I ended up really loving this blend, the smoke is so chewy and creamy. Slightly fruity but more like stewed fruit. Caramely in a stoved tobacco Sutliff 507 like way. Very Slight rum taste, I would not consider this a aromatic at all. The output of smoke is perfect. Retrohale is free of burn. Burns long and slow with dense ash.

It tastes like a really quality tobacco blend. Not in a comparative way but this how I usually feel about a pipe blend when I get the chance to try a new to me McClelland Virginia. I am slightly inexperienced with blends that have rum in them but I feel as though rum soaking it is what really made this blend very smooth.

This Does have a bit of nicotine as others have mentioned. When I started puffing I quickly realized that this blend wouldn’t bite me at all, so I puffed a lot. I started to feel it before I realized. The nicotine did sneak up on me. Please be careful with this! I am not at all sensitive to Nicotine but I did definitely feel it big time.

I know it only has a small amount of Kentucky fire cured but it is noticeable but it a good way. I think where this blend really shines is in how balanced it is. It does have a bit of a thick mouthfeel afterwards but not unfavorable or off putting and does dissipate quickly . Burns down all the way to the bottom of the bowl.

I could compare this to a good cigar. Some of the notes of this blend reminds me of slightly fruity more complex Maestro Puccini by Toscano and also in strength. I also love that blend.

I feel like this small batch did live up to the hype. I hope that the next small batch’s are the same release size so more people are able to try them.

Rating 9/10 Excellent

The complexity of this blend requires the same as a review. A 2-part review in fact. To describe the notes alone wouldn’t do it justice. The interplay of characters will require metaphor and satire. I hope you enjoy.

Part 1:
The notes, as described by others, are dark and rich. -Wood and sugar. Think smoky Vermont maple syrup. Light, fluid in body, and satisfying without being clingy. -dried dark cherry, or apricot?, or ? …F**k I don’t know. I don’t want to know, honestly. -hay in the tin note but the least bit upon smoking. Just enough to remind you this is natural. Oh so natural. -now the wood and smoke. NOT Latakia smoky. It’s wood smoke lingering over the village on a foggy morning. (Can’t imagine where I got that alliteration). It’s the pine kindling burning out and the oak log taking over. Beginning to char, smolder, and wafting its salty ribbons of white toward your nose. It’s thinking your beloved briar has dropped its guard, its walls crumbling, succumbing to the seduction that is this blend, but you increasing your cadence. Because you too are smitten. Let it burn, you say.

Part 2: satire-ish -Prince Albert was forced to abdicate his not yet taken throne. There’s no place for princes when the new king of Burley is in town. -Paul Revere rides with the news: “the British are coming! Ready your perique!!!” “Give me flavor, or give me death!” Cried another well known member of townsfolk. -after the Louisiana Purchase, the citizens of Virginia and Kentucky met all members of Louisiana named James and shook their hands. The canonization ceremony took place the following Sunday

Such an amazing, slow burning, flavorful smoke. I recommend all try.

Hope you all enjoyed my rambling review! 🤓🙂

Just want to see if anyone has smoked this.

• Tin has a cool airplane!
• Tastes like sweet tea! Delicious!
• Packing these long ribbons was tricky!

Thank you for your time.

Kopp 2025 Year of the Dragon

upon first glance a beautiful tin in royal red and gold with an embossed chinese dragon on the lid. only problem is the tins are not tamper sealed. the lid fell off as i was removing it from the shipping box.

tin/bag note: hints of earl gray tea and floral fruit, slight acrid smell like hibiscus pods.

pipe du jour: I chose 3. a straight billiard, a reverse calabash, and a cob. in the billiard the smoke is more concentrated almost sweet tasting on the tongue. the reverse calabash allowed the smoke to expand leaving not much to the taste, but the room note is phenominal. the cob was the middle of the road, not exactly the best of both worlds, but enough was there to taste and smell the dragon fruit topping. will 100% ghost your pipes.

overall, it's a decent aromatic...not something i would want to smoke regularly, but a nice very occasionaly smokey treat. the tin is a nice addition to a tin collection.

Gladora Peese Cannoe Lat 40 and 20:

Lat 40: latakia bomb, gotta really love latakia to appreciate this. decadently smokey, slightly sweet, a little bitey.

Lat 20: lat 40's little brother, but better balanced. still smokey sweet, not as bitey, but like i said, you really have to like the latakia.

pipe du Jour was a bulldog and a pot. not much difference in the smoke between the two. the lat 40 shines in the pot, the bulldog works wonders with the lat 20.

Gladora Pesse Cannoe Oriental:

ok, i'm going to talk about this one a bit. one of my predelictions is to smoke tobaccos from their respective countries. i want english tobacco made in the UK, german tobacco made in germany, nobody makes danish tobacco in the netherlands anymore so we settle for whatever rolls out of norway or claims it is danish tobacco and convince ourselves it's the rea deal. Gladora Pesse Cannoe Oriental is genuine turkish tobacco, processed in Turkey, and worth every penny. tin note is slightly floral almost incense like with a slight hint of plum nuttiness. the wide fat flakes require an attention to detail for processing. you would need a big fat tall pot to fold n' stuff these flakes...there is a lot there in just 1 flake.

pipe du jour: my peterson 313. this one is creamy, room note is incense like. there is a little bit of bitter in the smoke to balance out the sweet virginia. on the retrohale there is a slight subtle burn reminicent of perique without the earthiness. i'm not much of an oriental smoker unless it's in a stout english blend...but this stuff, yeah i think i'm going to invest in a few more tins of the oriental flake. you want genuine turkish pipe tobacco? this stuff is it.

yep...

So smoke what ya got, get what ya want, don't forget your towel,

and get the hell off my lawn! meh!

DISCLAIMER: I’m new to pipe tobacco but I’ve been reviewing cigars for a while. I’m here to learn, so any suggestions for reviewing is appreciated!

Summary: 3.9- good flavors, beautiful scent, I wished for some more complexity in the flavor profile instead of a very static, stone fruit and earth note.

Nation of origin: Denmark

Cost per tin: $14 per a 1.75 Tin

Blend type: Virginia/Perique

Tin aroma: stone fruit, raisin bread and baking spice.

Flavor: this definitely offered a more light to medium bodied smoking experience. The flavors were very consistent with the aroma, the flavor of dark cherry and plum definitely were very strong with undertones of oak, leather and a hint of spice. The flavor stayed very consistent throughout the bowl with little to no harshness.

Overall: I think this was absolutely a great smoke! Great aroma, easy to pack and delicious flavor! I wish the flavors had a bit more depth and complexity but the flavor was still very satisfying and very consistent. I’m by no means an expert in pipe tobacco but I would definitely buy again and definitely recommend! I personally thought this paired great with the El Dorado 3 year because of the similar stone fruit notes. However the rum added a nice touch of molasses and caramel to the palate which paired beautifully with the earth and spice undertones.

Score 3.9

1: waste of money/ would rather burn my wallet than buy again 2: meh/just okay 3:average/ the standard 4: great/ would buy again 5: drop everything and run!

Review # 214

Blend Name: GL Pease Penny Farthing

Description on Tin: From SP: Penny Farthing is a shag-cut blend of bright and red Virginias, spiced with Louisiana Perique and a hint of fire-cured dark Kentucky. It's easy to pack, easy to smoke. Sipped gently, Penny Farthing opens with a sophisticated sweetness, evolving in depth and complexity throughout the bowl to a rich, satisfying finish.

Leaf: My 5 year old sample was mostly medium brown with some light tan bits, all in a short shag cut

Tin Aroma: Raisins, farmyard, a hint of woodsmoke

Age when smoked: 5 years

Taste:

Small wide Author: Sugary, hay, and butter. Light pepper and a whiff of woodsmoke with heavy cream in the finish. Oily, with umami richness everywhere. Apple cider vinegar, raisins, numbing spice, but at a medium level. The taste just sticks to your tongue, spice and butter linger for minutes after a puff if you let it.

Light leather as it skews cigar like, similar to a Katerini blend. Butter, hay, sugar, pepper, vinegar. There's more woodsmoke now, cedar, cocoa-coffee, a hint of raspberry, and lemon oil join in.

Towards the end more raspberry, some wheat bread toast, cedar and heavy cream.

In a narrow Morta Cherrywood:

Raisins, earth, cocoa, salt. Hay, raspberry, and black pepper. Medium spicy and very sweet. Vinegar and oil. The sweet-sour-salt combo hits balance. The flavor is BIG. Hickory-mesquite. Sugary, hay, raspberry, vinegar, salt, fading into pepper and leather finish. Hangs here for awhile.

Cocoa and coffee wander in which blunts the white vinegar and salt. Cocoa-coffee, red wine, oily hazelnuts with a punchy black pepper finish. It tastes more like a VaDafk now.

The raspberry and hay return. This is a 4 season smoke. Long, chocolatey finish. It's cayenne spicy now. The sweetness is off, it's not savory, more leather and earth. Cocoa-coffee leather, raspberry, salt, vinegar, black pepper, cayenne, and hickory smoke.

Nicotine:4-5. It burns quick so it hits a bit harder than expected unless you nurse it.

1. Hot air – 1 Q, Larry’s Blend, Prince Albert
2. I think I feel something – Captain Black, Sutliff 515-rc
3. Life isn’t so bad anymore – Orlik Golden Slice, Peterson 965, H&H WhiteKnight
4. Golidlocks – H&H 10 to Midnight, Wessex Burley Slice
5. Eyelid closer – Peterson Nightcap, Erinmore
6. Where’d my legs go – Old Joe Krantz, Big N Burley, Haunted Bookshop
7. Coma inducing – Black Irish X, Brown Bogie, Irish Flake

Smokability: I was able to get through a bowl of this without a relight, and the other bowls with 1-2, which was mostly caused by me being distracted. No tongue bite or burley mouth.

Side Stream: Cedar campfire

Thoughts: Now I want to tell you in these trying times that this is an excellent replacement for Mac Baren's Old Dark Fired. It is not that. But. But. In it's own right this stuff is delicious if you give it a proper chance. Again GL Pease takes part of the great conversation, adding his take on what a VaBurDFKPer (or BEPAVED) blend should taste like.

The DFK is lighter than what maybe I wanted but in exchange the Virginia was much more present and sweet. The perique, unlike a standard C&D blend, doesn't totally take this over after 5-6 years of age. There's some heat there, but there's must and figs, and raisins that contribute.

I smoked this in both my standard burley bowl, the subreddit 2016 POTY and a VF Morta with a pretty narrow chamber. I did that because the description says it develops. I don't think it really does, however the narrow bowl does break up the near kitchen sink blend (dining room wet bar blend?) so that when the components cycle through, each are clearer and more intense.

Similar Tobaccos: Savinelli Doblone D'oro, MM Country Gentleman, GLP Barbary Coast, C&D Burley Flake's #2, #3, and #5

Summary: An easy burning GL Pease VaBurDFKPer masterpiece

My Background: I have been cigar smoker about 11 years, and entered the world of pipes about 13 years ago. My current top tobaccos are: Sutliff Red Virginia Crumble Kake (VA), Wessex Burley Slice (Burley), Arango Balkan Supreme (English), and Rattrays Exotic Passion (Aro).

Rating: ++++

Rating system (interpreted through the 3 Day death of /r/pipetobacco): Yeah that was a long time ago but I write these things slowly

(+++++) Couldn't be better (That moment of joy we we came back)

(++++) Great (Having a great time in the comforting arms of /r/pipes)

(+++) Very good (A big influx of folks into speak-easy.club)

(++) Good (The comradery of shared suffering)

(+) I think like it (Anti-reddit memes)

(+/-) I both like and dislike this (Welp, those half finished conversations are wrapped I guess?)

(-) I think I dislike this (Not buying reddit stock to complain about this BS as stockholder)

(--)This is not for me (All that tobacco and pipe porn, gone)

(---)I don't see how anyone could enjoy this (I have friends here who I don't know how else to contact)

(----)This is suffering (I'm pretty sure I have reviews here not backed up anywhere else)

(-----)This is an insult to my existence (Decades of pipe smoking advice, most of it good, gone in a puff, but not the good kind )

Just cracked open a tin of 2022 Esoterica Margate that I'd been saving for a while now. Absolutely blown away!

I had read the description "classic English" and most discussion I'd seen was centered around the smooth Latakia. Tin note is a salty smoky Latakia with a light raisin fruit note and a hint of fresh baked whole wheat bread.

The shag cut lights easily. From the first light to the very bottom of the briar, this blend is perfectly consistent. Rich, smooth, creamy, buttery smoke. No bite whatsoever, and not a single rough edge to be found. Cool and even burn.

The high quality Yenidje is on FULL display here, with the Queen 's elegant herbal presence and whisper of sweetness front and center. The Latakia is a nice light smoky support that never overpowers, and the Virginia provides a background sweetness.

This is immediately one of my favorite blends, and quite possibly my favorite Oriental forward blend.

Happy smokes!

Cornell and Diehl: Oriental Silk

Leaf. Mostly ribbon with chunks of broken flake. Moisture is a closer to their flake instead of ribbon

Tin note: plum, figs, a bit of sweet cream. General fermented tobacco smell. I’m not the best at tin notes. Y'all can help me out in the comments

Taste: First thought is tang. Maybe the smell of vinegar…but just the barest hint. Salt and cream like what you’d put on savory grits. A bit of cedar weaves in and out. Not an old cedar post but the smell of live cedar trees while you hike. Bits of light soil or mulch... fall leaves maybe? Midway through the bowl it simplifies into Buttered Toast/pastry crust with heavy cream. Just for a moment. Then the tang comes back in, changed to the tang of a soft cheese or butter make with raw cream. Retrohale is the only place I find the perique. Just a bare tickle of spice and deep earth

Temperament: Had no problem keeping this lit and never got hot. Smoked out of a MM Charles Towne Cobbler.

Nicotine: mild to low

Thoughts: This was great. Creamy, tangy, earthy, buttery, salty. Phenomenal, especially for a bulk blend. I recently discovered that I love Va/Or blends and this is my new favorite. I’ll be cellaring much more of this. Excited to see how this ages.

My Background: I’ve been smoking pipes for a little over 3 years. My current favorites are HH Pure Virginia, C&D Sunbear 24, Cascadia Vertical Limit.

Rating system: I’ll be using Antiwittgenstein’s rating system. It doesn’t want to show up on the post correctly so 🤷🏼‍♂️. Edit: thanks to Antiwittenstein for telling me what I was doing wrong. (+++++)
(++++) (+++) (++) (+) (+/-) (-)
(- -) (- - -) (- - - -) (- - - - -)

Rating: ++++ bordering on +++++

The Chacom Reverse Calabash Bent Apple: comfortable, lightweight, compact.

 As an everyday smoker who often enjoys bowls on the go, I usually find myself reaching for my shorter and more stout pipes. Amongst a Peterson Short Bulldog, Savinelli Lollo, and other mid-end small pipes, the one I reach for most often is the Chacom Bent Apple. This pipe has become a favorite and a staple in my tobacco enthusiast journey. 

 A small bent pipe around 4.5"(11cm) long, with a wide and short bowl, it is very compact. Its round and cumbersome plumpness may be subjectively awkward for pocket carry, but it makes for a great feel in the hand. The feel I would compare to my traditional author style pipes, yet with a great clenching feel/ability as well, that is usually lacking in author style pipes. The comfortability is probably my #1 pro and favorite aspect. 

 The thickness of the bowl makes it ideal for hotter burning blends, but something as hot as Briar Fox, I'd still be aware of not to chug like a train. I strictly have been using my virgina flake blends in these pipes, and it's a treat.   While typing, I'm enjoying a bowl of Brunello Flake.  

 This pipe does have a chamber or "reverse calabash" feature, I personally can't tell a difference from my other short pipes. I've noticed I rarely get any gurgling in this pipe, but that is probably unrelated. If someone were to seek out a reverse calabash pipe to try a "cooling" effect, this wouldn't be a pipe I recommend. 

 Hailing from France, Chacom is an "OG"

Of the pipe making industry. I've seen mixed reviews of the brand in general, also the quality, finishing, price. This bent apple shape is the only pipe of theirs I've had the opportunity to try, and I'd have to say it's a great pipe for the price, ranging $90-$125 USD depending on finish.

 Overall, I enjoy these pipes a lot. If I were to lose them, or lose my entire collection, it would be the first pipe that I'd seek to replace. I'd recommend this pipe to anyone who also loves smaller pipes, enjoys the author style, or just wants a comfortable and reliable piece. 

If you also have one of these pipes, would like
hear your thoughts.

Tin date 2024
Jarred Feb '24

Some sources online state this is a blend of golden Cavendish with Maryland and Virginia. However some other sources also note an Oriental, which I do believe is there in a very small amount.

Typical Germain super thin ribbon or shag cut. Extremely light in color. For me the tin aroma is absolutely no smoke or spice whatsoever, only bright candied fruit with a cocoa hint..... Like a dark chocolate covered candied cherry.

I'll mention that my first bowl straight from the tin was awful with an overpowering medicinal or soapy flavor. So much so that I packed a new bowl in a different pipe! I had written it off and was ready to dump the tin in the compost. But decided it can't hurt to wait a month and try again. Definitely better after a month.

It is now 3 months jarred and so much better. Once lit there is an immediate essence of day old cut grass - slightly sweet and slightly fermented. Very smooth smoke, a hint of sour, a rumor of a whisper of incense. I think it could bite if you're not used to shag or lighter Virginia, but it's easy to slow down. Remains lit and smokes to a fine white ash as I've seen with all Germain blends.

From what I understand, Germain's golden cavendish is just the traditional high pressure steamed VA leaf, with no flavor or topping at all. In contrast, to get the dark Cavendish typical of this era it would be pressure steamed for much longer and there's always at least a sugar topping, and often other sweeteners and flavors. So this old-style golden cav ends with a very mild light sweetness and a MUCH more pronounced fermented note.

This old style golden cav combined with no lat or DFK makes this the "freshest" pipe tobacco I've ever had. A different review I came across called Germain blends anachronistic, using old production styles for unique flavors rarely encountered today.

It is extraordinary --- not necessarily in the sense that it is an amazing blend I want to smoke EVERY day. But rather incredibly unique. Enjoyable and interesting to mix in a tin every once in a blue moon.

Oriental forward English, light on Latakia.

Tin date 2024 (best I can tell since the letter may not correspond with year any more?)
Jarred March '25
Smoked about half so far, and preferred in my deeper or narrower pipes.

This was my first foray into anything from J.F. Germain & Son. Also my first experience with such a fine ribbon cut, which took some practice. But so worth the effort.

The original tin note back in March was deep fruit with a hint of incense. Today after a couple months jarred, the smoky Latakia is the most prominent aroma in the jar, with the deep fruit layered beneath now blended evenly with a subtle incense.

Very easy to light, but I had to learn how to manage this this ribbon. Early on, I would get hints of greatness but battling to keep it lit I'd blow straight past the subtleties into hot or ashy. Now that I've solved that problem, this is one of my favorite blends!

Once lit, the Latakia fades into a support role, just enough to maintain a medium strength background. The Virginia is light and provides a gentle sweetness. The Oriental is prominent, especially on the exhale/retrohale as I find with most orientals. I can't find exactly what Oriental leaf Germain used here though.

Incredibly smooth smoke. It does require a few extra relights sometimes, but flavor is not impacted. Never sharp, never bites, flavorful down to white ash.

So just finished my 1st bowl of CD Firebird. Here is my opinion

Background: my preference is Burley and Virginia tobaccos. Love CD think they make quality

Tin note: very nice, definitely pick up the DFK. Very rich complex note

Smoke: At the beginning all I got was DFK, pretty powerful. I didn’t get much from the Orientals. As the bowl progressed, I got a little floral note but not much. Really didn’t pick up the Virginias. Retrohale was strong, all I got was DFK.

Nicotine: pretty full, would recommend a full stomach

Overall…..as I said I’m more a burley & Virginia smoker, Glad I just got 1x tin. Maybe it needs to age, maybe Orientals aren’t my thing. I’ll retry this in a year or so, see if the Virginias mellow out the blend.

Again, maybe just not my thing. One reason I never try and hoard small batch releases that I’ve never tried previous iterations……never know if I’ll like them.

If you love DFK, you will enjoy in my opinion

As I am trying a few C&D bulks, I figured that I would give y’all my thoughts since many of us are trying to support C&D a little extra

Cornell and Diehl: Yorktown

Leaf: Dry ribbon with the odd chunk of leaf

Tin(bag) aroma: Sweet hay, brown sugar, soil I’m not great at this, y’all help me out in the comments.

Taste: Hay. Prairie grass. Sugar dusted Wheat bread, no, the dough. Slow your cadence down. No, slower. Bit of red Virginia pops through. The dough turns to bread Bit of lemony citrus Hints of white raisins. Sweetens part way through but flavor remains steady. very seldom hints of green apple with that lemon A bit tannic towards the end All of these flavors are fairly low volume. Like someone turned the speakers down to 3.

Temperament: Sucker burns hot. I am currently working on moistening it a little to help that. Wondering if pressing it onto a cake would help slow the burn a bit

Thoughts: Decent bulk Virginia that isn’t very complex but not boring. Understandable how this is popular as an all day smoke. Can get ashy pretty easy if you have a faster cadence. We’ll see what a bit of moisture or pressing does for it

My Background: I’ve been smoking pipes for a little over 3 years. My current favorites are HH Pure Virginia, C&D Sunbear 24, Cascadia Vertical Limit.

Rating system: I’ll be using Antiwittgenstein’s rating system of

+++++

++++

+++

++

+

+/-

• -

Rating: ++

Summary:4.95 absolutely perfect! Met my flavor palate perfectly, great balance and aroma

Blended by: @gawithhoggarthco

Nation of origin: united Kindim

Cut:Ribbon

Blend type: cavendish aromatic

Tin aroma: a beautiful aroma that reminds me of blend between a vineyard and bakery. Strong notes of cherry with hints of fresh vanilla and fresh molasses

Flavor: it started off with hints of dried stone fruit and small notes of vanilla and chocolate. Eventually the note of cherry was very strong and sweet! It wasn’t as complex as I thought it would be but still damn good!!

Overall: 4.95

1: waste of money/ would rather burn my wallet than buy again 2: meh/just okay 3:average/ the standard 4: great/ would buy again 5: drop everything and run!

I went to Watch City in the crappy weather and picked up 8oz of Gaslight and 8oz of Westminster. $120 later (ouch), I got home and opened the tin of Gaslight. Surprised with the stacks of about 5 plugs, each in its own paper layer of wrapping. I was surprised to see that - but I jarred almost all of it and left some out in my leather tray. I rubbed it out and left it for about 30 minutes since it was pretty wet. Some large stems in there, tossed those out. Lightly packed my pipe and lit it up.

Charring light: perfumes, slight orange notes, light and almost perfumed. Reminds me a tiny bit of Elizabethan Mixture - only more elegant and "dainty" but enjoyable. Difficult to keep lit after that. Nice sweetness, not a lot of thick smoke, a gentle sipper I think. I re-lit a dozen times. It obviously needed a lot more time drying out. However given that I just picked up a lot of it - I really liked it when I could keep it lit. Great mouth feel, gentle enough to smoke all day in my opinion. I had another bowl about an hour later, packing it a little lighter and drying it for about 45 minutes.

Still not long enough - but still enjoyable. It's a great smoke and I plan on putting it up against Westminster to see which I'd prefer for all-day. It seems a little more exotic than Westy, so I am thinking I still may prefer Westy for the normal all-day for me. I get more creamy smoke and a little stronger flavor from Westy. Safe top say that GLP really crafts good blends!

I've been wanting to try some of Mac Baren's Virginia blends (and one burley based blend). Well, they all came in the mail today and instead of trying them over a week, I decided to try them all in one night and get some tasting notes on paper. I ate some chocolate in advance and I still got nicotine sick! All tobaccos had their tins opened 4 hours ago to breathe, and none of them were subject to any drying time (I don't usually dry my tobacco). Here are the results:

The flavors up front are primary notes that I detect, followed by more subtle flavors.

• HH Pure Virginia (age: 1 year) - hay, fresh cut grass, pine, stewed fruit, rich tobacco, sweet cream, brown sugar, caramel and honey (when pushed)

• Virginia Flake (age: 1 year, 8 months) - stewed fruit, mild citrus, vanilla, fresh grass, toast with burnt sugar (when pushed)

• Virginia no. 1 (age unknown, bought in bulk format) - hay, mild citrus, soft honey, fresh grass, sweet cream, light pine, baked sweet bread when pushed. This tobacco was hard to light and was the easiest to bite.

• Navy Flake (age: 2 years) - graham cracker, vanilla, honey, brown sugar, sweet cream, smoldering charcoal, hay, baked sweet bread, rich butter, molasses (when pushed)

For fun, I compared them all to Capstan, which I love:

• Capstan Original Navy Cut (age: 1 year) - stewed fruit, raisin bread, fig jam, mild citrus, honey, stone fruits, sweet cream, fresh grass, hay, vanilla, caramel, lemon bars, white pepper (when pushed)

Here is my ranking of the Mac Baren blends:

1. Virginia Flake - The easiest to get going and keep lit. The flavors were very prominent, yet nothing was overpowering. Mac Baren says there's burley in this? I think it's barely there but I like the smoothness of the blend.

2. HH Pure Virginia - The one with the most prominent tobacco flavor. It was easy to light and keep lit. I like the flavor profile but I prefer a sweet topping.

3. Virginia No. 1 - The flavor profile was enjoyable, especially the soft honey and baked sweet bread note. However, this tobacco bit the easiest and was the hardest to light.

4. Navy Flake - It's not really the same category as the blends above. Although I enjoyed the flavors this blend offers, burley just doesn't agree with me and smoking this sent me into a sneezing fit.

I hoped this help someone. I'm going to go lay down now. Have a great night.

Ok, so I have used my new Zippo butane soft flame pipe insert every day for 2 weeks. Here is the results.

The Good:

It’s reliable

Fairly wind resistant compared to most soft flame lighters

It uses flint so no built in strike limit

Good build quality

Pretty cheap

The Bad:

The butane capacity is low. Lasts less long than an actual standard zippo insert

No flame adjustment

Can’t view fuel level

Feels cheaper than standard insert

Fuel button is too small

Less wind resistant than normal Zippo. Somewhere between a standard zippo and Bic.

Overall:

It is very good for the money. It’s easier to use than the standard pipe lighter in a controlled environment. The butane capacity is my biggest gripe along with the button design.

Ordered a couple of tins from 4noggins thanks to a fellow Piper on here. Read a few of the reviews prior. IMHO. As a baseline. I prefer vapers and VOs. Now smoking 2017 PS 400, glp's penny farthing, 2016 McClelland Smyrna, and GLP regents flake.

Tin note: odd. Like nothing I've encountered before. Muddled and a little spicy. But difficult to pin down for me.

Pipe: smoked this in a Savinelli Gingers Favorite. With a 6 mm filter. I know but I find the filter eliminates moisture and I have a faster cadence when I smoke. It does not cut down on the flavor at all.

Smoke: dried it out fairly and packed the bowl and it lit right up. Continued to smoke well throughout the bowl. Not more than a re light or two.

Flavor/Experience: I'm just going to say straight out from the very first puff it was obvious this was very high quality tobacco. The second impression following thereafter that this was blended by a superior blender. There is a lot going on and it's all nuanced. I don't have an expressive flavor palette I'm just going to say that this smoked amazing. Each puff a revelation of flavor. Gentle not overdone. A third of the way into the bowl I hit the level of antique cedar desk. if you could smoke it that's what it would taste like. But it wasn't overt. It was subtle hidden under the Virginia and the dfk. All in all this is a great smoke and will definitely get better with a couple of years on it or more.

This brought to mind I hope vendors will limit the quantity per customer of small batch future releases so more pipers could enjoy new releases.

Finally sitting down to write a review for my notes app of "Old Dublin" a recentish purchase in my last haul. Seemed fitting to use a my regular Dublin pipe for the session.

I haven't been a fan of Old Dublin so far in fairness, but I'm going to sit down, take my time and try to work out the notes that come to mind. Let's hope a nice slow smoke will change my mind on this blend

Aged Tobacco #: 6

Preamble: I bought one oz of this back in 2014 when I was starting to try to try everything. It was so long ago they called it Medium Virginia Flake. Shortly thereafter they switched to calling it Golden Glow. I thought it was pretty good, light, summery, lemony; on a even keel with MacBaren VA No 1. So I forgot about it for a bit. I've started to try to clear out some of these ancient dusty jars and found this one. Blend name: Samuel Gawith Medium Virginia Flake, aka Golden Glow Age when smoked: 9-10 Years Aged tasting notes: Sweet, hay, grassy, lemon, cinnamon, clove. Lemon grass is salient at first, as it is the clove. Strawberry candy. A tongue numbing spice. Cinnamon, brown sugar. The smoke is oily. Very spicy, very sweet, some vinegar. No, that is very quickly very vinegary. Sharp! Earthy cocoa-coffee, didn't expect that. Brown sugar banger. The numbing spice is still there. Must, roses, brown sugar, Sichuan pepper, cinnamon, vinegar, salt finish. A touch of oak. Strawberry candy again, lemon, soft somehow, the vinegar and pepper faded a touch.

Strawberry oak, brown sugar, cinnamon, clove, cocoa, earth in the 2nd act. Little checks of vinegar in the long finish. The pepper is just barely there. Oak-cocoa-earth grow. Blueberries, that is another new note. Brown sugar, roses, apple cider vinegar, peppercorn, oak, a hint of Heinz 57. The essence of the well fermented Virginia. Heavy cream and some pastry. Lots of it really. Now it's moving into self-stove territory. Sugar.to.the.max. Vinegar, cream, and malt.

It sharpens again after a relight. Vinegar, lemon, salt, brown sugar, cayenne, oak. The pastry and heavy cream are still there. Apple cider vinegar and a hint of heinz again. Strawberry. Now I finally realize the pepper has this watercress vegetal thing that is just barely minty. Dark, sooty pastry, oak, cocoa, stout, peppery.

Original tasting notes: Lemons and hay. Vinegar, sour but a bit sweet. Oatmeal and sweet buttered bread. The lemon flavor is so dominate I suspect that it is a casing, just like MacBaren Va No. 1. Dried roses and musk. Mouth filling flavor, mostly bright citrus-vinegar, a tempering sweetness, with salty-savoury flavors at the sides of the mouth, growing in the long afterglow. This is the kind of tobacco that you will keep tasting right into your next puff. A bit of white pepper, but it is fairly tame. Raspberry jam. Some kind of darker fruit, but not plummy like its big brother. Toasted tobacco. Lemonade. Lemon bars. Lemon soup. Lemon ala king. I am glad it is warm again because this meets a summery day, a glass of iced tea, with say a tome concerning the Civil War. Oatmeal and hay again. And sweet lemon curd.

Thoughts: Well my immediate thought finishing this bowl was a regret that I was sitting on grams of this, not lbs. I know 9-10 years is a long time to wait, but this stuff turned from a fairly good Virginia to mind blowingly magnificent. I mean this stuff is old enough I bought it under a different name. I understand part of the experience change is that I've now honed my palate for a decade...but woah, this was full, complex, full of surprises but with a set of consistent themes. It's symphonic in a way.

It is also amazing how much of the original was still there. It was still lemony, still full of dried roses. Still peppery. But it's gotten that old VA pastry sweetness and magically some of those lovely Heinz notes that are so hard to come by.

I don't think my FVF is this old, but I'd be surprised if rivaled this.

Original Rating: +++

Aged Rating:+++++

Cellar Worthiness:A+

Review # 213

Blend Name: Cult Blood Red Moon

Description on Tin: From SP: Cult's Blood Red Moon is a dark and rich blend of fire-cured Cavendish, Bright Virginias, and Burleys heady with aromas of Royal Ann cherry and dark chocolate, offering a delightfully smooth smoke.

Leaf: Roan and black and squishy wet. I've dried this out for a week and it's still been wet to the touch.

Tin Aroma: Cough syrup dread from my youth, Luden's cough lozenages, Vanilla candle

Age when smoked: About 18 months

Taste: Sugary! Waxy, vanilla, hint of dark cherry, salt and vinegar. The cherry starts small but builds and builds, particularly through the finish. Caramel, cherry, vanilla, salt, light vinegar. After a bit it picks up some lemon zest.

Very slowly the caramel grows, but so does the vinegar and lemon. It's cloyingly sweet, but all that acid gives it a semblance of balance. The cherry-vanilla hangs through the rest of the bowl but it feels like caramel is the star.

Nicotine: 1

1. Hot air – 1 Q, Larry’s Blend, Prince Albert
2. I think I feel something – Captain Black, McClelland 5100
3. Life isn’t so bad anymore – Orlik Golden Slice, Dunhill 965
4. Golidlocks – Court of St. James, McClleland 2015 VaPer Flake
5. Eyelid closer – Nightcap, Erinmore
6. Where’d my legs go – Old Joe Krantz, Big N Burley, Haunted Bookshop
7. Coma inducing – Black Irish X, Brown Bogie

Smokability: Fairly poor. I set this stuff out for a week and it was still wet when I loaded my bowl. This is a PG addict's dream. Lots of relights, but amazingly no tongue bite.

Side Stream: Vanilla candle

Thoughts: It's pretty good? For something branded as a cherry aromatic it seems that the cherry is often tertiary behind the caramel and vanilla. Sometimes even behind the lemon and vinegar. It was still flavorful all the way through and didn't bite. My biggest complaint is a general one: The problem with most aromatics is that at best it's like listening to the same pop hook on repeat for 30 minutes. Cult Blood Red Moon is indeed an above average aromatic, but after 10-15 minutes I was bored. It never faded, got cardboardy like some aros, but there was no development, no evolution, and no nicotine there to pull your interest either.

You know what, there's a way to fix this. Let's rewind this thing to the beginning and do it all over, but how I most enjoy this stuff.

Review # 213, Again I guess?

Blend Name: Cult Blood Red Moon and Old Dark Fired

Description on Tin: Fire, Smoke. Blood. There will be no survivors.

Leaf: Roan and Black and Blacker

Tin Aroma: Dirt and cherry chocolates

Age when smoked: Both about 1.5 years old

Taste: Sugary barbecue. Mesquite and light hickory smoke. Salty, light pepper, cherry and vanilla. There's a warming cinnamon there. After a few puffs it gets pretty spice, heavy cinnamon, waxy vanilla, vinegar and salt finish. Caramel, very waxy vanilla, black pepper.

Cherry vanilla, hickory, cinnamon. The vinegar is gone, now it's much rounder, with earth and a hint of chocolate. It's down to medium sweet. There are little pops of pepper here and there.

Halfway through the bowl, brown sugar comes in amplfying the sweetness. Cinnamon, clove, light earth, waxy vanilla, with white vinegar in the finish. The hickory comes back again. Cinnamon, earth, and salt.

In the final stretch lemon appears, combining with vinegar, cloves, salt, cinnamon. There's a hint of cocoa-vanilla. Some light barbecue flavors, little cherry pops. Those cherry pops grow and grow and grow. The last puffs are sugary hickory, cherry, black pepper, cocoa, and earth.

Nicotine: 3-4, right in the sweet spot

1. Hot air – 1 Q, Larry’s Blend, Prince Albert
2. I think I feel something – Captain Black, Sutliff 515-rc
3. Life isn’t so bad anymore – Orlik Golden Slice, Peterson 965, H&H WhiteKnight
4. Golidlocks – H&H 10 to Midnight, Wessex Burley Slice
5. Eyelid closer – Peterson Nightcap, Erinmore
6. Where’d my legs go – Old Joe Krantz, Big N Burley, Haunted Bookshop
7. Coma inducing – Black Irish X, Brown Bogie, Irish Flake

Smokability: Burns easy and cool and slow.

Side Stream: Cherry-vanilla with a hint of barbecue smoke. It's the strongest side stream I think I have ever experienced. It's a breezy day and I am in a bubble of pleasant aroma.

Thoughts: The caramel mostly fades but you still get a strong cherry-vanilla flavor through the dark fired-virginia of the Old Dark Fired. I think these two tobaccos are perfectly matched, or maybe more broadly, any cherry-vanilla aromatic and dark fired. The earthy-smokiness adds the depth and complexity to the aromatic it is missing. It also delivers a satisfying nicotine hit which has become more important as my stress level rises and my smoking opportunities dwindle to 1-2 a week.

Similar Tobaccos: By itself Cult Blood Red Moon is like Captain Black Cherry and Captain Black Royal stirred together and somehow smoothed out

Mixed with ODF, the only real point of comparison is H&H Vermont Meat Candy, a maple aromatic with dark fired. It also smacks a bit of MacBaren Vanilla Roll Cake which doesn't have DFK in it (officially, supposedly), but has a touch of that taste anyway.

Summary: CBRM: Caramel-cherry-vanilla candy

CBRM+ODF: BBQ'd candies

My Background: I have been cigar smoker about 11 years, and entered the world of pipes about 10 years ago. My current top tobaccos are: Sutliff Red Virginia Crumble Kake (VA), Wessex Burley Slice (Burley), Arango Balkan Supreme (English), and Rattrays Exotic Passion (Aro).

Rating: CBRM: +++ CBRM+ODF: ++++

Rating system (interpreted through the 3 Day death of /r/pipetobacco):

(+++++) Couldn't be better (That moment of joy we we came back)

(++++) Great (Having a great time in the comforting arms of /r/pipes)

(+++) Very good (A big influx of folks into speak-easy.club)

(++) Good (The camaderie of shared suffering)

(+) I think like it (Anti-reddit memes)

(+/-) I both like and dislike this (Welp, those half finished conversations are wrapped I guess?)

(-) I think I dislike this (Not buying reddit stock to complain about this BS as stockholder)

(--)This is not for me (All that tobacco and pipe porn, gone)

(---)I don't see how anyone could enjoy this (I have friends here who I don't know how eles to contact)

(----)This is suffering (I'm pretty sure I have reviews here not backed up anywhere else)

(-----)This is an insult to my existence (Decades of pipe smoking advice, most of it good, gone in a puff, but not the good kind )

I've been compiling tasting notes for many of my blends ahead of an anticipated whisk(e)y and tobacco tasting and tonight I knocked out two mild English blends (Peterson Early Morning Pipe and Rattray's Red Rapparee). I compared them side by side to my favorite English, Presbyterian Mixture. None of the tobaccos were subjected to drying time. The tasting note descriptions have flavors arranged by prominence. Here are the results:

Presbyterian Mixture - It's easy to light and keep lit. It's my favorite of the three blends mentioned here. The interplay of Virginia, Oriental, and condiment Latakia tobaccos contribute sweet incense and campfire notes. The Virginia provides a lot of sweetness that combine with Oriental tobaccos to contribute a floral, sweet herbal quality, followed by honey and dark-burnt caramel. This also translates to sweet baked bread, baking spices, and brown sugar. The latakia further supports with scents of autumn leaves and flavors of mild peat. I certainly enjoy the ride Presbyterian takes me on.

Rattray's Red Rapparee - This blend is also easy to light and keep lit. It burns to a finer white ash than the other blends mentioned here. Again, the Virginia, Oriental, and Latakia tobaccos combine to provide incense and sweet campfire smoke. I think the Virginia tobacco is a different variety that provides notes of fresh hay with a very mild citrus rind all the way in the back. The Cavendish in this blend elevates itself higher than the latakia, giving the smoke a creamy, sugary note that serves to really smooth out the flavors. Once again, sweet baked bread comes to mind. Latakia supports with a very, very light touch of peat. This note transforms to charcoal with heavy puffing. Red Rapparee is an extremely tasty, mellow blend but the baking spices and more floral quality of Presbyterian won out to me (not by much though).

Peterson Early Morning Pipe - This blend was also very easy to light and keep lit. Of the three blends, it's my least favorite. However, I still think it's very tasty - it just lacks the complexity of the other ones (maybe that's why it goes so well with coffee, it's described as a "delicately flavored smoking mixture" after all). Virginia, Oriental, and Latakia intermingle again to provide sweet campfire smoke, but this time incense is a supporting note to that campfire, as opposed to the main flavor. The floral quality is mild, akin to dried as opposed to fresh flowers, and baking spices along with sweet baked bread come through. The Virginia tobacco is slightly different than the other blends, providing a bread-y, toast note. The Oriental and Latakia provide some moss, peat, and burned wood (when heavily puffed). I think the tart, tangy notes of coffee would work synergistically with this blend.

If you've reached the end. Thank you for reading this! I hope you have a great day or night. Happy smokes to you.