Cornell & Diehl -- Pirate Kake

Brand: Cornell & Diehl
Blend: Pirate Kake
Style: English
Pipe Used: No-Name Apple
Price: $27.60/16oz.

Appearance: 9
Taste: 9
Room Note: 7
Value: 10
Overall: 9

Recently I ordered a pound of Cornell & Diehl's Pirate Kake purely on a whim. I had never so much as tried the blend before but at such a low price I decided I might as well get an entire brick of the stuff and hope for the best.

The tobacco arrived as one large pressed kake sealed in plastic and was dated just four days prior to when my order was placed so this was one young blend to be sure. The kake was soft and pliable and a tad on the moist side and was composed of jet black tobacco with a few brown flecks mixed in. The aroma reminded me of a campfire log that had burned to coals overnight and been dampened by the morning dew. To many folks that is not a pleasant smell but to me it's pure bliss which probably explains why I'm such a fan of these strong latakia blends.

To give it a try I broke off a nugget of the kake, dropped it into my pipe, and sprinkled a bit of rubbed out tobacco on top to act as tinder. The stuff lit right up and once that piece of kake got a nice ember going it refused to go out. I never had to relight the pipe and only tamped it a bit more out of habit than necessity. The pipe was even left on the workbench for minutes at a time while I changed the wiper blades on my car and still it wouldn't stop smoldering. At the end there was only ash and a wee bit of soggy tobacco leftover which isn't bad considering how damp the blend was to start with.

So it burned perfectly which counts for something but how did it taste? C&D defines Pirate Kake as a blend with lots of Latakia accompanied by Turkish and Cavendish cut Burley so the dominant flavor, not surprisingly, is the Latakia which reminded me of the leaf that's used in Count Pulaski. Since that ranks as one of my favorite tobaccos I knew I was in for a treat.

Taste and smell go hand in hand and I can't fully describe one without the other so when I say that this blend reminded me of a well-oiled baseball glove or the seats in a vintage roadster I'm not implying that I've tasted either one but when I smoke this blend those are the images that come to my mind.

I could happily puff all day long on a pipe that offered nothing more than that but with this blend there's the addition of the Turkish and Burley tobaccos to consider. The Oriental leaf added a nice, underlying hint of spice and a bit of robust cigar flavor to the blend while the stoved Burley brought a nutty richness that kept the flavors nicely balanced.

The room aroma was about what once would expect from a heavy Latakia blend. I enjoyed it immensely but I'm not daft enough to think anyone else would so for me this is a blend best enjoyed in solitary comfort where a man can revel in the smell of burning gym socks if he so chooses.

It was a risky move buying a full pound of this stuff on a whim but in this day and age it's often best to get while the gettin's good and in this instance the bet paid off handsomely indeed. With excellent flavor and perfect burning characteristics, Pirate Kake stands as my favorite Cornell & Diehl blend to date. It's certainly not a tobacco for everybody but is highly recommended for all Latakia fans and those with fond memories of standing out in center field chewing the leather laces off their mitts. OK, I admit it, I have tasted a baseball glove before so sue me.

Cornell & Diehl -- Bayou Morning

Brand: Cornell & Diehl
Blend: Bayou Morning
Style: Virginia/Perique
Pipe Used: Savinelli #313 Prince
Price: $18.59/8 oz.

Appearance: 8
Taste: 8
Room Note: 7
Value: 10
Overall: 8

Cornell & Diehl's Bayou Morning is one of their many VA/Per offerings that can be had at a ridiculously low price in bulk form so I decided to try some out with my latest tobacco order. The blend is a ribbon-cut mixture of medium to dark brown tobacco with streaks of black Perique. The aroma is that of tangy sweet Virginia leaf with hints of cocoa and black pepper.

Once my pipe was loaded I gave it a charring light, tamped, and then gave it a relight whereupon I was immediately met with a very strong spicy taste which forcefully announced the presence of the Perique. This almost overwhelming jolt of flavor lasted until the first embers began to smolder and the flames from the initial light dampened a bit. Whew, I thought I was in trouble for a while there!

After that first smack across the face the blend then began to blossom and the sweet Virginia flavors emerged to temper the Perique a bit. But at no point did that spicy leaf ever fade into the background and any heavy-handed puffing soon brought it back to the fore with a vengeance.

The hint of bittersweet chocolate that was evident in the pouch aroma also played out upon the palate and offered up the perfect contrast to the zesty Perique. This combination of spiciness and sweetness put me in mind of such Latin fare as mole sauce or even the fresh melon sprinkled with hot chili powder found at many a roadside stand.

Bayou Morning provided that classic VA/Per flavor profile but it teetered right on the edge of being a flat-out spice-bomb. That's not a knock against the blend but it certainly does make it stand out among its peers.

The room aroma was fairly pleasant but the mustiness from the strong Perique presence provided a bit too much funk to the smoke to be truly enjoyable.

The blend was well-behaved in the pipe and only required a few relights. As mentioned, fast smoking is a no-no with this one unless you typically order your Thai food at level 5.

Cornell & Diehl's Bayou Morning is one VA/Per that isn't afraid to fly its Perique flag high and proud. It's far and away the spiciest blend I've yet had and provides more flavor in one small bowl than should be legal. At C&D's typically insane low price this is a blend well worth stocking up on and I can't wait to see what a few years will do to meld and temper the extreme flavors a bit.

If I wasn't already slavishly devoted to Haddo's Delight as my morning with coffee blend then Bayou Morning would be a prime candidate to take its place. I guess the name really does fit the blend in this case.

Cornell & Diehl -- Three Friars

Brand: Cornell & Diehl
Blend: Three Friars
Style: Virginia, Burley & Perique
Pipe Used: 1/8 Bent Acorn
Price: $18.59/8oz.

Appearance: 9
Taste: 9
Room Note: 8
Value: 10
Overall: 9

Cornell & Diehl's Three Friars is advertised as a light VA/Per with Burley and I decided to add some to a recent tobacco order. The blend is a light brown ribbon-cut with sparse flecks of black Perique sprinkled throughout. The aroma is lightly sweet and sour with a hint of raisins and the tobacco arrived at the perfect moisture level for immediate smoking.

Upon lighting my no-name acorn I immediately tasted the nutty, tart sweetness typical of quality Burley and Virginia and this was to remain the dominant taste throughout the smoke. The Perique added a nice bit of zesty spice and mustiness but was very much in the background. Three was also a very faint hint of citrus that nicely offset the spiciness. If I had to sum up Three Friars in a few words I would say it's like a top-shelf Carter Hall with pizazz.

The room aroma was fairly benign even though the blend produced lots of smoke.

The tobacco burned clean and dry right down to the bottom of the bowl with only a few relights. There was a noticeable nicotine kick but nothing too overpowering.

C&D's Three Friars is a fine tobacco but I would classify it as a Burley blend rather than a VA/Per since the Perique was so subdued. Considered as a Burley it certainly shines and features much higher quality tobaccos than what is found in most OTC blends. And the crazy part is that it is even cheaper than those classic drugstore tubs. Three Friars might not break into my VA/Per rotation but it will certainly kick those lesser Burley blends to the curb.

The combination of light taste, stellar burn characteristics, and low price make Three Friars one of those much sought after all-day smokes and on that front it comes very highly recommended.

Gawith, Hoggarth & Co. -- Sweet Rum Twist

Brand: Gawith, Hoggarth & Co.
Blend: Sweet Rum Twist
Style: Twist
Pipe Used: No-name Apple
Price: $6.89/1oz.

Appearance: 9
Taste: 8
Room Note: 6
Value: 6
Overall: 7

When you embark upon the hobby that is pipe smoking it's with the understanding that you're venturing into a world rich in history. And nothing harkens back to the days of old quite like classic rope or twist tobacco. This is the stuff that was chewed, snuffed, and smoked before the days of our relatively modern tobacco mixtures and flakes.

I've always been intrigued by the gnarly looking ropes of tobacco featured on many a tobacconist's shelves -- virtual or otherwise -- but was scared off by the notoriously strong flavor and high nicotine content typically found in this style of tobacco. But in my latest order I finally worked up the courage to add in a sample of Gawith, Hoggarth & Co.'s Sweet Rum Twist.

When the tobacco arrived I was greeted with about a seven inch long tobacco rope (thanks for the generous extra amount smokingpipes.com!) that was fairly moist and had that rich tobacco aroma I typically find in my cigar humidors -- what a great scent! I sliced off three thin coins of the stuff, rubbed it out into ribbon form, and then set it aside to dry overnight.

When I went to load up my no-name apple-shaped pipe this afternoon the tobacco was still a bit moist but I still forged ahead. It took a few extra charring lights to get it going but soon I had a lit pipe and an insanely great volume of deep, rich tobacco smoke swirling about my head.

Sweet Rum Twist is supposedly made up of full-leaf Virginia tobacco that's topped with a sugar and rum mixture before being twisted into ropes and cold-pressed. So what you have here is a pipe tobacco blend that is created in much the same way as a rudimentary cigar so perhaps it shouldn't come as a surprise that the flavors reminded me very much of a good cigar while at the same time tasting nothing like a cigar -- if that makes any sense.

The taste was very full and strong but still pleasant with the natural Virginia sweetness combining with the added sugars to bring out a robust flavor similar to a mild cigar but without the complexity that comes with the addition of the wrapper and binder leaves. And the faint presence of rum also reminded my palate of Esoterica's Stonehaven to some extent although the Rum Twist was much stronger.

Make no mistake, this blend is very heavy as the lack of stoving or heat-treating of any kind makes for a very raw and powerful tobacco flavor and punch.

As mentioned, this blend produced scads of smoke and it was pretty heady stuff as well so it isn't likely to win any prizes in the room note department.

Since the tobacco was moist I had to relight the pipe frequently but that actually helped in a way by causing me to slow down and not smoke as fast as I usually do which is probably why I encountered no ill effects from the heavy nicotine content. Since I tend to be very sensitive to the vitamin N this is probably the smoking cadence I'll stick to with this blend.

Gawith, Hoggarth & Co.'s Sweet Rum Twist is true tobacco classic and I'm glad I finally worked up the nerve to give it a try. What I found was a strong tobacco loaded with heavy flavors and lots of smoke that should be smoked slowly and savored while the mind harkens back to the time of tall ships and tobacco-loving sailors.

This certainly won't become a part of my regular rotation but as an occasional treat Sweet Rum Twist fits in nicely between typical pipe blends and cigars on the tobacco strength continuum.

Oliva Serie V Maduro Especial

Brand: Oliva
Cigar: Serie V Maduro Especial
Shape: Torpedo
Size: 6.5" x 52
Wrapper: Connecticut
Filler: Nicaraguan
Binder: Nicaraguan
Price: $11.99

Appearance: 8
Construction: 8
Taste: 8
Value: 7
Overall: 8

While most of my smoking these days has focused on pipes I still have a hankering for a cigar from time to time and with a fridgador full of singles there's always something new to try. I'm a big fan of Oliva cigars and decided to fire up a limited production Serie V maduro torpedo this afternoon.

The torpedo is 6.5 inches long with a ring gauge of 52 and features a dark brown maduro wrapper. Construction was perfect with a nice tight wrapper and well-rolled tobacco evident from examining the foot of the cigar.

I snipped the tip off with my Palio cutter, toasted the foot, and started smoking.

The flavor of this cigar was very complex while still remaining mild to medium on the palate. The predominant flavor was cedar-like and it took me a few minutes to realize that what I was tasting was more akin to smoldering mesquite chips on a BBQ grill. There was a bit of spice as well but the maduro wrapper tempered it with creamy unsweetened cocoa and coffee flavors. As the smoke progressed these savory elements really took hold and made for an enjoyable cigar experience.

The Serie V torpedo burned well and required only a few touch ups to keep the burn line even. Smoke output was fairly subdued and non-obtrusive for such a large cigar and the nicotine hit was fairly strong. The cigar lasted for well over an hour until all that was left was a pile of rough gray ash.

The Oliva Serie V Maduro Especial is a great cigar featuring the Oliva family's standard fine attention to detail. As a limited edition it is pricier than their typical offerings but is well worth the added investment.

McClelland -- Beacon

Brand: McClelland
Blend: Beacon
Style: Virginia/Perique
Pipe Used: Cob
Price: Free Sample

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

McClelland's Beacon is a blend that was originally part of the Pipe Collectors Club of America (PCCA) line of tobaccos. Since it has always been blended and tinned by McClelland it's likely that the newer batches follow the same formula as the older incarnation. Since I've only ever smoked the newer stuff that's what this review will cover.

Beacon is a Virginia/Perique blend made up of lemon yellow and orange Virginia leaf combined with a touch of Louisiana Perique. The tobacco arrives in a broken flake and is medium brown in color with obvious flecks of those bright Virginias peeking through. The tin aroma is slightly sweet and full of that classic McClelland tang.

The sample I was given dates from 2007 but was obviously well cared for as the flakes were still pliable and a bit moist. To get started I grabbed a pinch of the broken flakes and stuffed them into my Missouri Pride natural cob. It took a few charring lights to really get things going but after that the blend burned nicely even with a heavy dose of ambient humidity.

Beacon started off with a light, sugary taste that had none of the heavier molasses overtones often found in darker VA flakes. The lemon and orange Virginias lived up to their names and delivered a delightfully astringent citrus zing that reminded me a bit of kaffir lime leaves. And rounding out the flavor profile was just enough Perique to add some much-needed depth and a jolt of pepper to the mix. To my taste buds this was essentially Thai lemongrass soup in a pipe and provided a perfect balance of tangy, sweet, and spicy.

The room aroma was fairly light as well but there was a bit of mustiness evident from the Perique and the tobacco gave off a constant wisp of smoke as it smoldered in the pipe.

I'm a bit of a fast smoker but had no problems with tongue bite as the blend burned down to the bottom of the bowl leaving nothing but dry ash. I did have to relight the pipe regularly but that's the norm for me and flakes.

As a big fan of VA/Pers I had been looking forward to giving this well-regarded McClelland creation a try for quite some time and all I can say is that I was not disappointed. Beacon's bright Virginias added a lighter dimension than is typical for this genre and it proved to be the perfect smoke for a hot summer night. This is a truly remarkable blend and I fully intend to add some more tins to my tobacco cellar post haste.

G.L. Pease -- Haddo's Delight

Brand: G.L. Pease
Blend: Haddo's Delight
Style: Virginia/Perique
Pipe Used: Mario Grandi Poker
Price: Free Sample

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

Haddo's Delight is a blend I've heard much about and which was on my "to try" list for a long while before a tobacco trade finally netted me a nice sample. There is a lengthy and ongoing online argument over whether or not this tobacco should be classified as a Virginia/Perique blend since it also contains Burley and a quite obvious topping of some sort. For me the proof is in the pudding and ancillary flavors aside this one sure tastes like a stout VA/Per to me.

One thing I've always appreciated about Greg Pease's blends is that he takes the naming of his fine creations seriously and a cursory investigation of this particular concoction reveals some very interesting tidbits that portend what a pipeful of this weed has in store for the smoker.

Aleister Crowley was an infamous English occultist of the early 20th century and among his many passions was a love for smoking straight Perique tobacco. Even the most ardent fans of this unique leaf would be hard-pressed to stomach such a full-on onslaught of this typically condimental tobacco.

Oliver Haddo was a character featured in W. Somerset Maugham's novel "The Magician" and was loosely based on the occultist. Crowley was none too pleased with this skewering of his character and later adopted the Oliver Haddo nom de plume to write a scathing rebuttal in which he pointed out Maugham's plagiaristic tendencies.

So from this bit of literary history one can assume that a tobacco named Haddo's Delight will likely be a Perique-laden blend filled with a cutting sharpness.

The tobacco itself is a Virgina/Perique blend with some added Cavendish and Burley to flesh out the flavors. The tobacco is a mixture of ribbon and cross-cut tobaccos that span the range from almost white to jet black in color. The tin aroma is lusciously sweet and smells to me like rum raisin. And here we run into yet another controversy regarding Haddo's Delight, namely does it feature a topping of some sort or not. While many claim that the aroma is due strictly to the melange of tobaccos my nose detects alcohol, namely dark rum, so until proven wrong I'm convinced that there is in fact a liquor topping used here and I have absolutely no problem with that.

Over the past few days I've tried this tobacco in cobs as well as my dedicated Va/Per pipe, a stubby Mario Grandi poker shape. The tobacco loaded easily, lit right up, and was a snap to smoke as it burned well and required no fussing to keep the pipe going.

Haddo's Delight provided a wonderful flavor range as the various types of tobacco made their presences known on the palate. The dominant tastes were sweet, savory, and meaty, akin almost to the umami flavor of Japanese teriyaki. This was accompanied by a spicy tingle and rounded out with a delightful caramelized sugar aftertaste. It was a bit less sweet than most Va/Pers but certainly spicier.

Perique is a peculiar tobacco that can be both spicy and savory depending on its use and in this blend we get the best of both attributes as it adds a background hint of Szechuan mushrooms to the mix. Some folks find even the smallest dose of Perique intolerable and while I love the stuff I can readily tell it's present in a blend as I get a tingling sensation on my lips and face while smoking. In Haddo's Delight the Perique is a force to be reckoned with as I was hit with not only that pleasant prickling sensation but also a bit of numbness as well. For those who can't abide this leaf you should stay far away from this blend!

The pipe aroma was both sharp and sweet and the voluminous clouds of smoke made for a pungent smell in the room.

As mentioned, the blend burned well and left nothing but a very fine gray ash in the bowl. The ash was so fine in fact that even the slightest bit of puffing back into the pipe resulted in a mini eruption of ash onto my shirt.

Haddo's Delight is yet another masterpiece from G.L. Pease. And while its very forceful nature won't appeal to every pipe smoker I found it to be a perfect morning blend as it goes great with a cup of coffee and provides enough zest to help get my day started. Whether Aleister Crowley would approve is another matter entirely but I dare say that he wouldn't feel compelled to adopt his Oliver Haddo persona in order to take Mr. Pease to task.

McClelland -- Christmas Cheer 2007

Brand: McClelland
Blend: Christmas Cheer 2007
Style: Virginia
Pipe Used: Amalfi #313
Price: Free Sample

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

As winter approaches I always seek out a tin of the new Christmas Cheer to add to my cellar. Since I've been planning to age each tin for at least five years I hadn't actually had a chance to try any of this blend's various incarnations until a friendly trade landed a sample of the 2007 vintage in my lap.

Christmas Cheer 2007 is described as a zesty Red Virginia culled from the 2001 crop and then pressed into flakes. I've always treated single-crop blends like fine wines and put them aside for further aging before smoking. I'm a sucker for holiday themed pipe tobacco and love good quality Virginia flakes so I was very eager to finally put some of this stuff to the match.

The tobacco was a dark brown broken flake and had that funky aroma unique to McClelland's Virginia blends. Often referred to as a ketchup, or vinegar-like smell, I've always equated it with the sweet smell of fermentation and never minded its presence in other blends. But the Christmas Cheer 2007 really had it in spades and smelled more like sauerkraut mixed with ginger snaps than pipe tobacco.

Since this is a broken flake I used the sticks method to load my pipe. First I gathered up a pinch of the tobacco in my fingers, oriented it so most of the bunch was pointing in the same direction like a bundle of sticks, pushed it down into my pipe, and then used my fingers to pinch off the excess from the top of the bowl. The trick with this method is to get a good burn going then put that tamper away lest you muck things up.

The first few puffs gave off that sweet hay-like flavor often found in light Virginias and once I got the pipe going I slowed way down as gentle sipping typically brings out the best in VA blends. Well in this case slow smoking only seemed to bring that tangy tartness hinted at by the strong tin aroma to the fore and that is not a flavor profile I seek out while enjoying Virginias. The taste was akin to that of a soured pipe and that is just not tasty at all.

But once I picked up the pace and started puffing like a chimney the blend went right back to being tasty and sweet with hints of citrus. Odd behavior to be sure and I'm still not sure what to make of it. And since a heavy hand was required I was glad that I was smoking a thick-walled pipe otherwise it surely would have gotten too hot.

The aroma was fairly decent and for all the moaning about the strong fermented tin aroma and tobacco taste none of those sour notes appeared in the room note -- thankfully.

Flakes tend to require a bit more tending than mixtures and this one was no different. As mentioned, I avoided tamping and just stuck to occasional relights to keep the tobacco going strong. And since I seldom have problems with tongue bite I had no issues with this blend.

After all is said and done I still don't know what to make of Christmas Cheer 2007. I'm of the camp that typically finds the McClelland "aroma" to be an indicator of well-aged and actively fermenting Virginias but in this case the smell and subsequent flavor were a bit too forceful. So I'm left with more questions than answers: will these blends mellow with age or is this the flavor I can expect to find with other vintages as well?

Now that I know how to smoke it to get the most from this blend I intend to enjoy the rest of my 2007 sample while glancing at my other Christmas Cheers and wondering what they have in store for me down the road.

McCranie's -- Red Ribbon (2000)

Brand: McCranie's
Blend: Red Ribbon (2000)
Style: Virginia
Pipe Used: Amalfi #313
Price: $8.95/1.76oz.

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

McCranie's Red Ribbon is a straight Red Virginia blend sourced from a single vintage of prime North Carolina leaf, harvested in this particular case in 2000. The tin opens to reveal a ribbon-cut blend of well-aged and fermented red tobacco leaf that covers the color spectrum from very dark brown through medium red and into bright yellow. The tin aroma is magnificent with a rich sweetness backed by a hint of citrus and dried cherries.

My tin appeared to be at the perfect moisture level so I loaded up one of my dedicated Virginia pipes and gave it a light. The tobacco took a few relights to really get going as it was a bit wetter than I at first thought.

The Red Ribbon started off with a subtle sweet taste before hints of tangy lemon and cherry liqueur began to appear. There was also that great nuttiness I usually find with Red Virginias and the tobacco finished with a bit of a spicy kick.

The room aroma was fairly nice but did get acrid when the pipe was smoked too hastily.

I never have issues with tongue burn so I can't report on that front but the blend did require regular relights and left behind a bit of damp dottle. Guess it wasn't nearly as ready to smoke as I at first thought.

McCranie's Red Ribbon (2000) is a wonderful blend and its single source origin makes it possible to compare and contrast it to previous iterations if you're lucky enough to have some of the '83 and '96 crop on hand. Full of flavor, this is a Virginia that is sure to benefit from further aging.

Now comes the big question, how does Red Ribbon compare to its kissing cousin McClelland's 5100 Red Cake? While the McCranie's version is a vintage tin, McClelland's similar offering is available only in bulk. At first glance the Red Ribbon is darker than the 5100 due to the comparative age of the tobaccos but the cut, aroma, and smoking characteristics are all very similar.

So how about the taste? Here we find the biggest difference as the Red Ribbon offers up a deeper, more nuanced flavor than the much brighter and spicier 5100 and at no point would I ever confuse the two. Red Ribbon is the single-malt or prime vintage to 5100's blended nature. Both are excellent but they are not one and the same. For my money I actually prefer the zestier 5100.

And while the 5100 Red Cake can indeed be had at cheaper bulk rates, the price per tin of the Red Ribbon is on par with similar offerings and not at all excessive for such a premium product.

Samuel Gawith -- Full Virginia Flake

Brand: Samuel Gawith
Blend: Full Virginia Flake
Style: Virginia
Pipe Used: Savinelli Oscar #313
Price: $31.50/16oz.

Appearance: 9
Taste: 9
Room Note: 7
Value: 10
Overall: 9

Samuel Gawith's Full Virginia Flake certainly qualifies as a touchstone tobacco as no discussion of straight Virginia blends will go on for too long before this one is mentioned. It may not be right at the top of everyone's list but FVF somehow always manages to crack the top ten.

I first bought a tin of Full Virginia Flake about three years ago and since I was still fairly new to pipe smoking I had a hard time enjoying it and soon gave it away to some fellow newbies over at Smokers Forums.

Fast forward a few years and I found myself enjoying straight Virginias and ranking FVF's stablemate, Best Brown Flake, as one of my top 5 tobaccos so I figured it was high time to revisit Full Virginia Flake.

Of course deciding to reacquaint myself with FVF was only half the battle as most pipe smokers know that Samuel Gawith blends are very hard to come by these days. Fortunately I was able to score a whole pound of it in bulk form during the most recent window of opportunity. It may sound daft to buy that much of a tobacco I once had issues with but at the paltry price of $31 per pound it's really a no-brainer as I could easily trade it away if it failed to live up to my lofty expectations.

Recent batches from Samuel Gawith have been arriving fairly moist as the pent-up demand has allowed no time for proper aging. With that in mind I set out a few flakes to dry over the course of the day before rubbing them out and loading my pipe. I often smoke flakes folded and stuffed but given the residual moisture I figured the rubbed out mixture would burn the best.

The thick flakes were dark brown with streaks of white, sugary goodness running lengthwise and had the rich aroma of brandied fruit. There was also a slightly piquant fragrance common to under-aged tobacco which leads me to the one big caveat for this review -- Full Virginia Flake is a blend that practically begs to be aged and the fact that I'm smoking this stuff fresh off the boat means that my review would most likely be very different were the tobacco cellared for a few years beforehand.

While some straight Virginias have a subtle flavor that must be gently coaxed from the pipe, Full Virginia Flake came out swinging with a strong, in-your-face presence. This full-bodied blend has an astringent quality that adds a fermented, sauerkraut-like element to the subtly sweet Virginias. Whereas many VAs are sweet through and through this blend is about half sweet and half savory sort of akin to a mincemeat pie.

To my palate, FVF had many of the same qualities as a well-aged bourbon with its dark molasses element mingling with tongue-tingling tartness and backed up with grassy, oaken undertones. And just as with whiskey, gentle sipping brought forth even more flavors in the form of citrus and maple.

The room aroma was fairly inoffensive although certainly stronger than most Virginia tobaccos and that fermented tang was detectable.

The blend burned evenly and didn't require any fussing as it smoked down to dry, gray ash. FVF also didn't cause any tongue bite but it did deliver a roundhouse kick of nicotine when I got carried away puffing while reading so I would recommend a slow and steady smoking pace with this rascal.

What more can I say? Samuel Gawith's Full Virginia Flake is a top-notch tobacco that's packed with flavor and the promise of even more a few years down the road. I still give a slight edge to Best Brown Flake as I prefer something a tad lighter most of the time but I fully intend to keep my cellar well stocked with FVF and can't wait to revisit it as it ages. At a real steal of a price I say buy it and smoke if you can get it.

Cornell & Diehl -- Gentlemen Callers

Brand: Cornell & Diehl
Blend: Gentlemen Callers
Style: Aromatic
Pipe Used: Savinelli Natural #313
Price: Free Sample

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

Since embarking on this great pipe adventure a few years ago I've been intrigued by those few blends that still utilize the herb deer tongue as it seems to hearken back to days of old. Also known as wild vanilla, deer tongue was often used to add a slight vanilla essence to tobacco and while it's been replaced by artificial flavorings in most contemporary blends there are still a few options available for those who want to give this old school taste a try.

Cornell & Diehl's Gentlemen Callers in one such blend and I was thrilled to receive a sample with some estate pipes I bought a few weeks ago. The tobacco is a cross-cut mixture of light brown tobaccos with a few darker strands thrown in as well as obvious bits of pale green deer tongue. The aroma is light and sweet and reminded me of potpourri.

After loading up my Savinelli Natural I gave the tobacco a quick light and away I went. The tobacco burned evenly and quickly and before I knew it the bowl contained nothing but a bit of dark gray ash. This stuff defines smokeability as all I ever had to do to keep it burning was give it a light tamp every so often.

Gentleman Callers is advertised as a blend containing Burley, Virginia, Perique, and, of course, deer tongue. And to me it sure tasted like a lightly fragranced VA/Per. The deer tongue was immediately noticeable as it added an herbal, almost medicinal, vanilla flavor that was quite enjoyable and seemed to mesh perfectly with the Perique.

The darker tobacco added a bit of smokiness that I usually attribute to Latakia so either there is in fact a bit of that glorious weed present or some of the Virginias are very heavily stoved so as to give off a similar taste. And while a hint of whiskey is evident in the aroma of the tobacco I didn't ever taste any such topping while smoking.

All in all the blend was slightly sweet with a nice tangy and spicy aftertaste but I found it to be a tad overwhelming in too high a dose so I'll likely stick to smaller pipes while smoking this as an occasional treat.

The room note was quite nice and had the same potpourri smell as the dry tobacco. And since the tobacco has such a unique and persistent aroma it's a safe bet that it'll ghost a pipe in no time so one might want to stick with cobs or briars already dedicated to aromatics while smoking this blend.

In the end I found Cornell & Diehl's Gentlemen Callers to be a very unique pipe tobacco that's loaded with flavor and aroma and smokes like a charm. I have to say that my first experience with deer tongue has been an eye-opener and I can't wait to hunt down more blends featuring this herb. It's a bit too fragrant to become a regular smoke for me but I sure do appreciate the effort that went into crafting such a classic, old-style American blend.

McClelland -- 5100 Red Cake

Brand: McClelland
Blend: 5100 Red Cake
Style: Virginia
Pipe Used: Savinelli Oscar #313
Price: $23.65/8oz.

Appearance: 9
Taste: 10
Room Note: 9
Value: 8
Overall: 9

McClelland is one of the premier pipe tobacco companies in the world and out of their literally hundreds of distinct offerings one meager little bulk blend is consistently mentioned whenever talk turns to straight Virginias and that singular blend is 5100 Red Cake. I'm not sure why it's taken me so long to get around to trying this tobacco but better late than never.

The blend is a fully rubbed out, ribbon-cut red cake mixture of various Virginias with the medium brown, or "red," leaf being predominant. In the pouch the aroma is that of raisins and if you blindfolded me and offered up samples of 5100 and Sun-Maid raisins to smell I would be hard pressed to differentiate between the two. And that particular smell means that the tobacco is both sweet and on its way down fermentation lane which is just the thing for a Virginia blend.

Since my order arrived a bit moist I let a bit dry for a few hours then loaded up my Savinelli Oscar #313 and gave it a charring light. Even with the drying the tobacco was reluctant to burn and it took a few tamps and relights to get things going.

The first few puffs delivered a delectable sweetness that was more subdued than most 100% Virginia blends. This was tempered by a nice nuttiness that reminded me more of Burley than Virginia leaf. Added to this was a faint cinnamon-like spiciness that really pulled the flavors together.

It took a few bowls before it finally hit me and I realized that the taste of the 5100 Red Cake reminded me of the cinnamon roasted almonds we used to get at the mall when I was a kid. Not nearly as sweet of course but it had that same interplay of sugar, spice, and roasted nuts.

The room aroma was also top-notch and reminded me of burning leaves with the occasional whiff of cinnamon-scented candles.

The only drawback with the 5100 was that it did require frequent relights but it still managed to burn clean down to the ash with no dottle or excessive moisture left in the bowl.

McClelland's 5100 Red Cake is a stellar Virginia blend and after spending the last few weeks with it I now understand why so many folks sing its praises so highly. While some find it to be one-dimensional in taste I found it to be quite the opposite with a wonderful mixture of complimentary flavors.

Rumored to be a frequent component of many other blends, 5100 stands plenty tall on its own merits and I found it to be one of the tastiest tobaccos I've smoked. Available exclusively in bulk (unless you're lucky enough to stumble on one of the tins produced in 2005 for the Bufflehead Pipe Shop), this is a blend that promises to improve with age and the only question left for me is just how much of the stuff I can cram into my cellar.

I do have one further, and rather odd, note to add. We've all heard of ghosting as it refers to lingering flavors left in a pipe but is it possible to experience olfactory ghosting I wonder? I've been smoking 5100 in various cobs and briars and all have been dedicated Virginia pipes yet hours after I've finished my smoke I find that I catch faint whiffs of Latakia -- a leaf which is, of course, absent from this blend. It's almost as if my sensory memory is adding the Latakia after the fact because the 5100 is somehow reminding me of the Virginias found in quality English blends. Wishful thinking on the part of my schnoz or perhaps 5100 is in fact a blending tobacco used in some of the Englishes I smoke. Either way it has to be one of the oddest things to happen to me so far in this hobby.

John Patton -- Moe's Confetti

Brand: John Patton
Blend: Moe's Confetti
Style: Burley
Pipe Used: Cob
Price: $8.99/4oz.

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

John Patton, AKA "The Cobfather," is a vocal proponent off all things related to corncob pipes and is also a tobacco blender whose wares are available through 4Noggins. Mr. Patton is also a fan of the classic drugstore tobaccos and his Moe's Confetti is an homage to those old pipe-smoking standbys.

Moe's Confetti is a coarse-cut Burley blend and the sample I received arrived at the perfect moisture level. The tobacco in the bag had a subtle smell of roasted nuts with just a hint of sweetness.

Since it wouldn't have felt right to smoke this blend in anything but a cob I loaded up my trusty old Missouri Meerschaum Missouri Pride and gave the tobacco a light. And that was the last time I had to pick up my lighter as the blend burned evenly, coolly, and completely down to the ash with only a bit of gentle tamping being required. How can you not love a tobacco that well behaved?

As for the taste, Moe's Confetti was full of that classic Burley nuttiness with just a touch of sugary maple/cocoa sweetness. The blend maintained this singular flavor profile throughout the smoke but I'm certainly not complaining as I enjoyed every minute of it.

Truth be told, Moe's Confetti is merely a combination of some bulk Burley and Carter Hall but something about this thrown together blend sure hits the spot.

The room aroma of this blend was also very pleasant and had that classic pipe smell that even many non-smokers find enjoyable.

I'm afraid that Moe's Confetti has spoiled me on straight-up drugstore Burley blends since it can be purchased in bulk at a lower price than the tubs of those classics. As much as I do appreciate the Prince, Sir Walter, and all the rest, good old Moe has bested the lot of them. This is a top-notch effort from John Patton and is very highly recommended for fans of Burley blends.

Peter Stokkebye -- Luxury Bulls Eye Flake

Brand: Peter Stokkebye
Blend: Luxury Bulls Eye Flake
Style: Virginia/Perique
Pipe Used: Mario Grandi Freehand Poker
Price: $17.99/8oz.

Appearance: 10
Taste: 8
Room Note: 8
Value: 9
Overall: 9

Continuing my foray into the world of Peter Stokkebye I finally got around to trying the much-lauded Luxury Bulls Eye Flake. This is a Virginia and Perique blend that is rolled around a center of Black Cavendish and then sliced into coins.

The tobacco itself looked great and that dark Cavendish core certainly stood out. The aroma was nice and sweet although a bit mustier than I found with the Luxury Navy Flake. Tthe Black Cavendish added the delightful aroma of bittersweet chocolate.

Since this was my first time smoking this type of tobacco I tried it fully rubbed out into a ribbon cut and then sampled it again using the fold and stuff method I often employ with flakes. While both methods worked fine I found that the constituent flavors were more distinct when the coins were left intact so this is the way I plan to smoke this blend from here on out.

When I first lit my Mario Grandi Poker the rolled up tobacco curled up over the top of the bowl and it took a few relights and tamps to get it burning with an even ash.

The overwhelming flavor was provided by the Virginia tobacco and it had a strong hay or grassy aspect to its sweetness leading me to classify this as a medium-strength VA. The Perique was evident in a nice tanginess on the tongue that reminded me a bit of rhubarb pie of all things. The Black Cavendish offered up a smooth and creamy, almost caramel, flavor that really played well against the Virginia and Perique.

All in all this was a very complex blend and its three distinct flavor profiles emerged and ebbed at various times throughout the course of the smoke. This was especially noticeable when the tobacco was folded and stuffed into the pipe as parts of the coins burned at different times.

The room aroma was very nice and the Cavendish added some of that classic pipe smell as well.

When I use the fold and stuff method my pipe tends to require frequent relights and this blend was no different. It may have been a bit high maintenance but the tobacco still managed to burn right down to the ash and left no dottle whatsoever in the bottom of the bowl.

I'm becoming a big fan of Peter Stokkebye's offerings and the Luxury Bulls Eye Flake is an unabashed home run blend. It looks, tastes, and smells like a million bucks but is available at very reasonable bulk prices. For me this is a perfect change of pace tobacco for those times when I want a complex, challenging blend.

Peter Stokkebye -- Luxury Navy Flake

Brand: Peter Stokkebye
Blend: Luxury Navy Flake
Style: Virginia/Perique
Pipe Used: Savinelli Oscar #313
Price: $15.99/8oz.

Appearance: 9
Taste: 8
Room Note: 8
Value: 10
Overall: 8

Since I'm such a fan of Peter Stokkebye's Balkan Supreme I decided to try out some of their other well-regarded bulk blends. First up is Luxury Navy Flake -- a Virginia and Perique blend.

This tobacco arrived fairly moist so I left a flake out to dry for a few hours. The tobacco was a nice golden color and had that great sweet hay aroma shared by most quality light to medium Virginia flakes.

After letting it dry for a bit I rubbed the flake out and loaded up my Savinelli #313. The tobacco lit easily and after a quick tamp I was off and running.

The first flavor to register on my palate was the traditional molasses-like Virginia sweetness. On the scale of VAs I've tried I would place Luxury Navy Flake smack dab in the middle in terms of sweetness.

The Perique component soon made itself known when I began sneezing which is something that almost always happens when I first light up a blend containing that Louisiana weed. While Perique frequently comes across as peppery, in the case of the Luxury Navy Flake the sweet VAs tempered it so that the flavor was more reminiscent of cinnamon Red Hots. Very tasty indeed!

That wonderful combination of sweet tobacco mingled with sweet spices remained fairly consistent throughout the smoke. It reminded me a lot of Orlik Golden Sliced but instead of a citrus tang this blend had more of a mulled cider element to it.

The tobacco burned evenly and only required a few relights -- mostly due to my negligence while reading. At the end there was very little dottle and almost no moisture left in the bottom of the bowl.

I'm one of those fortunate souls who almost never has trouble with the dreaded Virginia bite so I can't really provide an authoritative decision on the tongue-burning properties of Luxury Navy Flake but it seemed to me to be a fairly subdued blend.

The room aroma was for the most part inoffensive although the Perique did add a bit of harshness at times.

While billed as a Virginia and Perique blend I thought this flake was much less stout than most VA/Pers. It was also devoid of the rum essence that is typical in traditional Navy flakes. So here we have Luxury Navy Flake -- a VA/Per and Navy flake that isn't either. What it is is a delightful medium Virginia flake with just a dusting of Perique as a tasty condiment.

I've always been frugal by nature and Peter Stokkebye's bulk tobacco blends tend to hit that perfect price to flavor ratio so when I find one I like I tend to stash a good amount of it away in the old cellar. After my first sampling of Luxury Navy Flake it's a safe bet that there will soon be some more Mason jars filled with it in my near future.

Snuff -- Dr. J Robertson Justice

Brand: Fribourg & Treyer
Blend: Dr. J Robertson Justice
Style: Dry Nasal Snuff
Price: $3.45/40g

Appearance: 8
Aroma/Taste: 7
Value: 9
Overall: 8

I've been dabbling in nasal snuff longer than I've been smoking cigars or pipes but it's still such a rare activity for me that this is my first snuff review.

Fribourg & Treyer's Dr. J Robertson Justice is a 50/50 blend of their Morlaix and Bordeaux snuffs. Given my Bavarian heritage I'm more of a Schmalzler guy myself but I heard good things about this blend and couldn't pass it up when I found it available for such a great price.

The snuff is medium brown in color and consists of fairly dry medium ground granular tobacco. It's fairly easy stuff to pinch and sniff right out of the decidedly vintage looking tin.

The initial aroma I got from this blend reminded me of my grandma -- all lilac, lavender, and potpourri. That's not necessarily an unpleasant smell but not really what I look for in a snuff. Fortunately the snuff eventually grew in complexity and began to give off hints of more exotic stuff -- jasmine, musk, sandalwood and citrus.

The aroma was very long lasting but not overpowering and was light enough that my sinuses didn't get irritated.

All in all Dr. J Robertson Justice was a fine snuff that I'll likely enjoy on those occasions when my nose prefers a lighter pinch.

Hearth & Home -- Classic Burley Kake

Brand: Hearth & Home
Blend: Classic Burley Kake
Style: Burley/Virginia
Pipe Used: Savinelli Natural #313
Price: $19.99/8oz.

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

Classic Burley Kake is a house blend created by Russ Oullette for the Habana Premium Cigar Shoppe (better known as pipesandcigars.com). This blend of various burley and Virginia tobaccos with rum, cocoa, and anise flavorings is a krumble kake and depending on how it was treated in the mail it may well be primarily ribbon-cut by the time it arrives on your doorstep. The order I received was about 25% kake and the rest had already fallen apart.

The tobacco was light to medium brown and just moist enough to hold the kake pieces together. The aroma of the unlit tobacco reminded me of classic New Orleans style bread pudding and smelled of rum-soaked raisins, vanilla, and a hint of rich chocolate.

I loaded my Savinelli Natural #313 with pieces of pre-broken tobacco, gave it a charring light and a gentle tamp, and started smoking.

From the first puff the blend reminded me of another pipesandcigars.com house blend, Butternut Burley. The tobacco had that same nutty burley base with hints of dark rum, vanilla, and maple syrup. Even the burnt caramel room aroma was the same.

Where the two tobaccos differed was in the ratios of the various flavors. Whereas Butternut Burley brings its aromatic features to the fore the Classic Burley Kake allows the tobacco to take center stage and the other flavorings serve as mere condiments. The addition of cocoa and anise flavors to the krumble kake also added some extra sweetness and a lingering tingle on the tongue that reminded me of lemongrass.

The Classic Burley Kake burned easily and never turned bitey even after some hard puffing. All that was left in the pipe was some dark ash and a bit of dottle.

This Hearth & Home blend offered up a delightful and flavorful smoke but given the fact that its little brother Butternut Burley can be had for half the cost I think I'll stick with that all too similar blend and leave the Classic Burley Kake for those times when I feel like fussing with a krumble kake.

Hearth & Home -- Anniversary Kake

Brand: Hearth & Home
Blend: Anniversary Kake
Style: Virginia/Perique
Pipe Used: Cob
Price: $19.99/8oz.

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

Anniversary Kake is a well regarded house blend created by Russ Oullette and crew at the Habana Premium Cigar Shoppe (better known in the online world as pipesandcigars.com) This Virginia/Perique (Va/Per) blend arrives as a krumble kake (don't ask me why the pipe world insists on this odd spelling) and depending on how it was treated in the post it may well be primarily ribbon-cut by the time it arrives on your doorstep. The order I received was about 25% kake and the rest had already crumbled (or is that krumbled?) apart.

The tobacco itself was medium brown in color and while not exactly damp it was very, very sticky. The aroma was top-notch and smelled of dried dates and fruit leather.

Because the blend was so goopy I decided to smoke it in a cob. The crumbled tobacco loaded easily and lit right up.

While I have a fair number of Va/Pers in my cellar I still haven't found one that really does the trick for me so I had high hopes given the almost universal praise for Anniversary Kake. Sadly, this blend failed to fully live up to my admittedly high expectations.

The flavor was nice but fairly mild and the advertised St. James Perique never really made its presence known on the palate. I'm a big Perique fan and just can't abide a VA/Per that's so lacking in the Per department. The presence of the various Virginia tobaccos was also somewhat muted and the rich sweetness I've come to expect from this leaf just wasn't there in enough force.

The room note was pretty nice and had that classic grandpa's old pipe smell that most folks seem to appreciate.

The tobacco burned well and only required a few relights along the way. It also remained bite-free and the Perique stayed fairly mellow on the tongue. Although the tobacco was sticky when I loaded the pipe it didn't leave any messy residue behind leading me to believe that no nasty artificial flavorings or preservatives were used in this blend.

Towards the end of the bowl an odd taste and smell emerged and that's when I finally realized why this blend seemed so familiar. To my palate Anniversary Kake tasted like the big brother to the classic drugstore blend Half & Half. Everything from the pouch aroma to the taste to the room note reminded me of this OTC blend. That's not a knock as I actually enjoy Half & Half but it certainly isn't at all what I expected from a Va/Per.

Anniversary Kake is a good, solid tobacco but it just didn't click for me as a VA/Per and as such my hunt for that perfect combination of sweet and spicy will continue. In the interests of fairness I gave the blend a try in both a meerschaum and a briar and while the meer seemed to make the tobacco shine the best it still just didn't impress me all that much.

Samuel Gawith -- Best Brown Flake

Brand: Samuel Gawith
Blend: Best Brown Flake
Style: Virginia
Pipe Used: Savinelli Oscar #313
Price: $26.76/16oz.

Appearance: 9
Taste: 9
Room Note: 8
Value: 10
Overall: 9

As a big fan of straight Virginias I've been purchasing tins of various blends to sample for the past few years. I figured I would have plenty of time to find my favorites and stock up but the perfect storm of further taxes looming on the horizon and the increasing scarcity of popular blends led me to do something drastic -- I purchased one pound of Samuel Gawith's Best Brown Flake even though I had never even tried the tobacco before. At just over $25 bucks it was cheaper than any of the so-called drugstore blends that come in 14oz. tins and since I've yet to be disappointed by a Sam Gawith offering I figured I would take my chances and get it while the getting was good.

The medium brown flakes arrived in a cellophane wrapped box and were quite moist. I left one flake out to dry for a few hours and cellared the rest in half pint Mason jars. The flakes looked great with various swirling birdseye patterns made up of contrasting light and dark tobaccos. The aroma was that of sweet dried fruit and fresh-cut hay with just a hint of sandalwood incense.

Normally I rub out flakes before smoking but since this one was still pliable I cut it in half, folded it up, stuffed it into my Savinelli Oscar, and sprinkled a few bits of loose tobacco on top to get things burning. My normal pipe lighter wasn't up to the task of igniting this damp flake so I turned to my trusty Zippo with pipe insert and it had no trouble with the task.

The initial flavor was that classic Virginia sweetness reminiscent of slightly burnt caramel. While lighter Virginias often taste of sweet hay the Best Brown Flake was a little more robust and had undertones of freshly roasted corn on the cob.

As the tobacco continued to smolder a bit of tingling spice began to emerge and the flavor reminded me of sesame oil and a hint of pine resin. But at no time did the prevailing sweetness abate. Rather, these other flavors served to enhance that primary Virginia attribute.

I have to admit that I was enjoying myself and smoked the pipe hard and fast but at no point did the tobacco bite or take on any off-putting flavors. It was just sheer tobacco bliss from beginning to end.

The fact that the tobacco was fairly damp did necessitate a few extra relights but the flake did burn nice and slow until the dottle got too wet to smoke any further. In the future I'll try to let it dry out a bit more before smoking.

The room note was nice and smelled of musty, leather-bound books. The smoke did have a sharp edge to it but was in no way disagreeable.

Samuel Gawith makes some of the most popular tobacco blends currently on the market and as a result it can often be difficult to locate your favorites on a consistent basis. With that thought in mind I just couldn't resist the chance to grab some Best Brown Flake at an insanely low price and boy am I glad I did.

I have a few tins of Full Virginia Flake in my cellar and while many consider that to be the penultimate Virginia flake I have to say that for a day in, day out type of smoke I actually prefer the Best Brown Flake. It provides a milder smoke without sacrificing any flavor and I can easily see myself merrily puffing it all day long which would put me under the table if tried with FVF.

Samuel Gawith's Best Brown Flake has taken its place in my list of favorite tobaccos and I still can't get over the fact that it costs less than blends like Captain Black. This is a premium, classic Virginia flake and the only question in my mind now is whether I need to buy a few more pounds post haste.

HR 4439

We knew this day was coming. The fact that pipe tobacco is being taxed at such a drastically lower rate than RYO tobacco has led many RYO producers to relabel their goods as pipe tobacco. Well the taxman isn't stupid so now they're coming after pipe tobacco in an attempt to close this loophole.

So what will this mean for you the pipe smoker? Well for starters federal taxes on a pound of pipe tobacco will jump an astonishing 775% from $2.83 to $24.78. But beyond the drastic price increase looms an even more disturbing eventuality -- the disappearance of many small tobacco producers and the loss of countless beloved blends. Very few folks are getting rich in the pipe tobacco game and the increased up-front costs associated with a new tax will put a good number of small companies out of business.

The folks over at Pipes Magazine have put together a great page full of information on how to fight this impending legislation. I encourage everyone to make use of this link and act now to protect the pipe smoking way of life in this country.

G.L. Pease -- Westminster

Brand: G.L. Pease
Blend: Westminster
Style: English
Pipe Used: Peterson Aran #150 Bulldog
Price: $8.15/2oz.

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

If you've ever wondered what goes into the creation of a new pipe blend then head over to Greg Pease's blog and check out the story of Westminster. Born out of frustration at the loss of the classic Dunhill London Mixture, Westminster quickly became a star in its own right and is now widely hailed as one of the preeminent English-style pipe tobacco blends.

I first bought a tin of Westminster about two years ago at the start of my second attempt at smoking a pipe. Since then I've tried many English blends and the little Mason jar with Pease's offering has slowly crept farther and farther back into my cellar. But every time I stumble on that jar I have to stop whatever I'm doing, load up a pipe, and enjoy this wonderfully sublime blend.

Westminster is a dark brown and black ribbon-cut blend although there are quite a few over-sized bits of tobacco leaf that really need to be further broken up before smoking. The aroma out of the tin is that of a light English blend in which the Latakia doesn't overpower the other tobaccos.

For this review I loaded up my Pete Bulldog and gave it a quick charring light. Tendrils of tobacco slowly curled over the top of the bowl so I gave it a very light tamp and relit the tobacco to get things started.

If you were to ask me to define "English" in terms of pipe tobacco I would wordlessly hand you a tin of Westminster. This blend features a perfect harmony of Virginias, Orientals, and Cyprian Latakia and all three components are held in check by each other to keep this blend from straying into Oriental or Balkan territory.

The combination of bright and red Virginias brings a very subtle sweetness that appears most readily in the room note as caramel but is not nearly that sickly sweet on the tongue. The Oriental tobaccos lend a bit of spice and the hint of a cigar-like kick that can be tasted when the smoke is exhaled through the nose. And the Latakia offers up its smoky delights without stealing the show.

I've been on a bit of a Latakia kick lately and have been trying tobaccos that are heavy on that particular leaf. For that reason I found Westminster to be milder in both body and taste than many of the tobaccos to which I've grown accustomed but I can't fault a blend for not being what it isn't.

For an English blend Westminster actually has a fairly nice room note. Once again we can probably thank the restrained Latakia presence for that.

The tobacco required quite a few relights which was surprising since it was fairly dry. At any rate it eventually burned down to a fine gray ash and left no dottle or moisture in the pipe.

While it's easy to decry the loss of so many vintage tobaccos in recent years I truly believe that we're living in, if not a Golden, at least a Silver age of pipe tobacco. Blenders like Greg Pease continue to roll out new, intriguing blends and with the help of the internet it's become all too easy to learn about, debate, and purchase the latest pipe tobaccos.

G.L. Pease's Westminster may have started out as yet another attempt to clone a classic, lost tobacco but through the magic that happens when different tobaccos are brought together it has instead emerged as one of the touchstone English blends.

I found Westminster to be a wonderfully restrained showcase for its constituent tobaccos and while it's a bit mild for my current palate this is a blend that can magically transport you to a time when pipe smoking was the norm and blends such as this one could be had at any newsstand for a few bits.

Esoterica -- Stonehaven

Brand: Esoterica
Blend: Stonehaven
Style: Virgina/Burley
Pipe Used: No-Name Volcano
Price: $28.99/8oz.

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

I must have been good last year as Santa left me a pound of Esoterica's Stonehaven under the Christmas tree. This Virginia and Burley flake is considered by many to be in a class of its own and the high demand means that it can be a difficult blend to procure. I'm just glad that the pipe smoking jolly old elf was looking out for me.

Upon opening the 8oz. Mylar bag my nose was immediately met with the strong aroma of fermented tobacco -- kind of a cross between dark rum and dried dates. The dark brown, almost black, tobacco was arrayed in nice rows of wide, thin flakes in a small plastic tray. The tobacco was wet to the touch so after divvying it up among a few Mason jars I selected one flake and left it out overnight to dry.

The next day I rubbed the flake out a bit and loaded up my no-name Italian rusticated volcano briar pipe. This is a short, stubby nosewarmer style pipe with a 1/4 bend and after cleaning and restoring it I decided to dedicate it to this particular blend.

I gave the tobacco a light and due to its dry condition it fired right up. Some of the longer strands of tobacco began to curl up and over the bowl but I decided to avoid tamping since it was burning along at such a nice pace.

The first few puffs delivered hints of that classic Virginia sweetness but the stout, fermented Burley quickly made its presence known by delivering that deep, rich tobacco taste that so many of us lust after.

The blend remained consistent throughout with that rich flavor being regularly complemented by that slight sweetness. The Virginias acted almost like a palate cleanser as they offered the tongue a brief respite from the heavier stoved and fermented Burley flavors.

And while the flakes smelled like dried fruit and fine liquor the only evidence of these trimmings was in the very pleasant aftertaste.

In describing Stonehaven I'm going to compare it to one of my favorite beverages, Guinness. Both are dark, heady concoctions that may at first glance seem overly stout and strong but since they're meant to be enjoyed regularly they're actually fairly mild and tame. You don't want your daily quaff to knock you on your keister any more than you want your daily smoke to do the same so don't let appearances fool you.

The tobacco gave off a lot of smoke but the room aroma was fairly mild and never took on that acrid smell one often finds with lighter Burley blends. To my nose it was reminiscent of a musty old book with a hand-tooled leather cover and coming from a bibliophile like me that's high praise indeed.

Stonehaven also remained bite free even after I caught myself puffing so hard as to make the bowl of the pipe uncomfortably hot (a real no-no to be sure). As for relights, the tobacco only required one when I neglected it for a few minutes to fuss with my iPod. Other than that it burned evenly down to a light gray ash and left very little dottle and no sticky residue in the bottom of the pipe. I had been warned that this blend often leaves behind a bit of a mess in the bowl but it seems like a thorough drying of the tobacco before smoking avoids most of those problems.

Stonehaven reminded me an awful lot of one of my favorite Virginias, McClelland's Blackwoods Flake. While the McClelland offering is a bit sweeter the two tobaccos look, taste, and behave like siblings and I can see substituting one for the other when stock runs low.

Esoterica's Stonehaven is a fine tobacco and I liked it enough to dedicate a pipe to it but I can't say that it completely blew my socks off. Perhaps I've just been spoiled by my past experiences with so many great blends but I found it to be a bit too mild for my palate.

That being said, the fact that the tobacco came to me in such damp condition leads me to believe that this batch is fairly young and I can't wait to see what a year or two of aging does to alter my perceptions.