For the last week or so I've been playing around with several blends of Hearth & Home's Midtown Series tobaccos. I like that they came to the rescue of some old blends that John Middleton Co. discontinued, and I wanted to see how well they were able to reproduce them.
So far I've tried Cherry, Chestnut, Sweet Cask, Derby Club, and Chatham Manor. They were OK, but they just weren't close enough to the originals to keep me interested. They do seem to be made with very good tobacco. Maybe better than the originals, but their flavors were just too subtle for my liking.
Since Middleton's Kentucky Club Aromatic, Sugar Barrel and Walnut are discontinued, I will only describe my results with Cherry Blend and Carter Hall. I did try the others, but nothing exciting came of it.
So then, blending the originals with the Match tobaccos H&H makes, I wanted to see if I could liven up the flavors a little, In my opinion I came up with two winners.
I tried them in both a Missouri Meerschaum:
and a Savinelli Autograph, to get a more rounded idea of the taste:
If you like semi-aromatic blends, then I think your will like these two.
The first one was a mixture of Middleton's Cherry Blend with H&H's Cherry. After several trial and errors, I ended up mixing three 1 1/2 oz. pouches of Middleton's with two oz. of H&H's. I think the result is better than either on it's own. The two just went together great. The cherry flavor is more pronounced than in the H&H blend, but smoother than the Middleton blend. And it is still very subtle. Still plenty of tobacco taste with just a hint of fruit in the background. Not goopy or wet either.
The second one was a combination of Carter Hall with H&H's Chatham Manor. About 50/50. It came out much better than expected. So much better that I even decided to give it a name. Chatham Hall. (I know. Not very original, but what the hell).
Again, very much a burly/va forward blend, with just a hint of chocolate and something else. Smoked cool and smelled great.
I loved it. Just might become my new all day/anytime blend.
I don't do tobacco reviews, so just take this for what it is. Just messing around with different blends to see if I could improve them more to my taste.
I've enjoyed experimenting with the new match blends and think they have much to offer. As far as Prince Albert and H&H's match, Price Andrew, I haven't done a thing with them, since I was never a big fan of Prince Albert.
Maybe some of you would like to give it a try. You just might come up with a new blend you really like. I have.
So far I've tried Cherry, Chestnut, Sweet Cask, Derby Club, and Chatham Manor. They were OK, but they just weren't close enough to the originals to keep me interested. They do seem to be made with very good tobacco. Maybe better than the originals, but their flavors were just too subtle for my liking.
Since Middleton's Kentucky Club Aromatic, Sugar Barrel and Walnut are discontinued, I will only describe my results with Cherry Blend and Carter Hall. I did try the others, but nothing exciting came of it.
So then, blending the originals with the Match tobaccos H&H makes, I wanted to see if I could liven up the flavors a little, In my opinion I came up with two winners.
I tried them in both a Missouri Meerschaum:
and a Savinelli Autograph, to get a more rounded idea of the taste:
If you like semi-aromatic blends, then I think your will like these two.
The first one was a mixture of Middleton's Cherry Blend with H&H's Cherry. After several trial and errors, I ended up mixing three 1 1/2 oz. pouches of Middleton's with two oz. of H&H's. I think the result is better than either on it's own. The two just went together great. The cherry flavor is more pronounced than in the H&H blend, but smoother than the Middleton blend. And it is still very subtle. Still plenty of tobacco taste with just a hint of fruit in the background. Not goopy or wet either.
The second one was a combination of Carter Hall with H&H's Chatham Manor. About 50/50. It came out much better than expected. So much better that I even decided to give it a name. Chatham Hall. (I know. Not very original, but what the hell).
Again, very much a burly/va forward blend, with just a hint of chocolate and something else. Smoked cool and smelled great.
I loved it. Just might become my new all day/anytime blend.
I don't do tobacco reviews, so just take this for what it is. Just messing around with different blends to see if I could improve them more to my taste.
I've enjoyed experimenting with the new match blends and think they have much to offer. As far as Prince Albert and H&H's match, Price Andrew, I haven't done a thing with them, since I was never a big fan of Prince Albert.
Maybe some of you would like to give it a try. You just might come up with a new blend you really like. I have.