Hoyo de Monterrey Maduro

Brand: Hoyo de Monterrey
Cigar: Maduro
Shape: Rothschild
Size: 4 1/2" x 50
Wrapper: Connecticut
Filler: Dominican Republic, Nicaragua, Honduras
Binder: Connecticut
Price: $2.25

Appearance: 6
Construction: 6
Taste: 6
Value: 8
Overall: 6

I've had a fiver of these sitting in my fridgador for about a year so I decided to take a few along on a camping trip to try them out. The Hoyo de Monterrey Maduro is a nice enough looking stick with a medium-dark maduro wrapper. As I cut the cigar with my Palio part of the wrapper came undone and although the cigar remained smokeable the unsightly scar on the side was a real shame.

The little Rothschild lit right up and that was the last time I needed to use my lighter as it burned evenly right down to the nub. Since I was sitting around a campfire in the dark it was great that I didn't have to fuss with the cigar. And even though this was a fairly short stick it burned at a slow pace and lasted for over an hour.

The Hoyo de Monterrey Maduro featured a typical taste profile for a maduro cigar with hints of unsweetened chocolate and espresso. There was no pepper or spice in this cigar and the flavors remained the same from beginning to end. It was a fine accompaniment to campfire conversation but I much prefer the more complex taste of the Dark Sumatras.

All in all it was a well-behaved but average tasting cigar and even at the low price I didn't find much to recommend it over other offerings from Hoyo de Monterrey.

Peter Stokkebye -- Balkan Supreme

Brand: Peter Stokkebye
Blend: Balkan Supreme
Style: Balkan
Pipe Used: Peterson Aran #150 Bulldog
Price: $13.50/8oz.

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

In a last minute dash to try some new blends before Washington state's draconian tobacco law goes into effect on the 26th I've been ordering pipe tobacco left and right. Yesterday I received an order from the fine folks at Mars Cigars & Pipes and made the mistake of opening the package while I was still trying to get some work done. The spicy, leathery, and sweet smell of Peter Stokkebye's Balkan Supreme soon had me rummaging for a pipe.

After a long time away from Latakia blends I've been slowly coming back around to that wonderful leaf but find that I prefer it with a bit of spice which is why I've been reaching more for the Orientals. Although Balkan Supreme is, not surprisingly, a Balkan blend I rarely use that categorization term myself and tend to refer to tobacco of this type as Oriental but that's just me.

The tobacco is a fairly non-descript dark brown shag-cut blend that smells great straight out of the package. The appearance and aroma reminded me a lot of Dunhill's My Mixture 965 which is high praise indeed.

I know that I should have dried this out a bit before smoking but I just couldn't help myself so I loaded up my Peterson Bulldog and got right to work. The tobacco easily lit up and provided a nice, steady burn from beginning to end. Where the lack of drying got me was in the tongue bite since the extra moisture made for a few jolts of uncomfortable steam in my mouth. Ouch!

The flavor of the Balkan Supreme was superb with just the right mix of leathery Latakia, spicy Orientals, and a hint of sweet Virginias and Cavendish. I really enjoyed the spiciness of this blend and it provided the same sort of tingle I get from a good Nicaraguan cigar.

I found it to be the perfect blend for a long, contemplative smoke in which each different type of tobacco leaf could be coaxed to shine by varying the speed of puffing and length of draw. Long, leisurely smoking highlighted the Latakia; short, rapid puffs brought out the spicy Orientals; and rapid but long draws allowed the sweet Virgina and Cavendish component to peek through.

Balkan Supreme combined some of my favorite aspects of the aforementioned My Mixture 965 as well as Samuel Gawith's classic Squadron Leader. This blend is a great English/Oriental go-between and provides just enough of each style while still retaining its own unique place in the tobacco pantheon.

The room note followed the trend of the taste in that the rate of smoking had a direct impact on the aroma of the smoke. From the classic Latakia funk to the almost tart hints of exotic spice the smells provided all sorts of variety -- some very nice and some not so nice to the nose.

Peter Stokkebye's Balkan Supreme is often mentioned as a replacement for the long-gone Balkan Sobranie but since I've never tasted that classic blend I have to judge this one on it's own merits and what I find is a great Balkan blend that has a very complex taste, behaves well in the pipe, and can be purchased in bulk at a ridiculously low price. This is truly a wonderful tobacco.

A Year Already

The one year anniversary of this blog came and went unnoticed last week. What started out as "Cigar Meanderings" quickly evolved into "Meandering Smoke" as my interests veered more in the direction of pipes than cigars. I still try to review the occasional stogie but for the time being pipes are much more my thing. At any rate I started this blog mostly for my own future reference but hopefully it's provided some information to others who've happened this way by hook or by crook. I would offer up a champagne toast but beer is more my speed so here's an Alaskan Summer Ale for you!

John Middleton -- Carter Hall

Brand: John Middleton
Blend: Carter Hall
Style: Burley
Pipe Used: Cob
Price: $4.10/1.5oz.

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

While picking up some stuff at the local Rite-Aid I noticed a pouch of Carter Hall for sale on the shelf. If you're familiar with the sorry state of tobacco retail outlets here in the greater Seattle area then you'll understand my surprise at finding a tobacco I actually wanted to try at a fairly reasonable price. Needless to say I grabbed that pouch and as soon as I got home I filled my trusty corncob pipe and headed out to try yet another classic, codger, drugstore, heritage, or what-have-you blend.

Carter Hall is a basic ribbon cut Burley and upon opening the pouch I was met with a uniformly cut tan tobacco that smelled nicely of raisins and figs. I don't know what it is about these classic blends but they all sure do smell good.

With the first charring light there was a short burst of harshness but that passed just as soon as the tobacco started burning evenly. From that point on the blend smoked like a dream requiring no fuss and only one relight to get down to the last ashes. I wish all pipe tobacco behaved so well.

The tobacco had a nice, mellow Burley flavor that was very unobtrusive and occasionally subtle hints of citrus could be detected as well. In some ways you could even call it boring but sometimes the tried and true is just what you're looking for in a good smoke.

Similar to other Burley blends I found that smoking Carter Hall too fast brought out an unpleasant cigarette-like taste so be sure to smoke it slowly.

As with most mass-produced tobaccos I also found there to be a chemical aftertaste and that's the one sticking point that keeps me from abandoning all my fancy-pants tobaccos and just going with the drugstore blends on a full-time basis. I understand that they have to be able to hold together for however long they're left languishing on store shelves but I do wish that there was some way to achieve this that didn't so adversely affect the tobaccos' flavors.

The room aroma was that of a classic grandfather's pipe which isn't surprising since most grandfathers smoked this type of blend.

In the pantheon of codger classics that I've tried so far I found Carter Hall to be the best behaved but least flavorful blend. I now understand why so many folks use it to break in new pipes since it burns so well while leaving behind no strong aftertaste. And it's clearly a favorite for mixing as it lends so many positive burn characteristics and offers up a nice, plain palate for adding new flavors.

My appreciation for these old blends continues to grow and while Carter Hall wasn't my favorite I'm still planning to buy a tub since this utilitarian tobacco has so many uses.

Altadis -- Count Pulaski

Brand: Altadis
Blend: Count Pulaski
Style: English/Aromatic
Pipe Used: Savinelli Natural Oscar #313
Price: $6.96/4oz.

Appearance: 6
Taste: 7 *UPDATED TO 9*
Room Note: 4
Value: 10
Overall: 7 *UPDATED TO 8*

In my search for an anise-flavored tobacco one name kept popping up on various forums -- Count Pulaski. Since I grew up in Detroit I'm well acquainted with Casimir Pulaski the Polish cavalry officer who fought and died for the American side in the Revolutionary War. Heck, the fellow even has a nice statue downtown. But what about the tobacco?

Count Pulaski is a blend from the huge tobacco company Altadis and while many pipe and cigar smokers hold their wealth of offerings in disdain, I'm not one to make snap judgments without first sampling the goods.

Described as being a combination of Burley, Virginia, Carolina and Latakia leaf with a topping of rum and anise, Count Pulaski is a difficult blend to categorize. The strong Latakia component places it firmly in the English camp while the added flavorings indicate that it belongs to the aromatic family. For my purposes I'll just call it an English-style aromatic.

Count Pulaski is a very coarse cut tobacco consisting of fairly large pieces of mostly black and some light tan tobacco leaf. Unless you're smoking a large pipe some further break-up is required before packing and smoking.

The pouch, or in my case bail-top jar, aroma is overwhelmingly Latakia and my nose could detect none of the advertised toppings be they rum or anise.

I set some tobacco aside to dry for a few hours then loaded up my pipe. The charring light revealed that I should have torn the tobacco a bit more as large pieces started to burn and rear up out of the bowl. It took a lot of tamping and charring to get this mess tamed but once it was under control in burned just fine.

The first flavor to hit was of course the Latakia and it left no doubt that this was predominantly an English blend. The large Burley component added a nice nutty undertone that one doesn't typically find in this style of tobacco while the Virginia leaf brought some spicy sweetness to the mix. Heavy puffing also brought out a very strong cigar type taste which was very much to my liking.

Since I bought this tobacco mainly for its anise flavor I waited and waited for that aspect to emerge but it never really did. No anise, no rum -- just a slightly herbal undertone to tickle the tongue. Some of the smoke had a faint licorice aroma but I've found that in other English blends and tend to attribute it to the Latakia.

Save for that slightly sweet scent, the room aroma of Count Pulaski is not likely to win many friends as the Latakia assaults the nose like moldy sweat socks thrown on a campfire. I for one enjoy that smell but most innocent bystanders will likely be knocked on their keisters.

The coarse cut did give me some problems with burn issues but the blend still behaved well and offered up a cool, bite-free smoke. The tobacco also burned down to a nice dry ash and left no goop behind in the pipe which is surprising for an inexpensive bulk aromatic such as this.

Count Pulaski is an interesting blend from Altadis and is likely to appeal to fans of light English or aromatic English tobacco styles. I was a bit disappointed that the anise flavor never came through for me and without that added twist there's just not much to recommend this over many other similar blends. Where I can recommend it is in both behavior and price since the tobacco burns well (if torn up a bit beforehand) and is offered at a ridiculously low bulk price.

*UPDATE 6/27/09*
Last night I stumbled on a cob that I had loaded with Count Pulaski a few days earlier to take fishing and had forgotten about. I decided to light it up and was met with one of the finest, most sublime smokes I've yet experienced.

The missing hints of anise were finally there and the pleasant cigar-like taste had evolved into a richly mellow leathery taste that was superb.

All in all this neglected bowl of Count Pulaski provided a nearly perfect smoke and my ratings have been bumped up to recognize that fact.

HPCS Adirondack Series -- Trout Stream

Brand: HPCS Adirondack Series
Blend: Trout Stream
Style: Aromatic
Pipe Used: Peterson Aran 150
Price: $9.99/4oz.

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

Trout Stream is an exclusive offering from the Habana Premium Cigar Shoppe -- better known as pipesandcigars.com. I'm a huge fan of their Butternut Burley and had heard many good things about this blend as well so I ordered a few ounces to give it a try.

The tobacco is a mixture of Golden and Black Cavendish and comes in a black and tan ribbon cut form. The aroma was great and smelled of butterscotch. The moisture content was about on par for an aromatic so I set some tobacco aside for a few hours to dry out.

I loaded up my Peterson Aran 150 Bulldog, gave the tobacco a charring light, and away I went. The flavor started out mellow and pretty much stayed that way to the end. Being composed solely of Cavendish tobacco, this blend is fairly straightforward and offers no surprises. The butterscotch came across as a slightly sweet aftertaste but wasn't nearly as front and center as I expected given the initial smell of the tobacco.

Trout Stream is a very well behaved blend and burned nice and dry with no goopy residue left behind in the pipe. It also burned evenly and only required a few relights along the way. The blend was also bite free and provided a nice, cool smoke.

As is the case with many aromatics, the room aroma was much richer than the taste of the actual tobacco. That's not a knock against the blend, just a statement of fact.

Trout Stream is a nice enough aromatic and I really have nothing bad to say about it but I much prefer the added flavor depth found with Butternut Burley and since it runs $10 cheaper per pound I can't really see myself ordering more of this blend in the future.

Samuel Gawith -- Celtic Talisman

Brand: Samuel Gawith
Blend: Celtic Talisman
Style: Aromatic
Pipe Used: Savinelli Natural
Price: $6.84/50g

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

Samuel Gawith's Celtic Talisman is a relatively new blend from the storied tobacco company. Billed on the tin simply as being an aromatic it is in fact a blend of Bright Virginia, Burley, and Black Cavendish topped with sweet cherry.

Upon opening the tin I was met with a firmly packed and fairly moist ribbon cut tobacco that appeared to be primarily made up of the light Virginia leaf with a bit of dark Cavendish mixed in. The aroma was very sweet and smelled of cherry and vanilla. In fact, the tobacco both looked and smelled almost identical to Mac Baren's Vanilla Cream.

Being the impetuous fool that I am I gave the moist tobacco no time to dry out and immediately loaded up my Savinelli Natural Oscar #313 and gave it a light. The tobacco lit right up and I have to say that the initial flavor was also identical to the aforementioned Mac Baren blend.

The blend was sweet but not overly so and much of that was a result of the Bright Virginia and not due to the topping. While advertised as a cherry blend I thought that the Black Cavendish carried more of a vanilla flavor although the cherry was evident in both the room note and the aftertaste.

The Celtic Talisman also delivered a surprisingly spicy kick that served to complement the sweetness of the blend. This added bite made for a most unusual and pleasant aromatic smoke.

Given my haste to fire up this tobacco I was surprised to find that it burned cool and dry and never required the use of a pipe cleaner to soak up any goop. The Celtic Talisman smoked clear down to the bottom of the bowl and needed only a few relights along the way. This was not at all what I expected and it sure came as a pleasant surprise.

The room aroma was very nice and it was here that the cherry became most evident. Once again it was very similar to the room note of Vanilla Cream.

Celtic Talisman is the first true aromatic from Samuel Gawith that I've tried and if my experiences with this blend are any indication then I need to try some of the others as well. This is a sweet tasting tobacco that burns well and leaves behind nothing but fine ash and a wonderful room aroma. And while I've been saying that it and Mac Baren's Vanilla Cream are almost identical in taste and aroma I have to give a slight edge to Celtic Talisman as the subtle spiciness brings some nice complexity to the blend.

All in all Samuel Gawith's Celtic Talisman is a wonderful, light aromatic and can be had for a song. If you like the idea of a cherry blend that avoids the artificial cough syrup taste that one often finds in heavier aromatics then this is certainly one to try.