OK… to begin you should know a couple of things.
1; This is my first ever “official” review… in all my years I’ve never actually written one… so please be kind and forgive the length
2; The last time I smoked an Aromatic was almost 15 years ago… I smoked a “house” blend from a local B&M and it was so oily and cloying and tasted like cough syrup… completely put me off on Aro’s
3; My pipes are in need of a good cleaning.
OK… I received my sample of Yule Pudding from Jack Lee aka “pipeinhand” on Monday, as it got lost apparently so he sent out a new package. Now when he asked for volunteers to sample a new blend, he never mentioned what kind of blend it would be and as I am new to these forums I’ve never heard of Jack or his blends. Well to my surprise it was an Aromatic. On Monday when I got home and walked out to the mailbox I could smell the sweetness as I got closer, but it was wasn’t an overpowering sweetness but rather a pleasant light aroma… I was already intrigued.
I excitedly ripped open the sealed envelope like a kid on Christmas morning… as soon as I opened it, the true smell billowed out to engulf me and it was delicious, it smelled very Vanilla like but kind of Chocolaty … it instantly made me want to taste it LOL … the tobacco came very moist but not “wet” (if that makes any sense) I was also expecting it to be very oily from the casing but it wasn’t, it had a very nice feel to it when handled.
All righty.. I smoked several bowls throughout several days using different pipes.
Day#1 I used a no name Meer (the Turban Head) which has a large bowl (about 2 ½”), it was about 10pm and I was out in the garage… I used the old fashioned 3 step fill method… from the first moment that the flame hit the tobacco, for the charring light, it was an explosion of flavors… I was very taken aback. I allowed it to go out to form my bed, which was difficult because I really wanted to continue to smoke it…. But my patience was well worth it… as soon as I relit the bowl it was such a beautiful big cloud full of flavors... right off the bat I tasted the rum a bit of Vanilla… once the flavors settled I began to really taste the tobacco… at the forefront was the Burley, and not just any burley, but you can tell it’s a very nice high end burley, very sweet and nutty… then came the virginias which were a bit more subtle but very tasty non the less… you can tell that great care was taken in choosing the right tobaccos. As I continued to smoke the bowl I began to get a very light sense of Cherries (I might be crazy on that one). The entire bowl was very “smooth” cool and with just a minor sense of spiciness. What really surprised me was the fact that I had 0 relights in such a big bowl, I did not empty the ash and it stayed really cool and dry (despite it being very moist) … it smoked all the way to the bottom and poured out a very nice light grey fine ash. The taste remained in my mouth for quite a while and the smell on my robe was soooo good that I was actually craving more.
Day#2 First off let me start off by saying for that the entire day I was craving this tobacco… I used my Aldo Velani calabash… this time I allowed the tobacco to dry out for about half an hour… it was still a bit moist but not as much as the previous night, this was about 5pm and was in my Jeep on the commute home…. on this one I used the swirling palm method (which is my preferred method). From the first charring light I sensed it wasn’t the same… the flavor was not as robust as the previous night and for some reason it smoked hot in this pipe, it took two re-lights but did in fact smoke to the bottom… again a very nice fine ash was left. The flavors this time were a bit more “earthy” (I think because of the briar) but none the less it was a pleasant smoke but no where near what I had experienced the previous night.
I smoked another bowl that evening at around 10pm again in the garage, this time I used my Meer lined Peterson Canadian… I loaded the pipe right from the bag (I kept it moist) right off the bat I got very excited… it was almost the same as the previous night… with nice big full clouds that reminded me of sweet bread pudding (yes I know that sounds crazy) the flavors were spot on and smoked very cool… I am having the feeling that this blend is favoring the meer… again no re-lights and the smoke was so flavorful that again it left me wanting more.
Day#3 I used my No Name Canadian using the 3 step method to fill, it was about 4pm in my Jeep on the commute home… this time it smoked very cool (even though I filled it right from the pouch again moist) no re-lights and again nice full clouds of smoke… the flavors were again beautiful and tasty… the rum in this is soo good and I love the burley’s I noticed it still wasn't quite what it was in the meer's
I smoked another bowl last night again about 10pm in my garage and used the Turban Head Meer again… it was a re-cap of the first night… Big billowing clouds that were full of flavor. No re-lights and smoked cool till the very bottom.
Overall thoughts:
This blend is quite subtle and complex… the flavors are up front and vibrant but never annoying or obnoxious. If I had to describe the blend in one word it would be “Bready” it actually does remind me of a good bread pudding (not sure how the hell he did that, must be some sorcery if you ask me)… what I think I enjoyed the most is that you can not only taste the flavoring but you can taste the actual tobaccos which were quite tasty. The clouds this thing produces were big and dense and very good smelling… leaving such a wonderful room note. If this makes any sense I would say that it actually made me hungry… as you smoke the bowl you will find subtle flavors coming out. This blend seemed to favor the Meer quite a bit and smoked very cool and dry despite the fact that it came moist.
I would HIGHLY recommend this blend... I feel it’s a nice subtle Aro that I thoroughly enjoyed to the point that I will be stocking up to have some on hand for quite some time... so much so that I am going to fully clean a pipe out and dedicate it to this blend and maybe some of his other blends that I cant wait to try.
I thought Jack Lee was going to be your everyday back yard blender… but boy was I wrong, you can tell that he takes care in choosing the right tobaccos and whatever he does to encase the flavoring (I still insist its some form of sorcery) its beautiful and not once did any of my pipes get all gunky… his 20 or so years of experience are quite evident in this blend… I am now officially a fan of Jack Lee Blends... and cant wait to try his full line.
Well thats it folks... sorry for the long ass review but I found myself keeping a journal of the experience (something I had never done before) to make sure I didnt forget anything... please let me know if you have any questions on what I mean as I know I can run on sometimes or maybe I forgot something.
1; This is my first ever “official” review… in all my years I’ve never actually written one… so please be kind and forgive the length
2; The last time I smoked an Aromatic was almost 15 years ago… I smoked a “house” blend from a local B&M and it was so oily and cloying and tasted like cough syrup… completely put me off on Aro’s
3; My pipes are in need of a good cleaning.
OK… I received my sample of Yule Pudding from Jack Lee aka “pipeinhand” on Monday, as it got lost apparently so he sent out a new package. Now when he asked for volunteers to sample a new blend, he never mentioned what kind of blend it would be and as I am new to these forums I’ve never heard of Jack or his blends. Well to my surprise it was an Aromatic. On Monday when I got home and walked out to the mailbox I could smell the sweetness as I got closer, but it was wasn’t an overpowering sweetness but rather a pleasant light aroma… I was already intrigued.
I excitedly ripped open the sealed envelope like a kid on Christmas morning… as soon as I opened it, the true smell billowed out to engulf me and it was delicious, it smelled very Vanilla like but kind of Chocolaty … it instantly made me want to taste it LOL … the tobacco came very moist but not “wet” (if that makes any sense) I was also expecting it to be very oily from the casing but it wasn’t, it had a very nice feel to it when handled.
All righty.. I smoked several bowls throughout several days using different pipes.
Day#1 I used a no name Meer (the Turban Head) which has a large bowl (about 2 ½”), it was about 10pm and I was out in the garage… I used the old fashioned 3 step fill method… from the first moment that the flame hit the tobacco, for the charring light, it was an explosion of flavors… I was very taken aback. I allowed it to go out to form my bed, which was difficult because I really wanted to continue to smoke it…. But my patience was well worth it… as soon as I relit the bowl it was such a beautiful big cloud full of flavors... right off the bat I tasted the rum a bit of Vanilla… once the flavors settled I began to really taste the tobacco… at the forefront was the Burley, and not just any burley, but you can tell it’s a very nice high end burley, very sweet and nutty… then came the virginias which were a bit more subtle but very tasty non the less… you can tell that great care was taken in choosing the right tobaccos. As I continued to smoke the bowl I began to get a very light sense of Cherries (I might be crazy on that one). The entire bowl was very “smooth” cool and with just a minor sense of spiciness. What really surprised me was the fact that I had 0 relights in such a big bowl, I did not empty the ash and it stayed really cool and dry (despite it being very moist) … it smoked all the way to the bottom and poured out a very nice light grey fine ash. The taste remained in my mouth for quite a while and the smell on my robe was soooo good that I was actually craving more.
Day#2 First off let me start off by saying for that the entire day I was craving this tobacco… I used my Aldo Velani calabash… this time I allowed the tobacco to dry out for about half an hour… it was still a bit moist but not as much as the previous night, this was about 5pm and was in my Jeep on the commute home…. on this one I used the swirling palm method (which is my preferred method). From the first charring light I sensed it wasn’t the same… the flavor was not as robust as the previous night and for some reason it smoked hot in this pipe, it took two re-lights but did in fact smoke to the bottom… again a very nice fine ash was left. The flavors this time were a bit more “earthy” (I think because of the briar) but none the less it was a pleasant smoke but no where near what I had experienced the previous night.
I smoked another bowl that evening at around 10pm again in the garage, this time I used my Meer lined Peterson Canadian… I loaded the pipe right from the bag (I kept it moist) right off the bat I got very excited… it was almost the same as the previous night… with nice big full clouds that reminded me of sweet bread pudding (yes I know that sounds crazy) the flavors were spot on and smoked very cool… I am having the feeling that this blend is favoring the meer… again no re-lights and the smoke was so flavorful that again it left me wanting more.
Day#3 I used my No Name Canadian using the 3 step method to fill, it was about 4pm in my Jeep on the commute home… this time it smoked very cool (even though I filled it right from the pouch again moist) no re-lights and again nice full clouds of smoke… the flavors were again beautiful and tasty… the rum in this is soo good and I love the burley’s I noticed it still wasn't quite what it was in the meer's
I smoked another bowl last night again about 10pm in my garage and used the Turban Head Meer again… it was a re-cap of the first night… Big billowing clouds that were full of flavor. No re-lights and smoked cool till the very bottom.
Overall thoughts:
This blend is quite subtle and complex… the flavors are up front and vibrant but never annoying or obnoxious. If I had to describe the blend in one word it would be “Bready” it actually does remind me of a good bread pudding (not sure how the hell he did that, must be some sorcery if you ask me)… what I think I enjoyed the most is that you can not only taste the flavoring but you can taste the actual tobaccos which were quite tasty. The clouds this thing produces were big and dense and very good smelling… leaving such a wonderful room note. If this makes any sense I would say that it actually made me hungry… as you smoke the bowl you will find subtle flavors coming out. This blend seemed to favor the Meer quite a bit and smoked very cool and dry despite the fact that it came moist.
I would HIGHLY recommend this blend... I feel it’s a nice subtle Aro that I thoroughly enjoyed to the point that I will be stocking up to have some on hand for quite some time... so much so that I am going to fully clean a pipe out and dedicate it to this blend and maybe some of his other blends that I cant wait to try.
I thought Jack Lee was going to be your everyday back yard blender… but boy was I wrong, you can tell that he takes care in choosing the right tobaccos and whatever he does to encase the flavoring (I still insist its some form of sorcery) its beautiful and not once did any of my pipes get all gunky… his 20 or so years of experience are quite evident in this blend… I am now officially a fan of Jack Lee Blends... and cant wait to try his full line.
Well thats it folks... sorry for the long ass review but I found myself keeping a journal of the experience (something I had never done before) to make sure I didnt forget anything... please let me know if you have any questions on what I mean as I know I can run on sometimes or maybe I forgot something.
