Two aromatic blends have been getting a lot of great review lately, Cult Blood Red Moon, which I think came out a couple years age, and Lane's Dark Red, which just came out. I ordered a tin of Blood Red Moon last week, and picked up a sample of Lane's Dark Red at the Chicago show over the weekend. I'd like to point out that the Cult tobacco is actually manufactured by Lane.
So you've got BRM - a Cherry and Chocolate aromatic, and Dark Red, a Cherry and Vanilla aromatic. Important things first: These are instantly my wife's favorite two room note blends. On a scale of 1 to 10, she gave Dark Red 10 and BRM a 9.75. From the smoker's standpoint to me they're in that rare class of aromatics that taste like they smell. You literally get the cherry flavor just by inhaling an unlit bowl of either. Both blends absolutely scream cherry - but without the chemical tastes that I get from most aromatics. In fact, I generally hate aromatics, but reviews have been so good for these two that I had to try them. Because they are both made by Lane, I'm guessing the cherry topping might be exactly the same. The flavor reminded me of sucking on a cherry lifesavor. I didn't really get the vanilla out of Dark Red, but I did get the chocolate out of BRM. To me, that one tasted like a cheap chocolate covered cherry from the likes of Russell Stover. At the bottom of the bowl BRM did taste a little chemically to me, but not bad. Dark Red tasted good all the way to the bottom. These are easily my two new favorite aromatics. For comparison I do like Sutliffe's Molto Dolce, I have a pound of BCA on hand, and I have 8 varieties of Boswell aromatics which I like, but wouldn't rave about. Other stuff I've tried I gave away.
Here's the bottom line for me though: They are close. Very close. I'd give a slight tip to Dark Red anyway, but when price is considered it's a knockout. BRM is available in tins only, and is roughly $9 a tin. Dark Red is available in bulk for the equivalent of roughly $3 a tin. For one-third the price, Lane's self-labelled Dark Red is the clear winner over Lane's licensed to Cult, Blood Red Moon in my opinion.
I'd be interested in thoughts of others who have tried both.
So you've got BRM - a Cherry and Chocolate aromatic, and Dark Red, a Cherry and Vanilla aromatic. Important things first: These are instantly my wife's favorite two room note blends. On a scale of 1 to 10, she gave Dark Red 10 and BRM a 9.75. From the smoker's standpoint to me they're in that rare class of aromatics that taste like they smell. You literally get the cherry flavor just by inhaling an unlit bowl of either. Both blends absolutely scream cherry - but without the chemical tastes that I get from most aromatics. In fact, I generally hate aromatics, but reviews have been so good for these two that I had to try them. Because they are both made by Lane, I'm guessing the cherry topping might be exactly the same. The flavor reminded me of sucking on a cherry lifesavor. I didn't really get the vanilla out of Dark Red, but I did get the chocolate out of BRM. To me, that one tasted like a cheap chocolate covered cherry from the likes of Russell Stover. At the bottom of the bowl BRM did taste a little chemically to me, but not bad. Dark Red tasted good all the way to the bottom. These are easily my two new favorite aromatics. For comparison I do like Sutliffe's Molto Dolce, I have a pound of BCA on hand, and I have 8 varieties of Boswell aromatics which I like, but wouldn't rave about. Other stuff I've tried I gave away.
Here's the bottom line for me though: They are close. Very close. I'd give a slight tip to Dark Red anyway, but when price is considered it's a knockout. BRM is available in tins only, and is roughly $9 a tin. Dark Red is available in bulk for the equivalent of roughly $3 a tin. For one-third the price, Lane's self-labelled Dark Red is the clear winner over Lane's licensed to Cult, Blood Red Moon in my opinion.
I'd be interested in thoughts of others who have tried both.
