Virginia Gold Black and Gold

A few months ago, P&C was selling Virginia Gold dirt cheap, as in $12/# in pouches. Normally I try a sample of something before buying in quantity, but my inner cheapskate wouldn't let me pass this deal up, so a couple pounds made their way to the house of Bruck. I see it's on sale at this price again, so... no, two pounds should last me a while

I'm not much into aros, particularly the syrupy sweet ones, but among the Virginia Golds, this mild aro was purported to be less of a gooper. I figured, if it wasn't a good smoker, I could use it as a flavor basis for some interesting pressed flakes.

So here's the drugstore pouch review:

Ribbon cut; Virginia, Cavendish, and Burley; mild flavoring.

Pouch note: mainly the constituent tobaccos, plus some sweetness, with a hint of grandma's medicine cabinet. Moisture level slightly exceeding my preference, but not the gooey sludge that you normally find in a pouch aro.

Pipe used for this review: MM Diplomat.

First light - lit and burned well; easy to control burn/temp. Flavor is a good balance, not dominated by any of the components, some sweetness, and the medicinal aroma is not really evident.

Rest of bowl - flavor stayed pretty even, nothing really to write home about, the burley added a slightly bitter edge. Kind a whisky flavor came out as it warmed up. Never gurgled in the cob, but I'm thinking it would have in another pipe; after two bowls I could feel the moisture seeping to the outside of the cob.

Finish - burned pretty thoroughly; some dottle. Slightly medicinal aftertaste.

Overall I'd say this is not too bad but not great. I'll probably grab a bowl of this once in a while by itself, but mainly use it in other things. Another reviewer on torbaccoreviews.com suggested using it to cut stronger blends.