PAX Tobacco Crawl With Russ Ouellette

[shanelktown]

I smoked more of this today at the Pittsburgh pipe club meeting and I really zoned in on the cocoa flavor and I could taste that more. I did notice the nutty flavor too this time around and it didn't taste as earthy. I used a cob on this again and so far I did enjoy this blend but it comes off as almost an aromatic to me but I like aromatics so not a bad thing. I would say if offered I would partake on this blend but I just don't see myself buying this one again. It is just not my cup of tea.

 

[brass]

I smoked several bowls this weekend while fly fishing on the Conewago near Gettysburg. It burns especially well when rubbed out. But I think I prefer the flavor when simply stuffed and puffed.
Classic Burley Kake is great in cobs, as is about any decent blend. I smoked a MM General and a Freehand the entire weekend. They're light and easy to clench as you cast or land fish. Don't think I'm ever going to take a briar on the water again.
I'm now at the point where I would prefer a pipe of good tobacco over an average to good cigar. Someone gave me a Berringer. I tossed the last third of the stick for a fresh bowl of Classic Burley Kake.
Pax

 

[blendtobac]

Classic Burley Kake is special to me because I wanted to make a tobacco that tasted the same as the tin aroma, or at least as close to it as possible. It took a couple dozen tries before I was happy with the result. Pressing the tobacco was the key to imbedding the flavors into the leaf. Now I understand the Cavendish concept.
Russ

 

[newbroom]

brass....I'm a cheap old yankee. I also discovered that a bit o cigar leaf to this and that can be a nice addition.

and...clenching a Freehand while fly fishing is an impressive feat. You say they're light? I say you've got more clenching power than I do.

(while I'm interrupting, I do expect delivery of my 'samples' for this crawl, tomorrow. Thanks for the discount Russ and P&C)

 

[brass]

I usually bring smaller cobs to the stream, e.g., the Mark Twain or Diplomat. They are almost weightless. Just bought my General and Freehand out of habit.
The General and the Freehand are very light when compared to briers of the same size. The General obviously is easier to clench than the Freehand. The naked Freehand is noticeably lighter than the finished versions.
I also get the curved stems - they help quite a bit when clenching.
But yeah, I no problem clenching either while casting and retrieving.
Pax

 

[blendtobac]

My father was a big believer in cobs for fishing. He'd load 4 or 5 cobs in advance, put them in the pockets of his vest and hit the stream. He could drop a fly into a 3 foot circle at 60 feet with no problem. I, on the other hand, approached fly fishing like Indiana Jones. Most of my flies wound up behind me.
Russ

 

[cmdrmcbragg]

Two weeks late to the party, but my box of crawl tins came yesterday. Time to puff away on some new stuff and get back to discussing it with you guys again.

 

[brass]

Welcome, Commander. It is a real pleasure to have you back.

 

[newbroom]

I have some catching up to do! I just opened the box containing the PAX crawl ingredients.

Upon opening my tin of Magnum Opus, I take a sniff of the tin w/o opening up the paper...sniff, sniff...

smells like....here's were all those guys on youtube get a far off look in their eyes and say...it reminds me of something, but I'm not sure what.

Well, this reminds me of cow manure. I mean this in a positive sense. It's just that rich. Now, to open the paper.

The tin note is already subsiding. Not as rich. The ribbon cut tobacco appears to have 4 or 5 color variations.

Among them one that looks almost green! No, it couldn't be..... ; ~)

Now to select my smoking instrument. I think, due to the complexity I see here, I'll choose one of my larger bowls.

I've got just the thing. A nice big Meer lined Jamestown Bully. Here goes. I'm only going two pinches. A Diamond greenlight kitchen sized provides a slight char and I begin to think I'm palette fatigued. Either my char is too light, or I'm saturated, because I don't have any real flavor comment, yet. I've been smoking a few bowls already today..including a recent bowl of Sasieni...I sip some Hoegaarden /wit to rinse my tongue...true light...slow sipping...did I say something about cow manure?...forget that...oh my! This opens quickly! Damn! I feel like I'm smoking a pipe! Tasting some good shit! and...I mean that in a very positive sense. To think that I've got 3 more tins of blends to open and try that were blended by Russ is exciting.

I think the initial cow manure smell was a wafting of judiciously mixed Latakia. So smoooothe....coming and going away...mixed with some floral..I don't really know, this is ALL new to me...but as I smoke this it's lost all connotation with cow manure and ...oh crap..I forgot to tamp...relight..I'm into the last third I'd say...the flavors have been dancing and consistent in that so far, I discern no noticable strengthening due to concentrated tobacco. The relight takes with hardly any effort...I'm looking for Lady N...I huff a little harder and retrohale a pungently flavored yet amazingly! smooth and mellow smoke. This is a contemplative blend. It deserves the respect of time. This is burning so coolly.

Just WOW, Russ!

This is the most refined Latakia/Balkan I've tasted. There is flavor all the way through this bowl and it keeps its rhythm w/o getting any negative end bowl afflictions.

 

[cmdrmcbragg]

Cracked the Burley Kake today to play along with the current week. Tin note was pleasant. I detected a nutty burley aroma and figs. It is a pleasant smoke so far. Has that whole nutty burley thing going on that I'm not usually a fan of. I say that because I can tell it is burley but the selection of burleys surely must be better than anything I've tried in the past, other than ODF. The VAs are present but don't overshadow the burley. I get the hint of cocoa and rum occasionally while smoking, but it doesn't over stay its welcome. It's just the right amount of sweetness and natural tobacco flavor that most of us pick up the briar for.
Good stuff, Russ. I normally wouldn't look this way when buying a blend, but this is a really good one.

 

[newbroom]

I opened up my Kake yesterday, too. I smoked some of it. It's too early for my 'impressions' on the smoking, but my comment goes to what I've read AFTER I opened. Russ has been quoted as saying that he worked to make a tobacco that tastes like it smells in the tin.

For ME, he has "failed" in that regard. My tin note is of almond extract. At first I thought, oh boy! I think I can identify this aroma this time. Pistachio?.....then I remembered having used almond extract before and bingo.

NO...it doesn't taste like almond extract smells.

 

[barleynbaccy]

Mine is bulk, but it has always had a forward cocoa smell. I only get the nuttiness when smoking. I do agree it is not exactly the same as the tin note, but it is definitely closer than I'm used to.
After experimenting this week, I like it completely rubbed out. I was getting a bit of gurgling when I loaded "chunks" of it and top up with some loose.

 

[brass]

I'm smoking several bowls of Classic Burley Kake a day. I smoke while commuting and can't always pay close attention to the tobacco. But CBK is one of those blends that is so delicious that every so often it demands attention and I find myself exclaiming "Damn, this is good!".
Both CBK and Magnum Opus are very different in style from Greg Pease creations but they are every bit as good.
Pax

 

[minfarshaw]

I smoked 3 bowls of the Classic Burley Kake and have not finished any of them. I think it is the casing or topping that doesn't appeal to me. Anise is not one of my favorite flavors. I asked my neighbor to join me for a bowl and he absolutely loved it. He loves all the tobaccos that I don't like so if I don't like something, the bag goes next door. A t least someone is happy. My wife found it quite "mild and pleasant". My neighbor took his first puff and said "Oooooh chocolate!" I didn't get chocolate, just anise and some bitter taste. I had a Sazerac in New Orleans a few months ago, that is pretty close to Classic Burley Kake. I kept a couple of bowl fulls to try again next time. I have to give this one a chance. I remember getting the same bitter taste from Chatham Manor the first time I tried it. Now I love that blend.

 

[cmdrmcbragg]

Well I'm liking the Classic Burley Kake. Sat out front of the church on campus today and smoked a pipe of it.

 

[settersbrace]

Ok, I'm always going on about my aversion to aromatics when I discuss my smoking tastes, it's not that I have anything personal against them it's more that I'm all about pure tobacco flavor and enjoyment. Now that I got that out of the way I can say that I now have smoked a blend that's technically defined as an Aro and loved every sip of it! CBK caught me completely off guard in that I knew going in that it was a burley Krumble Kake, OK, Burley good says I, says me again, I like me some Burley, I like saying the word...Burley!

I read some TR reviews prior to loading up and that step is out of character for me most times. I usually read reviews long after I've smoked at least 50g's of tin X but I was a little apprehensive, unjustly but I felt that way none the less. I loaded a cob for my first bowl and that was a wise choice IMO since burley blends and cobs are always a good pairing, again, IMO. First light delivered some Caramel hints and then that nutty goodness started coming on as I worked through the first half of the bowl. I was walking my old English Setter that evening, ear buds in listening to a back logged pipes podcast, it was warm, breezy and I had a wind cap on my MM egg happily strolling and sipping when the whining drone of Brian's voice (kidding Brian) started to trail off, the stride became effortless, I was walking on air! This CBK is some tasty, interesting stuff I thought to myself, very deep and somewhat complex for what's billed as just a Burley blend. Hats off to Russ and if this stuff could come in a roll up pouch it'd be all that much better. I think it's what an every mans pipe tobacco should be, an all day, all night smoking mixture. I've since smoked several other bowls in briar with equally delicious results and I can say that for someone who has been wanting to give an aromatic an honest try, I couldn't have tried a better one. This is one that's going to find a slot in my ready rack of summertime tobaccos.
Addendum(edit);

I did not get any of the Anise or chocolate notes that some here and on TR have spoke of. Maybe it's because I wasn't really looking for it, I don't know.

 

[newbroom]

On the tin note of CBK. I realized that the note is very similar to a Sutliff blend (April Dawn) I have, especially upon opening.

The size and shape of the tins are the same with the same plastic lid, and I'm guessing that Sutliff produces CBK for P&C.

Even upon opening the CBK, however, I wasn't aware of its being considered aromatic. I've been smoking mostly burleys lately and this seemed to offer a nice comparison and alternative.

I think there are a couple of things that Mr. Russ achieves consistently with his blends, and likely by design rather than happenstance. I'd call these things: balance, and complexity.

More later...on CBK...I've smoked a few bowls now, in a few pipes...burley's require more adjustment time in my brain to get their more subtle notes. I will say that any aromatic topping does not seem to feature.

 

[amiller]

I don't taste the chocolate people have mentioned either, even when looking for it. I notice the nuttiness is slightly tempered by a sweetness of sorts, right on the edge of an aromatic. But I can't pin point the flavor. I can say that smoking Magnum Opus took some convincing for me, but I've nearly cleaned out this tin and I never smoke something straight through like I have this. I just keep reaching for it.
Russ, thank you for the advice to pack it loose. The first bowl I packed was before you said that and my normal packing caused some problems, focusing on packing loose has helped dramatically with this.
I like the word "Classic" in the title of this blend as I imagine this is what the codger burley blends of yore once tasted like before they were reduced to heaping piles of partially burnt ash as we receive them now.
Count me a big fan. Several ounces will be purchased in bulk with my next order.

 

[cmdrmcbragg]

+1 @amiller, it really has convinced me to give burley's a second chance. For myself, I think it may be the addition of red VAs. I LOVE red VAs.

 

[brass]

Hey Guys, thanks for the terrific reviews and insights. Keep them coming. Even if a blend isn't a new favorite, we're better rounded smokers for trying them.
OK, you might want to open your El Nino tins in preparation for tomorrow's new crawl kick-off. I hope Russ can stop by and tell us a few things about this rich creation.
Week three: Friday, April 17,2015: El Nino - H&H Marquee

http://www.pipesandcigars.com/mobile/pipe-tobacco/77421/hearth-home-marquee-el-nino/#p-164653
http://www.tobaccoreviews.com/blend/9086/hearth-home-el-nino

Hearth & Home - El Nino (West Coast Pipe Show 2013)
EDIT THIS TOBACCO FAVORITE WISHLIST SUBSCRIBE

A unique and robust blend of Virginia, Dark-Fired, Black Cavendish, Perique and a hint of latakia. Rich, smooth flavor that produces volumes of thick, creamy smoke.
Brand Hearth & Home

Blended By Russ Ouelette

Manufactured By Pipesandcigars

Blend Type Virginia Based

Contents Black Cavendish, Kentucky, Latakia, Perique, Virginia

Flavoring None

Cut Ribbon

Packaging 1.5 oz Tin

Country US

Production Currently available

Product Image

Strength

Medium

Flavoring

None Detected

Taste

Medium

Room Note

Pleasant to Tolerable

3.3

3 reviews Reviews

4 star: 1

3 star: 2

2 star: 0

1 star: 0