Cigar Bum Drugstore Pipe Tobacco Reviews

[bluenoser]

Captain Black White (black cavendish and burley)
Date 7-14 Writen on pouch
Smoked in MM ozark mountain (only pipe I currently have so will try in some others once I get my hands on some)
Smoked outside so can't really say much about room note but the blowing smoked smelled very pleasing and it left a nice scent on me for a little while after. Can't smoke inside so this is as close to room note as I'll get...

I was secretly hoping to get one of the Captain Black's from Tobias on this, partly because I used to frequent their cigars but also for some reason I seem to recall it might have been the brand my grandfather smoked back before giving it up. I actually planned on ordering a pack of this with my next order to try so glad I was able to get it here for review. While I don't believe this is the one it did seem rather similar so I'll be on the look for some of the black and gold next to try. I'm still very new at pipe smoking so I'm sure I'll miss alot that this has to offer but I tried my best to pick up what I could from this.

Aroma was really good the moment package opened, vanilla/marshmallow, I could actually smell it the moment I opened the box it was shipped in. I enjoy it so much I've kept the open package in office after emptying into jar just because it imparts a nice vanilla like aroma in my dark corner basement office. To prep I just took it out of my jar, handful and loaded as usual, was a bit moist but not bad at all, packed nicely.

Sweetness of it could almost be tasted through the draw before lighting. Upon lighting the false light stayed mostly lit through the tamp, barely needed to use another match. It continued to stay lit through the whole bowl, no need for a relight. Tamped 2 or 3 times but other than that it was a nice fuss free smoke to enjoy on a beautiful spring day around the yard. Would pair really well with a cup of coffee, possibly a nice wake up smoke with the morning coffee.

Flavors I picked up were vanilla, smores and almost some nuttyness. This is a rather sweet tasting tobacco, so if that's not your thing then I'd pass, but me, I can honestly say I really enjoyed the flavors. It's almost what I'd imagine mixing McClelland 620 Mocha Black with peter stokkebye french vanilla would taste like. (I've only had a few different tobacco's so there may be better examples but the tastes seem to fit).

Flavor was present right from first puff to last and stayed pretty much the same. I've struggled with keeping my pace down both with cigars and now with pipes as well but this didn't cause any issues at all. Had no bite from it and seemed to stay a fairly cool smoke even through my reckless puffing. I believe this will also join the McClelland 620 in my regular rotation of everyday aro's once I get to the point where I'm setting up my everyday rotation.

I want to extend a sincere thanks to @Tobias Lutz for not only setting up this review but including me in it, all the way up here in the great white north.

[04EDGE40]

Well I just opened the pouch of Captain Black Cherry courtesy of Tobias. Long story short it was like someone just washed their hands at Wal-mart then punched me right in the nose. You know that smell, that weird pink/white swirly soap they use in box store bathrooms. The topping on this tobacco has an uncanny resemblance to that soap.

Either tomorrow or Thursday I hope to give this stuff a go in my nice macaroni yellow Grabow aromatic pipe. I'll report back then.

[Bruck]

Captain Black White (black cavendish and burley)
Date 7-14 Writen on pouch
Smoked in MM ozark mountain (only pipe I currently have so will try in some others once I get my hands on some)
Smoked outside so can't really say much about room note but the blowing smoked smelled very pleasing and it left a nice scent on me for a little while after. Can't smoke inside so this is as close to room note as I'll get...

I was secretly hoping to get one of the Captain Black's from Tobias on this, partly because I used to frequent their cigars but also for some reason I seem to recall it might have been the brand my grandfather smoked back before giving it up. I actually planned on ordering a pack of this with my next order to try so glad I was able to get it here for review. While I don't believe this is the one it did seem rather similar so I'll be on the look for some of the black and gold next to try. I'm still very new at pipe smoking so I'm sure I'll miss alot that this has to offer but I tried my best to pick up what I could from this.

Aroma was really good the moment package opened, vanilla/marshmallow, I could actually smell it the moment I opened the box it was shipped in. I enjoy it so much I've kept the open package in office after emptying into jar just because it imparts a nice vanilla like aroma in my dark corner basement office. To prep I just took it out of my jar, handful and loaded as usual, was a bit moist but not bad at all, packed nicely.

Sweetness of it could almost be tasted through the draw before lighting. Upon lighting the false light stayed mostly lit through the tamp, barely needed to use another match. It continued to stay lit through the whole bowl, no need for a relight. Tamped 2 or 3 times but other than that it was a nice fuss free smoke to enjoy on a beautiful spring day around the yard. Would pair really well with a cup of coffee, possibly a nice wake up smoke with the morning coffee.

Flavors I picked up were vanilla, smores and almost some nuttyness. This is a rather sweet tasting tobacco, so if that's not your thing then I'd pass, but me, I can honestly say I really enjoyed the flavors. It's almost what I'd imagine mixing McClelland 620 Mocha Black with peter stokkebye french vanilla would taste like. (I've only had a few different tobacco's so there may be better examples but the tastes seem to fit).

Flavor was present right from first puff to last and stayed pretty much the same. I've struggled with keeping my pace down both with cigars and now with pipes as well but this didn't cause any issues at all. Had no bite from it and seemed to stay a fairly cool smoke even through my reckless puffing. I believe this will also join the McClelland 620 in my regular rotation of everyday aro's once I get to the point where I'm setting up my everyday rotation.

I want to extend a sincere thanks to @Tobias Lutz for not only setting up this review but including me in it, all the way up here in the great white north.

Tnx for review. Captain Black White label - my favorite gooper!

[Bruck]

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.

[04EDGE40]

Alrighty guys, life slowed down for a few hours and I got to enjoy myself a nice cigar tonight. But first, as promised to Tobias, I smoked a bowl of his OTC sampler to write a short review on it! I didn't want to ruin my taste buds before smoking this beautiful pouch of dentist cherry goodness, so of course I went with the pipe first.

I'm going to steal the format from a few other reviews to make this easier for me



Tobacco: Captain Black Cherry
Age: Unknown
Blend Contents: Topping, Black Cavendish, Topping, Cavendish, topping
Pipe(s): Macaroni yellow Grabow Duke (circa some many years ago)
Tin Note: Rotting Cherry. Or what this Captain Black guy thinks cherries smell like.
Prep: 10 minutes drying time; Packed the old fashioned way.

Notes:

Alright. To start I have to tell a short story. I took the above picture like a week ago or so, then I transferred the tobacco to a ball jar as is my custom. I chucked the pouch in my trash can here in my office. Each day for the last week I would come home and think "what smells rotten in here?" After a few days of thinking that I decided that maybe it was something in my trash, so I went through it and got rid of a Starbucks cup that my wife had (it had milk in it, so it was a possibility) and a bag of kettle corn. Next day... still stunk like rotten food. Finally on Friday I thought "it sort of smells like rotting fruit!" That's when it hit me. I took the Captain Black pouch out of my trash and got rid of it. I opened the back door (there's a balcony off my office) and let the room air out a bit and voila the stench never returned! Sooo... the tin note in a nutshell is that story. Thanks Tobias!

I must admit that despite the bad tin note, this tobacco really had a decent -- though subtle -- flavor. Is that bad? I don't know, whatevs. The smoke output was ridiculous to be blunt. The flavor was a little cherry and a whole lot of warm air. There was hardly any tongue bite which really surprised me considering the contents. And I only needed one relight which was nice. The room note was really pleasant when it was being burned. I think that topping is just too powerful before it burns.

The biggest downside to this tobacco was the waxy feeling in my mouth after smoking it. It was like an oily coating on my tongue and roof of my mouth that lasted through the whole bowl. It had to be the topping. The only other tobacco I have with this much goop on it is CAO Black, and now I'm a little scared to smoke that.

All in all, it wasn't a bad experience by any means, more or less it was a lack of experience all together. The room note was great, but there wasn't a whole lot of flavor, so I could pass on this one in the future.

After that I smoked an original blend 5 Vegas Miami. It tasted like cherry in the first third, middle third, and last third. Thanks Captain Black.

And thanks again to an awesome BOTL @Tobias Lutz ! Whenever life hands me Captain Black Cherry, I just remember that someone once smoked an entire Po Boy sampler and it puts everything in perspective.

[JustTroItIn]

Five Brothers

Five Brothers right out of the puch is like no tobacco I have ever tried. It's dry (really dry) and a very fine shag cut. It reminds me of a mouse nest I have found in a long abandoned motorcycle air box.



The first bowl was in a cob and I packed it like I would any other shag tobacco. This was a mistake as it burned hot and fast being so fine and dry. It was a bit harsh and with the heat developed a slight bitter flavor. My first bowl only took 15 minutes to smoke.

The following bowls I tried in a 519 Seattle Briar Billiard and an MM Country Gentleman. I packed the tobacco much tighter. It still burns quite quickly, but helped immensely in slowing it down enough to not burn so hot therefore actually being able to taste the tobacco. Smoking slowly enough it was much less harsh. This is not a complex tobacco. It's a straight forward burley smoke with a cedary no nonsense tobacco flavor. If you're looking for a nic hit, look no further than Five Brothers.

In conclusion this is not a bad tobacco at all, but it is something you need to be in the mood for. I normally use PA to calm down a tobacco that's too strong. I'll be using Five Brothers to liven up a weaker tobacco from now on.

Thanks for the pouch, Tobias!

[Tobias Lutz]

Middleton Apple Pipe Tobacco






I saved this one especially for myself because it is one of the first OTCs I ever smoked (along with CB White). For starters, I’ve always like the packaging. I find it to be very dated and kitschy. Upon unrolling the pouch, you get a very gentle scent of apple, masking a burley cocoa profile. There is a bit of hay thrown in by the Virginia, for good measure. It is actually quite moist and requires a decent sit under the lamp to avoid bowl swamp.

It starts pleasantly balanced and mild. The fruit topping isn’t ridiculous, or overly sweet. It reminds me of smoking Velvet while sipping apple juice. If sipped, it is bite free. I smoked while unpacking about twenty books that came in the mail today, so I was puffing at a very casual pace. It stayed lit with no real effort, and I didn’t find it to burn hot. It is somewhat monotonous, but not distasteful, like someone who is inoffensive but uninteresting. The Virginia is mainly filler and contributes little to the flavor. I did find that the burley nuittiness became a bit more robust as I went along. The apple stayed consistent.

Overall, it is pretty good for what it is.
It is not: very sweet, very heavy, or very strong
Nor is it: very expensive, unpleasant, or bitey (unless you smoke like a locomotive)

[Chris0673]

At long, long last I have had time to sit down and smoke a couple bowls of the tobacco @Tobias Lutz sent me weeks ago! To those that have been waiting...my sincere apologies. I do NOT remember college being quite this stressful the first time around! Anyway, here goes:

Sir Walter Raleigh Aromatic

Upon opening the pouch my nasal passages were caressed with the pleasant aroma of dried prunes. The tobacco is a coarse, ribbon cut, burley that was pleasantly moist and easily packed but dry enough to light up nicely. The smoke was, at first, thick and rich, playing around my head like a spring cloud; eventually becoming a light fog which playfully caught the currents of air through my open windows.

Upon retrohale I got the very pleasing flavor of raisins. The smoke was cool and flavorful with no bite at all. The room note was, at first, pleasant; filling the room with the scent of plums and raisins.

Unfortunately, and I find this typical of most OTC tobacco (and why I generally smoke them outside), the room note turned stale and unpleasant after a while. Lending the room the smell of old cigarettes.

Overall, I enjoyed it and would recommend it to anyone. My only caveat would be that this would be better off enjoyed outside.

[Desertlifter]

So where are the Granger and Mixture 79 reviews? Those are always fun...

Still wish that I could enjoy Granger - the tins are just so damned cool.