OK... So to start please be forewarned that with my limited knowledge of tobacco I have a palate much more accustom to Oscar Mayer and French's mustard than Filet Mignon. I will not even attempt to describe all the nuts and fruits and flora that I tasted in ether blend I will discuss. If I take my shoes off I can count how many different blends I have tried. I have a tin of Maple Street from Sutliff that I recently opened. I found the flavor to be ok but nothing like I was hoping for with a rather harsh aftertaste. I do taste the maple but only for about the first half of the bowl. I have also opened some Velvet pipe tobacco which I bought at a grocery store simply because it was on the shelf and I thought I would try some. This I thought was a decent smoke though I couldn't make out what the topping was. I have read some reviews that say licorice. On a whim I decided to mix the two 50/50 just to see what happened because I thought the end result could be trashed without much remorse if it turned out lousy. I was shocked at how good it turned out. The burly in the Velvet mellowed out the Virginias in the Maple Street enough for this rookie to enjoy and I believe it also made the maple flavor stand out with a hint of the licorice or whatever Velvet is. I also have not noticed the chemical taste (being a dst)as bad from the Velvet. Think I might mix all I have and consider buying more.
