I recently finished off the last of the 7 Seas regular in my jar, and today after a bowl of the Solent Mixture, decided to crack open one of my older aromatic tins, a Stanwell Vanilla from 2017.
I've never had this blend before, and it's been awhile since I had a Vanilla forward blend, (my usual aromatic choice is SWRA).
So, to business then!
I inserted the end of my Czech tool into the little coin slot and...no hiss. Uh oh.
Opened it up, and checked it out. There was some rust on the edge of the tin, but no indication of any contamination. The cardboard cover looked ok, and everything looked right through my magnifying glass. It smelled good, like vanilla. Fortune favors the bold, right?
It was dry...real dry. Dry, but not powder! So, I loaded up a bowl in my LaRue, and I dumped the rest of the tin into a pouch with a hydration disc. We'll check on that in a few days.
Anyway, I fired it up and immediately starting getting some solid vanilla, but also an almost soapy kind of fruity sourness, which surprised me. I got. little paranoid thinking that it might be mold. I checked the back of the tin, and it reads,
"A subtle mixture of Danish Dark Cavendish, Burley, and Virginia enriched with matured Samsun from Turkey. Vanilla flavors create the soft sweetness and fruity character of the blend. Rich in contrast, and with a perfect balance of aroma."
The fruity sourness calmed down fairly quickly into a ripe plum flavor, which is actually quite nice. It's sort of like sweet tangy plum on the tongue, but vanilla on the retrohale.
As I got down toward the middle of the bowl, the toppings kind of died down a bit, and I started to get more tobacco flavor, and frankly it was really quite good at this stage. I think it was the burley kind of making itself known over the toppings. As dry as it was when I loaded the bowl, it was a one match light, and it burned all the way the the bottom without much coaxing. It smoked a little warm, and burned down to ash.
The vanilla flavor is lighter and sweeter than vanilla roll cake. The fruity plum flavor was too strong at first, but by mid bowl was really quite balanced and nice.
I'd give it a 3 out of 4 for the first impression, and will come back in a few days to describe how it is with a little moisture.
I've never had this blend before, and it's been awhile since I had a Vanilla forward blend, (my usual aromatic choice is SWRA).
So, to business then!
I inserted the end of my Czech tool into the little coin slot and...no hiss. Uh oh.
Opened it up, and checked it out. There was some rust on the edge of the tin, but no indication of any contamination. The cardboard cover looked ok, and everything looked right through my magnifying glass. It smelled good, like vanilla. Fortune favors the bold, right?
It was dry...real dry. Dry, but not powder! So, I loaded up a bowl in my LaRue, and I dumped the rest of the tin into a pouch with a hydration disc. We'll check on that in a few days.
Anyway, I fired it up and immediately starting getting some solid vanilla, but also an almost soapy kind of fruity sourness, which surprised me. I got. little paranoid thinking that it might be mold. I checked the back of the tin, and it reads,
"A subtle mixture of Danish Dark Cavendish, Burley, and Virginia enriched with matured Samsun from Turkey. Vanilla flavors create the soft sweetness and fruity character of the blend. Rich in contrast, and with a perfect balance of aroma."
The fruity sourness calmed down fairly quickly into a ripe plum flavor, which is actually quite nice. It's sort of like sweet tangy plum on the tongue, but vanilla on the retrohale.
As I got down toward the middle of the bowl, the toppings kind of died down a bit, and I started to get more tobacco flavor, and frankly it was really quite good at this stage. I think it was the burley kind of making itself known over the toppings. As dry as it was when I loaded the bowl, it was a one match light, and it burned all the way the the bottom without much coaxing. It smoked a little warm, and burned down to ash.
The vanilla flavor is lighter and sweeter than vanilla roll cake. The fruity plum flavor was too strong at first, but by mid bowl was really quite balanced and nice.
I'd give it a 3 out of 4 for the first impression, and will come back in a few days to describe how it is with a little moisture.
