Chatting with a pipe smoking friend on the phone the other day (he lives about 100 miles away) I mentioned I had been looking for anything good in new (new to me that is) English blends. I have been seeking a stout latakia blend that is mellow as oppoded to sharp with that smokey latakia flavor.
Now, this friend has a large collecton of tabaccos and is constantly trying new stuff, so a few days later a surprise package arrived from him with 5 sample bags of blends. They were: Aston Artisan, Peretti Omega, Peretti Royal, Wilke's 436 and Boswell Railroad Station.
Over the last few days I smoked a couple bowls of each blend always using an Enlish only fresh Castello pipe. I kept a brief note of what I thought of each (please don't ask for a detailed analysys) and gave them a one to five rating, five being the highest. In a nutshell this is the result. Remember, this is only one man's opinion, you might have scored differently. I rated them all a two or three. All are smokeable, but none were anything to write home about. I thought they were all stingy with the Latakia and none had that mellow smokiness I like.
In keeping with my philosophy of never throwing away a tobacco I decided to try an experiment so I mixed all 5 together and let it set for a day, then I smoked some. I'll be damned if the concoction doesn't smoke BETTER that any one of them. Go figure!
Now, this friend has a large collecton of tabaccos and is constantly trying new stuff, so a few days later a surprise package arrived from him with 5 sample bags of blends. They were: Aston Artisan, Peretti Omega, Peretti Royal, Wilke's 436 and Boswell Railroad Station.
Over the last few days I smoked a couple bowls of each blend always using an Enlish only fresh Castello pipe. I kept a brief note of what I thought of each (please don't ask for a detailed analysys) and gave them a one to five rating, five being the highest. In a nutshell this is the result. Remember, this is only one man's opinion, you might have scored differently. I rated them all a two or three. All are smokeable, but none were anything to write home about. I thought they were all stingy with the Latakia and none had that mellow smokiness I like.
In keeping with my philosophy of never throwing away a tobacco I decided to try an experiment so I mixed all 5 together and let it set for a day, then I smoked some. I'll be damned if the concoction doesn't smoke BETTER that any one of them. Go figure!
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