Welcome to My Pipe Tobacco Reviews! (circa 1995 to Present)

I have been through quite a bit of experimentation in trying to find my ideal tobacco. Having started with Aromatics (flavored) I later discovered Latakia (English) blends and enjoyed them for many years. More recently I have discovered the more subtle joys of Matured Virginia blends. I have found that I don't need to limit myself to just one blend. I have experienced many different moods and attitudes and I have a tobacco for each of them. Of course I have a few favorites, but these remain even more enjoyable when I deviate from them occasionally to fill a particular craving.

The following has been my experience.

Tobacconists Reviewed

• Cornell & Diehl
• Dunhill Tobacco
• Esoterica Tobacciana
• G.L. Pease
• MacBaren
• McClelland Tobacco
• Rattray
• Miscellaneous

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Being one fourth the retail cost of some other premium blends, the price is right and the quality is good. Also, Craig Tarler is a man who knows his tobaccos and will help you find a blend or two to your liking.

• London Squire #012 A medium English blend of reddish yellow and black colors with a deliciously sweet scent in the jar. The sweet scent probably comes from Virginia tobaccos while the distinctive English or spicy aspects from Latakia and Turkish tobaccos. Easy on the tongue (which is a rare to exotic experience for me) with a delicious English flavor from the top of the bowl. This flavor grows in intensity as the bottom of the bowl is approached, where this blend burns to a fine gray ash. If you should get a sample pack from Cornell & Diehl, be sure to include this blend.
• Constellation #411 The heaviest Latakia blend offered by C&D. I don't "love" this blend, but it is good when "spice really counts". It has plenty of Latakia, but lacks that sweet Virginia background which I crave and have found in London Squire.
• Plantation Evening #416 Virginias, Latakia, Perique and a little Turkish. A little light for me, that is, not spicy enough in the beginning of the smoke, but it does offer complexity and may be a great smoke for those who like "light to medium" English blends.
• Stanhope #502 This is a very mild blend which might be perfect for one's first English tobacco.
• Blend #7 #503 A bit more cloying than London Squire but quite a bit fuller in flavor as well. The reddish brown color of Blend #7 gives an appearance akin to fine cedar wood, as does the scent in the jar. With healthy portions of both Latakia and Perique set against Burley, brown Virginia and bright flake, this one can overwhelm my palate very quickly, so I save it for those occasions when my taste buds need a jarring shock to fully enjoy a smoke.
• Winthrop #506 Mild in terms of flavor, but very peppery or spicy when smoke is blown out the nose.
• Yale Mixture #531 As stated in the C&D catalog, "If this were a wine it would be full bodied, rich but not sweet (like Cabernet Sauvignon)". True to it's description, this medium English blend is for those who do not require a sweet complement to their Latakia.
• Professor #813 Half Latakia and half matured Virginia Ribbon. A great flavor from the start to the middle of the bowl, and I do mean "great flavor". Tastes a bit like Dunhill's London Mixture, maybe better, but at about mid bowl this one quickly becomes too heavy. If I only fill the bowl half way. . . . this blend offers a very rich and satisfying experience.
• Tuggle Hall #965 Medium to full English blend. This is C&D's match for Dunhill's My Mixture 965, but this blend seems stronger to me than Dunhill's, and might be better for those who like a fuller English experience. Delicious English flavor at the start, but becomes a bit too full for my palate.
• Odessa #968 This is C&D's match for Balkan Sobranie. A mild to medium English blend, but very monotone in character. This has one good flavor, but just one flavor leaves this blend lacking "complexity", an element I find most enjoyable when smoking my pipe.
• Pirate Kake #970P As C&D describe, "A blend for the Latakia lover -- 70% Latakia with some Turkish and a little Burley to soften it." Harder on my tongue than London Squire and smelling very "musty" in the jar, I'm surprised that I find the taste of this blend so appealing. But then I shouldn't judge a book. . . . With an almost chocolate taste at the start, this blend becomes spicier as the middle of the bowl is approached, and I usually leave some dottle behind before the spices overcome my palate. Pressed into a brick-like structure the tobaccos harmonize but the flavor remains complex from start to delicious finish.
• Three Friars #972P Virginia Ribbon, Brown Virginia Burley and "that oh so peppery" Perique, pressed together produce a subtle spicy scent in the jar with a "dirty blond" appearance. This is a mellow smoke for those moments when I tire of Latakia (rare moments indeed) but still want a spicy smoke.
• Organic Pipe Dreams

  Organic Pipe Dreams (OPD) is a blend created by Organic Smoke, Inc. and distributed by Cornell & Diehl which (as many of you know) is owned by Craig and Patty Tarler. I have been a customer of Craig and Patty's for 12 years. Over the years I have tried sample packs of just about every English and Burley blend that Cornell & Diehl has to offer, and I've ordered more than a few pounds of various blends and blending tobaccos. I have great respect for both the expertise and customer service of Cornell & Diehl. That said, when I first heard of this organic Virginia blend I was a little suspicious that it might be hype, so I approached this blend with some skepticism.

  However I was also intrigued by the idea of a "pure tobacco" one whose flavor is not influenced by pesticides, herbicides, fungicides nor humectants. The thought may not cross our minds very often but these chemicals are an every day part of tobacco farming, storage, and blending. These chemicals, common to tobacco growth and production may leave their mark, to some extent, on the flavor and/or the smoking experience of many tobaccos.

  OPD is not without any additives, however the additives are themselves organic. Extracts of organic agave, prune and vanilla are added to the tobacco, as reported by Craig, to prevent mold.

  OPD is offered in 2 oz. tins directly from Cornell & Diehl or can be purchased from popular on-line retailers. OPD can also be acquired as part of a sample pack from Cornell & Diehl. If you do try a sample pack I might recommend adding the blending tobacco "Perique" as one of the samples so you can create your own Virginia/Perique blend to your liking. I liked the OPD in the sample pack, however I've found a tin with 5 months on it to be a bit smoother than, what I assume to be, untinned tobacco from a sample pack.

  In the tin OPD is comprised of ribbon cut strands that are mostly light and medium yellow with some strands of darker yellow to light brown. The smell of the opened tin is very sweet and inviting. The feel of the tobacco is very dry; dry enough that you might think it requires humidification, however I had trust in Craig that he knows what he's doing so throughout the bowls of OPD I've smoked, prior to this review, I haven't humidified any yet. If you feel the need to humidify OPD, know that Craig advises that you only humidify very small quantities - just enough for one to two days - as OPD does not contain fungicides and may be more susceptible to mold than an ordinary tobacco.

  Because of its dryness, OPD lights very easily. Anyone able to smoke a Virginia without much caution could probably get away with using only two to three matches. I'm a careful smoker when it comes to Virginias so I let the pipe go out whenever it becomes the least bit hot. I have not experienced a single episode of tongue bite from OPD, when kept out of the wind, which for me is absolutely amazing.

  Once lit, the sweet, warm flavor of OPD is carried on its smoke. Its flavor, to me, is just wonderful, and very consistent from the beginning to the end of the bowl. Notes of citrus fruit and honey are present; tastes akin to Wheat Beer or Hefeweizen. These are mostly high note flavors but there's something very "comforting" evoking the notion of "comfort smoke" like one might think of "comfort food"; something akin (in experience, not taste) to good butter on warm home made bread with a good cup of tea.

  The smell of OPD's smoke, from the bowl, is also very pleasing (to the pipe smoker anyway), evoking the same flavors mentioned above with a touch of "pepper" which I find very pleasing. I also noted this "pepper" quality when the smoke is exhaled through the nose. This makes for a very nice variation from the consistent flavor of OPD; just exhale through the nose to add a dash of pepper to the experience.

  OPD's flavor is quite consistent from start to finish and enjoyable to the bottom of the bowl. To me OPD does not develop an overpowering flavor toward the bottom of the bowl but rather gains in complexity just slightly, adding a little lower note flavor, making it very easy to smoke to the bottom.

  I have now smoked this blend many, many times in every form of pipe: English Seasoned Briar, Briar still being broken in, Clay, Corn Cob, and brand new Meerschaum. I have smoked full bowls of OPD within one sitting, and I've smoked half a bowl at lunch returning to the latter half at the end of the day. I have always enjoyed it thoroughly. The only time I didn't find OPD to shine was in my least broken in briar pipe; that is it might not be the best tobacco with which to break in a new pipe. But then again... what tobacco "shines" at its best as a break in tobacco?

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Dunhill Tobacco of London

A bit pricier than Cornell & Diehl, but most blends seem worth the price. I have not been able to get "across the pond" to the London store, so I am only experienced with Dunhill's tins. I like the experiences I have had thus far. One thing about Dunhill tobaccos that stand out in my mind is that they are "delicate", which to me means that they must be smoked thoughtfully and with care, lest one miss the many subtleties these tobaccos offer.

• Early Morning Pipe Mild to Medium English Blend. Light and dark tobaccos create a wonderfully spicy experience. This blend starts off sometimes tasting like a matured Virginia blend, but as it is burned the Oriental tobaccos become more pronounced. I could best describe the experience as a mild English mixture at the start, which ends as a medium blend.
• London Mixture Medium English Blend. Matured Virginias and Oriental tobaccos provide a very delicate experience which I find must be smoked carefully (slowly and thoughtfully) for the complexity of this blend to be fully enjoyed. With enough Latakia to satisfy my palate, the Virginias do not produce any tongue bite as I need only to gently draw for full flavor. I leave no dottle behind when smoking this blend. Most enjoyed when one is doing nothing of a lower order than devoting his or her complete attention to their bowl.
• My Mixture 965 Mild to Medium English Blend. In the tin this blend is a little lighter in color and slightly lighter in scent than London Mixture. When smoked this blend seems very similar to London Mixture, and my guess is that if you like one you will like the other, though 965 might be saved for those moments when a lighter strength is desired. I call this mild-to-medium in strength because it is a bit sweeter and lighter in Latakia content than most medium strength English blends. The sweetness from this blend seems to come more from Cavendish than Virginias. By about mid bowl I blow a little more smoke out of my nose, than I usually do, to increase the spicy aspects of this mixture.
• Nightcap Full English Blend. With 50% Latakia and a helping of Perique, many a pipester has stated that this blend can make the room spin. . . . . Lightweights! I find this to be a thoroughly enjoyable blend for those moments when I want a stronger tobacco experience and want to practice the patience needed for slow smoking. This blend is my first choice when having a pipe after a very spicy meal. I find it to be the only blend worth smoking after a meal of Indian cuisine.
• Standard Mixture Mild Mild English Blend. Upon first opening the tin, one notices a matured Virginia scent much like that found in London Mixture. This blend seems to contain more light tobaccos than dark; about 70% to 30%. Dunhill describes this tobacco as "A mild blend of Virginia and Turkish tobaccos" but I think there may also be some Burley in the tin. My first impression was that this blend was just spicy enough, but it does not strengthen as the bowl is smoked, leaving the latter half of the experience somewhat bland. Lacking the fullness of a mild English, I find myself drawing a little harder on my pipes to experience a fuller flavor from this one, which inevitably causes tongue bite. Lighter than Early Morning Pipe, this might be a good choice for those first introducing themselves to English tobaccos.
• Light Flake A full and natural Virginia flake comprised of Virginias of lighter colors. If smoked without caution this one can get hot and burn or bite, but if handled with a modicum of care great rewards are to be had.

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More expensive, for 50g quantities, than most other blends. Some have said that these blends are made in "the lost, traditional, English manner". This is probably true as J. F. Germain & Son have been blending tobaccos since 1830. The Esoterica blends are among the best I have sampled and Penzance has become my most frequent indulgence.

• Penzance Latakia, Virginia, and perhaps some Black Cavendish. Dark in color. Delicate in flavor and composition. This blend is very finely chopped, pressed, and then sliced, so the slices must be rubbed out before smoking. I like to rub out the slices as much as I can, as I find this helps the blend's burning properties. The tobacco burns slowly prolonging a fine smoking experience, while the taste is complex, dark and spicy. This does not bite my tongue at all, and I find it a most pleasurable and deliciously spicy experience. If I had to pick a single favorite... this would be it!
• Margate A blend of 50% light and 50% dark tobacco's. Latakia and Black Cavendish predominate. In the tin this looks and smells a bit lighter than my most beloved English blends. The tobaccos are ribbon cut, rather long, and are a bit sticky when one first opens the tin. Upon first burn, this blend seems a bit light for my taste, however, as light colored tobaccos tend to be rather hard on my tongue, I was pleasantly surprised to find that this blend did not cause any tongue bite. By about mid bowl this blend becomes very interesting; the spiciness increases its presence, and sweeter aspects are revealed to the smoker. The marriage of the two aspects (sweet and spicy) produces a somewhat "chocolatey" experience which I have also noticed in Pirate Kake and Bengal Slices. However sad, soon after the grand appearance of this wonderful flavor, the overall experience becomes somewhat flat leaving the last fourth of the bowl slightly monotone yet very rich.
• Pembroke Margate's Latakia and Black Cavendish with Cognac casing. In the tin this tobacco is predominately aromatic and this is evident when smoked. Though the blender describes it as "Choice English Cognac Blend", I find it very aromatic and thus difficult to consider this blend of an English order. However, this may make the perfect "Summer blend" for those English smokers who find their "year round blends" a little too harsh to smoke during the hotter months of the year.
• And So To Bed... Virginia and Maryland tobaccos with Latakia and Oriental leaf, perhaps a slight casing/flavoring. Based on it's title I expected this to be a very heavy smoke, but it is not at all. In fact it's one of the lightest Esoterica's I have sampled to date. At the start this blend is very sweet, almost tangy. I couldn't detect much in the way of Latakia, until about mid bowl, and even then it seemed very light on Latakia or Oriental. This might be an excellent introduction to English blends for the aromatic smoker.
• Dorchester A light Va/Per. Great morning smoke. Notes of raisins and yeast/bread/beer. This one has a sharpness to me that calls for care while smoking but nothing to be afraid of.
• Dunbar A full Va/Per. Full on flavor and nicotine. There's a variety of tobaccos in this one: ribbon, flake, broken flake. Due to its fullness, I like this is one for late in the day.

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• Haddo's Delight Very light sweet smell in the tin. Comprised of thirty percent dark tobaccos and sixty percent lighter colored tobaccos including brown and reddish hues. On first puff the perique of this blend announces its presence and delights the smoker with it's peppery accent. At first the perique can be a bit overwhelming but with persistence the perique melds with the virginias, cavendish and air-cured ribbon and the flavor becomes unified, earthy and mellow. Throughout my samplings, I found this blend to be very mild on the tongue which is a unique experience for me to have with a Virginia blend. It's flavor is comprised mostly of high notes from start to finish and may be ideal for a summer smoke.
• Charing Cross G.L. Pease describes this blend thusly "a traditional Balkan style blend of fine Virginia leaf, richly seasoned with smoky Cyprian Latakia, and spiced with the exquisite and exotic tobaccos of the orient. This is one for Latakia lovers. Hints of roasted cocoa beans, orange zest, green pepper and campfires. Charing Cross is fuller than Blackpoint, and a little less sweet." I really enjoy this blend. Although in the tin it appears to be 50% lighter tobaccos and 50% dark, it is reminiscent of all the great heavy Latakia blends like Bengal Slices, Pirate Kake, Nightcap (sans perique), Margate and Penzance. Also a bit like London Mixture with additional Latakia. The smoke is luxuriously creamy and never seems to bite. The taste is dark, full and spicy. The experience, very satisfying. The cut of the tobaccos is rather broad and long. Though I had no basis for objection, I thought I might try cutting the tobacco into smaller bits, and ended up with a very Penznce looking bowl full of tobacco. I enjoy either cut equally though I believe that leaving the tobacco in its original state produces a slightly more enjoyable smoke with fewer relights necessary. If you like Latakia, this blend is worth a try. I believe, for me, this may replace Nightcap as my nightly staple and become the regular tobacco for my Shell Briar. Only Abingdon might dethrone it, but that is yet to be tested.
• Kensington Pease describes this one as "a Balkan style blend with restraint." and I'd say he hit the mark right on. I picked up an older tin of this blend this past Fall while in a cigar shop in New Hope, PA, and I've been enjoying it since. It was an older, taller, tin so I knew when I saw it, that it had at least a couple years of aging and mellowing on it. In the tin its colors are mostly reddish browns (dark and light) with flecks of black tobacco. In the bowl I've found this to light and burn well offering a taste that alternated nicely between the spicy Orientals and the sweet Virginias. Never overpowering on either note but never monotonous either. This could be an all day blend, which doesn't overwhelm the pallet of one who regularly enjoys Balkan or English blends.
• Blackpoint Pease describes this one as "a luxurious blend of red and lemon Virginias, Cyprian Latakia, exotic oriental tobaccos, and a perfect measure of Louisiana perique for a lively, piquant finish. The smoke is creamy and lingering, engaging the palate with a mouth-filling array of wonderful flavours." Nightcap has been an evening staple of mine for some time, but I'm always curious about alternatives, especially since the Dunhill blends have been using Propelyne Glycol in greater proportions. Blackpoint offers a very creamy, sweet and spicy smoke. If you are looking for an alternative to Nightcap this one is definitely worth a try. In basic terms, it has all the flavors of Nightcap, perhaps slightly sweeter than Nightcap, with what I found to be the exact same amount of Perique. Whether or not you like Blackpoint more, or as much as Nightcap, comes down to your liking of C&D's Latakia.
• Piccadilly Defined by Pease as "a provocative blend of several Virginia tobaccos, delicately spiced with Latakia and finished with Louisiana perique" The tin I acquired has about 10% black tobaccos and 90% brown. Of the brown tobacco about 50% are reddish in hue and 50% blonde. The smell is sweet with a hint of mustiness which I assumed to be coming from the Latakia but this might not be the case as smoking revealed very little (almost no) Latakia. On lighting up I was punched in the face by Perique! I'm not a lightweight to Perique as I nightly smoke Nightcap but I wasn't expecting such a heavy dose by what Pease describes as "The mildest of the blends in this collection, so far, Piccadilly is the perfect 'English Breakfast Mixture'." Might be a bit much for breakfast but after the first quarter bowl it grew into something far more tame; a more homogenous Virginia/Perique experience which was sweet and peppery and quite delicious. I am susceptible to tongue bite from Virginia so I went a bit carefully with this blend and we got on just fine. If I was blindfolded and given a pipe of this blend I would have thought it a Virginia/Perique blend with no Latakia. The Latakia was not at all present to me while smoking but that didn't detract from my enjoyment of this blend one bit - it makes me curious to try other Virginia/Perique blends that people have been raving about. In summary, if you like English blends with perique you may like Piccadilly as a blend that's lighter on Latakia than your other English blends. If you like Virginia/Perique blends, Piccadilly might be a nice English change of pace.
• Telegraph Hill A medium Va/Per, fuller than Esoterica Dorchester, but lighter than GLP Fillmore. However, it has a good share of Perique and is peppery from start to finish; its the Virginias that would be on the lighter/brighter side when compared with Fillmore. I learned about this one from wosbald and it is the closest blend I've found to Dunhill's long gone Elizabethan Mixture. This is my 'first Va/Per of the day' blend.
• Fillmore A fuller Va/Per than Telegraph Hill. "A thick-sliced broken flake in the Scottish tradition. Ripe red Virginia tobaccos are combined with a generous measure of fine Louisiana perique, and then pressed to marry the components and deepen the flavors." This is a very rich/full blend to me, and seems very akin to something like Nightcap without Latakia. As stated on the tin description, it does develop a creaminess as the bowl is smoked and offers up a lot of interesting notes to enjoy. This is my 'last Va/Per of the day' blend.
• Embarcadero This one seems very akin to Fillmore in richness to me. "Rich, ripe red virginias are combined with top-grade Izmir leaf, pressed and aged in cakes, then sliced into flakes and tinned." Embarcadero and Fillmore are both pressed and I believe they both probably share the same Red Virginia base. Between the two they provide a nice related yet different experience. Embarcadero is more of a crumble cake than a broken flake. A slight chocolate scent is present in the tin. Embarcadero has lots of interesting notes going on throughout the bowl - a sort of dance between nutty, cocao and spicy flavors. I've had this blend first thing in the morning and late in the evening - its great anytime. My tin was relatively young, but the description said it was aged in cakes before tinning, so I thought it might have enough age on it to smoke well, and it sure did - I appreciate not having to cellar it before enjoying it, but I'm sure it will only get more interesting if aged before opening.

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After trying more than one of the MacBaren blends, one quickly realizes that the blends have a "main theme flavor". I've been told that this is a honey casing, but I'm not sure about that. The common flavor could be from aging the tobaccos in cakes before blending, but I've no way to prove this.... it's best to taste for yourself.

• Golden Extra A good blend for the beginning pipe smoker. A blend of matured Virginia tobaccos with a distinct aroma and "warm" (for lack of a better description) taste. In my "pre-English" days this was my favorite blend.
• PlumCake MacBaren's underlying flavor plus Rum. A "nice" aromatic blend which can easily burn the tongue if one's attention is diverted.
• RollCake Red, Brown and Black tobaccos are layered atop one another, and with a "line" of granular Perique placed at one edge, the layers are rolled so that the Perique is at the center. The rolls are then sliced. This is a very tangy blend in which the Perique is muddled behind the odd tangy flavors.
• Symphony Less sweet than Golden Extra. Another excellent blend for the beginning pipe smoker.
• Virginia No. 1 Light redish-organge in color with a wonderfully sweet scent in the jar, this is a delicious Virginia but must be smoked with great care as the tongue bite is sure to follow about mid bowl.
• HH Vintage Syrian A good solid English blend. I purchased this for a taste of Syrian Latakia which I liked, but the blend wasn't stellar to me; a bit flat for my Balkan tendencies.
• HH Matured Virginia A good solid blend of matured Virginias. From the mac-baren.com website: "All together we have used 22 different tobaccos to create this blend and of these 15 are Virginia tobaccos." This is a Virginia with a little natural spice which keeps it interesting, however it tended to dry my palate but it didn't bite.

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McClelland Tobacco

The McClelland blends are a real treat. The owner-blenders are obsessed with quality, and in the area of flake tobaccos McClelland is unsurpassed by any other blender which I've tried to date. A real American treasure.

• Dark Star A matured Virginia blend which is aged, pressed and stoved. In the tin this blend consists of very black slices which are quite sticky and require a good deal of rubbing out. The smell is very sweet and reminds me of sherry. The smoke is wonderful. Dark and full with just a hint of spice now and again probably from the stoved Virginia. As the bowl is smoked the flavor develops into a wonderfully rich and sweet experience. Very easy on the tongue again probably due to the stoving of the tobaccos. I'd recommend this to anyone who wishes to begin a foray into Matured Virginias.
• St. James Woods A matured Virginia blend of red and stoved Virginias pressed with Louisiana Perique. In the tin are slices of dark brown and black caked tobaccos. The smell is very sweet with a subtle wine like or fermented presence. It's smell reminds me a little bit of MacBaren's Symphony. In the bowl this is a very complex blend. This may be compared with Haddo's Delight in terms of it's Perique content, but to me this is a tad darker and richer with more mid range and bottom flavors. It's Matured Virginia sweet but also smoky and spicy. One must smoke Virginias very slowly or tongue bite is inevitable and this blend will bite if you're not careful. If your tongue is comfortable with Virginia blends, and you like a touch of Perique, than I highly recommend sampling this one.
• Bombay Court A mixture of mostly Turkish and Virginia with a small amount of Latakia. In the tin this blend of tobaccos appears to be mostly blond with a very occasional fleck of black Latakia, and a bit of caked virginia here and there. The smell in the tin is wine like, very similar to Dunhill's Early Morning Pipe, but I don't believe that Early Morning Pipe contains any Virginia giving this blend a sweetness all its own. Upon lighting I find the flavor very enjoyable, spicy, and slightly sweet. The experience oscilates between the spicy aspects of the Turkish and Oriental tobaccos and the sweet aspects of the Virginia. A very enjoyable experience and one of my favorite oriental blends.
• Bombay Extra Take Bombay Court up a notch and you have Bombay Extra. This is Bombay Court with increased Virginia and Latakia and newly added Perique. A Full English Mixture! The result is a sweeter smell in the tin and richer experience in the bowl. I like this blend a lot as it reminds me of Dunhill's NightCap and I suspect that if you like one you'll like the other.
• Frog Morton McClelland describes this blend as a smooth and dark Latakia mixture. In the tin it appears mostly black with occasional flecks of brown. Before lighting, this blend has almost no smell at all, much like a plain black cavendish. Upon lighting I found that it falls short of what I consider to be a Latakia mixture. I find this blend to be smoky, sweet, and very mild on the tongue, but there is no spiciness, an aspect which I've come to expect from a Latakia blend.
• British Woods Almost exactly like Frog Morton but just a little less sweet. So similar that there's nothing else to say.

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Rattray

• Old Gowrie Originally this was a matured Virginia but these days its blended as a Va/Per. I like this one a lot. Its a great, lighter, Va/Per with a great complexity in the first half of the bowl. It tends to be a little flatter in the second half of the bowl.
• Hal O' the Wynd A good matured Virginia, on the brighter side of Virginias. Sweet notes and some spice.

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Miscellaneous

• Bengal Slices The tobaccos creating this blend are chopped (not as finely as those in Penzance), pressed, sliced, and then placed in a small rectangular tin. I rub out about 2 slices per bowl. The scent of the kake in the tin is somewhat sweet, almost like licorice, but more natural smelling than a cased tobacco. Mostly black tobaccos, which can stick to your fingers when rubbed out, but smelling so sweet that I didn't think there was a signifigant amount of latakia in this blend. . . . until I lit my first bowl. The flavor of these slices when smoked is a wonderful marriage of sweet and spicy tastes. Spicy from the first puff, but the spiciness does not become overpowering as the bowl is smoked. In fact the spicy aspects remain very consistent from top to bottom. However the sweet aspects become "chocolate like" as the bowl is smoked and one may have to be careful not to smoke too fast while trying to experience more of the chocolate like flavors. This does smoke a bit hotter than Penzance but a bit cooler than Pirate Kake. By about mid bowl the sweet aspects do tend to produce a bit of tongue bite, to which I am both suceptible and sensitive, but which you may never experience with this blend.
• Butera's Latakia No. 1 With brown, dark brown and black tobaccos, this blend looks and smells delicious. The smell in the tin is one of fine and very mature tobaccos with a helping of Latakia, but this blend is definitely not spicy enough for me.

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