Robert McConnell Ripe Honeydew -- First Impression

Robert McConnell Ripe Honeydew

"Dark brown ready rubbed cut plug, century old formula, naturally sweet ."
After hearing about "honeydew" blends, and enjoying McC's scottish cake, I wanted to give the ripe honeydew a try. Upon opening the tin, the aroma was surprising... my first thought was sweet ketchup...upon sticking my nose further in the tin, there is a slightly grassy background. Very sweet, but not anything like a caramel, honey or sugary sweet smell. I was expecting more of an Orlik aroma... instead, ripe honeydew is more pungeant and acidic smelling in addition to the sweetness
The cut is very thin ribbons. No chunks at all (I like chunks). The colors range from golden yellow and tan to an almost orange. Moisture level seems perfect, no drying at all.


I load it up in a Radice apple. Takes a char easily and lights up after one char light. Immediately there is a very full, creamy mouthfeel and flavor. The sweetness comes through, but the more pungeant tin note is mostly absent. A sweet, slightly grassy, molasses flavor comes through. Overall fairly mild, but with a good solid flavor
I will continue to smoke down amd see what happens. This seems like a good morning with coffee, or after dinner dessert smoke.

As for the body, while it can stand on its own, it wont knock you over... I'd call it med bodied for sure.
Room note is good. I asked the wife, she said, "it doesn't stink any worse than anything else," lol! She doesn't like any tobacco smell so that's no insult to the aroma. I found it sweet, yet "full" not really bready...but definitely not grassy. I will have to smoke again... I had a mishap with hot ashes dumped in a garbage can... I noticed a haze in the apartment, and then smelled burning cardboard, SO lesson learned, use an ash try! Needless to say the roomnote was covered up.
After the first bowl, I would recommend. I will have a bowl tomorrow morning and see how it does though.
Aromatic or not? I think it is closer to a non-aro. I have only smoked a few aro's, but while this is sweet, I could not discern any real casing. One may very well be there, but it plays nicely with the tobacco. No bite whatsoever, although it gets a little sharp when pushed.
This is an interesting blend. I think it has some neat flavors hiding in there (sweet up front versus a very slight twang in the background), and Im looking forward to trying again.
Thanks for the posts and questions! I've never been a big reviewer, especially for pipe tobacco. But I had not heard of this blend, so I figured a quick note might benefit others. Thank you for legitimizing my quick review!