By all means this is a peculiar blend. From its name to tin design, to its structure and mechanics. And then smoking it is another experience. The simple tin art gives nothing of the blend, but may relate since it will get your head gears going akin to the gears on the tin. And now when you open the tin, you are welcomed, or rather hit by a pungent smell. I will do my best to describe. It smells like a butcher house that has a grill. And you're making sausage, lamb sausage with herbs and spices while getting a smell of the grill as well. or it smells like manure as others have called it. But the image I had in my mind whiffing the tin was that image I spoke of. my tin had a large oily, nearly pitch black rope and a small piece, probably to complete the weight. Now to prepare this. it gets a bit tricky. As soon as you start cutting the rope to coins, they start breaking into some flakes that are drowning moist. And you get all that aroma on your hands and in the air. from there you can pack it however you want, but from trying a couple of bowls, try chopping this as small as you can. I tried it both dried out and moist. And here is how it goes. It is easy to pack once you slice it small enough, then the pain begins. This blend has to be constantly relighted. And by constantly I mean 2-3 puffs then relight. and so on, that of course when you smoke it moist. And you'll find that it will expand considerably in size while getting all that moisture out. And if you smoke it dry, you lose most of the body sadly. so beware. Now to the body of the blend, it is definitely a strong blend, quite potent in aroma, taste and room note. This one won't make you any friends and you may lose some as well. But the good thing is the room note doesn't linger for long. The taste of it is consistent throughout the bowl, it tastes like charbroiled meat with a tinge of freshly ground black pepper all over it. I tried smoking it fast, slow and in between but the taste profile never changed, and with that it never bites or leaves moisture in the bowl despite being nearly wet rather than moist. through the mid bowl the peppery taste reminds me of a simple cigar without complex taste, or one that has been lit, put off and rested for a while before relighting it. It burns down nicely and leaves a perfectly fine grey ash that falls down with a single tap of the pipe. It isn't an all day smoke, and can be annoying to maintain but in its virtue, it delivers quite a kick both in nicotine, flavour and body. I recommend it for those who want a simple, strong smoke from time to time and won't mind the constant relighting
Pipe Used: Ropp vintage cutty with horn
Age When Smoked: One year old
Pipe Used: Ropp vintage cutty with horn
Age When Smoked: One year old