I'll give few months. Too many limited releases coming out. Hard on my wallet.
Jim's Seattle Pipe Club Hogshead Review.
- Thread starter JimInks
- Start date
This one didn't mention being a limited number or release so that's a good thing.
didn't think it was going to be a midnight release or i would have stayed up for it. sold out everywhere.
at least ill get a shot at WCC simply orange.
at least ill get a shot at WCC simply orange.
Looks like there was another drop this morning, I was able to get a tin to try. 4oz tins, nice!
I was able to order three tins just now without issue at SPC.
I ordered a tin from TP yesterday based on the description of the components and the fact they were aged ten years. Then I read Jim's review. The adjective "bready" (my favorite flavor) doesn't appear until fairly late in his list of tastes. Variations on the theme of sour—tart, tangy, citrus, sour lemon, vinegar, etc.—appear frequently. Although I like a couple of the SPC English blends and am intrigued by Joe Lankford's first foray into Virginias, I'm not sure whether I'm going to take to Hogshead. The lesson I take from this is to read Jim's review before taking the plunge.
Maybe Jim will post his impressions a year from now under the title Hogshead Revisited.
Maybe Jim will post his impressions a year from now under the title Hogshead Revisited.
I'll be more interested to see what you think when you try it.
Was thinking about this and how it's a regular release earlier today. Does anyone have an inkling as to how much 10 year aged virginia is actually in Hogshead? Did Sutliff squirrel away several cargo containers worth of virginias to age and they're just now cracking into it? Or is this a case of primarily regular virginia stock just sprinkled with 10 year aged?
This is how SP describes Hogshead, "... an exciting melange of 10-year-old Orange and Red Virginias pressed and sliced into dense plugs." Your interpretation is as good as anyone's (except Jim's) about what that means. I interpreted it to mean that it was composed mostly, if not entirely, of 10-year-old Virginias.
Mostly is likely correct. The African and Brazilian Virginias are ten years old. I have no idea of the age of the US bright Va that's sprinkled in the mix. My taste buds picked up the aspect of age in the prototype and in the final product.
So far I've been nothing but disappointed by this blend. Glad I only got one tin.
As someone who has never been too impressed with Seattle Pipe Club blends, I can say I like quite a bit after one bowl.
It's not as tangy as I was thinking it might be for a red va, and the first little while the topping on the bright Virginia's ( I think), had a more influence than I would prefer so the sweet/tart was less than hoped for. However, as it progressed the flavor kept changing to keep it interesting. and it got a bit more tangy and deep and rich and earthy, giving it a complex and rich taste that I was pretty impressed with.
I really would like to know what Jim means by the cased Virginia's and their affect. But anyway I love red Virginia's and I would say most taste fairly simular for me, and while the profile on this one is different I think it's more complex than most and is a great change of pace, and I like it quite a bit.
I'm an amateur, so my opinions might be useless, by the way.
It's not as tangy as I was thinking it might be for a red va, and the first little while the topping on the bright Virginia's ( I think), had a more influence than I would prefer so the sweet/tart was less than hoped for. However, as it progressed the flavor kept changing to keep it interesting. and it got a bit more tangy and deep and rich and earthy, giving it a complex and rich taste that I was pretty impressed with.
I really would like to know what Jim means by the cased Virginia's and their affect. But anyway I love red Virginia's and I would say most taste fairly simular for me, and while the profile on this one is different I think it's more complex than most and is a great change of pace, and I like it quite a bit.
I'm an amateur, so my opinions might be useless, by the way.
Whether you're an amateur or an experienced smoker, your taste buds are your taste buds. While you will develop your likes and dislikes as you go along your pipe smoking journey like most of the rest of us have, your opinion every step of the way is important to you only. Your opinion is never useless. Don't worry about it, and just enjoy what you're doing. When you run into something you don't like, you'll never need anybody's advice about what to do about that. Same thing applies to discovering something you do like. When you want advice, there's a bunch of people here who'd gladly help.
I can tell the bright Va. was lightly cased by something sweet, probably sugar, because the acidity level of it seemed very low to me.
Well said. When it comes to Pipe Tobacco and Cigars I have to taste it for myself. One man's WOW is another mans MEH. lol
Sutliff has had several winners as of late, or at least getting more recognition. Not a huge fan of price but at 4oz, definitely makes it a " fair buy." Never been one for many Seattle pipe tobacco blend as the tend to contain Latakia.
I'm certain that many tobacco blenders utilize sutliff tobaccos and it's nice to see that they are getting more recognition for blends ie cringle flake and match blends..
I'm certain that many tobacco blenders utilize sutliff tobaccos and it's nice to see that they are getting more recognition for blends ie cringle flake and match blends..
I guess I'm a slow learner, but I have to smoke three or four bowls to get a range on a blend, and then it takes me a few more to decide how much I like it. It is a definite learning curve. Some of my favorite blends started out as not at all to my liking.
If you don't like this one, I'd try a few more bowls, and despite some of its aged contents, I'd jar it up and try it again in a year or so. Some blends taste like a different blend given some time. I always wonder if my brain is figuring it out in the meantime.
If you don't like this one, I'd try a few more bowls, and despite some of its aged contents, I'd jar it up and try it again in a year or so. Some blends taste like a different blend given some time. I always wonder if my brain is figuring it out in the meantime.
In my somewhat limited experience (been pipe smoking only a few years), red Virginia's are by far the most finicky about what pipe is used than any other tobacco for me.
I do sometimes wonder how consistent tobacco batches always are.
My biggest reason for not liking Seattle Pipe Club in the first place was a tin of PPSR I got. It had a strong off putting taste that most people never mentioned at all, so I decided it was probably a bad batch. I later bought a tin of the Special reserve flake, and it had very little if any of that taste.
Once again, @JimInks posting the gospel of pipe blends. Thanks for the detailed review. Order in !