I first smoked this blend when I was just getting started on pipe smoking during my first deployment. Someone in the cigar club had left a large tin in the humidor and I decided to try it alongside one poor Airman my fellow Marines relentlessly picked on. I liked it so much I took the tin back to my desk in the comm shop as a moral booster. And now I have allowed myself to open a fresh new tin after going roughly two years without tasting it. Something about the cold lends itself to latakia tobacco. Perhaps it just reminds me of a fire pit from when I was a kid, so before I became a relentless cynic. The latakia and orientals meet my tongue right away with flavors of smokey sweet, musty woods with just a touch of citrus at the end of a puff thanks to the Virginias.
The odor from the burning tobacco reminds me of a refreshing smoke after those 13 hour days and endless supply runs on a horribly cramped C-130. The smoke has a wonderful cool mouthfeel so long as you don't treat it like a steam engine, but instead take your time and savirbit in the cold autumn air.
I simply can't reccomend this tobacco enough as an introduction to English blends and latakia in general. I just wish I had a good cup of coffee to pair this with, but it's about 11pm at the time of writing, so sleep is more important right now. Do yourself a kindness and get a couple of tins of this blend, you won't regret it!
