanilla, it’s an interesting aromatic, of course on the “heavy” side of aromatics. It doesn’t give tongue bite, it burns fairly cool, but I smoke it on a well-smoked with thick cake country gentleman MM, which guarantees a cool smoke (I smoke the tobacco without filter by the way). With this updated review I would give it 2 stars out of 4, perhaps 2.5 due to its uniqueness, but I see some folks may like a lot this, as long as you are into heavy and thick-like aromatics.

Pipe Used: MM country gentleman

Age When Smoked: Fresh to 1 year

Purchased From: Local shop

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	kgmac311 (8)	2021-08-15		Mild	Medium to Strong	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

I found this to be overpowering of aromatics and the taste of tobacco was in a way, sour. When I was done with the bowl, my thoughts were, "just nope."

Pipe Used: Brigham 036S

Purchased From: Cigar Land

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	riobrew (80)	2021-05-04		Medium	Mild to Medium	Mild to Medium	Pleasant

Received a good one ounce sample. Was quite surprised. A nice easy to smoke American blend. The aromatic was not overpowering as some have stated. I especially enjoyed the second half of bowl. Ended with a good above medium strength.

Pipe Used: Several

Age When Smoked: Unknown

Purchased From: Gift

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	MangoLegs (72)	2021-03-22		Mild	Medium to Strong	Mild	Tolerable

Preparation & Burn: 9/10 Easy to pack. Burns cool enough, no bite. Not many re-lights at all.

Taste: 5/20 What is this stuff? Doesn't really taste like tobacco, but black licorice and dirt.

Mildness: 8/10 My idea of a good smoke is a relaxing, low nicotine session. Therefore, the milder the better. Not much nicotine here.

Total: 22/40

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Old Shoe (25)	2020-09-12		Very Mild	Very Strong	Overwhelming	Very Pleasant

I have tried for forty years to like this tobacco. The room note is pleasant for those around you, but the taste and flavoring are just way over the top. Some reviewers here have mentioned how can this still be around when so many other blends have disappeared? This is a very interesting observation. I have always found its room note an Anise/Licorice aroma, no vanilla at all. Should be tried by all curious pipers for the experience. This stuff will GHOST a pipe like no other. Bless those who enjoy it, recommended for those very hard core aromatic smokers.

Pipe Used: Old Ben Wade freehand

Age When Smoked: Fresh

Purchased From: Quick-Trip

Similar Blends: This tobacco is simply unique!.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	PJP (4)	2018-03-12		Medium	Strong	Medium to Full	Unnoticeable

Tastes like chemicals and soap bubbles. I smoked less than one bowl and tossed it out. I cannot understand how this blend was marketed for as long as it was, and still is today. It did not resemble tobacco in any way.

Pipe Used: Ropp

Age When Smoked: Several years

Purchased From: Chicagoland Pipe Show

Similar Blends: Nothing else I have ever smoked..

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Bleepy (9)	2017-10-20		Mild	Very Strong	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

I hate to be a bandwagon jumper but I didn't like this either. The scent is reminiscent of everything you've heard. Less a urinal cake and more like a scented bar of soap that grandma kept, perched for decades, on a little shelf in the bathroom, never used. Sort of a powdery, flowery perfume scent with lots of licorice.

Upon lighting, the flavor was disagreeable enough that after about 3 puffs I had to dump it out. I don't remember the exact taste of it, I just remember my reaction which was a more or less instantaneous "I don't want this in my pipe." It was a very visceral and somewhat strange compulsion -- "I need this out of my pipe, now." And so it went.

Pipe Used: Cob

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Gentleman Zombie (729)	2017-03-27		Mild to Medium	Medium	Medium	Pleasant

My buddy D and I meet once a week for a smoke session where we trade tobaccos and shoot the breeze about politics, sports, and of course, tobacco. This week he throws me a pouch of Mixture 79 and says, "With all the bad reviews you just have to try it, don't you?" How can you argue with logic like that? Thanks D.

This is not the type of tobacco I prefer. There's very little here that you can call natural tobacco flavor. I think I can pick up, on occasion, a toasty note that you might get from a toasted Burley or a Cavendish. That's it for natural flavors. The topping is the whole show and I get the florals predominately with just a touch of anise. That's pretty much it. I don't find any of it offensive in any way and if this were my kind of aro I would rate this higher than the 2 stars I'm giving it.

Well, I tried it and I survived. This really isn't as bad as some reviews might suggest.

Mild to medium in body. Medium in taste and flavoring. Burns very well.

Pipe Used: Bruyere St Claude billiard

Age When Smoked: fresh

Purchased From: gifted

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	gahdzila (61)	2017-03-20		Mild	Very Strong	Full	Very Strong

Is it really that bad? I had to find out for myself!

I never did any serious investigating (and if I had, I may have saved myself some trouble) into what this stuff actually tastes like. I was buying some other stuff, and noticed that the vendor had a pouch of m79 in stock and thought, "Why not?"

It's a little moist in the pouch. Probably could do with some drying time, but not too bad. As usual, I was in too big of a hurry, so I scooped it straight from the pouch into a cob. Pouch smells strongly of licorice. Yep - licorice. I'm not a huge licorice fan, but I have been known to eat a black jellybean or two in my day. Anyway - the smell is strong enough to worry me.

The licorice taste in the pipe isn't as strong as the pouch note would lead me to believe it would be. It's actually not too bad. But then another flavor crops up - a sort of Lakeland floral soap. Not particularly pleasant. I can't tell you if the floral notes are done well or not, because I'm just not into these kind of flavors in my tobacco. Yuck. It's nipping my tongue a bit, and requiring more relights than normal, but that's probably because I didn't dry it properly.

Half a cob and I'm giving up on it.

Worst tobacco ever? I dunno. There wasn't necessarily anything inherrantly wrong with it, as far as I can tell. I didn't like it, but I didn't puke either. Maybe if you love licorice and soap, this stuff might be right up your alley. They've been making M79 a long time, so somebody out there somewhere must like it.

I don't see any reason for me to keep this stuff around, or to try smoking any more of it.

(originally reviewed 10/7/2012)

Pipe Used: cob

Age When Smoked: fresh

Purchased From: marscigars.com

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	M.Smolensky (6)	2016-03-16		Mild to Medium	Medium to Strong	Medium	Very Pleasant

Truly, I have not smoked Mixture 79 since at least forty five years ago. With luck, that will continue. I remember smoking this stuff in college, only to impress females with how cool I was to smoke a pipe. They liked the smell. I would cut it by half, with Edgeworth Burley. I received many compliments on how it smelled burning. Meanwhile, it was burning little red circles into my tongue. That is real, and how this stuff bit, after smoking just a bowl of it. I did not know any better, and just followed the lead of my father who smoked it that way, cut with Edgeworth. Fortunately, after college i discovered that tobacco did not need to burn one's tongue, and went to a variety of other tobaccos. As nostalgia hits me writing this, I remember a great blend called "Almaden" from Carmel Pipe Shop, California. That is no longer available. But, with so many great tobaccos now on the market, there is no reason to burn out your flavor buds smoking Mixture 79.

Pipe Used: briar, brandless from Drucquers, Berkeley

Age When Smoked: freshly opened

Purchased From: Drug Store

Similar Blends: Hot Soap.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Bluesmoke (75)	2015-01-03		Mild	Medium to Strong	Mild	Pleasant to Tolerable

I had to, I simply had to try this. I was well aware of its reputation and true to form most of the reviews and opinions of fellow pipesters I know, along with my own sampling, led me to conclude that this mixture is not for me. The various flavor additives made this a jumbled mess. There was not a hint of true tobacco taste and the aroma was quite off-putting. This was not the easiest blend to keep lit and the smoke it yielded was wispy and weak. I can't recommend this foul beast to any smoker, be they aromatic or natural devotees. JITLTG

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	keremgulermen (11)	2014-12-25		Mild	Extremely Mild	Extremely Mild (Flat)	Very Strong

Absolutely, terrible. The aromas are very annoying both smoking and smelling. Such a smoking a chemical stuff instinct. Keep away from all pipe smokers! I can smoke only few minutes. In this package; tongue bite included!

Pipe Used: 1

Age When Smoked: Very old

Purchased From: Gift

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	King Weed (228)	2014-11-05		Medium	Very Strong	Medium to Full	Tolerable

I first smoked this tobacco when I was starting college and pipe smoking both in 1960 at the insistence of my pipe smoking buddies that it was "good". I didn't agree with them and struggled to try and finish the first, and only, pouch I ever bought. I didn't make it and offed the pouch in favor of something else at about the halfway point. The next go around with this strange mixture came recently when I bought a package of seven year old pouches of #79. I lit it up and was astonished that, fifty-four years later, my reaction to it was practically identical to the first go around: I didn't like it at all! First of all, I don't like pipe blends that are infused with a floral aroma and this blend has that quality strongly. Secondly, the flavoring agent(s) that give this blend its characteristic aroma and taste are very strange and somewhat off-putting. People say that this blend is licorice flavored and I remembered it as a licorice or anise flavored tobacco but, this time, I was much more experienced and simply couldn't identify the taste and aroma as such. It seemed more like a complex of ingredients with a vaguely wintergreen flavor. Combined with the floral taste, it was an unpleasant experience. Underneath all of this chemistry I thought I could detect a descent burley-based tobacco but, who knows? I just feel that there is way too much chemistry going on here needlessly. Later I discussed all of this with a long time smoking buddy of mine who, himself, had recently smoked #79. He found it to be identical with his memory of the blend from the old days and set about correcting me on something - the blend is NOT licorice flavored and never was. He thinks I am confusing #79 in my memory with another contemporary blend from the past: Middleton 5, which both he and I clearly remember as actually licorice/anise flavored. Once he said this it all flooded back from my memory that, yes, I was confusing the two blends. I wonder how many of us who have smoked both blends are doing the same?

Pipe Used: Ashton LX Dublin

Age When Smoked: 7 yrs old

Purchased From: Ebay seller

Similar Blends: nothing I can identify.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	DrT999 (317)	2014-06-01		Mild	Mild to Medium	Mild	Pleasant to Tolerable

Maybe, considering many of the reviews here, I was being a masochist for trying this. (Or retrying, as I tried this nearly 40 years ago and didn't like it). As far as taste went, I just got some sweet vanilla over the fairly bland burley; on the other hand, my tongue is scorched.

Not for me.

Pipe Used: falcon

Age When Smoked: 4 months

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	bigterr (21)	2014-04-13		Mild to Medium	Very Strong	Overwhelming	Tolerable

I've heard the this was the only tobacco that Hugh Hefner smoked. If that is true it must have been some strange self-imposed punishment to compensate for looking at pictures of naked women. Or, perhaps after smoking this stuff looking at pictures of naked women was the only way to get over the experience. I bought only the 2oz box and finished it only because here in Canada that was $20.00 and I can't afford to throw that much money away. In any case I beleive 2oz was a valiant effort on my part to try to give this a fair shake and in the hope I might just find something about it that made it acceptable. No such luck! Every bowl full was a task and felt like someone was washing my mouth out with soap. I know others have stated the soapy/perfumy stuff faded away but this never happened for me. I cannot recommend this to anyone other than Vladmir Putin.

Pipe Used: mm corn cob now in a landfill somewhere

Age When Smoked: new purchase

Purchased From: I will not embarass the tobacconist

Similar Blends: SOAP and an elderly ladies perfume.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	FROGGY12 (2)	2014-03-24		Medium	Extra Strong	Full	Tolerable

Having read all of the horible reviews here and being a big fan of OTCs, I just had to see if it was really that bad. Upon opening the pouch I was met with a smell of liquor or maybe anise as others have mentioned. It really didn't smell that bad to me, just a lot different from any other blend I've sampled. Upon charing and lighting it started to take on a root beer/ creme soda like taste as some reviewers have stated. I found it really not too bad at all, but not something I would seek out again in the future. It burned dry, but like others have said try it in a pipe you don't mind ghosting. For the money I wouldn't buy it again but I'm glad I tried it.

Pipe Used: mm

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	larrjlion (3)	2014-03-13		Medium to Strong	Strong	Very Full	Extra Strong

Little taste. Smelled like my wife's pocket book. Descent tongue bite. Threw it away after 6 smokes. Needs to be relighted all the time. Clogged up the pipe 3/4 of the way through the smoke.

Pipe Used: briar

Age When Smoked: new

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Earl Grey (34)	2013-10-04		Mild to Medium	Strong	Medium to Full	Strong

I read about how Frank Sinatra and Hugh Hefner smoked nothing but this stuff. They were the macks from back in the day. Plus, it's in a really cool looking box. The only thing that kept me from trying it for so long was the price. It's almost twice what I pay for the pouches of my old favorites like Carter Hall, Prince Albert, etc . . . One day I took the plunge and bought some at my local tobacco shop. When I got home I couldn't wait to rip the cellophane off the box. Even the pouch looked cool--white with swirly black designs on it. When I opened the pouch, it smelled like diluted Simple Green. I packed one of my briars and lit it up. The smoke that came out smelled like cheap old lady perfume. I read one review that compared this stuff to sucking on a urinal cake. I've never sucked on a urinal cake, but I would imagine this is would it would taste like. I wanted to like this tobacco. I even dipped into it a few times after my first harrowing experience and got the same results. Not for me. Though I still can't bring myself to throw it out.

UPDATE 01/2016: I threw it away. After a few more attempts, I concluded that this stuff is just disgusting.

Pipe Used: Dr. Grabow

Age When Smoked: Fresh out of pouch/let age for 3 years.

Purchased From: Local B&M tobacco shop.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	OSR (78)	2013-07-23		Medium	Extra Strong	Overwhelming	Strong

Wow. This is like loading a pipe with baby powder and attempting to the smoke baby powder. Since this tobacco has been in production since "forever", I'll guess that there are some people who enjoy smoking baby powder flavored burley.

To each his own. I'd not recommend this to anyone. Mixture #79 is worth a try but be warned that your pipe may never forgive you. Wow.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2013-06-10		Mild	Medium to Strong	Mild	Tolerable

Wow this stuff is horrible. I think this comes from the remains of several jars of ancient cased tobaccos left over in a dungeon somewhere far underground. The taste is just some amorphous alcohol flavoring that's sort of sweetish. It coats my tongue with yuckiness and doesn't go away for hours. Careful, this can ghost your pipe in a really bad way. Garbage.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	nitramretep (8)	2013-01-03		Mild	Mild	Mild	Pleasant to Tolerable

I was given a pot of this tobacco and wondered why I thought it was OK twenty years ago. Either the blend has changed or the gift was tainted by some sort of hideous condiment...like ketchup or mustard.

Not a good smoke, in fact it lasted about 15 puffs then I could not keep smoking it. I would not buy this unless you smoke pipes for nicotine only or the zombies have taken over the world!

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	chgo.piper (37)	2012-09-09		Mild	Medium to Strong	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

Taste like a bottle of cheap purfume. after three lights, I had to remove it from my cob immediately. H. Sutliff must have one hell of a sense of humor because this is just awful and is'nt even worthy of one star.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2012-02-17		Mild to Medium	Medium to Strong	Mild to Medium	Tolerable

Having long been an enthusiast of tobaccoreviews.com, I hesitated before making this my first review. This is in many ways a blend that is not my normal fare. A tobacconist nearby has an incredible selection of shag tobacco for RYO cigarettes (I almost exclusively stick to hand-rolled Stokkebye cancer sticks these days), but a typical OTC tobacco selection. Still, I was intrigued by H. Sutliff's Mixture No. 79 - what a pedigree! I bypassed the Captain Black and Carter Hall and made this my first drugstore baccy.

I pulled out a Karl Erik for that first bowl, but stopped to read some reviews first. After seeing how many complained of 79 'ghosting' their pipes, I lovingly put Karl away and grabbed my cob. That's smart.

The false light gave me an instant soapy flavor that so many here have testified to. I felt let down - where were the figs, the licorice, the tea-like aromas of the pouch? I soldiered on, relighting. The blend still hasn't gone out. It burns nice and cool and holds up to gentle puffing.

The soapy flavor disappeared about a quarter of the way into the bowl and those pouch aromas slowly began to emerge. A hint of fruity black tea, a bit of that anise aroma worked their way around the soapy flavor and begin to perk up the sides of my tongue. Something tangy, reminiscent of star fruit, hits me right in the middle of my tongue. And the aroma wafting from the bowl is pure enjoyment - an indefinable pipe tobacco aroma that is simply classic 'grandpa smoking his pipe.'

I was so taken with this strange, yet oddly satisfying blend that I felt moved to put aside my morning's work for a moment and fairly evaluate it. I'm sure I won't finish this pouch too quickly, and I don't know when I'll be buying it again, but I'm beginning to see the value in some of these classic blends. Much like Canadian Club is the flavor of a bygone era in whiskey drinking, so is Mixture No. 79 the flavor of a bygone era of pipe smoking. Please don't misunderstand me - I'm fully aware of the superiority of Knob Creek to Canadian Club, or of MacBaren Mixture (my benchmark aromatic) to this stuff, but sometimes you just have to have a taste of the olden days.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2011-07-03		Mild	Medium to Strong	Medium to Full	Pleasant

What Edward Wood was to bad Hollywood movies, and what Iggy Pop was to punk rock, this tobacco is to the world of pipe tobacco! A nothing to talk about smoke with what can only be described as a "perfume" room note that is over the top. Will completely taint any pipe with its casing permanently once smoked! You've been warned...

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	whitebriar (31)	2011-04-15		Mild	Very Strong	Overwhelming	Overwhelming

this is the only review from my 'pen' that will be this negative-- (unless someone comes up with another Mix79 'lookalike')

i smoked this blend over 50 years ago--it made an impression--a bad one--i admit to preferring burley, and to having a penchant for OTC blends over boutique products, but this one won't do--my personal motto has been for the past 50 years has been, "i'll smoke anything except Mixture 79"--

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Capt (339)	2011-02-17		Mild	Strong	Medium	Tolerable to Strong

I was gifted a tub of this "stuff". If anyone wants it, they can have it!!!!! But, I would feel bad giving this to someone, it might reflect on my character.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Denevei (58)	2011-01-08		Mild to Medium	Medium to Strong	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

Every once in a while a blend comes along that is so absolutely terrible that it amazes me the blend made it to production. Does anyone like this stuff? Is it a mistake, or is it a joke being played upon us all by someone with too much time and money on their hands? Who is H. Sutliff, anyway? Mixture No. 79 is supposedly flavored with vanilla. I'm sure, though, that there is more. I like vanilla, and even blends with artificial vanilla in them can be tolerable. Of course, I also like licorice (yeah, I'm the one who buys those despised black jelly beans) but somehow, when anise is put into tobacco it creates a whole that is dramatically less than the sum of its parts. I wonder what Mixtures 1 through 78 were like! After trying this blend, I decided I'd better clean my test pipes (I tried to bowls to be fair). I used the Professor's Pipe Sweetening Treatment, using cotton balls rather than salt, and let the pipes sit overnight. Once dry, I could still taste Mixture #79 in the pipes. I repeated the process, and could still taste lingering elements. A third treatment seems to have pretty much salvaged these two severely abused friends. Mixture No. 79 is one blend I can't recommend to ANY smoker. I need friends, not enemies.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Arkie (129)	2011-01-06		Mild to Medium	Extra Strong	Medium	Pleasant

Some of the reviewers directly below have described #79 perfectly. This stuff smells like licorice in the pouch and tastes like soap once it is lit. The tobacco can hardly be tasted above all the artificial flavoring. The other reviewers were also correct about it ghosting a briar. It has taken several weeks to rid my pipes of the gosh awful soapy taste. If you want tobacco that doesn't taste like tobacco you will love this stuff. Otherwise you will agree with all the reviews below that deride it. I suppose everyone ought to try it once just for the novelty but use a cheap cob.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2010-11-27		Mild to Medium	Medium	Mild	Unnoticeable

Smells like incense & and tastes like it too!!! Do not waste Ur time with this one.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Taylor3006 (47)	2010-11-10		Overwhelming	Extra Strong	Overwhelming	Strong

Well I am not adverse to anise flavoring so I decided to give this blend a shot. It smells nicely of licorice in the pouch, has a wonderful look, and the moisture level is just perfect. I packed a bowl hoping for the best but was terribly disappointed. Besides the anise flavors, there is a definite "floral" taste to this tobacco. Not sure what it is, just could not stand it. Turns a bit chemically about halfway thru the bowl, again something I just did not like. Burns well, has a good nicotine kick but the taste is just something I did not like at all. Not something you can blend with other tobacco's to make smokeable IMHO. The flower and chemical tastes make this blend just terrible.

I decided to try this again after aging it a while in my tobacco cellar. Huge mistake, this is most horrible tobacco, revolting is probably not a harsh enough adjective for Mixture #79. I tried mixing it with some other strong tobaccos but it always comes to the fore when smoking. The chemical/floral taste is just a huge turn off, reminds quite a bit of the emetic "syrup of ipecac". I would not be surprised to find out they use it as casing.

This is a disgusting tobacco, avoid at all costs.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2010-08-16		Extremely Mild	Strong	Extremely Mild (Flat)	Strong

A friend of mine in the UK recently recieved a package of this from his local tobacconist, and asked me what my honest opinion of this blend was since he had never before tried it. The following is an excerpt from my reply to his message and I feel that it is complete in all regards to Mixture #79 as a tobacco blend as a whole.

"We here in the USA would be more than happy to send you our complete supply of that tobacco! The reason we keep putting it down is due to the fact that the topping of "Embalming Fluid" with just a dash of "Cremains" makes our eyes water and our noses swell with disgust. I hope that will clarify the situation a slight bit."

If you plan on trying this blend out, you need another plan quickly. NOT recommended!

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	krg1000 (183)	2010-07-24		Mild to Medium	Medium	Medium	Pleasant

I must say this is quite a nice blend. This is one of the best OTC blends I have smoked over the course of time. The coarse cut make it easy to fill up the pipe and light up. Almost a licorice type of taste to this blend. This has a really nice room note to it and has a good amount of nicotine to it. The price is right as well. I would definitely recommend this blend for the new pipe smoker or if you want a change of pace from your normal blend.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	paulw (76)	2010-06-11		Medium	Medium	Medium to Full	Tolerable

not like any other didn't taste vanilla a more black liquor taste or licorice

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2010-02-22		Medium	Medium to Strong	Medium	Tolerable

This is one of those weird blends. Some people like it right away while others want to vomit at the thought of taking another puff.

Strangely this blend sort of grows on me little by little. I don't like throwing things away that someone else might like. After the first bowl instead of heading for the trash can I tossed it in a drawer. A couple of weeks later I tried it again. I found it not quite so sickening but still not good. A couple of weeks later and I get the urge to try it again.....

Right now it's back in the drawer but I've got a feeling I'll be digging it out again soon.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2010-02-06		Mild to Medium	Strong	Medium to Full	Pleasant to Tolerable

I first tried this blend back in the late 70's, influenced by the fact that Hugh Hefner smoked this blend. Remember Sen Sen mints, the little anise flavored candy about the size of a small piece of confetti? Well this tastes like those to me and I happen to like them. On the other hand, I know people who gag on them. I smoked this for a while in the 70's and moved on to other blends. I was in a tobacco shop this morning saw old 79, and decided to give it a whirl in a cob. I liked it, nostalgic yes, but it wasn't as bad as some reviews I've read today. I think most people are going to love it or hate it, depending on your tastes. It is an "Old Fashioned" aromatic, flavored with old fashioned things, like anise, molasses, vanilla, and bourbon, that hit the senses strongly, because they don't back down on the flavors. Not much in the sense of strong tobacco flavors here, so don't expect an English or Virginia. I recommend a looser pack, or else it might bite. I give it a 2 and a half, neutral, because Mixture 79 will either be ambrosia or bad tasting medicine.

BTW, unless you plan to smoke this on a very regular basis, only use a cob, your briar will taste like 79 for years to come!

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	SteelCowboy (685)	2010-02-05		Mild to Medium	Strong	Medium	Tolerable

I made the decision to try this tobacco because my father smoked this when I was a young lad. At the time it gave me a pleasant memory of pipe smoke. When I started smoking, I thought that in his honor I'd give this a try, especially because I like most Lakeland soapy blends. (even though this isn't a Lakeland blend) Well, it proved that Dad wasn't always right about everything. This stuff is just plain awful, and possibly the worst tobacco I have ever smoked and I have smoked a lot of them. Sorry Dad!

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2010-01-31		Mild to Medium	Strong	Full	Pleasant to Tolerable

I feel like i have to stick up for this one. This smoke has it's own unique character which you either love or hate. I would recomend anyone who is not brand new to the pipe to try it. Definately reserve a pipe for this, as it does have a tendency to mark it's territory.

The first impression it leaves is its anissette flavor, however there is a bit of something else there, perhaps something like figs or raisins.

The taste reminds me of spice drops, sweet and peppery; a taste only for the bold. This is what would probably drive most people away

Finally, it has a stronger, yet enjoyable room note.

This is definitely not a regular smoke, however once in a while you want something bold and different and this will by sure to satisfy.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2010-01-11		Mild	Medium	Medium	Pleasant

Wow, this stuff is fun to smoke, and very well behaved for an aromatic. I don't know about you guys, but I like women's perfume; no wonder Hef smoked this alot, being surounded by all those pretty girls. That fact alone is almost enough to make me want to smoke this. I have smoked my share of blends that have hit the toilet bowl for one reason or another but this is not one. It has a nice vanilla flavor, and stays lit reasonably well for an aromatic, which are always a bit syrupy in the bowl. Smoking this out of a black, sandblasted Vauen. I have some Dunhill 965 stored along with some Squadron Leader, so I won't be converting full time to this, but I like this blend for some reason and would always pick some up to keep around. Although I have to say, it won't be gracing my Dunhill Amber root any time soon.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	modelmanmodels (12)	2009-12-23		Very Mild	Strong	Medium to Full	Tolerable

This was bad...I tried it months ago and revisited to make sure that it wasn't a fluke. It's bad stuff. The pipe I smoked it in still stinks of it. Too bad that something this dreadful is still around. To his own pallete be true...

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Kilmarnock Piper (250)	2009-12-16		Extremely Mild	Extra Strong	Extremely Mild (Flat)	Overwhelming

What happened to the first 78 mixtures? Oh that's right-they were all bought up by Saddam Hussein for use in his chemical weapons program. If he had had some of this for his last smoke before his execution, he might have cheated the hangman.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	colt25314 (42)	2009-11-26		Extremely Mild	Extra Strong	Extremely Mild (Flat)	Strong

Hmmmm. It has been around a long time. Someone must like it.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2009-11-10		Strong	Extra Strong	Overwhelming	Extra Strong

Peoples' tastes are different. Viva la difference!

That said, I must report this is the most foul-tasting stuff I have ever put in a pipe.

I was fooled by the pouch scent which had a nice strong, floral and peppery nose. No hint of the horrors to come.

Once lit, I could not finish half a bowl. The taste so insulted my tastebuds that I dumped it and the rest of the sample into the toilet. I don't think I've ever disliked a baccy so quickly and that much.

It is said that Mixture #79 was Hugh Hefner's favorite when he still smoked a pipe. Don't worry, Hef... I still admire you.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2009-10-05		Mild to Medium	Mild	Medium	Tolerable to Strong

The tobacco itself seems to be of a very high quality. Lights easy, stays lit very well. When I first opened the 1.5 oz pouch I really liked the smell. To me a bit like black licorice with a hint of chocolate. But when lit its smell is completely different; a strong weird smell of women's perfume. I'm nearly certain that it contains dried rose hips. In addition, it tastes like roses too. It's not horrible, but let's say you'd really have to be in the mood to smoke something like this. This is probably not something most people would want to smoke every day.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2009-04-08		Mild	Medium to Strong	Medium	Tolerable

Not a winner in my book. I do enjoy the hint of anise I taste but its not enough to get over the perfume taste.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2009-01-25		Mild	Strong	Overwhelming	Overwhelming

My Lord, M79. What a name. The other 78 must have been fatal when ingested. This concotion brings back the earliest of memories. Being of italian desent, we were givin instruction in smoking soon after we left the breast. On my grandfathers lap I would sit as he puffed up a typhoon with this blend. As I held my nose, I could still taste the horid remnants, like my grandmothers flower garden had been torched, of this tobacco, swearing on a stack of bibles never to smoke. Then low and behold there was the old classic Amphora red full aromatic. My God, I thought, this is what I will smoke when old enough. And so I did. My newly found hobbie of the briar, caused me to make many terrible decisions in the field. First and foremost was buying a foil of M79. The experiance still haunts me to this day. 79 cents of lunch money wasted, and a mouthfull of Tide without bleach. Even after 35 years of piping, and many many foul, rancid, overated tobaccos, M79 is still on the note to self, NEVER,EVER, attempt to ignite this toxic dung. All that I can imagine is that Mary W Shelly hoarfed a bowl or 2 of this fodder before composing Frankenstein. (no wonder the creature had a rotten brain)

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2009-01-20		Mild to Medium	Strong	Medium to Full	Tolerable

Burley tobacco heavily cased in your grandmother's perfume and urinal cakes. This stuff is just plain nauseating.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	SirShaggy (28)	2008-07-23		Medium	Very Strong	Medium to Full	Tolerable to Strong

I always wanted to try this. I am not sure why. I hated it the first time, loved it every time after that. Amazing my tastes have changed the way they did. It is strong but for some reason I like this....quite a lot! It is different, but enjoyable to me. I chose somewhat recommended because I think you should try everything. I just find most people don't enjoy smoking it. Give it a try, you never know.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2008-05-26		Mild	Medium to Strong	Medium	Tolerable

Its not the big floral note or aroma that I found objectionable in this infamous mixture,it smokes too hot and its the bite and the long lasting after taste that gets me,plus its $5.49 for a 1.5 oz. pouch locally,thats way too much for a tobacco like this.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	churchwarden398 (19)	2007-09-27		Mild to Medium	Strong	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

Similarly to DakotaPeacePipe, I tried this because a colleague swore by it. I really did not notice any aroma when he smoked it. It was another story when the pouch I bought was opened. Upon lighting up,it was like stepping into old Aunt Gertie's house. The perfumey smell that must have been used to cover something else. A Saturday night only bath tradition more than likely. Anyway, about mid-bowl the fragrance seemed to dissapate. If like my colleague, you like this blend, have at it.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Spike (296)	2006-12-13		Medium	Medium	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

The dreaded Mixture 79! This pouch has been sitting idle for some time and has dried to a very smokable moisture level. The cut is relatively coarse-cut burley and some short, fine cut virginias. Fired up a little reluctantly in a full-bent pipe basket special. Once lit it burned rather well and relatively long for an inexpensive pouched blend. Initial flavor was quite like a nicely scented bar of hand soap. After a bit of cautious puffing most of the soapy taste faded and left a pretty decent-tasting burley. It never became bitter and only required one relight which may be due to lack of attention on my part. This stuff tasted o.k. and smelled quite nice. It was trying to bite my tongue when drawing too hard.

Overall a fairly enjoyable yard tobacco if you go easy on the draw. Also could be worth your while to break the seal when purchased and give about a month or so before lighting up. Not recommended for those who think Lakeland tobaccos are soapy tasting. I would give two and one half stars if aired out a while.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2006-06-10		Very Mild	Strong	Extremely Mild (Flat)	Very Pleasant

My view is going to be "the same thing only different" compared with fellow reviewers. I didn't mind the "perfumy" room note. (Hef probably got the hippie chicks with this patchouli/incense casing.) Didn't smoke that hot for me either. My complaint is that I never got any tobacco taste. Is there really any in here? Could just be chopped up weeds and flavoring, for all I could tell. No cheers.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2006-04-02		Mild to Medium	Medium	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

Uniquely flavored blend and possible right of passage, a rorschach test for pipers: Look into the smoke and tell us what you taste... For me, what I found was mostly fragmented chipboard cased in a tantalizing melange of toilet cleaner, maybe some old lipton tea, a dose of wint-o-green, maybe some grape soda, and just a light kiss of eau de funeral home.

Think the tobacco that is here was actually destined to be chewing plug first. And it burned me.

But you, oh you, brave piper, you may _love_ this stuff. Who knows what fate holds for you---Mixture 79 may taste like mojitos and sex with supermodels on the concorde to you.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	pipeman (14)	2006-03-08		Mild to Medium	Medium to Strong	Full	Tolerable

the first thing i have to say is,WOW!,as soon as i opened the pouch i smelled what i swear was perfume and then flowers,i wasn't sure if i should light up,but then i did.gasp, cough,yuck,then i tasted what i swear was soap,i took maybe 2 more puffs and dumped it out.i decided to give it another try a few hours later,why u ask,i have no idea,how i finished it was by the good grace of god or something,u choose.the aroma wasn't all that bad i guess,but i'm hoping i didn't ruin a good pipe! i don't know what to do with the rest cause i'm not going near that stuff,i thought about blending it and trying it in my cobb as suggested.hmm,tough decision here,i know one thing i'll never buy it again.i wish i would have read the reviews on this one.i won't make the same mistake twice.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2006-02-17		Extremely Mild	Very Strong	Extremely Mild (Flat)	Pleasant

In general I try to not give terrible reviews of tobaccos, but on trying this blend I was disgusted almost immediately. On opening the packet, I got a waft of old-woman type perfume. Being used to tobaccos tasting different than they smell in the pouch, I stoutly lit up. Terrible...perfumy bitter chemical flavor. After about half of the bowl, I got a hint of burley flavor that slipped out from this burdensome mess.

I couldn't bring myself to load up a second bowl of the stuff, and cannot recommend it to anyone. As a caveat, Mixture 79 will taint your pipe with its flavor especially if you normally smoke mild blends. I used the power of latakia to exorcise this foul reminder.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2006-02-14		Mild	Very Strong	Mild	Pleasant to Tolerable

Soak some cardboard in your grandmother's perfume and you will have Mixture 79 in bulk. Horrid. Simply horrid.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2005-10-22		Mild	Medium	Overwhelming	Tolerable

I wearily tried less than a half bowlfull of this stuff in an old Grabow I keep for testing purposes. Let's just say that my brief experience was more than enough for me to realize I had made a mistake in trying this tobacco.

If I wanted the same experience as smoking Mixture 79 but without the lasting aftertaste, I would spritz my mouth with an aerosol air-freshner.

=====UPDATE=====

While I was in either a masochistic frame of mind or my synapses just weren't quite firing as they should I actually tried this blend again. Nothing has changed... it still was an unpleasant experience. I must've experienced the same level of memory supression that allows a pregnant woman to completely forget the pain of her first childbirth and makes the second time around seem like such a good idea.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2005-05-19		Medium to Strong	Medium to Strong	Full	Strong

First smoked this back in 1950 as an underaged 15 year old. My buddy and I would sneak up into the woods and light up. We thought it was the greatest tobacco in the world. All that perfumy smell. Wow!!! Later on, I switched to cigarettes and would occasionally smoke a pipe. My standby was Half and Half when it was manufactured by American Tobacco Co. Once in a while I would buy some Mixture 79 for nostalgic purposes. Still do, but can only smoke a few pipefulls before I'm overwelmed by all that aromatic casing. I'm 70 now and back on pipes full time. Still looking for that blend that's going to satisfy me like the "old" Half and Half did---sigh!

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2005-04-22		Medium	Strong	Medium to Full	Pleasant

This is for sure a classic. Even thought a lot of people hate this one, I somewhat enjoy it. True it does smell a bit like aftershave and does bite if not careful, yet it has some kind of mystic to it. This is in no way one of my favorites but for sure one that I will keep coming back to.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2004-10-03		Mild	Medium to Strong	Mild to Medium	Tolerable

Mixture #79 is everything you would expect in a cheap drug store tobacco. It tastes like soap and smells like cough syrup. No one in their right mind would smoke this tripe. It makes CrossEyed cricket taste good. That's how bad it is.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	BostonPipe (84)	2004-08-20		Mild to Medium	Medium	Medium to Full	Tolerable

This is one of those "old" Time blends that I can do without. While I have been re-trying various drug store blends this summer, this is definitely the one I should have forgotten about. As another reviewer put it, "Nasty". Chopped up blah is my main description of this foul smoke. Just an overall lousy experience.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2004-08-16		Mild to Medium	Medium to Strong	Medium	Tolerable to Strong

Nasty! However, (note to Gae) one could strain alcohol through this, mix it with liquid pesticide and use it for bug killer in the garden. I know that sounds harsh but so is this stuff. No way does this work for me except as noted.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2004-08-16		Strong	Extra Strong	Overwhelming	Overwhelming

Do you still have an old old aunt or grandmother living? Do you remember what her house smells like, no not baking cookies, the other smell, the smell of old cheap perfume. I do not know what type of perfume 80 year old women wear, but it all smells the same, just like this tobacco, terrible. I was warned about this vile weed, but had to go and find out for myself, I thought nothing could be that bad. Believe me this one is! I liked Royal Yacht, I even survived Erinmore, but this evil brew is not fit for human (or any other) consumption. Leave this one be, you'll be glad you did. This stuff tastes as bad or worse than it smells, it will ruin whatever it is smoked in, so if you must try it, buy a cob to smoke it in, then when you have to bury the pipe you won't loose much. Don't just throw it away, somebody might pick it up and decide to never become a pipesmoker because of it. Anyone who likes this concoction is truly a masochist of the rarist kind, and quite frankly scares me. I did not know that tobacco could be turned into so perverse a mixture, it truly is a shame. 0 out of 10 and not fit to smoke

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2004-05-31		Mild	Very Strong	Extremely Mild (Flat)	Extra Strong

Smell like someone having a bad body odor problem when raw.....and does more or less same when burn. If smoke medium fast it bites. If smoke in juice slow, it does have an interesting flavor. I think it is trying to mimick something vintage and expensive without getting the right tobacco source.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2004-03-19		Medium	Medium	Full	Tolerable to Strong

March 2004. Mixture No 79. The most disgusting tobacco I have 'ever tasted or smelt' I could only manage to smoke eight to ten puffs of this foul weed,and that was three days ago. Three days later,after smoking Penzance which has a real strong latakia taste to it,and eating Italian food with lots of garlic.My taste buds still have a taste similar to floral scented soap! The rest of this horror weed,is now fertiliser in my garden. Be wise,and take the hint(Don't waste your money)

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2004-03-19		Medium	Extra Strong	Overwhelming	Strong

This is a blend that has been on the shelf for a long time. And that's a good place for it.

I made 3 mistakes. I bought it. I put it in a pipe. I lit said pipe.

This is the first tobacco I ever threw away before at least finishing the pouch.

The stuff tastes like soap, or potpourri.

I paid $1.79 for a pouch. It was way overpriced.

Flavoring is overwhelming - and quite unpleasant.

Other pipe smokers rated the room note - I can't use those words here!

This one is a classic whose time has passed it by.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2004-02-10		Mild	Extra Strong	Extremely Mild (Flat)	Overwhelming

This is terrible. Tastes like bland burley with either clubman aftershave or bacchus aftershave used for the topping. Smokes cool,tastes like s**t, and smells like perfume. LOUSY !!!!

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2003-10-08		Overwhelming	Extra Strong	Overwhelming	Overwhelming

9-3-03. I?m afraid that I made the mistake of buying this blend before reading the reviews here. I knew this tobacco had a long history and I was curious to try it, as I like to try almost any blend on the market for the experience. I don?t have the most sophisticated palate, I?ve certainly smoked my share of poor cigars and pipe blends but I can usually find some redeeming aspect of it. I certainly think I?m pretty fair and generous in my reviews. I usually always even finish said cigar or pipe bowl?but this?I couldn?t even finish the bowl. This has to be the vilest concoction that I have ever smoked. I knew I was in trouble the second I caught a whiff from the pouch. It smells like perfume soap. I too thought that there was something wrong with my pouch before I realized that this is just the way this brand smells. Unfortunately, the taste is the same as the pouch aroma but even stronger. I emptied my pipe after about half a bowl because I just couldn?t take it any longer and thought I would retch. I pray that I didn?t cause irreparable damage to my poor pipe. If you actually like this blend then send me an email with your name and address and I will gladly send this brand new pouch to the first person to do so FREE OF CHARGE with my compliments! At least I?ll know that my money wasn?t totally flushed down the toilet because if I keep this stuff that is what I will do to it.

10-8-03. Well, it's been a month and it didn?t surprise me that no one took me up on the offer for a free pouch of tobacco since this stuff is such crap. Being such, I gave it a ceremonial burial at sea down the toilet. Live and learn.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2003-02-06		Mild	Mild	Mild to Medium	Strong

Reading the other guys comments on this mixture gave me such a laugh I just had to get in on the fun. I remember trying this foul mixture back around 1980. To me it smelled and tasted like deodorant soap and bit the hell out of my tounge on the first few draws. I didnt have much knowledge of various pipe blends back then and I remember taking that tobbaco back to the drug store and telling the clerk that there must be something wrong with it , it smelled and tasted like soap. If you enjoy this blend all I can say is that your more of a man than I am.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2002-10-02		Mild to Medium	Mild	Mild to Medium	Pleasant

I open it today again because i keep it away for a long time,i feel that,the smell has a little bit "wild",the almond favour and a bit bitter. The taste is monotonous,but it have it own characteristic. By the way,it is easy to storage. Even it was dry,just add some moist. Then it will have a strong almond smell come to my nose again. The taste a totally oppsite with Captain Black. Captain Black,it just sweet and have no soul,and that one is opposite. But actually not,if i taste it carefully,i feel it also has a bit of sweet.over all,it gave me a lonely feeling.a strong surface with a soft heart.but i have to be careful. Because it would easily become hot if smoke too fast~!!

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2002-09-17		Mild	Medium	Medium	Tolerable

Mixture 79 is a chopped burley that smells like root beer and tastes like soap. Once burning, it has the fine aroma of talcum powder. Plus it bites. What more could you want?

NB: This tobacco not only lingers in the pipe, but on the tongue. Keep your Biotene handy.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	willie b (37)	2022-10-22		Mild to Medium	Mild to Medium	Mild to Medium	Pleasant

this is the one that started it all. one of the first aromatic/flavored tobaccos. well worth trying if nothing more than nostalgia. you may love it or hate it. I enjoy the old-time licorice flavor. just a good all-around smoke. not an all day for me. just enjoy it for moments of reflection and to take me back to by gone days. young folk won't understand this.

Pipe Used: many

Age When Smoked: new

Purchased From: tobacco pipes

Similar Blends: maybe some Lakeland..

Nobody has rated this review yet.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Smokolier (21)	2021-10-13		Mild	Mild to Medium	Medium	Pleasant

Mixture No. 79 is difficult to love for some. Many report odd flavors, such as iodine, Band-Aids, medicine, or the anise doesn't please their palates. While occasionally these odd flavors indeed are present while smoking, they were only ever transient for me, giving way again to a smooth-smoking burley blend, similar to Half & Half, kissed by a light topping of licoricey anise.

As an absinthe enthusiast (that lucid Diana!) I really appreciate the anise topping. It's at once medicinal and herbal, and meshes well with the nuttiness of the burley, elevating the whole blend above codgerliness. I imagine it might even be good with absinthe itself, but I can't really afford it at the moment. When the blend heats up, it starts to take on a strange sagey/pepper characteristic. This is when you know to back off and let it cool a bit, even if it might taste sort of awesome. Overall, not a bad blend, and I don't think it deserves such a poor rating. Definitely worth trying. I enjoyed it quite a bit and might buy another pouch in a few months or so.

Pipe Used: Missouri Meerschaum Mizzou

Age When Smoked: 1 Day

Purchased From: Pipes and Cigars

Nobody has rated this review yet.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Esactun (11)	2021-08-21		Very Mild	Medium to Strong	Mild	Pleasant

Checking off another just-had-to-try-it tobacco. Finally got my sample of Mixture 79 dry enough that it would actually light and not bite my whole face off. It is a contrasting mix of light bits, blond and brown ribbons, reddish chunks, darker brown chunks, broken flakes, etc. And what an interesting topping. Smells of root beer and mint and old time candies in the bag, smells and tastes like sweet baby powder with a hint of vanilla when smoked. Not quite perfumy, barely kind of flowery. Smooth and cloudy. Light with suggestions of white burley and virginia. Mild. Unfortunately resistant to combustion.

Pipe Used: Tiny meer

Age When Smoked: Fresh

Purchased From: Pipes and Cigars

Nobody has rated this review yet.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2013-08-17		Mild to Medium	Strong	Overwhelming	Tolerable to Strong

I visited my local tobacco shop and bought one pouch of each "OTC" tobacco they had. I wasn't expecting Mercedes quality at Chevy prices... but this tobacco deserves a review.

I can honestly say that I haven't tasted anything like this since I was a child. Let me explain. I remember learning some new vocabulary at school which didn't exactly impress my mother. One word in particular awed my friends in the schoolyard but stopped my mother dead in her tracks. When I said it at home, she inserted a cake of soap into my mouth in some arcane attempt to "wash that language out of my mouth."

So yes, young people, it's true. This really happened in the days of yore. And I accepted this odd form of punishment, because it was preferable to what would have happened had my father punished me instead.

Decades have passed since that experience. But that flavor profile was somehow stored deep in my memory, only to be reawakened by my first few puffs of Mixture 79.

And yes, I must admit that the word I uttered when tasting this god-awful excuse for pipe tobacco was the same word that put the soap in my mouth years and years ago.

That word adequately describes Mixture 79.

Nobody has rated this review yet.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2013-01-02		Mild to Medium	Strong	Medium to Full	Overwhelming

Imagine smoking a urinal cake. That's what smoking Mixture 79 is the equivalent of. Horrible. Simply horrible.

Nobody has rated this review yet.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2012-12-08		Mild	Mild to Medium	Mild	Pleasant to Tolerable

This was bought during a very disappointing visit to a nearby smoke shop. I figured I'd give this a try as I had never seen this before in any other shop around me. As I opened the pouch for the 1st time I was greeted by this weird chemically smell and knew bad things lurked inside. As I loaded up one of my Dr Grabow pipes, and lit it, my tongue almost instantly started tingling. The bite got worse with each puff, and 2 minutes later I dumped the pipe, gave my mouth a rest for a few minutes, and loaded up one of my better pipes with some Frog Morton which I should have done to begin with. This is by far the worse tobacco I've smoked, and now I know why I only found this in one place around me, no one in their right mind would buy this.

Nobody has rated this review yet.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	JustOneforMe (28)	2012-04-26		Very Mild	Medium to Strong	Extremely Mild (Flat)	Pleasant

Objective: Perfect smoking moisture when purchased, packed and lit well. Moderate volume of smoke.

Subjective: I simply don't like cased aromatics and this one certainly fits that description. This almost made me gag. Threw the lot away after two bowls of this gyack!

Nobody has rated this review yet.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2011-08-02		Medium	Strong	Overwhelming	Overwhelming

Horrid. Ghastly. Not worth the words wasted to describe.

Nobody has rated this review yet.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2010-03-17		Medium	Medium	Medium	Tolerable

Just about the only tobacco I know that bit my tongue no matter the what the tobacco's moisture level was. OUCH!

Nobody has rated this review yet.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2009-09-22		Medium	Strong	Medium	Strong

All,

In the interests of expirementation (and the fact that a pouch of this medusa landed in my corner) I am going to try and neutralize the casing with either bourbon our whiskey. I'm running short on tobacco before my next order arrives. The pouch I receive actually had a manufacture flaw on the pouch and it was partly opened. so the perfume stench is minimal for now. (and the tobacco fortunately did not dry out).

To which end, I am going to try and introduce a whiskey/rum/bourbon to it to see if it neutralize the perfume. Will report on this in a week or two. Maybe longer. the tobacco itself looks ok actually so I feel a be guilty to waste it. that might change on the smoking but, it's worth a try anyways.

will report back.

Nobody has rated this review yet.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2005-04-22		Mild	Medium to Strong	Mild	Tolerable to Strong

I ruined a pipe smoking this stuff (good thing it was a grabow). Smells like anise in the pouch and cheap ladies perfume while smoking it. Only smoked half the bowl!

Nobody has rated this review yet.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2004-06-11		Medium	Strong	Overwhelming	Very Strong

Well, good ol' CaptnDan gave me a gift. This was not a nice gift - rather an experience. He along with some of the other savages at the local pipe shop I frequent convinced me or rather challenged me to try this most foul and hated of blends. Horrible! I packed a pipe, lit and was hit with a naucious, overwhelming taste and aroma! The only thing I can liken this to is when I was a child and my brother sprayed my mothers perfume at me and it landed in my mouth. To top it off I burnt my mouth as well! Captndan gave me the gift or rather experience of sea sickness!!! You foul, evil pirate!!!!

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	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2002-10-06		Medium	Medium	Medium	Tolerable

Flat drab tasting burley.

Tastes and smells like chalk.

............Forever.

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