Charles Fairmorn -- Lancer's Slices

Brand: Charles Fairmorn
Blend: Lancer's SLices
Style: Virginia/Latakia
Pipe Used: Savinelli Churchwarden #401
Price: $22.00/8oz.

Appearance: 8
Taste: 9
Room Note: 7
Value: 7
Overall: 8

In various online forum threads about hidden and overlooked tobacco gems the name Lancer's Slices comes up time and again. Perhaps the small size of its manufacturer or the fact that it's only available in bulk has something to do with this relative anonymity. In any case, this is yet another blend that practically called to me so I just had to give it a try.

Charles Fairmorn's Lancer's Slices is an almost jet-black sliced flake composed of Virginia and Latakia and that's it. It may sound deceptively simple but the first whiff of the tobacco's rich, earthy aroma should be the first clue that in you're in for a real treat.

I decided to use my new Savinelli Churchwarden for this test run as it's my pipe dedicated to Latakia heavy blends. I broke up the slices a bit further then stuffed them into the pipe and gave it a light.

I can sum up this review in one word -- bliss! From the first puff right on through to the end this tobacco offered up a rich, satisfying flavor that for me is the very essence of pipe smoking.

The Latakia was a dominant presence yet it was such a high quality leaf that I never tired of the smokey campfire taste or aroma. Backing up this potentially overwhelming onslaught was a rich, sweet Virginia that played off the Latakia to perfection.

Have you ever toasted a marshmallow over a campfire a bit too long until it turned black and charred? Well imagine if there was some way to magically capture the sweetness of the toasted marshmallow along with the rich smoke of the campfire and yet do away with the ashes and soot. That's pretty much the picture that Lancer's Slices painted on my palate and my but it sure was tasty.

I loved the room aroma for much the same reason that I loved the taste but not everyone is going to enjoy that smoldering campfire smell, especially in the house.

Lancer's Slices provided a cool, dry smoke and required only a few relights along the way. I seem to have good luck with sliced flakes and this one was no exception as it chugged right along at a nice slow smolder. There was a bit of wet dottle left at the end due, I'm sure, to me slobbering on the pipe.

If I were to look up the word sublime in Webster's I would see a picture of Charles Fairmorn's Lancer's Slices. I had planned to enjoy a smoke while reading and listening to music but I found the tobacco to be such a delight that the book was quickly forgotten as I shut my eyes, listened to some Telemann, and blissfully puffed on my pipe.

It may well be hidden but this blend is most assuredly a gem.

Cornell & Diehl -- Epiphany

Brand: Cornell & Diehl
Blend: Epiphany
Style: Aromatic/Light English
Pipe Used: Peterson Aran #150 Bulldog
Price: $17.50/8oz.

Appearance: 7
Taste: 6
Room Note: 8
Value: 7
Overall: 7

After hearing much positive word of mouth about this tribute to the old Revelation blend I decided to give Cornell & Diehl's Epiphany a try. While I never had the opportunity to try the original Revelation the description of this blend sounded delightful.

Billed alternately as an American English or light English blend, Epiphany is a real grab bag of tobaccos with Burley, Virgina, Latakia, and Perique all present with a light, fruity topping thrown in as well. This is the type of blend that's supposed to be carefree and easy and is designed to provide that elusive all day smoke.

Epiphany arrives in a fairly thick and long ribbon cut and is predominantly light brown in color with some black pieces of tobacco mixed in for good measure. The aroma of the unlit tobacco is fruity in nature with hints of citrus and berries and the advertised Latakia is just barely detectable as a faint smokey whiff.

To sample the blend I gravity filled my Pete Bulldog and gave it a charring light but for some reason this well-dried tobacco just did not want to burn and it took quite a while to get it going. Sadly, this struggle to keep the pipe lit was to be an ongoing and thoroughly annoying problem from start to finish.

The first few puffs provided a very spicy dose of Perique and this peppery tobacco remained very much front and center throughout the smoke. The fruity sweetness evident in the pre-light aroma came through nicely and played off the spice very well without ever tasting artificial or cloying.

Unfortunately the primary tobacco components in this blend seemed overwhelmed from the get go and were never able to reassert themselves. The nuttiness of the Burley was downplayed, the sweet Virginias were trumped by the topping, and the Latakia was all but absent.

To my palate Epiphany was more of an aromatic Perique blend than a light English and the lack of any depth and complexity in taste was disappointing. It's not an off-putting blend by any means but it just wasn't what I was looking for here.

The room aroma was pleasant and fruity and the lack of any forceful Latakia component certainly helped in that department.

As mentioned earlier, Epiphany was a real bear to keep lit and I'm sure that aggravation did nothing to improve the taste. It did smoke cool and dry which is a given I suppose for a blend that remained unlit for most of its time in the pipe.

Cornell & Diehl's Epiphany is a decent tobacco blend but it just didn't agree with me in either taste or temperament. To qualify as an all day smoke a blend must be in the fire and forget it mold and this one was anything but. And if a tobacco is going to be persnickety then it needs to pay off with a real depth of flavor and here again Epiphany fell short. I just don't see where a spicy aromatic requiring far too much TLC can fit into my regular rotation.

*UPDATE*
In case it seems like I didn't give this stuff a fair shake I want to qualify that I tried Epiphany on four separate occasions in four different pipes (bulldog, billiard, cob, and clay) and had the same problems each time. Since I'm sitting on half a pound of the stuff I'm going to put it way back in the cellar and hope that it comes together a bit better when I "rediscover" it down the road.

McClelland -- Frog Morton

Brand: McClelland
Blend: Frog Morton
Style: Aromatic/English
Pipe Used: Cob
Price: $7.70/1.76oz.

Appearance: 7
Taste: 6
Room Note: 6
Value: 7
Overall: 6

Much of the interest in pipe smoking among the younger generation is due in large part to the influence of J.R.R. Tolkien's masterpiece "The Lord of the Rings" and the recent award-winning movie adaptations. Wise wizards, cheerfully brave Hobbits, and churchwardens stuffed with copious amounts of pipeweed provide a strong visual cue that pipe smoking just might be worth a try. So it shouldn't be surprising that there are many pipe tobacco blends that tip their caps to Tolkien either directly or indirectly.

McClelland's Frog Morton is one such blend that takes its name from a small Hobbit village in the Shire. I have to admit that it was a combination of the interesting name and the overwhelmingly positive word of mouth that convinced me to try this blend so I suppose I'm just as gullible to slick marketing as the next chap.

The tin I acquired was from 2007 so it already had a few years of age on it when I popped it open. The tobacco was a very dark black and brown ribbon-cut blend that gave off a nice aroma of dried fruit and smokey Latakia.

To try it out I loaded up my Missouri Meerschaum Missouri Pride cob and gave it a quick charring light. The tobacco started burning right away so I soon enough set to puffing.

There is some disagreement over whether the good Frog should be classified as an English or aromatic blend and I must say that the tobacco gave off flavors to support both sides of the argument.

The Latakia was discernible but not nearly as strong as in most English blends while the Virginias were noticeable but also a tad weak on the palate. There was also an obvious topping of some sort that wasn't overpowering but did give the blend a light, fruity taste.

And that's the flavor profile that stayed with the blend from start to finish. For my purposes I'm happy to call Frog Morton an aromatic English and that happens to be a sub-category of which I'm quite fond.

That being said the blend, while tasty, quickly became rather boring as none of its component parts ever truly shone. Frog Morton is first and foremost a mild blend and just didn't provide enough of interest after a while.

The room aroma was better than most English blends but the Latakia, while muted, still provided a bit of funk that's unlikely to be favorably sniffed by others.

Frog Morton was very easy to smoke as it came out of the tin at the perfect level of dryness and burned cleanly down to the ash with no fuss. That's one characteristic that's always appreciated in a tobacco blend.

McClelland's Frog Morton is a nice cross-over blend that might appeal to aromatic smokers looking to dip their toes into English waters but most experienced pipers will find it too bland to satisfy their yen for a true English blend. That's not to say that it doesn't make a nice change of pace smoke as it's a very well-behaved blend that isn't too tasking on an otherwise occupied smoker.

As a die-hard Tolkien fan it's a given that I'll eventually sample just about any tobacco with a Middle Earth pedigree. And while I didn't find Frog Morton to be all that interesting I'm already looking forward to trying his cousins On the Town, Across the Pond, and On the Bayou as a little added kick is just what this blend really needs.

Altadis -- Voodoo Queen

Brand: Altadis
Blend: Voodoo Queen
Style: English/Aromatic
Pipe Used: Cob
Price: $7.72/4oz.

Appearance: 8
Taste: 6
Room Note: 6
Value: 8
Overall: 7

Sometimes you decide to try a new blend based on purely superficial reasons such as tin art, name, price, or blending house. Having lived in New Orleans for a few years I was intrigued enough by the marketing verbiage for Altadis's Voodoo Queen that I bought four ounces a few months back. Since I was very pleasantly surprised by their Count Pulaski blend I figured I didn't have much to lose given the low price.

Voodoo Queen is a very dark broken flake that is advertised as being an English-style blend of mocha slices, Latakia, and Perique. I'm not sure what a mocha slice is but I'm guessing it's a Virginia/Burley leaf blend. The aroma out of the jar was similar to most light English or Balkan blends with smoky Latakia and hints of spice layered on top of an underlying Virginia sweetness.

To sample the blend I grabbed a wad of the broken flakes and gently stuffed them into my trusty cob. I should have let it dry a bit as it took a while to get the pipe lit but once I got a nice smolder going it stayed burning for quite a while.

The tobacco started off with a mellow flavor as none of the various constituent parts of the blend were all that forceful. The Latakia was noticeable but fairly mild while the Perique was evident in a slight spiciness but it too seemed to be doled out with a conservative hand. The VA/Bur component was fairly sweet but lacked the depth of flavor found in a heavier English blend.

As for the so-called mocha, I did notice a faint hint of bittersweet chocolate similar to the taste of a maduro cigar but this particular flavor profile can be found in many aged and pressed leaves so I have to chalk this blend's advertised uniqueness up to sheer marketing.

That being said, what flavor there was remained consistent and provided for a long enjoyable smoke with no aftertaste. I just prefer more kick from my English blends.

And aside from the initial lighting issues the tobacco was well behaved in the pipe and provided a nice cool smoke. As is my custom with flakes I avoided tamping and just let the tobacco unravel as it burned and that seemed to work just fine.

The room aroma was typical for a Latakia blend meaning you'll either love it or hate it with most innocent bystanders falling firmly in the latter camp.

Voodoo Queen is an interesting blend that didn't quite live up to its billing. It's a nice enough smoke and one certainly can't quibble on the price but I think there are many better blends to be found in this category. Still, I appreciate the fact that Altadis is willing to experiment with numerous new blends for the piper even in the face of the seemingly unstoppable forces arrayed against our hobby.