Alright, so battle of the Hollow took place this past weekend. The results:
C&D Interlude: I got this based on the honey topping to try. Its a pretty decent straight VA, though I'm not sure I ever really got a honey hint from it. Not in the ballpark otherwise.
Low Country Santee: Was crusty dry in the tin, surprisingly, and chunky rough cut. Over the top but pleasant apple tin note, doesn't really translate to the smoke. Its there, but not really as pleasing as the hint of green apple I get from DH. I don't really know what to say about this blend other than I walked away from it not especially enjoying the flavors, felt the VA was pretty much middle of the road at best, and kind of meh overall. Not a DH replacement, unfortunately, and I had high hopes for this one.
C&D Autumn Evening: Not really expected to be a replacement for DH, as much as a hopeful distraction. Tin note was a little overly sweet and worrisome for me, but it didn't translate as badly to the smoke. The tobacco was very dark in comparison to online stock red cavendish photos... not sure what thats about. Ultimately, had a similar experience w this as the Santee... the maple note was there, but didn't detract from a mostly so-so smoke otherwise. Gave a bit of tongue bite and left my pipe wet, too.
Every time I smoked it I ended up dumping out the last 1/2 to 1/3 of the bowl. Kind of surprised at the number of glowing reviews for this online. Mostly was just okay for me.
Nording Retreiver: Okay, I know, I know... but I couldn't help but try it out. Definitely a sibling or offspring of DH. Tasty, in a different way but with a similar toasty vanilla in there, burns great down to white ash, and no denying the McClelland VA in this blend being the same as the one in DH.. just to a lesser proportion due to Retriever's cavendish. This would be a wonderful all day smoker if I didn't find it way after the fact. I'm just delaying the inevitable here but I bought a kilo of it anyway.
Lane 1-Q: Well, I should have known to just start here, based on online info available, but I hadn't smoked it before so was ignorant of it entirely. This I really enjoyed, burned down to white ash, no tongue bite, and it has a "Deep Hollow extra light" taste to me. No, its not anywhere near as wonderful a smoke as DH can be, but its pretty damn good nonetheless, and readily available. I have to wonder if DH wasn't mike McNeil's attempt at a "gourmet 1-Q" honestly...
So, its Retriever to help ease the pain for a bit, and 1-Q to burn through as much as I want.
I'd like to find some 1-Q with a little bit of age on it next... going to keep an eye out for it.
