Half & Half

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skulltula

Lurker
Aug 17, 2015
41
0
All right! So, I must admit that, although I'm preferential towards powerhouse tobaccos, and oftentimes mix them together for a great boost, once in a while I like to settle in with a milder body to take a break from the nicotine. This is where the OTC blends come in. Prince Albert and Sir Walter Raleigh are also in line for a review sometime this coming week, but for right now, it's Half & Half.
A time-honored blend. Some (most?) might say it's the pinnacle of a 50/50 mix straight off the shelf. That pouch note is something to behold. Admittedly, this is the first tobacco I smoked this year outside of some cigars, but the very first pipe tobacco I've ever had. (A small note here: I did smoke a pipe in the navy, but the blend was W.O. Larsen's Black Diamond, which had a nice tin note but bit my tongue so hard that I quit later that day. So it is technically Black diamond that is the first pipe blend I ever tried, but it was such a bad experience that I now cannot recall the tin note.)
A sweet, friendly aroma meets the nostrils upon opening, and what a wonderful scent too! It, to me, smells of fruits, maybe? Raisins? Some kind of dried fruit essence comes through which I cannot pinpoint exactly, but that's what made me happy that this was my first, REAL notice into what pipe tobacco was all about. I loaded my huge meerschaum churchwarden with gravity, a slight press and then topped it off. I [now] sometimes like to take a few test draws to see if it tastes or smells a little different when retrohaled, and I got more of the same, but a bit subdued. (still very pleasant).
I took lighter in hand and proceeded to attempt a char light, which ultimately turned into the true light. A pleasure. But now I'm using a Missouri Meerschaum Legend for this particular review. Same thing happens every time I use a char lighting-- it always goes straight into true light. There's a body of burley, and a sweetness, to which I attribute to the bright Virginia. Plenty of smoke if puffed, but it does have a tendency to bite when stressed like that. When sipped upon, it's very mellow on the tongue, and a whole lot less smoky, but much of the flavor remains when used in this manner.
So, after the entirety of the bowl, just as any other time I have Half & Half, it left a nice ash (not powdery, but still tiny bits of black), and when I dumped the bowl, there was no moisture of which to speak. No gurgling (but it's a corn cob pipe, and you all know how it tends to wick moisture away from just about everything under the sun).
If this is a classic tobacco which has endured years of presence on shelves, it is not without reason. I love this blend right in the morning or any time I'm not chugging away for a nicotine rush (which is usually my bedtime ritual, but I like to alter this from time to time). A very good blend with which to relax outside with a light breeze, perhaps better in a screened gazebo where one might enjoy the room note (which is pleasant as well). I don't have such a gazebo, but if I had one, I would spend many hours sitting within it, observing the twilight of the sunset fade into a dusk and, finally, into a peaceful darkness.

 

jitterbugdude

Part of the Furniture Now
Mar 25, 2014
993
8
Nice review but I was a little disappointed. The title of this thread led me to believe it was going to be about Bruce Jenner/Kaitlin Jenner.. :)
Come to think of it, shim might make a good spokesman for the company.

 

papipeguy

Lifer
Jul 31, 2010
15,778
35
Bethlehem, Pa.
I have not smoked H&H in quite some time. When I first smoked it in the early 1970's it still had deer tongue in it, which I happen to like. I don't remember when H&H was reformulated and the deer tongue went MIA.

I do smoked C&D Gentleman Caller because it reminds me of the old H&H. A note of warning-deer tongue will ghost a pipe so I dedicate my Stanwell Golden Danish billiard to GC.

 

skulltula

Lurker
Aug 17, 2015
41
0
I've heard of Deer Tongue, but have not had any as of yet. I'll order some of this Gentleman Caller next month to get an idea on what the older H&H flavor profile might have had.

 

perlasca

Starting to Get Obsessed
Mar 11, 2015
120
20
I heard that about Half&Half, having Deer tongue in it. I think it would be great if a OTC still used it.

Nice review skultilla, I have a pouch of H&H that I got for $1.00 using the coupons available on this site and a few others. I may open it up and give it another whirl. I tried it years ago when I first started on the pipe.
papipeguy, have you tried Imagine by 4noggins? It's a nice mild blend: "A slightly aromatic blend of Virginia, Burley, Deer Tongue, and Perique."

 

mso489

Lifer
Feb 21, 2013
41,210
60,433
I've enjoyed Half & Half from time to time. I have to admit, I recently sent an unopened tub to a fellow Forums member just because I have accumulated enough tobacco, I didn't see getting to it in quite a while. My current go-to tub tobacco is PC Home and Hearth Midtown Chestnut (the only non-aro in that series) and what's left (about a quarter) tub of Granger. But Half & Half is one of the grand old tub tobaccos; there's a reason these blends stick around through generations.

 

plugugly

Starting to Get Obsessed
Mar 9, 2015
280
32
I have an old sealed key-wind tin of half and half (thank you Pipe Stud). I wonder if that was the old formula?
Plugugly

 

tarak

Lifer
Jun 23, 2013
1,528
15
South Dakota
I don't generally enjoy H&H. It has a chemical taste to me I can't tolerate. I believe it has changed in that it no longer contains deer tongue.
Glad you enjoy it.

 

smokinfireman

Starting to Get Obsessed
Aug 17, 2015
176
1
I have never tried Half and Half. Too many friends that find it appalling. I Don't care for the smell either. To each his own.

 

drrock

Part of the Furniture Now
Oct 20, 2011
514
565
Minnesota
I tried the latest version of Half & Half after receiving the coupon for a pouch for $1. Liked it - bought more.

Worth a try...

 

ejames

Lifer
Oct 6, 2009
3,916
22
A while back the DGCF did a box pass and we had a bunch of tobacco left over after the box made the circuit. It was divided up amongst the participants and I got a pouch of H&H in my goodie box. I had tried it several years ago but it didn't agree with me. This time I found I liked the stuff! I attribute that to the fact that in the last year or so I have really gotten to where I like VA/Burley blends. I intend to order a tub or two.

 

mlyvers

Can't Leave
Sep 23, 2012
487
0
All this talk of H&H makes me want too buy a pouch or a tub. I know many pipers who enjoy it today... Sounds good to me.

 

michiganlover

Can't Leave
May 10, 2014
336
3
I enjoy all of the codger burleys, they are just simple easy to enjoy blends!! It's hard to go wrong with them!

 

skulltula

Lurker
Aug 17, 2015
41
0
I really enjoy the pouch note, perhaps more so than actually smoking it. It's still a nice mild smoke to have on hand as a reserve for changing my pace from powerhouse blends and aromatics.

 

huntertrw

Lifer
Jul 23, 2014
5,223
5,347
The Lower Forty of Hill Country
"I have an old sealed key-wind tin of half and half (thank you Pipe Stud). I wonder if that was the old formula?"
If it was manufactured by The American Tobacco Company, then it was most certainly the original (and, in my personal opinion, the best) formula.

 

virginiacob

Can't Leave
Dec 30, 2013
450
7
H&H is definitely one of my favorite OTC blends along with Prince Albert, Carter Hall, and Heines Blend. H&H is great in a cob! It's a good mellow smoke from time to time when you just want a no nonsense, nostalgic Burley blend.

 
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