Lately I've been diving back into Balkan and English blends. The weather cools down and I love the way Latakia smokes in the fall and winter. So Captain Earle's Mystic Blend and McClelland's Balkan Blue find there way into my pipe this year. Both blends have at least three years of age on them and their delicious. As my wife and I cook dinner, I gravitate towards these two blends, I'm always drinking Scotch and she's drinks her Cabernet. Cab and Sctoch go great with English mixtures. So any way, she asks me to try what I'm smoking one evening. I'm smoking some Mystic Blend, I hand her the pipe, tell her the stats on the blend and she continues to puff. Another evening it's Balkan Blue and I give the stats, etc. etc. The next evening its Mystic Blend, only this time, while I'm making the mash potatoes, she takes the pipe and I forget about her and the pipe. I turn around, there she is looking at me, pipe in her mouth saying, "This is a blend I can't live without. You've got to get some more of this stuff." I say, "Yea, no shit, I bought one tin of Mystic Blend and should have ordered 100."
So last night she comes home from work and I'm binge smoking Mad Fiddler Flake. She wants to try it because of the katsuri leaf. She draws in the smoke and is amazed of the cinnamon profile, the dry clove spice, she was even picking up the plum note of perique. She hands the pipe back to me, goes about her business, and comes back in the room and asks me, " Let me guess you only ordered one tin?" I said, "Yea, I didn't know I'd like the Katsuri leaf." She smiles and says, "You should have ordered a 100 tins."
So last night she comes home from work and I'm binge smoking Mad Fiddler Flake. She wants to try it because of the katsuri leaf. She draws in the smoke and is amazed of the cinnamon profile, the dry clove spice, she was even picking up the plum note of perique. She hands the pipe back to me, goes about her business, and comes back in the room and asks me, " Let me guess you only ordered one tin?" I said, "Yea, I didn't know I'd like the Katsuri leaf." She smiles and says, "You should have ordered a 100 tins."