Just got a tin of this in a trade with kyletheaviator and decided to try some out. Before I start the review, you guys should remember one thing: I once was a very heavy drinker, but gave up hard liquor some months before I joined this forum.I still enjoy a good beer ever now and then, but I can't drink hard liquor anymore. Knowing that, you will understand why I originally felt the way I did about this blend. Upon opening the tin, this blend smells like my Great Uncle Bruce positively reeks of whiskey. Having a strong hate for the stuff anymore, my stomach turned a little when I smelled it, simply because I have not drank the stuff in so long and the thought of it makes me a little queasy. I told myself, "this is a mistake," but I set out a bowl to dry anyway. After about 20 minutes or so, I was good to go. Smoked it in a cob, the first light tasted of...you guessed it, whiskey. Not liking the taste, I put it down and let my stomach settle. After about 10 minutes, I tried to light it again, and I don't know if the flavoring burnt off or if the DGT effect did something to the blend, but it actually tasted really nice. It started to taste like a good rum flavored aromatic, fairly sweet in taste, almost like 7 Seas Royal but not quite as rich. The retrohale brings out a nice sweetness and some caramel type qualities. As I smoked down to mid bowl, the smoke got sweeter, more caramel like, and almost a toffee type flavor. The end of the bowl brought some burnt sugar flavors and kept the caramel quality. The blend burned down to a very fine ash and required only a few relights and actually burned very dry, although I was smoking it in a cob. Bottom line: this blend smells like whiskey smells straight out of the bottle, but tastes like whiskey tastes when it is used in proper cooking applications. It burns great, has absolutely zero bite whatsoever (and I abused this blend pretty bad), and is a nice aro once the flavor of the initial light wears off. If you like whiskey type blends, you will like this, and even if you like a good aromatic, you should stick with it, because it drastically changes after the first quarter of a bowl and becomes a very smooth and tasty smoke. Definitely a blend that surprised me, to say the least.
