ATTENTION: CB Pipe Tobacco Review Bombing Run Version 2.0

[GWBowman]

My third review


Details
Date 4/13/2015
Name GWBowman
Tobacco C-green G&H Dark Flake Unscented
Pipe MM Cob Legend
Indoor / Outdoor Indoors

Observations
Examination
Flake that has to be cut in half to fit in a 8 ounce jar. Dark brown with lots of light brown spots. In the jar it has a sweet barnyard smell. A little bit of old or musky. Feels fairly damp.
Preparation
I rubbed some and let it sit for a little over fifteen minutes. It rubbed out to thin strings that had a sweet hay smell.
Burn
The tobacco lit easily and burn fairly well. I had to dump off some ash and a couple of times the cob got very hot, almost uncomfortable. There was a decent amount of smoke.
Flavor
On the light, it had a waxy, musky mouth feel. The musky taste fades but the wax stays. The initial flavor is burning grass that quickly started to sweeten. The taste is strong. Through out there are sweet and sour/citrus notes that come and go, almost playing back and forth. The nicotine is strong just a short way into the bowl. There was a building menthol feel, opening the pores of my tongue, without a menthol taste. A spice/pepper taste start getting strong about half way through. Going into the second half, a slight fruityness comes and leaves.
Comments and conclusion
This is not a tobacco I would be and don’t see it as an everyday smoke. It would be of value to up the nicotine level in a milder tobacco.

[BryGuySC]

Details
Date: 4/13/15
BryGuySC
Sample “Yellow C” G&H Dark Flake Unscented
Pipe - MM Missouri Legend
Outdoors, after the rain

Observations
Examination: The flakes are dry to the touch, dense, and stuck together. They are dark and leathery. Striated dark and darker brown, mottled with light brown spots.
Preparation: Broke up the flake and dried it out for an hour or so.
Burn: Lit with one match. One match relight after letting it go out.
Tin Note: In this order. Slightly smoky, sweet, cocoa flower?
Flavor: initial light is “soapy” and something that's hard to put my finger on. I then got hints of bitterness and burnt paper. Along with this lovely aroma, I also had some waxy feeling coating my mouth. The smoke is making my mouth really dry. The retrohale is harsh and I there is also a harshness settling in the back of my throat. On occasion, I did get a few nice hints of a mild cigar. The smoke volume consistency was very nice but the burning in the back of my throat did not go away.

Comments and conclusion
I’ve heard others mention certain tobaccos reacting adversely with body chemistry. If that is true, I think this tobacco was doing that with me. It was rough.
I’m interested to learn what this is. I suspect it may be of the lakeland varieties.
Through all this, I did get a nice nic buzz, though! Not sure it was worth it.

[Branzig]

Date: 4/14/15
Name: Branzig
Tobacco: Orange J Vac Sealed G&H Louisiana Flake
Pipe: Capitello pot & MM General
Outdoor



Observations

Examination: A lighter Va colored flake speckled with dark spots. Quite moist from the package with a light coating on it. Deep and rich chocolate smell. Very bold cocoa followed up with typical fig Va scents. No Lakeland odor whatsoever.

Preparation: Smoked 2 bowls rubbed out and 1 fold and stuff. All between 1 and 2 hours of drying time.

Burn: Very easy burning tobacco. Required little maintenance when rubbed out and burned down to a light grey ash.

Flavor: Judging from the tin note, I was really hoping to get a nice blast of cocoa and earth notes from this tobacco. That did not happen. What I did get from the initial light was the standard GH&Co Lakeland essence. Albeit very light, but it was there. As the tobacco began to heat up, the familiar tingle of spice made itself present which leads me to believe that there is some perique in this blend. Getting into the mid way point of the bowl, the floral characteristics take a back seat to the sweet Virginia leaf. The combination of light Lakeland, sweet Va, and perique make for an interesting and tasty blend. There is also a faint something else on this flake that I just can't pick up...but I am sure it has a topping of some sort other than Lakeland Snot. I just hope I didn't ghost my pipes with it!

Comments and conclusion: A great quality flake made up of some excellent leaf. I would be shocked if this wasn't a Gawith offering. Each bowl was enjoyable and I would smoke it again. The nicotine hit was light, and the flavor profiles medium, so I would classify this as a tasty morning smoke.

[Tobias Lutz]

Details
4-14-15
Tobias Lutz
Green “C” G&H Dark Flake Unscented
Karl Erik Freehand
Indoor (enclosed porch)

Observations
This is a flake of medium thickness, variegated brown in color, that arrived in long strips (close to 6"). It had a bit of sugar glistening on it, but one site was very shiny from being vacuum sealed against the package. It had the scent of a mature Virginia, dry hay with secondary notes that, for lack of a better example, reminded me of manure mixed in straw. Mind you, this wasn't unpleasant, just very earthy and seemingly unadulterated. There was definitely a dark sweetness to it that made it very appealing. The moisture level was pretty average- it would have rubbed out easily without crumbling if I had elected to go that route.

Instead, I decided to go with a fold and stuff method because I was smoking out a rather large pipe, with a deep bowl. I folded about a flake and a half and packed to ensure an open draw.

At first I found this blend to be fire proof- a great option for roofing material Once it got going, however, it was fine. It stayed cool and produced a bellowing, thick smoke with a room-note that will not be favored by the uninitiated.

There was some Lakeland essence in the beginning, but it wasn’t very strong. Frankly, it was overwhelmed by the full-bodied tobacco. At various points the blend tended to waffle between reminding me of cigar leaf, and also having faint touches of vanilla. There was a peppery grassiness in the retrohale, particularly when it really got to burning steady. Bite free, with a decent dose of nicotine, I can’t say this is something I would smoke in the mornings.

Comments and conclusion
This was a little outside my wheelhouse. I was a bit surprised by the Lakeland flavor that made it through the Virginia, but more specifically at how it then disappeared completely. I don’t believe there is any questioning the quality of this blend, but I would say it borders on being an “acquired taste”

That’s my fourth and final write up- thanks for the samples and the fun, Pete!

[JustTroItIn]

Date: 4/14/2015
Name: JustTroItIn
Tobacco: Pink F Stokkebye Luxury Bullseye
Pipe: Malaga Rusticated Bent / The Doodler / 1940's Kaywoodie Supergrain smooth billiard
All smoked outdoors



Observations
This is a coin flake tobacco with a dark spot in the center. The bag note reminds me of raisins. I found the moisture perfect for smoking right out of the bag. I have had three bowls in three different pipes, all packed with the fold and stuff method with a bit of shredded tobacco on top. It burned very well but I had to keep a pipe cleaner on hand as it did smoke wet.



The taste was quite consistent throughout the entire bowl. Mellow molasses like sweetness with a light tingly spiciness on the tail end of the smoke. The taste was a bit stronger about mid bowl but still the same.



Comments and conclusion
I have my suspicions of what this baccy may be. Either way I'm looking forward to finding out as it is simply delicious. I'm pretty confident it contains Virginia and Perique and I'm guessing Black Cavendish. This is a tobacco I would like to have in my cellar and smoke often. Thank you, Pete, for the sample!

[Emperor Zurg]

Date: 4/15/15
Bum: Emperor Zurg
Sample: “Green B" Not Vac Packed” G&H No. 7 Broken Flake
Pipe: Missouri Pride
Environment: Vehicle - windows down, in traffic

Observations
Appearance: Darker brown broken flake
Preparation: Separated out the longer strands, dried for 2-3 hrs, fold and stuff, sit out overnight. Smoked it the next day.
Burn: Typical of a folded and stuffed flake; lit hard but then burned well - probably 3 relights in all.
Tin Note: Perfumey, sharp and pungent like a spray air freshener. Underlying scents of orange rind or bergamont and a touch of cinnamon or tonquin in the background.
Flavor:
Cold draw was mostly fruity with a bit of resinous orange.
Initial light was fruity and floral and a bit waxy. I thought I picked up the orange-like flavor here too but that was the last I heard from it.
True light brought out a sharp air freshener taste and smell. Fortunately, that died down, and the first quarter of the bowl was mostly fruity and floral with a light dose of pepper spice that kept it interesting. After about 1/3 to 1/2 the bowl, the topping, though still present, died way down (or I became numb to it) and light sips revealed sweet, grassy, although somewhat sharp Virginia flavors. There's an 'alcoholic extract' flavor I got once in a while during the transition that is not unlike taking a sip of pure almond extract straight from the bottle - sharp like that, but not as strong in the almond department... I can't even be sure it's almond but it is an 'extract' like flavor. I kept looking for a vanilla-like flavor because I figured the cinnamon scent in the tin was probably tonquin. I thought I picked it up once in a while but I might have imagined it too. The light pepper spice remained more or less throughout the bowl. Hours after the smoke, my mouth had a perfumy aftertaste - reinforcing the idea that the topping didn't really die down but I became numb to it after a while.

Comments and conclusion:
This tobacco wasn't nearly as horrid as the tin note led me to believe. It's not something I would smoke every day... well that goes without saying because I don't even smoke every day... it's not something I would smoke once a week or even once a month but it wouldn't be bad for a change of pace once in a while. I expected an awful soap taste but the flavors did not strike me as soapy - mostly fruity and floral... like eating a fruit salad with lilac blossoms mixed in and those edible orchids on top. It was nicer in the second half of the bowl when I could actually taste tobacco. Nic strength was about medium I'd guess because I felt a bit of a hit but it's much lower than something like 1792

[Tobias Lutz]

ATTENTION ALL REVIEWERS

Pete has requested that I judge the reviews and select not one, but TWO winners who will receive a special prize from him. As such, my reviews don't count (I did them for fun anyway ), and I need to set a deadline for entries. The cut-off to be eligible for a prize is Friday at 8pm EST. Please feel free to continue posting any remaining reviews after that time, because everyone will eventually be enlightened as to what they have smoked

Carry on, and please...no bribes, I'm not a politician

[Branzig]

Date: 4/15/15
Name: Branzig
Tobacco: Orange X Vac Sealed G&H Curly Cut Deluxe
Pipe: Capitello billiard, MM Country Gent, Savi Alligator 1/2 bent
Outdoors



Observations

Examination: A lightly colored Virginia blend in broken flake format. Not to moist at all. The tin note is really excellent. Lots of mature Virginia tones of figs, raisins, and wet hay. Wasn't sure if I should eat it or smoke it.

Preparation: The broken pieces were not too moist at all, and could probably be smoked straight from the bag, but I am anal about my tobacco and dried all 3 bowls I smoked for varying times between 30 minutes to 2 hours. All 3 bowls I rubbed out the broken flakes to a finer consistency to make packing easier.

Burn: Smoked real easy. No issues whatsoever, except I had to relight one bowl about 5 times; but that was due to me being tired and packing like a slob. Not the tobacco's fault. All 3 times the tobacco burned down to a nice white ash with no dottle left over.

Flavor: Judging from the tin note, I was looking forward to a bold and sweet Virginia experience, and I was not let down. The charring light produced a mouthful of exquisite, sugary hay flavor immediately. The true light brought on some more of that lovely sweetness and added a great citrus like zest to the after taste. As the bowl heated up the citrus notes took over the light hay, really excellent. Moving into the half way point, the raisin flavor took over the citrus/hay, and held the overall flavor profile for the remainder of the bowl. A really thick, tasty raisin flavor. Almost like a raisin that has been dipped in sweet and spicy molasses. Really tasty. Towards the end of the bowl, the molasses flavor took on a whole new level of spiciness, which leads me to believe that a bit of perique could be in here as well. I found that the 20-30 minute drying time produced the best sweet tones for this tobacco. Really excellent stuff.

Comments and conclusion: A very nice, medium Virginia offering here. The sweetness is excellent and the overall flavor profile and complexity is great. Went perfect with my french roast coffee. The nicotine punch was none existent, but the flavors excellent. This is something that I could see myself cellaring away and having on hand at all times. It will fit the bill for when you want that sweet raisin/fig Va, and not that full bodied, date Va offering.

[Horsefeathers]

Yikes, I've only got one review in. I'll have to make some time to get at least one more review done!

[Alligator Gar]

ATTENTION ALL REVIEWERS

Pete has requested that I judge the reviews and select not one, but TWO winners who will receive a special prize from him. As such, my reviews don't count (I did them for fun anyway ), and I need to set a deadline for entries. The cut-off to be eligible for a prize is Friday at 8pm EST. Please feel free to continue posting any remaining reviews after that time, because everyone will eventually be enlightened as to what they have smoked

Carry on, and please...no bribes, I'm not a politician

I've been traveling for work since last Friday, returning tonight. Three remaining reviews in a half hour? I can do this!