I was in a local B&M checking out an Estate Falcon and picked up a tin of Drew Estate Central Park Stroll. My personal stock is overflowing with English, Danish, VaPers, etc. and thought I'd give this one a few bowls. So, I brought home my purchases and cranked out a Falcon bowl I reserve for Aero's and tried it out.
First impression... Very damp, nice cut, jet black, and packed like a compressed brick in the tin. The heavy vanilla/carmel/chocolate notes DE talks about are certainly present, in force. But, I set out a couple bowls worth to air out and after an hour or two I fired up my new Falcon with it.... Not bad! Certainly not as crazed as I had thought it might be... Turns out, it is every bit as crazed as I thought a DE would be. But, more about that in a couple sentences.
Stays lit well, good volume of smoke, cool and dry out of my new Falcon and the humidome wasn't completely full after the bowl like I thought it would be. The room note is amazing, but, a tasty mild smoke that isn't as powerful as the room note....
Then, I finished the bowl. The progression thru the bowl wasn't anything you wouldn't expect. Stays lit, same room note thruout, good smoke that got mildly stronger as you went. Then, after the first bowl I did some real work and when I sat down to dinner it hit me....
I'm still "tasting" this and smelling it an hour later! And after a bowl of Condor after dinner I'm still tasting/smelling it... And this morning I'm still smelling it. And, as I write this review, I'm still smelling it. Strongly. It's like it's never gonna go away.
Did I enjoy it? Yes, it was a decent smoke. Was it outstanding? No, but, it was good. Would you buy it again? Yes, but not because I'm ever gonna have a bowl of it again.
I'm gonna dump the whole tin in with a bulk barley virginia mix I think needs more flavor, and mellow this thing out while punching up that barley/virginia bulk that is basically flavorless. I think it'll be good.
But, unless your a complete Aero smoker that likes your sinuses to be spray painted with flavorings, I wouldn't suggest Central Park Stroll.
First impression... Very damp, nice cut, jet black, and packed like a compressed brick in the tin. The heavy vanilla/carmel/chocolate notes DE talks about are certainly present, in force. But, I set out a couple bowls worth to air out and after an hour or two I fired up my new Falcon with it.... Not bad! Certainly not as crazed as I had thought it might be... Turns out, it is every bit as crazed as I thought a DE would be. But, more about that in a couple sentences.
Stays lit well, good volume of smoke, cool and dry out of my new Falcon and the humidome wasn't completely full after the bowl like I thought it would be. The room note is amazing, but, a tasty mild smoke that isn't as powerful as the room note....
Then, I finished the bowl. The progression thru the bowl wasn't anything you wouldn't expect. Stays lit, same room note thruout, good smoke that got mildly stronger as you went. Then, after the first bowl I did some real work and when I sat down to dinner it hit me....
I'm still "tasting" this and smelling it an hour later! And after a bowl of Condor after dinner I'm still tasting/smelling it... And this morning I'm still smelling it. And, as I write this review, I'm still smelling it. Strongly. It's like it's never gonna go away.
Did I enjoy it? Yes, it was a decent smoke. Was it outstanding? No, but, it was good. Would you buy it again? Yes, but not because I'm ever gonna have a bowl of it again.
I'm gonna dump the whole tin in with a bulk barley virginia mix I think needs more flavor, and mellow this thing out while punching up that barley/virginia bulk that is basically flavorless. I think it'll be good.
But, unless your a complete Aero smoker that likes your sinuses to be spray painted with flavorings, I wouldn't suggest Central Park Stroll.