Friday, June 11, 2010

633 (Solani)

Trying out a new review format I picked up from Ultramag on Puff.com.

Tobacco: Solani 633
Tobacco Cut: Flake
Cut Width: N/A
Cut Length: N/A
Ingredients: Virgina and Perique

Evaluated Aspects scale of 0-6 (by twos - 0-2-4-6):
Appearance (tobacco): 6
Condition (humidity level): 4
Smell: 4
Packing (easy to difficult): 6
Lighting (easy to difficult): 6
Taste: 6
Room Note/Aroma: 4
Consistency of taste: 6
Combustion: 6
Humidity during smoke: 6
Tongue irritations: 6
Throat irritation: 6
Satisfaction of smoke: 6
After-taste/Finish: 6
quality-price rapport: 6

Impressionistic Evaluation (choose one):
this is one of the best of this genre.... (10 pts)
I wouldn't mind paying for it... (7 pts)
only if someone gave me a tin, etc (5 pts)
I don't like it, but can understand other may (3 pts)
one of the worst tobaccos I've ever smoked (0 pts)

TOTAL SCORE OUT OF 100: __85__

Notes: Solani 633 is a pretty decent tobacco, with a nice toasty,golden Virgina taste that occasionally gets a bit spicy/peppery as the bowl goes on. Smokes pretty dry and leaves no ill after taste on the pallet. Pretty good va/per overall. Not in my top 5, but definitely my top 10. Well worth picking up and trying.

Wednesday, April 28, 2010

St. James Flake (Sam Gawith)

St. James Flake is todays tobacco, yet another Va/per.


Type:
Virgina/Perique (Va/Per)

Cut: Flake

Prelight:
Smells rasinay and looks good.

Type of Pipe:
My Peterson System Pipe.


Taste:
Has a typical Virginia taste to it. Which is to say, grassy, and sweet. Hay type taste on occasion. The perique is there, giving it a nice tangy, fruity taste. It is well rounded and bold.

Bite: None that I got.


Aftertaste: Leaves my pallet a tad bit dry, but overall, no ill after taste.

Room Note: Light, pleasant smell. Should not bother anyone.

Nicotine:Not much that I got.

Conclusion:
Pretty damn good. Bolder than Escudo, I think. Less nicotine punch. Very good, well rounded vaper.

Final Rating: 3 outta 5 Stars.

Tuesday, April 27, 2010

Sir Walter Raleigh (Brown & Williamson)

Todays tobacco is the cougar burley "Sir Walter Raleigh"

Pre-light smell: Hard to described. Toasty, grassy smell. Really pleasant. Sorta like smelling coffee.

look: cubish cut.

Taste: This is a semi-sweet and toasty burley. Very good for "cheap" tobacco. If smoked too fast, it can produce the burley bitters, but sipped, and it is very good.

Aftertaste: Nice burley aftertaste. Pleasant on the tongue.

Room note: Leaves a nice, pleasant smell to the room. Most people should like the smell.

Bite: None that I got, but I'm sure if you smoked this like a chimney, you would get bitten.

Overall: Solid and excellent "cougar" blend. It is worth a shot, for the experienced and beginner pipe smoker, alike.

Monday, April 26, 2010

Fillmore (G.L. Pease)

So today it is the Va/per "Fillmore" by Greg Pease.

This stuff is fantastic. Seriously, it is that good.


Type: Va/Per

Cut: Broken Flake

Pre-light smell: earthy, rasiany. different from other va/pers.

Type of pipe: My Peterson System pipe for my Va/pers

Taste: Bold, robust flavor. Smooth and creamy, with some tangy and spicy notes. Occasionally sweet and smokey. Sounds more like I am reviewing a cigar than pipe tobacco and as full as this tobacco is, a cigar would be a pretty close comparison.

Excellent stuff!

Bite: I didn't get any, but again, as with all Va's I caution you to smoke slow, anyways.

Aftertaste: dry, slightly sweet taste.

Room note: Pleasant to tolerable.

Nicotine: Didn't hit me, yet. It might pack a punch, I haven't noticed as of yet.


Conclusion:
Fantastic tobacco which would be enjoyed by anyone who likes va/pers, or a full smoke. as a note, this contains a very small amount of Latakia to it, but it isn't dominating like in an English blend. It is barley noticeable. Well worth looking into.

5 outta 5 stars

Friday, April 16, 2010

LUXURY NAVY FLAKE (Peter Stokkebye)

Today's tobacco: LUXURY NAVY FLAKE

Type: Va/Per

Cut: Flake

Prelight Smell/feel: Very sweet smelling. Like a Virginia. Very dry, folded up nicely. Of course, humidity will depend on where you bought it and how they kept it, since this is a bulk blend.

Type of Pipe: My Peterson System Pipe

Taste: Grassy, sweet, spicy at times. Thought I tasted a bit of chocolate at one point, could be mistaken, but I did think it. Tangy, creamy and sorta full taste to it. its funny that it should have a fuller taste, since Escudo, which is now produced by Peter Stokkebye, is said to be fuller on their site.

Bite: No bite for me, but I do use the System for Va/Pers. Proceed with caution on any blend with Va, as it could bite.

Aftertaste: Pleasant aftertaste. Grassy and a ta dry.

Room Note: Pleasant to tolerable.


Nicotine:
Barley noticeable, for me.

Conclusion: Pretty soild tobacco and one I perfer to escudo, in a lot of ways. Worth getting, since it is pretty cheap for an oz. If you're a Va/per fan, you should find you like it. If you're a smoker of other blends, it might be too light for you, but you might still enjoy it anyways. Worth a shot.


Final Rating:
3 outta 5

Thursday, April 15, 2010

Prince Albert

Today's tobacco: Prince Albert

Type: Burley

Cut: crimp cut

Prelight Smell: very rasiany and sweet.

Type of Pipe: W/O Larsen

Taste: Burley taste. A dry, Nutty, wood like taste. Occasionally sweet, but not too sweet. If smoked fast, can get bitter.

Bite: None for me.

Aftertaste: Dry, but not unpleasant aftertaste.

Room Note: tolerable to most, I would imagine.

Nicotine: Definitely has some, and can whip you if you don't watch it.

Conclusion: Another fantastic Old Cougar blend. Very good. I can see why this one stuck around.

Final Rating: 3 outta 5 Stars.

Wednesday, April 14, 2010

Escudo

If you couldn't tell from the name of this blog, I have a predilection for burley tobacco. That isn't to say that I smoke just burley, because the name describes my build as well, but I believe that pipe tobacco is much like love, which is to say that you could find love--in this case a favorite blend--in the most unlikely of places, and you'll never know unless you venture outside your comfort zone.


Today's tobacco: Escudo!


Type: Virgina/Perique (Va/Per)

Cut: Spun Coins

Prelight Smell:
Fantastic tobacco smell.


Type of Pipe:
I stuffed two coins into my relatively new Peterson System Pipe and use a Zippo brand pipe lighter, since I ran out of matches. This is my second time trying this, and I can say, the Zippo doesn't effect the taste.


Taste:
Has a typical Virginia taste to it. Which is to say, grassy, and sweet. Hay type taste on occasion. The perique is there, although, doesn't seem pronounced at all, occasionally, you'll see it rear its head, but it stays to the background. At least, from what I can tell. It gives the blend a slight spice. The smoke tends to be light and wispy, not very bold, like most Va and Va/Per blends.

Bite: None that I got.


Aftertaste:
Leaves my pallet a tad bit dry, but overall, no ill after taste.

Room Note: Light, pleasant smell. Should not bother anyone.

Nicotine: This stuff can, and will kick your ass. So, smoke it slowly or having something sugary to drink with it, maybe eat before hand, even.

Conclusion: This isn't a bad tobacco. It isn't necessarily for me, but I couldn't know that if I never took her out, so it was fun.

I say everyone should give it a go, if you can find it and it hasn't been horded away by the Escudo lovers. Va and Va/Per lovers should find this another well done blend, where as smokers of other tobaccos should enjoy it as a diversion from there normal blend, and may even end up loving it, or not.


Final Rating:
3 outta 5 Stars.