S
seadogontheland
Guest
As most of you may know, this is the blend that won the Balkan Sobranie throw down a few years back at the Chicago Pipe Show. McClellend won fan favorite for their offering of what is now called Balkan Blue (formerly Blue Mountain).
This is a review for Black House, blended by Russ Ouellette and distributed by Pipes and Cigars.
Upon opening this tin, I was immediately aware of a nice, smoky aroma. Looking at the tobacco, it was a mixture of orange, brown, black, yellow and some faded green ribbons tightly compressed in a brass colored tin. Most of the pieces were uniform in shape and size, except for some irregular sized black tobaccos. The contents were perfect to smoke without the need of drying time.
I packed a Stanwell brushed black apple, applied flame and after short order this came to life with minimal lighting effort and produced a great amount of dense white smoke. The initial flavor was of the Latakia and something that was slightly bitter, the bitterness abated after a few puffs and turned into a nice slightly sour spiciness, probably from the Orientals and the perique. After the first third of the bowl was smoked, the Smoky flavor gave way to a more deeply expressed spiciness than seen at the beginning of the pipe. I could not really discern the perique as a singular component, but it did a fine job of blending with the Orientals and VAs. The flavor of the smoke and aroma from the bowl were fantastic. There were times when everything melded together and other times when the VAs and the Latakia were more overt. The smoke was cool, thick and very satisfying, to say this is full bodied is an understatement. This has been termed a "medium English" and that really does describe this blend well, nicotine content was noticeable, but cetainly not heavily. My palate felt refreshed after two bowls of this blend, which can be rare to find in a full bodied smoke of any sort. There was nothing overwhelming about Black House and I think it will fit nicely into my rotation as a daily smoke. I have searched for an English/Balkan to be able to enjoy daily, even multiple times daily and perhaps I have found such a blend, time will tell. In the end, everything was right about this fine blend, my compliments to the blender!! Highly recommended.
This is a review for Black House, blended by Russ Ouellette and distributed by Pipes and Cigars.
Upon opening this tin, I was immediately aware of a nice, smoky aroma. Looking at the tobacco, it was a mixture of orange, brown, black, yellow and some faded green ribbons tightly compressed in a brass colored tin. Most of the pieces were uniform in shape and size, except for some irregular sized black tobaccos. The contents were perfect to smoke without the need of drying time.
I packed a Stanwell brushed black apple, applied flame and after short order this came to life with minimal lighting effort and produced a great amount of dense white smoke. The initial flavor was of the Latakia and something that was slightly bitter, the bitterness abated after a few puffs and turned into a nice slightly sour spiciness, probably from the Orientals and the perique. After the first third of the bowl was smoked, the Smoky flavor gave way to a more deeply expressed spiciness than seen at the beginning of the pipe. I could not really discern the perique as a singular component, but it did a fine job of blending with the Orientals and VAs. The flavor of the smoke and aroma from the bowl were fantastic. There were times when everything melded together and other times when the VAs and the Latakia were more overt. The smoke was cool, thick and very satisfying, to say this is full bodied is an understatement. This has been termed a "medium English" and that really does describe this blend well, nicotine content was noticeable, but cetainly not heavily. My palate felt refreshed after two bowls of this blend, which can be rare to find in a full bodied smoke of any sort. There was nothing overwhelming about Black House and I think it will fit nicely into my rotation as a daily smoke. I have searched for an English/Balkan to be able to enjoy daily, even multiple times daily and perhaps I have found such a blend, time will tell. In the end, everything was right about this fine blend, my compliments to the blender!! Highly recommended.
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