Walter Mitty

**NeverBend** · 04-17-2015, 08:55 PM

I've been hounded by @Branzig to do a review on Gawith Hoggarth Mixture #12. I resist but will, at some point, relent.
My review on No Name was simply based on merit and I will post another glowing review so this review is proof that I don't adore anything that I stuff into my pipe (wouldn't that be nice though?). This one's Walter Mitty and it's kind of sh*tty.

Walter Mitty

Date:April 17th, 2015
Brand:J.F. Germain
Mixture:Royal Jersey
Manufacturer:J.F. Germain
Year made:2014
Type:Virginia
Where smoked:Outdoors (front porch)
Pipes:Mark Tinsky sandblast poker
(several smooth, smaller Barlings)

Royal Jersey is a thin ribbon cut tobacco, packed under mild pressure (for you that wish to age some) in a rectangular tin. Upon opening, the tobacco feels springy under the flaps of the waxed paper that it’s packed it.

A gentle sweet and lightly floral note, like an orange creamsicle, escapes the tin and whets the palate. The thin ribbons are mottled shades of brown that vary in their color saturation. It’s a little more monochrome but otherwise, in look and feel, it reminds of another Germain offering, Plum Cake, but it’s less scented and not as pungent.

Royal Jersey packs easily as long as you don’t stuff clumps into your pipe. The draw has mild resistance and it draws smoothly. This was true is all samplings save the first where I stuffed a clump so that bowl was on me.

Lighting with a wooden match (always) was easy and the tobacco swell was pushed back into the pipe with the bottom of the match book. I may have used a second light but getting started was no issue and shouldn’t be for most.

The taste profile varied from bowl to bowl and I would say that it wasn’t until the third bowl, in a small Barling, that I understood how to pack and puff for the best results. There’s a fine line with this blend between getting the maximum flavor and smoking too fast when it becomes aggressive but even at it’s best you’re working to squeeze something out of it worth having. There were brief moments when I tasted that orange creamsicle but it was a gossamer in the wind and quickly blew away.

I enjoy light Virginia blends, mixtures and flakes, but this one I won’t revisit past the demise of this single tin. It’s a mixture in search of meaning and I much prefer Germain’s Plum Cake, (although I don’t enjoy it’s goop), and that’s good because, fool that I am, I purchased 10 tins of the stuff.