Blend of the Week #31: Lane Limited TK-6
I've always had a bit of a contentious relationship with cherry aromatics. I love the idea of a cherry flavored tobacco, but there's almost always something about them that just wears poorly on my palate after repeated smokes. Most of them have a somewhat medicinal cherry cough syrup background note that becomes more and more obvious each time I smoke it until it's the main thing I end up tasting every time, and the few that don't have that cough syrup note all have their own issues.
I love the bright and juicy candy cherry Tootsie pop flavor of Paladin Black Cherry, but it has by far the most absolutely vicious sinus stinging retrohale of any blend I've ever smoked. You don't dare breathe even a wisp of it out of your nose unless you happen to enjoy the feeling of your sinuses being flooded with battery acid. Lane Very Cherry is a long-time favorite of mine in the cherry aromatic department that doesn't have any retrohale issues, but the flavor isn't really "cherry" so much as it is a mix of cherry, almond, cinnamon, and vanilla which creates a sort of cherry danish pastry overall flavor profile that—while delightful in it's own way—has proven to be just not really what I'm looking for in a cherry blend over the long haul. What I'm really after is just a straightforward "tobacco and cherry" blend without much in the way of other flavors involved.
Smoker's Pride Cherry Cavendish does give me that straight cherry flavor I'm looking for fresh out of the bag, but as it ages in a jar over a period of months the medicinal cough syrup note becomes more and more prominent until it takes over the blend. Cult Blood Red Moon hits probably the closest to what I'm looking for in a cherry blend, but I could do without all the extra chocolate and vanilla flavors and it does tend to have a very syrupy quality to the smoke; like a fountain drink that wasn't mixed quite right and had way too much syrup and not enough carbonated water so it ends up tasting sickly sweet. I also find Blood Red Moon to be completely devoid of any nicotine whatsoever.
This is where Lane TK-6 comes in. Appearance wise it looks quite similar to Blood Red Moon, coming in a fairly wide and chunky ribbon cut mixture of Black Cavendish and Burley tobaccos, but is less wet and sticky feeling between the fingers and only slightly moist. The tin aroma smells just like Blood Red Moon as well, with that same sweet candied cherry scent that has just a bit of chocolate and vanilla wafting around in the back. It's no surprise that it does though, since Lane is the manufacturer for both blends and when smoked TK-6 reveals that it does indeed have the same cherry topping as Cult Blood Red Moon; but the chocolate and vanilla notes have been toned way down to the point that they're barely noticable even when you're actively looking for them. In fact, I'm not sure there's even any chocolate topping in there at all and the mild cocoa note I get a little hint of every now and then might just be a naturally occuring flavor of the Burley tobacco in the mix.
The quantity of cherry topping added has been reduced significantly as well, which I think is a good thing since it makes the smoke no longer syrupy or overly sweet and lets more of the natural woody, nutty, chocolatey Burley tobacco flavor shine through. TK-6 is still a somewhat sweet tasting aromatic blend, but it never becomes sickly sweet and even after smoking it every day for 2 weeks I've yet to find myself tiring of it or noticing any medicinal cough syrupiness. It's a really well balanced blend suitable for all day smoking if you've got a taste for cherry aromatics, and it wears on the palate nicely over time with no unwanted flavor notes. The reduced quantity of toppings also means that TK-6 thankfully doesn't leave your pipe a soaking wet mess after smoking like Blood Red Moon does. You'll still probably want to give the inside of the bowl a quick wipe down with a paper towel after the pipe is done, since it does leave behind a little bit of moisture and sticky residue, but vastly less than Blood Red Moon and other similarly wet aromatic tobaccos.
In terms of TK-6's smoking mechanics, it takes to the flame and burns quite well straight out of the jar with no dry time required, and will smoke down to the bottom of the bowl with few (if any) relights required. It's a very well behaved blend mechanically speaking and can be puffed fairly vigorously without turning harsh or unpleasant tasting, though it can start to taste a touch burnt if you really freight train it or smoke it outdoors on a windy day. On another positive note, the retrohale is quite smooth and gentle on the sinuses; offering a better taste of all the flavors at play without any stinging or burning sensation. Like many Lane blends, TK-6 is one that new pipe smokers should have no trouble getting a good flavorful smoke from. It's got a little bit of nicotine in it, which for me is much appreciated since TK-6 doesn't leave me scrambling to rush out for a cigarette after finishing a pipe like Blood Red Moon does, but it's still a pretty small amount and not enough to trouble a new pipe smoker unfamiliar with the wiles of Lady N. I'd say it's about at the center of mild on the nicotine scale.
I think the best simple description I could give for this blend is that Lane TK-6 is to Cult Blood Red Moon what Lane RLP-6 is to Captain Black Original. The same toppings are there, but toned down enough that the blend is no longer overly sweet and more suitable for all day smoking; and you get a good bit more natural tobacco flavor as well. I'm a big fan of RLP-6 too, it's probably my all time favorite aromatic tobacco overall, so it's no surprise that Lane TK-6 has quickly become my new favorite cherry aromatic! This is one of those blends that just gets everything right in my book, and cherry blends in particular are awfully difficult to get right, so I'm pleased to say that TK-6 is a definite keeper for me and will be replacing both Lane Very Cherry and Cult Blood Red Moon on my keeper shelf. It's my new go-to cherry blend that really ticks all the boxes in terms of what I look for in a cherry aromatic, and since I know from experience that Lane aromatics tend to cellar unusually well and retain their flavor for many years in a jar, I'll be ordering a pound of TK-6 once I finish up the small jar I have left. It's king of the cherry hill in my book!
Looking ahead to the coming weeks, there's only about a month of summer left up here in Minnesota before the autumn chill begins to set in, so I think August would be a good month to focus on the assortment of Virginia based blends I've been meaning to review. While I like smoking aromatics year round, Virginias are very much a warm weather tobacco for me and I enjoy them most during the spring and summer; just like how I prefer to smoke dark fired and English blends during the colder autumn and winter months.
To start off the Virginia month I'll be revisiting a blend that I remember enjoying very much in my early days of pipe smoking and smoked through a whole tin of a couple years back, and while I generally avoid blends containing Perique since it tends to bug my throat, I don't remember the tiny bit of Perique in this one ever bothering me in that regard. What I do remember though is this blend tasting like all the aromas of a warm summer day. Wildflower meadows, dandelions, green grass, and iced tea with a squeeze of lemon. Whether or not it still tastes like that to me is yet to be seen, but either way I'll find out because next week's blend of the week is...
Orlik Golden Sliced
