Wholly Decided on Half & Half

[tarak]

And I hate it.
Which is odd. I bought some because "Grandpa always smoked it" and I thought, "why not?". I realize its not the same blend it was back in the day. At first I really enjoyed it as a simple smoke. Had it a couple times, put it in a jar, and there it sat for a month.
But today I fired some up and.....4 puffs in I dumped it. I mean like....make me slightly nauseated grossness. I swear I even got some tongue bite in that 4 puffs but it might be psychosomatic. I just found it to be completely unenjoyable. I have a friend who likes it that will receive all the rest.
Ick.

 

[mso489]

Probably the right thing to do. Sometimes OTC's improve a little if you let them breathe some

and age them for a while. But if your reaction is that overt, I think your friend should get the

remaining Half-and-Half. I like it somewhat. I like Granger better, but a lot of people don't

like it much. I have a tin of Half-and-Half unopened, that I bought at a good discount. I hope

when the time comes, I still like it well enough.

 

[zekest]

That is how I felt after half a bowl of Cornell & Diehl Haunted Bookshop!
I know Half&Half has a loyal following spanning decades, and even fixed-gear bike riding hipsters sheeplishly smoke it proclaiming it fantastic, but some will not dig it.
Try mixing it with Paladin Black Cherry, that worked for the Haunted Bookshop...

 

[petes03]

I bought some a while back to try. The jury is still out. So far, I think I like it ok. It's definitely not quite as good as Carter Hall or Prince Albert.

 

[werdna]

Tarak - I'm with you. I tried it recently, after a forty year gap, and I still can't stand it. I'll stick with non aros for now.

 

[bryanf]

You might try it in a smaller pipe. I find it a good smoke in a small pipe but not in a cob.

 

[sallow]

I think I'm beginning to like Sir Walter Raleigh

 

[tarak]

bryanf I actually was smoking it in a pretty small kaywoodie apple shape.

 

[papipeguy]

H&H is not the same blend it was years ago. The deer tongue was removed form the original blend and that is what made it nice in my opinion. If you want an experience close to the original H&H I'd recommend C&D's Gentleman Caller. It's in my daily rotation and a nice change from my usual lat blends.

 

[philobeddoe]

I'm with you tarak, I can't stand the stuff, tastes like cough syrup to me.

 

[radio807]

I like it, and so I keep a can on hand. I refer to it as my "garage blend." It's what I smoke in my cobs when I'm puttering outside or in the garage and not paying attention to the smoke itself. It gets the job done for me.

 

[sparrowhawk]

I'm glad I've been warned off. The Carter Hall works great for me (props to rothnh for his recommendation) by itself or as a component of my sweeter aromatics like Molto Dolce.

 

[newbroom]

I enjoy smoking a few of the burley based blends we all refer to as codger blends or otc, though I don't think that term fits much any more...I don't see much tobacco across many of the counters I encounter.

Anyway..I've tried and enjoyed in this order, SWR, PA and CH...so..P&C has a sale for H&H and despite having read the negativity about this blend, I figured I'd be my own judge.

I was also looking for additional flavors and tastes, and boy howdy, does H&H provide that! I've learned not to judge from one bowl, or even several, although you do tend to find the good stuff quickly. It isn't offensive at all to me, but it is distinctive. That's not all bad in a blend, right there. It packs easily. Some say it's half VA but I don't believe it. I think it may be half light and half darker burley...maybe a handful of VA, I don't know, but definitely what I'd call an aromatic topping (said to be anise, although I don't taste or smell licorice ) which does convey to the room note from both tin and bowl.

I'm glad I've scratched that itch and I'll probably get more when this tub gets low.

 

[wyfbane]

Has anyone tossed a bit of deertongue back in this to see if that spruces it up a bit?

 

[yohanan]

Has anyone tossed a bit of deertongue back in this to see if that spruces it up a bit?

I have, I purchased the deertongue from 4noggins; I used about a teaspoon mixed in with 2oz of H&H. I think you need to let it sit for a couple of weeks before you try it. You have to like deertongue and H&H, or I don't think it may work for you, I like both. I was trying to see what it may have been like years ago when H&H used deertongue. I never pick up a vanilla flavor that some say they can with deertongue, I find it more of a slightly sweet herbal flavor with just a hint of mint on the end, but that is just my opinion of it, some folks think I'm crazy, and their probably right.

 

[huntertrw]

"H&H is not the same blend it was years ago."
Amen! I have a full pocket tin produced by The American Tobacco Company, and I can assure you that the Scandinavian Tobacco Group's current iteration is not even remotely close to this original. What a shame this is, for this was my paternal grandfather's favorite pipe-tobacco, and my memory of him is inextricably tied to the original formula.

 

[mso489]

I think after smoking some of the nonaromatic burley blends done by C&D, it is much harder to

enjoy the old over the counter blends made with burley, once you've seen what burley can do.

 

[captainbob]

You may not believe this, but "yours truly" smoked H&H for 19 years exclusively before going to work on creating my C&D Blend. There is absolutely no resemblance. Nor, was it attempted or intended. I no longer can tolerate H&H. Not just because of the lack of deer-tongue. But, primarily because the OTC blends contain the preservative PG and I cannot tolerate the goopy residue from PG. C&D uses no PG!

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[newbroom]

OK, H&H has changed. It's still 'different'. I don't get goopy bowls. I haven't tried any C&D burleys.

Where does one verify the claims of propylene glycol?

I can 'see' this on CB White..and the aromatics, but my codger blends don't seem to have this product.

 

[captainbob]

Yes, sparks, and I agree, and, if smoking just one pipe over and over and not letting it dry and kept clean will result in sour smokes with any tobacco over time. But, the PG laden tobaccos as in typical OTC blends for shelf life, just compounds the problem. Just my 2 cents worth.

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