Ok well had our pipe club meeting yesterday and all who attended got to sample these new blends. I will start with it was all very positive feedback from all the guys there and even a fine gentlemen who does not smoke Latakia blends very rarely tried the john cottons mild and found it enjoyable. Consensus was many of the blends guys said they would purchase just to change things up a bit. Myself personally I enjoyed all of these blends but then again I'm a big fan of Russ Os blends. So I will start with my reviews on these blends. Mind the fact I never tried the originals.
John Cottons Mild- this blend really was oriental forward and gave myself a very smooth and pleasent smoke. The Latakia in this blend really remains in the background and the red Virginias provide a mild sweetness. I can really see a person having this blend as an every day smoke.
John Cottons Medium- this was an interesting one the Latakia was very noticeable and actually provided some spice to life. This blend also did give a tangy taste from the Virginias but the Latakia really was main stream in this one. I didn't get a whole lot of sweetness in this one and the orientals were not as noticeable as they are in the mild. I can see this one being an evening smoke just before bed.
John cottons Smyrna- this was probably my favorite of the john cotton blends. The reason being is the spice I got well smoking this. The Latakia was awesome in this one and really was what provided the spice. The floral elements were not as distinct but could be detected with a retro hale. I would say this blend does change throughout the bowl something I personally love and it is a great signature Russ is able to do with his blend. The smoke also remains very cool and enjoyable.
Overall all of these blends are very good all burned down from start to finish with a nice gray ash.
The celebrated bengals slices- this was my favorite out of all of these I would say it's like a poor mans penzance. Only this will be more readily available so that makes it better then penzance. This blend you really get a nice smokiness from the Latakia and a zest from the orientals. Once you have that you follow it up with a distinct sweetness from the black cavendish and you got this lovely blend called Bengal slices. I would buy a 1lb of these Bengal slices ASAP.
Warhorse- alright this was a blend that was unique in the fact that it was the loose cut, once this stuff gets pressed it will change profile drastically. Anyways the loose cut the Burley in this was the vitamin N provider and I was not complaining. It was a good and pleasant nicotine hit that didn't go to far like condor can do to myself sometimes. I would say robust does fit this blend perfectly. A real treat for a spicy pallette. The dark fired give a spice as well as the perique. For myself I would say more perique may not hurt on this one. No major floral notes on this which is fine with me. Now the red Virginias I did not notice as much as I would have liked. I think they should have provided some sweetness to the spice in the taste but that's me. As I said the plugs of warhorse are probably going to be phenomenal.
Overall thanks Dan for allowing myself to pass these blends out to our club. Mike the owner at our shop wrote down all the information from the packaging so hoping to have these available locally. I left the blends at the shop to be displayed with the sample tins. This will allow customers to sample it and to get a better idea if consumers will purchase this stuff. I know for myself I will buy this stuff for sure. Thanks again and for all others who came out Saturday would love for you to post your reviews to this thread.
John Cottons Mild- this blend really was oriental forward and gave myself a very smooth and pleasent smoke. The Latakia in this blend really remains in the background and the red Virginias provide a mild sweetness. I can really see a person having this blend as an every day smoke.
John Cottons Medium- this was an interesting one the Latakia was very noticeable and actually provided some spice to life. This blend also did give a tangy taste from the Virginias but the Latakia really was main stream in this one. I didn't get a whole lot of sweetness in this one and the orientals were not as noticeable as they are in the mild. I can see this one being an evening smoke just before bed.
John cottons Smyrna- this was probably my favorite of the john cotton blends. The reason being is the spice I got well smoking this. The Latakia was awesome in this one and really was what provided the spice. The floral elements were not as distinct but could be detected with a retro hale. I would say this blend does change throughout the bowl something I personally love and it is a great signature Russ is able to do with his blend. The smoke also remains very cool and enjoyable.
Overall all of these blends are very good all burned down from start to finish with a nice gray ash.
The celebrated bengals slices- this was my favorite out of all of these I would say it's like a poor mans penzance. Only this will be more readily available so that makes it better then penzance. This blend you really get a nice smokiness from the Latakia and a zest from the orientals. Once you have that you follow it up with a distinct sweetness from the black cavendish and you got this lovely blend called Bengal slices. I would buy a 1lb of these Bengal slices ASAP.
Warhorse- alright this was a blend that was unique in the fact that it was the loose cut, once this stuff gets pressed it will change profile drastically. Anyways the loose cut the Burley in this was the vitamin N provider and I was not complaining. It was a good and pleasant nicotine hit that didn't go to far like condor can do to myself sometimes. I would say robust does fit this blend perfectly. A real treat for a spicy pallette. The dark fired give a spice as well as the perique. For myself I would say more perique may not hurt on this one. No major floral notes on this which is fine with me. Now the red Virginias I did not notice as much as I would have liked. I think they should have provided some sweetness to the spice in the taste but that's me. As I said the plugs of warhorse are probably going to be phenomenal.
Overall thanks Dan for allowing myself to pass these blends out to our club. Mike the owner at our shop wrote down all the information from the packaging so hoping to have these available locally. I left the blends at the shop to be displayed with the sample tins. This will allow customers to sample it and to get a better idea if consumers will purchase this stuff. I know for myself I will buy this stuff for sure. Thanks again and for all others who came out Saturday would love for you to post your reviews to this thread.
