I've had this since my first order, which was in June of this year.
The pouch note here (I say "pouch" because it arrived in a locking plastic baggy, so it's technically accurate) is quite pleasant. It reminds me of opening a pack of [insert brand name] non-menthol cigarettes, but without the sweetness. Just a light, airy presence.
This stuff was dry as a bone in the desert in a 5-year drought when I first received it. I'm not sure if it became more moist due to ambient humidity in this area, because it still feels dry but crumbles to dust less often as I handle it.
It packs about as well as one might expect, but with one quality which doesn't make sense-- it actually stays springy even after packing it tightly, but that also means that I no longer pack it to the top. The charring light grows cinders in similar fashion to a snake (if you are familiar with fireworks, you just light a pellet on fire and it expands like crazy). This is the exact quality which prevents me from lighting in the wind anymore. It blows everywhere, and because Central California is in that aforementioned drought, risking a property fire is not something for which I wish to take responsibility.
If you tend to like spicy food, this is your source for a good palate kick. It's a very dry smoke, but this also makes for a shorter session, as it tends to burn a bit faster, sort of like Prince Albert. I happen to like smoking this straight, but it makes for a nice condiment for those weak aromatics (Captain Black, I'm looking at you).
Nicotine content? Priceless. You see, I smoked cigarettes for 9 years. Upon quitting in 2012, I didn't touch a single tobacco product for, say, a year. When my uncle passed away, my brother and I shared a cigar to celebrate his life, our fondest memories, and above all, his tendency to be quite comical, even during some darker days. But when the cigars were finished and put out, I didn't feel a craving to smoke again. A few months later, I picked up cigars. Ignorant to the resourceful internet to search for nicotine bombs, I picked up a Joya de Nicaragua during a vacation. I reeled for quite a few hours afterwards. Picayune didn't get me THAT sick, but my eyes opened to the possibility that, if I could have a nicotine bomb from a cigar, why not pipe tobaccos? So, Picayune, in all of its bold and spicy body, does have quite a punch for nicotine content, but not really enough to spin me around. Still, it does have its place in relaxation techniques for Pipe Yoga.
Flavor-wise, I'm not sure what I'm tasting. Just a spicy tobacco...
It's just spicy. I wouldn't recommend to a beginner to retrohale this. I did it my first puff, and by golly, my nose itched like crazy and I had what might appear to have been a bitter beer face for a few minutes. Talk about a punch to the face!
4.5 stars. I like it by itself, sure; but this makes for an excellent booster for aromatics just as well, or a kicker for lesser nicotine blends to make that full body really give you a full body slam (sometimes, a full-bodied cigar doesn't have the stomach-wrenching qualities you'd find in Joya de Nicaragua (Diesel, that's you)), or at the very least, make a delicious blend amp up. I tend to think this is well-rounded and could be applied to any other blend, but that, friends, is that ignorance of which I'd written earlier.
Purchased at Pipes & Cigars' website.
The pouch note here (I say "pouch" because it arrived in a locking plastic baggy, so it's technically accurate) is quite pleasant. It reminds me of opening a pack of [insert brand name] non-menthol cigarettes, but without the sweetness. Just a light, airy presence.
This stuff was dry as a bone in the desert in a 5-year drought when I first received it. I'm not sure if it became more moist due to ambient humidity in this area, because it still feels dry but crumbles to dust less often as I handle it.
It packs about as well as one might expect, but with one quality which doesn't make sense-- it actually stays springy even after packing it tightly, but that also means that I no longer pack it to the top. The charring light grows cinders in similar fashion to a snake (if you are familiar with fireworks, you just light a pellet on fire and it expands like crazy). This is the exact quality which prevents me from lighting in the wind anymore. It blows everywhere, and because Central California is in that aforementioned drought, risking a property fire is not something for which I wish to take responsibility.
If you tend to like spicy food, this is your source for a good palate kick. It's a very dry smoke, but this also makes for a shorter session, as it tends to burn a bit faster, sort of like Prince Albert. I happen to like smoking this straight, but it makes for a nice condiment for those weak aromatics (Captain Black, I'm looking at you).
Nicotine content? Priceless. You see, I smoked cigarettes for 9 years. Upon quitting in 2012, I didn't touch a single tobacco product for, say, a year. When my uncle passed away, my brother and I shared a cigar to celebrate his life, our fondest memories, and above all, his tendency to be quite comical, even during some darker days. But when the cigars were finished and put out, I didn't feel a craving to smoke again. A few months later, I picked up cigars. Ignorant to the resourceful internet to search for nicotine bombs, I picked up a Joya de Nicaragua during a vacation. I reeled for quite a few hours afterwards. Picayune didn't get me THAT sick, but my eyes opened to the possibility that, if I could have a nicotine bomb from a cigar, why not pipe tobaccos? So, Picayune, in all of its bold and spicy body, does have quite a punch for nicotine content, but not really enough to spin me around. Still, it does have its place in relaxation techniques for Pipe Yoga.
Flavor-wise, I'm not sure what I'm tasting. Just a spicy tobacco...
It's just spicy. I wouldn't recommend to a beginner to retrohale this. I did it my first puff, and by golly, my nose itched like crazy and I had what might appear to have been a bitter beer face for a few minutes. Talk about a punch to the face!
4.5 stars. I like it by itself, sure; but this makes for an excellent booster for aromatics just as well, or a kicker for lesser nicotine blends to make that full body really give you a full body slam (sometimes, a full-bodied cigar doesn't have the stomach-wrenching qualities you'd find in Joya de Nicaragua (Diesel, that's you)), or at the very least, make a delicious blend amp up. I tend to think this is well-rounded and could be applied to any other blend, but that, friends, is that ignorance of which I'd written earlier.
Purchased at Pipes & Cigars' website.
