I had a second go at this tobacco and felt I owed C&D a posting on the matter.
The first time I smoked it, I let it dry but not substantially. Last night I cut and rubbed a bowl's worth of it out and let it sit to dry. I wanted it to be drier than my previous attempt but it was about the same as the first time after two hours, so I loaded the bowl of my Ligne Bretagne straight bulldog with horn stem and left the pipe to sit till this morning. I lit it up after breakfast with a coffee in hand and had a much more pleasant smoking experience. I think the extra dry time was the main factor. Full disclosure, I am not usually a burley forward fan. I know burley can be all sorts of things in a blend and all that, but generally, it's not my favorite to be such a key player. In this blend, as smoked now, the fresh VA and Burley are pretty forward and a bit on the rough side with just a touch of bite. In this respect I might challenge the idea that the blend is ready to smoke. Others who prefer cigar notes/burley in their blends might be fine with it now. I got some good flavor out of the bowl, even if it wasn't quite up my alley. Earthy with some spice, definite cigar/cigarette notes with a bit of the old sweet and sour creeping through in places. Despite being labeled as "the coolest smoke imaginable" it does not, at this time live up to goal. With aging, that may very well change. It stayed well lit and smoked down to a nice white/grey ash.
Over all, I knew I was taking a gamble on the blend considering my tastes but I am now curious to see how it ages. I will likely focus on the other two blends in this line but might pick up another tin of this to see how I like it after a year or two and will definitely age the one I have. If you like a VA/Burley blend with some nice flavor and are into aging, I think this one will be well worth a try. Moreover, I am happy to report my first experience with the blend was indeed a fluke and I think I simply smoked it when it was still a bit too damp and perhaps in a pipe that did not agree with it.
The first time I smoked it, I let it dry but not substantially. Last night I cut and rubbed a bowl's worth of it out and let it sit to dry. I wanted it to be drier than my previous attempt but it was about the same as the first time after two hours, so I loaded the bowl of my Ligne Bretagne straight bulldog with horn stem and left the pipe to sit till this morning. I lit it up after breakfast with a coffee in hand and had a much more pleasant smoking experience. I think the extra dry time was the main factor. Full disclosure, I am not usually a burley forward fan. I know burley can be all sorts of things in a blend and all that, but generally, it's not my favorite to be such a key player. In this blend, as smoked now, the fresh VA and Burley are pretty forward and a bit on the rough side with just a touch of bite. In this respect I might challenge the idea that the blend is ready to smoke. Others who prefer cigar notes/burley in their blends might be fine with it now. I got some good flavor out of the bowl, even if it wasn't quite up my alley. Earthy with some spice, definite cigar/cigarette notes with a bit of the old sweet and sour creeping through in places. Despite being labeled as "the coolest smoke imaginable" it does not, at this time live up to goal. With aging, that may very well change. It stayed well lit and smoked down to a nice white/grey ash.
Over all, I knew I was taking a gamble on the blend considering my tastes but I am now curious to see how it ages. I will likely focus on the other two blends in this line but might pick up another tin of this to see how I like it after a year or two and will definitely age the one I have. If you like a VA/Burley blend with some nice flavor and are into aging, I think this one will be well worth a try. Moreover, I am happy to report my first experience with the blend was indeed a fluke and I think I simply smoked it when it was still a bit too damp and perhaps in a pipe that did not agree with it.
