I was rather intrigued about this particular blend after reading many reviews. My tastes tend to lean towards stronger blends and after a not particularly interesting experience with 1792 flake gave this one a try, it is after all supposed to be 1792 minus the tonquin flavourings.
Opening the tin I was presented with a mish mash of coarse shreds, predominantly dark brown in colour with some jet black in there too. Tin note was of nice new leather shoes. Not your namby pamby slip-ons but a nice pair of Northampton made stout brogues. Moisturewise it was typically wet as all SG and G&H blends tend to be so the contents of the tin were tipped out onto a tray to get some air around those shreds.
I loaded up my McQuade bulldog and fired up. Despite two hours of airing it still took a while to get a decent burn but I got there. The first thing that struck me was the taste of burning tar or rubber and I recalled reading in at least one review that someone had made the same observation, not a good start!
Once settled flavours more associated with tobacco came to the fore. Smoky wood and bitter chocolate with a little burnt coffee is what I got from this blend. Nicotine became very apparent come mid bowl but not eye crossingly so. Some folks are put off this blend purely because of the nicotine content! One thing I would like to add is that at no time did I taste any of the famous/infamous 'Lakeland Sauce' which was a welcome surprise.
This is most certainly a very strong blend and not one for beginners. The flavours are pretty consistent throughout the bowl leaving a damp squidgy dottle at the bowl's finish.
Interestingly the listed components of the broken flake variety (which is what is reviewed here) simply states Virginia tobacco whereas for the flake version they mention Kentucky & Virginia. As to whether mine has Kentucky or not I am not sufficiently experienced in the minutiae of tobacco blends to comment.
Would I buy this again? I'm not too sure I would. It wasn't an unpleasant blend but it was a tad overpowering for me. Perhaps if mixed 50/50 with a sweet straight Virginia (Golden Glow?) it might make for a more mellow smoke. I would give this 5/10.
Regards,
Jay.
Opening the tin I was presented with a mish mash of coarse shreds, predominantly dark brown in colour with some jet black in there too. Tin note was of nice new leather shoes. Not your namby pamby slip-ons but a nice pair of Northampton made stout brogues. Moisturewise it was typically wet as all SG and G&H blends tend to be so the contents of the tin were tipped out onto a tray to get some air around those shreds.
I loaded up my McQuade bulldog and fired up. Despite two hours of airing it still took a while to get a decent burn but I got there. The first thing that struck me was the taste of burning tar or rubber and I recalled reading in at least one review that someone had made the same observation, not a good start!
Once settled flavours more associated with tobacco came to the fore. Smoky wood and bitter chocolate with a little burnt coffee is what I got from this blend. Nicotine became very apparent come mid bowl but not eye crossingly so. Some folks are put off this blend purely because of the nicotine content! One thing I would like to add is that at no time did I taste any of the famous/infamous 'Lakeland Sauce' which was a welcome surprise.
This is most certainly a very strong blend and not one for beginners. The flavours are pretty consistent throughout the bowl leaving a damp squidgy dottle at the bowl's finish.
Interestingly the listed components of the broken flake variety (which is what is reviewed here) simply states Virginia tobacco whereas for the flake version they mention Kentucky & Virginia. As to whether mine has Kentucky or not I am not sufficiently experienced in the minutiae of tobacco blends to comment.
Would I buy this again? I'm not too sure I would. It wasn't an unpleasant blend but it was a tad overpowering for me. Perhaps if mixed 50/50 with a sweet straight Virginia (Golden Glow?) it might make for a more mellow smoke. I would give this 5/10.
Regards,
Jay.
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