Pipe Tobacco Reviews
Copyright Tal Liron. All rights reserved.
- 4 = love it!
- 3 = good, would potentially order again
- 2 = it's alright, but not something I would order again
- 1 = no thanks
Blenders
Bob Runowski
For Cornell & Diehl
- 3 Pegasus: eminently smokeable burley with just a touch of sweet and salt; nice if a bit bland everyday smoke
- 3 Haunted Bookshop Cake: bran muffins and sawdust
Carl McAllister
For Sutliff
- 4 #507-C Virginia Slices: superb virginia, more straightforward than sophisticated (= PS400 Luxury Navy Flake)
- 3 Count Pulaski: nice daily English with quite a bit going on, some sweet anise flavor
- 1 #515 RC1 Matured Red Virginia: awful, burns very hot, bites
Craig Tarler
For Atlas and then Cornell & Diehl
- 4 Opening Night: rich, luxurious virginia; floral and lemony; strength without bite
- 2 Shandygaff: a curious and pleasant all day burley, salty/tangy overtones
Erik Stokkebye
- 4 4th Generation - Evening Flake: mild, very tasty; sweet wood
- 4 4th Generation - 2012 Anniversary Blend: when smoked carefully, sweet and strong with a mild stewed pear flavor
- 4 4th Generation - 1931: sweet, rich, thick biscotti flavor; divine tin aroma; a dessert blend
- 3 4th Generation - 1897 (pouch): mild and pleasant; walnut and vanilla
Greg L. Pease
For Cornell & Diehl
- 4 Jackknife: a delicious, tangy virgina-burley; "brown" flavor from dark-fired Kentucky; so much more than its humble ingredients would suggest
- 3 Triple Play: unfortunately smells a bit like puke
- 3 Windjammer: fruity and smoky and sweet, like delicious raisins
- 3 Westminster: fragrant and fancy, quote Greg: "The very essence of the traditional English mixture; rich, elegant, refined, and exquisitely balanced"
- 2 Union Square: apricot; OK, but kinda bland
- 3 Haddo's Delight:
Jeremy Reeves
For Cornell & Diehl
- 4 The Beast: deep, dark, rich and somehow still delicate
Joe Lankford
For Seattle Pipe Club (Pipes and Cigars)
- 4 Galloping Gertie: remarkably balanced, tangy and salty, very unique
- 3 Plum Pudding: delicious, rich, thick flavored crumble with some sweetness and even saltiness (umami?!)
Mike McNiel
For McClelland
Per Georg Jensen
For Mac Baren and then Sutliff
- 4 HH Pure Virginia: pure indeed, woody, fruity, savory and just lovely
- 3 HH Rustica: very very robust, and yet as smooth as navy flake; best mixed with others
- 4 Pipe Force Episode IV: lovely, flavorful, woody, sweet, smokey
- 4 Pipe Force Episode V: so full of flavor, all the stoving and rustica gives it a campfire feel, perfect evening bowl
- ? Pipe Force Episode VI: VaPer
Peter Stokkebye
3rd generation Stokkebye
- 4 Balkan Sasieni: pleasant, creamy, mild latakia with just a hint of oriental spice
- 4 PS400 - Luxury Navy Flake: very mild; slightly sweet, slightly peppery
Russ Ouellette
For Pipes and Cigars
- 4 Fire Storm: sweet and spicy VaPerKy, cinnamon-like warmth
- 3 John Cotton's Double Pressed Latakia: wonderful crumble, gentle but tasty
- 2 Hearth & Home Marquee - Black House: strong Balkan with a touch of mellowing cavendish, slight soapy notes (not unpleasant) (Balkan Sobranie 759 match, in bulk from Sutliff)
- 2 Hearth & Home Marquee - El Niño: a pleasant perique sourness, almost lemongrass flavor; virginia-forward; coherent despite the diverse ingredients
- 3 War Horse - Green: fennel, basil, mothballs, cheroot, and sarsaparilla on a potent crumble cake
Brands
Amar Blends
Now a Cornell & Diehl brand
- 4 London Squire: sweet, easygoing, lip-smacking latakia experience
Capstan
Previously a Mac Baren brand, now under STG
- 4 Original (Blue): delicate and fragrant, touch of sweet (Tolkien's favorite!)
- 4 Gold: so very, very soft; plum notes
Cascadia
An STG brand
- 4 Campsite: lovely virginia plug; hay and herbs
Cornell & Diehl
- 4 Three Friars: hearty pumpernickel with raisins and black pepper; delicious; burns very well so smoke slow
- 4 Byzantium: bold and fancy and confident balkan, and yet not in any way overpowering; delicious
- 4 Yorktown: sweet and tangy red, earthy bright virginia; burns like a codger, so smoke slow
- 3 Gentleman Caller: ginger snaps and tarragon, spicy and herbal
- 2 Crooner: mild burley with a pop of mystery
- 4 Engine 99: an easygoing top with a sturdy creosote undercarriage
Hermit Tobacco Works
Now a Cornell & Diehl brand
- 4 Captain Earle's - Stimulus Package: a rich crumble latakia, lots of everything but not overpowering
Country Squire
- 3 Faulkner Flake: surprisingly mellow and pleasant virginia (tobaccoreviews site seems wrong)
- 3 Shepherd's Pie: their best blend, has quite a bit of cavendish
- 3 Pilgrim's Muse (Bag End): decent rustic, reminds me of Frog Morton
- 2 Ruins of Windsor: similar to Shepherd's Pie but vanilla
- 2 George's Dragon (Green Dragon): tangy, sweet, and salty virginia shag
- 2 Cowboy Coffee: caramel butterscotch toffee, or Werther's Original, and leather
- 1 Cornishman: awful and oppressive creosote
Cult
- 4 Blood Red Moon: surprisingly delicious, real cherry flavor with a hint of chocolate; smells incredible; no bite at all
Dan Tobacco
- 4 Treasures of Ireland: Limerick: strong, bready, sweet virginia with a splash of fruity perique in a beautiful flakey cake
- ? Midnight Ride: bursting with spicy flavors
Gawith Hoggarth and Co.
- 4 Black Irish X: mouth-watering rich jerky flavor, soft and creamy and earthy; strong stuff
- 4 Ennerdale Flake: fragrant and sweet; almond and Lakeland
Hearth & Home
Pipes & Cigars house brand
- 3 Slow Aged - Knotty Pine: lovely fragrance; sweet and tangy virginias and perfume orientals; not a lot of latakia; crumbles and smokes very easily
Lane Limited
- 3 BCA: (a.k.a. Captain Black - Dark) very sweet! pancakes with maple syrup and a hint of fruit, but almost no tobacco flavor
- 2 LL-7: mild and easygoing vanilla and chocolate
- 2 1-Q: (a.k.a. Captain Black - Royal) marshmallows
- 2 Hazelnut: smells wonderful, but the flavor loses the hazelnut thread
- 2 RLP-6: (a.k.a. Captain Black - Original) mild and confusing flavor; a bit like Carter Hall
L. J. Peretti
Mac Baren
- 4 Navy Flake: rich and lovely, dark raisin flavor, possibly a bit too strong
- 3 St. Bruno Flake: very floral and very sweet, but still a bit of Jackknife-like spice and lots of punch
- 2 The Solent Mixture: soft English, more virginia than latakia (gentle sting), a bit too much burley (filler)
Newminster
- 3 #400 Superior Navy Flake: tea with a spot of milk and some honey, bread
- 3 #403 Superior Round Slices: vegetal; a little sweet, a little spicy; wonderful coin presentation
Peterson
- 4 University Flake: berries and cream; burley gives it some body and a bit of a punch; lovely dessert
- 4 Connoisseur's Choice: delicious, luxurious, but hard to pin down; maybe fruity?
Samuel Gawith
Owned by Gawith Hoggarth and Co.
- 4 Full Virginia Flake: superb virginia, many flavors and not too strong; all day forever
- 4 Best Brown Flake: thick, sweet smoke with stewed apples; mouthwatering; mellow
- 4 1792 Flake: soft, mellow, flavorful; mouthwatering tonquin; a bit of an aftertaste; nice dessert
- 4 Kendal Cream Deluxe Flake (KC Flake): sweet persimmon; perfectly nice and not weak
Savinelli
- 3 Cavendish: nice, light, fragrant
Sutliff
- 2 Matured Red Virginia 515 RC-1: burns very hot; tangy and vinegary
Special Blends
- 4 F&K - Lancer's Slices: all-day no-nonsense quality English, smoky and sweet (originally by Charles Fairmorn?)
- 4 Orlik - Golden Sliced: sweet and sour, grassy and energetic, touch of tangerine
- 4 Escudo - Navy De Luxe:
- 2 Erinmore - Mixture: pineapple and coriander? burns a bit hot
Codger Blends
- 3 Carter Hall: burley, some mild cocoa/bourbon flavoring, long burning, pleasant all day smoker
- 2 Missouri Meerschaum - American Patriot: very meh aromatic, not an English at all
- 2 John Bull - True English: solid light latakia, possibly a little bit harsh
- 2 John Bull - Royal English: same, but a bit of cavendish for softer flavor
- 1 Brigadier Black - Sherman's March: nice cocoa-maple aroma but mostly tastes like a regular over-the-counter; bites
- 1 Half and Half: cardamom flavor, irritates my palate