Cracking the can open wafts of what smells like a late 1970's Alabama Slammer rum-punch drink. The tobacco that I had came in strips unlike the picture above, but that's fine.
Taste reminds me of a Connecticut cigar with Perique that's a bit figgy. Imagine perhaps Seattle Pipe Co. Plum Pudding mixed-in with cigar tobacco and Burley overtones. In the finish, a bit of unusual Cavendish to round it out, or at least, it attempts to "creamify" it but, in my opinion, unsuccessfully, but not in a bad way, and here's why:
My tin was 2 months old. This is far too young and it needs to age and cellar. Flavors argue like tween siblings on a road-trip back seat that can allegedly hold 3, and three sit there shoulder-to-shoulder, but it's really meant for two occupants, and they fuss and endure and bicker and shove. I mean, they actually fit back there but.. it's gonna be a long trip and everybody knows it.
I was surprised this hit me a bit hard like a bang with the nicotine. It's strong-ish. Not as strong as Kendall's Chocolate Flake that had me almost pass-out (the strongest tobacco I've ever had) but this is probably up there like my #2 out of the several hundred (if not over a thousand) tobaccos I've tried. It's like locomotive-smoking an Opus X. Don't.
No Latakia here, which is something I was expecting, replaced with Katerini for a more Macedonian/Greek experience.
Taste is a little sour and a little vanilla creamy with fig and lemon.
I also had a hard time keeping this lit! I haven't had this problem in a while, but probably my light inexperience with plugs and rubbing it out properly, letting it dry, etc. My fault.
So.. a few recommendations: Sip it slow and take your time with it. Consider the flavors, but FIRST let it AGE. I really feel this will be excellent in about 5 years. So it sits in the back, and dreams, and waits.
Recommended to try, and then I bet it'll be awesome after aging.
