A while back I mentioned that any time I see members drama-queening over how bad a blend is, I immediately have to try it. The reason is that I love variety, so anything that's a bit out there is fun for a change of pace. The boring blends don't inspire hate; they inspire apathy. Anytime you see someone hating a blend, that's generally a surefire sign that it's unique and someone else loves it.
This is the precise reason I've tried Ennerdale, SG Black XX, and 1792 Flake. I didn't love all of them, but I did like them, and having a tin sitting around is perfect for whenever I'd like something different.
That brings us to Mixture #79. As usual, I found all the hoopla wasn't warranted.
Pouch Note, Preparation:
I ordered a 1.5 ounce pouch. I love the pouch design, and the aroma inside was that of a run-of-the-mill aromatic. Here I was expecting something like Ennerdale, but this was simply an anise (licorice) flavored aromatic. I wouldn't even say it was particularly strong. This mystified me, as licorice is a fairly common sweet flavoring in Western food. I let my family smell it and they all had the same reaction. It was a pleasant sweet aroma, like most other aromatics that are based on a sweet flavor like vanilla, fruit, etc.
It seemed just a tad moist out of the pouch, but I went ahead and smoked it as it was.
Smoke:
After a few chars I was able to get this lit and then it stayed lit. I was surprised that it burned more cooly than most aromatics. It has a pleasing taste, but it certainly falls into the realm of classic aromatics like 1-Q where the topping is a major player in the smoke, though I wouldn't say this was topped as heavily as aros from brands like Lane, Sutliff, and C&D. The Burley was a fairly standard, monochromatic tobacco against which the topping rested solidly.
I noted that it didn't have much tongue bite compared to most of my aromatics, which surprised me. My father, on the other hand, felt that it did, so take my experience with a grain of salt. Perhaps I just packed it in a more amenable way.
The funniest thing is that I don't even like licorice candy, but I did enjoy this. For me, anise doesn't work so well straight as it is in a candy, but tempered by smoke it's quite nice. And for the record, I haven't eaten candy in years--I simply have no sweet tooth when it comes to food, though I do enjoy some aromatics.
Nicotine:
I didn't notice any nicotine from this blend.
In Summary:
I don't think there is really anything particularly distinctive about Mixture 79 that sets it apart from other aromatics. Obviously, if you don't like aromatics, you won't like this. But if you are someone who enjoys smoking aromatics on occasion, this is simply one more you may want to try at some point. I didn't find the licorice topping to be fundamentally different from others common toppings like maple, honey, vanilla, chocolate, cherry, apple, etc.
This is the precise reason I've tried Ennerdale, SG Black XX, and 1792 Flake. I didn't love all of them, but I did like them, and having a tin sitting around is perfect for whenever I'd like something different.
That brings us to Mixture #79. As usual, I found all the hoopla wasn't warranted.
Pouch Note, Preparation:
I ordered a 1.5 ounce pouch. I love the pouch design, and the aroma inside was that of a run-of-the-mill aromatic. Here I was expecting something like Ennerdale, but this was simply an anise (licorice) flavored aromatic. I wouldn't even say it was particularly strong. This mystified me, as licorice is a fairly common sweet flavoring in Western food. I let my family smell it and they all had the same reaction. It was a pleasant sweet aroma, like most other aromatics that are based on a sweet flavor like vanilla, fruit, etc.
It seemed just a tad moist out of the pouch, but I went ahead and smoked it as it was.
Smoke:
After a few chars I was able to get this lit and then it stayed lit. I was surprised that it burned more cooly than most aromatics. It has a pleasing taste, but it certainly falls into the realm of classic aromatics like 1-Q where the topping is a major player in the smoke, though I wouldn't say this was topped as heavily as aros from brands like Lane, Sutliff, and C&D. The Burley was a fairly standard, monochromatic tobacco against which the topping rested solidly.
I noted that it didn't have much tongue bite compared to most of my aromatics, which surprised me. My father, on the other hand, felt that it did, so take my experience with a grain of salt. Perhaps I just packed it in a more amenable way.
The funniest thing is that I don't even like licorice candy, but I did enjoy this. For me, anise doesn't work so well straight as it is in a candy, but tempered by smoke it's quite nice. And for the record, I haven't eaten candy in years--I simply have no sweet tooth when it comes to food, though I do enjoy some aromatics.
Nicotine:
I didn't notice any nicotine from this blend.
In Summary:
I don't think there is really anything particularly distinctive about Mixture 79 that sets it apart from other aromatics. Obviously, if you don't like aromatics, you won't like this. But if you are someone who enjoys smoking aromatics on occasion, this is simply one more you may want to try at some point. I didn't find the licorice topping to be fundamentally different from others common toppings like maple, honey, vanilla, chocolate, cherry, apple, etc.