Halfling’s Leaf: A new blend from the PM Forum’s own pipeinhand
Basic description from the blender: Tin note slightly cocoa with a berry over honey. Room note, berry, cocoa and lots of honey. It is called Hobbit’s Leaf for the blender’s affinity with Tolkien and not intended to match any existing attempts on the writer’s description of pipeweed. I have had the dubious luxury of never having tried those blends so I don’t have to worry about adulterating my review with any preconceptions. Pipeinhand also compared it to Mead, which immediately perked my ears as I have been brewing my own batches of the medieval mainstay for over 10 years.
Physical description: A blend of ribbon cut tobaccos, dominated by a nut-brown color, but also containing dark chocolate brown and little flecks of gold. The nut-brown is achieved by a pretty even mix of caramel and milk-chocolate browns. It’s moist but not soggy-wet and I chose to smoke it right out of the pouch on the first day. I believe that after a month properly cellared, it would be perfect! I’m used to wet American aros with a little gurgle in my pipe so dampness is par for the course with me.
Pouch note. The honey and the berry together give the impression of a spiced rum or berry brandy, with overtones of dark chocolate. I had to admit it smells pretty darn good in the bag. I felt like a Hobbit who missed second breakfast and wanted to dig right in.
For my pipe I chose my trusty Meer. Its clean and unbiased taste is perfect for new blends. I smoked it in my garden in the Shire (Texas). It’s 62°F, sunny and a little humid.
To be honest, I wasn’t sure what kind of concoction a new blender would send me, particularly one who does aromatics and is fascinated with Hobbits. I was a little afraid of getting something that burned like the fires of Mount Doom and bit like a pissed-off Gollum.
I had nothing to worry about.
On the charring light, what I called the “brown” tone came through. Nice and chocolaty and not the least bit acrid. A judicious tamp and puff later and I was off. I was immediately struck not by the smell, but the flavor. It was far more present than some aros that I smoke on a regular basis. It was the taste of a quality pipe weed that could stand on its own with or without the fancy flavors. This however was just the beginning. At the start of the smoke the aroma of honey began to dominate and the taste of dark chocolate began to come through. The smell of honey and the taste of chocolate had me doing French inhales just to get the best of both. This more or less continued throughout the smoke, in fact.
Like some of the better aromatics, the flavor and room note take off like a rocket during the body of the bowl. Imagine if someone around you was blending a confection of German chocolate and cherry with a liquid honey liqueur center. A mead lover such as myself can find himself feeling slightly intoxicated by this blend. I was also pleased upon contemplating the ember that it had turned a pretty light grey on top as I smoked. This is something I report more often in my Lat blends than in aros.
It was not biting at all to me and my Meer, which is notoriously persnickety about heat and damp blends stayed cool, the smoke slowly rolling an hour after lots of smoke ring blowing (sorry no ships) and French inhaling. Just a little gentle tamping kept it lit for me and no biting Gollums to be found. The bottom of the bowl was very chocolaty but the smoke maintained that Honey Mead smell that I enjoyed in the beginning. I kept thinking to myself, “This guy is a NEW blender? Wow!” I was sad to see it end, but it ended well with mostly just grey ash and just a bit of dottle (quite normal for me when smoking an aro). There was no significant kick on the nicotine front, which I also like.
I know I’ve gone on about the remarkable complexity of this aromatic, but its gentle consistency throughout the smoking experience could very easily make this an all day smoke, even though I find it best suited as a sweet reward at the end of a hard day or a nice reprieve on a smoking day among good friends. I can easily see my best friend and me with our Meerschaums happily puffing and talking as people walk in the room and exclaim at the sweet smell hanging in the air. And don’t let the Tolkien reference fool you. This blend is no novelty, just a damn fine aromatic!
Basic description from the blender: Tin note slightly cocoa with a berry over honey. Room note, berry, cocoa and lots of honey. It is called Hobbit’s Leaf for the blender’s affinity with Tolkien and not intended to match any existing attempts on the writer’s description of pipeweed. I have had the dubious luxury of never having tried those blends so I don’t have to worry about adulterating my review with any preconceptions. Pipeinhand also compared it to Mead, which immediately perked my ears as I have been brewing my own batches of the medieval mainstay for over 10 years.
Physical description: A blend of ribbon cut tobaccos, dominated by a nut-brown color, but also containing dark chocolate brown and little flecks of gold. The nut-brown is achieved by a pretty even mix of caramel and milk-chocolate browns. It’s moist but not soggy-wet and I chose to smoke it right out of the pouch on the first day. I believe that after a month properly cellared, it would be perfect! I’m used to wet American aros with a little gurgle in my pipe so dampness is par for the course with me.
Pouch note. The honey and the berry together give the impression of a spiced rum or berry brandy, with overtones of dark chocolate. I had to admit it smells pretty darn good in the bag. I felt like a Hobbit who missed second breakfast and wanted to dig right in.
For my pipe I chose my trusty Meer. Its clean and unbiased taste is perfect for new blends. I smoked it in my garden in the Shire (Texas). It’s 62°F, sunny and a little humid.
To be honest, I wasn’t sure what kind of concoction a new blender would send me, particularly one who does aromatics and is fascinated with Hobbits. I was a little afraid of getting something that burned like the fires of Mount Doom and bit like a pissed-off Gollum.
I had nothing to worry about.
On the charring light, what I called the “brown” tone came through. Nice and chocolaty and not the least bit acrid. A judicious tamp and puff later and I was off. I was immediately struck not by the smell, but the flavor. It was far more present than some aros that I smoke on a regular basis. It was the taste of a quality pipe weed that could stand on its own with or without the fancy flavors. This however was just the beginning. At the start of the smoke the aroma of honey began to dominate and the taste of dark chocolate began to come through. The smell of honey and the taste of chocolate had me doing French inhales just to get the best of both. This more or less continued throughout the smoke, in fact.
Like some of the better aromatics, the flavor and room note take off like a rocket during the body of the bowl. Imagine if someone around you was blending a confection of German chocolate and cherry with a liquid honey liqueur center. A mead lover such as myself can find himself feeling slightly intoxicated by this blend. I was also pleased upon contemplating the ember that it had turned a pretty light grey on top as I smoked. This is something I report more often in my Lat blends than in aros.
It was not biting at all to me and my Meer, which is notoriously persnickety about heat and damp blends stayed cool, the smoke slowly rolling an hour after lots of smoke ring blowing (sorry no ships) and French inhaling. Just a little gentle tamping kept it lit for me and no biting Gollums to be found. The bottom of the bowl was very chocolaty but the smoke maintained that Honey Mead smell that I enjoyed in the beginning. I kept thinking to myself, “This guy is a NEW blender? Wow!” I was sad to see it end, but it ended well with mostly just grey ash and just a bit of dottle (quite normal for me when smoking an aro). There was no significant kick on the nicotine front, which I also like.
I know I’ve gone on about the remarkable complexity of this aromatic, but its gentle consistency throughout the smoking experience could very easily make this an all day smoke, even though I find it best suited as a sweet reward at the end of a hard day or a nice reprieve on a smoking day among good friends. I can easily see my best friend and me with our Meerschaums happily puffing and talking as people walk in the room and exclaim at the sweet smell hanging in the air. And don’t let the Tolkien reference fool you. This blend is no novelty, just a damn fine aromatic!
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