First I want to thank the guys at the Standard Tobacco Company of Pennsylvania for sending us some hearty samples of each of their soon to be released blends. The West Georgia Pipe Club had a blast tasting and reviewing each of these. I thought it would be cool to print up cards and let the guys write out their thoughts on each blend as they smoked them. I will write out my thoughts and then give you various comments left by the club guys. So on with the reviews. As the guys came in they each smelled the tin note of each blend before choosing where to start. Warhorse won out and was the first bowl smoked. So we will begin there.
WARHORSE: Warhorse is a great blend. It is light on N and could be an all day smoke. It burns very nice and of the two bowls I have smoked so far both only required one light. It burned down to a nice white ash with no dottle. The flavor is very nutty with a subtle sweetness and the nutty flavor holds throughout the whole bowl. I am primarily a flake smoker, but this is definitely going into the cellar. I am really enjoying it.
Thoughts from the other guys: Nice Robust strong flavor, Easy on the tongue, lighter than expected with a bit of spice, The Kentucky stands out with some subtle spicy and sweet contrasts.
JOHN COTTON'S SMYRNA: I liked this one best out of the John Cotton's. I thought it had a nice creamy latakia flavor, rich and spicy. It burned cool and the deeper I went into the bowl the creamier it became.
Thoughts from the other guys: Good solid English, Latakia Forward with a smooth Va undertone. Mild and rich, a creamy flavor that was present throughout the whole bowl.
JOHN COTTON'S 1&2: This was a nice light smoke, burns well, but I didn't get a ton of flavor out of it. One thing I noticed out of all of the blends is that they burned wonderfully, stayed lit well and I despite smoking 5 bowls consecutively I had no tongue bite.
JOHN COTTON'S #1 MILD: This was also a nice light smoke. It had a nice creamy flavor as well. There were some similarities to Smyrna but this was as the name dictates more mild.
Thoughts from the other guys: More creamy than expected and very mild, I like latakia and it went well with the Virginias, Very nice blend, Perfect moisture level, stayed lit well.
BENGAL SLICES: This blend was the one I was most looking forward to. The sample I got was a little more dry that I would like and required a bit of work to get lit, but despite that, it was a great smoke. The flavor was nice and spicy right out of the gate. There was a definite creaminess and a sweet flavor which really mirrors the tin note. I will definitely be buying this.
Thoughts from the other guys: Strong flavor without the tongue bite, Was not as strong as I was expecting from the tin note, Very smooth oriental, picked up citrus and vanilla tones, Aftertaste is wonderful.
I set up cards with the name and description of each blend.
One of the guys loading a bowl of John Cotton's Smyrna.
Everybody enjoying the some STP blends.
And me, shaintiques, enjoying a tasty bowl of Warhorse in my Aldo Velani.
WARHORSE: Warhorse is a great blend. It is light on N and could be an all day smoke. It burns very nice and of the two bowls I have smoked so far both only required one light. It burned down to a nice white ash with no dottle. The flavor is very nutty with a subtle sweetness and the nutty flavor holds throughout the whole bowl. I am primarily a flake smoker, but this is definitely going into the cellar. I am really enjoying it.
Thoughts from the other guys: Nice Robust strong flavor, Easy on the tongue, lighter than expected with a bit of spice, The Kentucky stands out with some subtle spicy and sweet contrasts.
JOHN COTTON'S SMYRNA: I liked this one best out of the John Cotton's. I thought it had a nice creamy latakia flavor, rich and spicy. It burned cool and the deeper I went into the bowl the creamier it became.
Thoughts from the other guys: Good solid English, Latakia Forward with a smooth Va undertone. Mild and rich, a creamy flavor that was present throughout the whole bowl.
JOHN COTTON'S 1&2: This was a nice light smoke, burns well, but I didn't get a ton of flavor out of it. One thing I noticed out of all of the blends is that they burned wonderfully, stayed lit well and I despite smoking 5 bowls consecutively I had no tongue bite.
JOHN COTTON'S #1 MILD: This was also a nice light smoke. It had a nice creamy flavor as well. There were some similarities to Smyrna but this was as the name dictates more mild.
Thoughts from the other guys: More creamy than expected and very mild, I like latakia and it went well with the Virginias, Very nice blend, Perfect moisture level, stayed lit well.
BENGAL SLICES: This blend was the one I was most looking forward to. The sample I got was a little more dry that I would like and required a bit of work to get lit, but despite that, it was a great smoke. The flavor was nice and spicy right out of the gate. There was a definite creaminess and a sweet flavor which really mirrors the tin note. I will definitely be buying this.
Thoughts from the other guys: Strong flavor without the tongue bite, Was not as strong as I was expecting from the tin note, Very smooth oriental, picked up citrus and vanilla tones, Aftertaste is wonderful.
I set up cards with the name and description of each blend.
One of the guys loading a bowl of John Cotton's Smyrna.
Everybody enjoying the some STP blends.
And me, shaintiques, enjoying a tasty bowl of Warhorse in my Aldo Velani.
