Tabac Manil: Le Petit Robin 100g

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mso489

Lifer
Feb 21, 2013
41,210
60,433
A Forums member sent me a sample. This is a shag cut version of the esteemed Tabac-Manil Semois. I guess I prefer the thick and medium cut versions for their slower burn, but the shag is a lovely version too. If you love a shag cut burley variant, go for it.

 

hawky454

Lifer
Feb 11, 2016
5,338
10,220
Austin, TX
A Forums member sent me a sample. This is a shag cut version of the esteemed Tabac-Manil Semois. I guess I prefer the thick and medium cut versions for their slower burn, but the shag is a lovely version too. If you love a shag cut burley variant, go for it.
This is actually a blend where the Semois is used as a condiment. This is not just a different cut of the Semois leaf.
From SmokingPipes website:

"Le Petit Robin is a different turn for Tabac Manil. For one thing, it's a blend where Manil's Semois Burley leaf is used as a condiment, and for another it's a very fine shag cut. The other leaf making up the bulk of this blend is something Vincent keeps secret, but we can say that the results are a lightly sweet, dry flavor in a smoke that still packs the earthy and floral complexities of pure Semois — just in a more subtle arrangement."

 

hawky454

Lifer
Feb 11, 2016
5,338
10,220
Austin, TX
Wow, I really thought there would have been some more excitement about the availability of this new blend. Hell, it sold out on Thepipeguys site almost immediately when it came out. I guess al the fans belong to a different forum.
I'm curious what you're talking about MSO. Did you think this was just shag cut Semois? This is apparently the first blend in existence to use Semois as a condiment in a blend and I thought you of all people would have been a lot more enthusiastic about it.

 

newbroom

Lifer
Jul 11, 2014
6,087
6,394
Florida
I think that D&R Ryback offers a similar 'cut' and its strength and flavors are entertaining. I've only read about this newer version, I admit, but I've smoked the regular Semois. Ryback might have more 'sweet' notes in it, but it's not what I'd call aromatic.

I'm really enjoying all my newly acquired D&R blends...

 

snowyowl

Part of the Furniture Now
Oct 21, 2015
885
21
I'm curious what you're talking about MSO. Did you think this was just shag cut Semois? This is apparently the first blend in existence to use Semois as a condiment in a blend and I thought you of all people would have been a lot more enthusiastic about it.
What Tom/MSO means is this is unmistakably Tabac-Manil Semois (if only containing 1/3 pure): to the eye and the nose, when you tweeze it out of the package; when you fire it up too.
It is however Semois Light. Meant to be subtler with some other sweeter flavors, and it is, but still do-doubt-Semois. The dusty, funky, earthy bang of the full smoke is much softer, or (for Tom's tastes) toned way down.
This is the mother of all shag cuts. Think sticking your hand in a cobweb and pulling it out! It also burns like a brush fire, even in an MSO-recommended chimney shape. I have taken to packing it very very tight. Pack it as tight as you can... and it still stays lit. It is a nice light Semois blend, while it lasts.

 
I'm interested in the blend, but it comes at a time when everyone is grabbing up every bulk bag offered. It might have a hard time competing with everything else going on. I'm having a hard time imagining it as a condiment. I had been thinking that just adding some perique to pure semois might be interesting, something to give it more Oomph.

 

snowyowl

Part of the Furniture Now
Oct 21, 2015
885
21
I'm having a hard time imagining it as a condiment.
Yes, thank you. I meant to address that word, "condiment": maybe it's a translation issue, but the Semois is absolutely the main player in this blend. If you quizzed pipers who know the Pure, then played with this stuff, and asked is this: a) 30, b) 60, or c) 90 percent Semois... thirty would get the least number of votes.

 

crashthegrey

Lifer
Dec 18, 2015
3,810
3,566
41
Cobleskill, NY
www.greywoodie.com
Wow, I disagree entirely, snowyowl. I smoked Semois and Robin back to back, very different. Almost unrelated. The cut has nothing to do with it. Semois is strong and hearty. Robin is a blond tobacco, you can see bits of Semois in it. It is reminiscent of a Dutch shag I used to roll into cigarettes. I read an interview as well, where he said that this was a personal blend originally never meant to be released, but pressure pushed him. There it said that Semois was literally just a condiment.

 

deathmetal

Lifer
Jul 21, 2015
7,714
32
Having played around with Semois as a mixer, I think there's too little in the blend to be interesting. Plus the price remains high considering that 70% of this blend is now cheaper ingredients. Normally I am excited for anything Semois, but not this time, not with so much else that requires stocking.

 

hawky454

Lifer
Feb 11, 2016
5,338
10,220
Austin, TX
Hmmm... A lot of different thoughts on this blend. I'm looking forward to trying it out. I'm about stocked up to the brim with all the tobacco I could smoke in three lifetimes but I love buying new blends. Out of all the fancy blends I have tried over the years, JitterBugDude's tobacco has been hands down the best tobacco I have ever tried. Both his Yenidje and his Semois... Truely out of this world good!

 

hawky454

Lifer
Feb 11, 2016
5,338
10,220
Austin, TX
My order came in today. Wow, you all weren't lying, this is some fine shag cut! It almost looks like moss. I thought Exotique was a fine shag but this has got that beat by a long shot. I'm looking forward to tasting it!

 

beastinview

Part of the Furniture Now
Jan 5, 2016
504
3
My order came in today. Wow, you all weren't lying, this is some fine shag cut! It almost looks like moss. I thought Exotique was a fine shag but this has got that beat by a long shot. I'm looking forward to tasting it!

michaeljacksonthrillervideopopcorn.gif

 

hawky454

Lifer
Feb 11, 2016
5,338
10,220
Austin, TX
So far I'm not really digging it too much. I've only had 2 bowls as of yet, but I see what you all mean by "Semois light". I was hoping the Virginia would add some new dimensions to the blend but it really just seams to soften it up. It also give me a weird taste in my mouth that I didn't get from the straight Semois. I think I may jar it and let it age some. Overall I'm pretty darn disappointed.

 

deathmetal

Lifer
Jul 21, 2015
7,714
32
I love Semois.
As far as mixing it with Virginias? 30% VAs at most.
The Semois speaks for itself.
This is $0.02, which as you know in this economy ain't worth, er, not much.

 
After finishing my sample from the generous crashthegrey, I found it to be a very odd thread thick shag cut. The flavor was slightly sweeter than pure semois, no barnyard smells, but I did get the faintest whiffs of a very mild creamy vanilla weaving in and out of the smoke, very faint. The strength was very mild. Then there was an odd aftertaste, not waxy like a mild burley, but like a diet soda sort of aftertaste. This could easily be an all day smoke for someone. Very good.

 
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