Seattle Evening Review
PappyJoe
Master
in Tobacco Talk
No. It's not the name of a small newspaper - but it could be.
Instead the following is my reflections and opinions of Seattle Evening.
“sunset casts long shadows over the ferry boats of Puget Sound. A cup of good coffee and a fine pipe make this unhurried scene a memory” - from tobaccoreview.com
The above description must be about a different Seattle Pipe Club Blend because that’s not where it transports me. Sitting outside on a late afternoon in May, I light a bowl of Seattle Evening and it takes me back to winter evenings in a semi-desolate area of Washington State coastline. There were several small resort type bars in Moclips and Pacific Beach, Wa. where back in 1974 one could sit was a cup of coffee, shot of Drambuie and a pipe and prop your feet up before the fire. Or, if the weather wasn’t too wet, windy and cold outside, then it would be a small fire on the beach with a group of friends and bottles of wine stuck in the sand. That is where Seattle Evening takes me when I smoke it.
I find the tin note to be rich with a sweet smokiness that hints at vanilla caramel and fruit. Or maybe, there is just a hint of well-worn leather and chocolate that comes from the tobacco in the tin. For some reason, I keep asking myself, “Where I have smelled this before?” It’s like a nagging half memory that won’t go away. It’s a pleasant memory though and I can imagine just sitting with an open tin and taking a deep inhale of the aroma time and time again and be satisfied without ever packing a bowl. But I pack a MM Shire Cobbit and set the match to it. It lights easy and only requires a second match to produce a cloud of sweet smoke with just a hint of grass and spice mixed with a good campfire.
The smokiness of the Latakia is what reminds me of the smokiness of those warm fires mixed with the salty tang of a Pacific breeze. The Virginias are there but I find the grassy notes to be well tamed by the Latakia and whatever Orientals are used. There are Orientals in there, but I couldn’t tell you what kind if I had to. This bowl lasted a little more than an hour which attests to how slow the tobacco burns and left nothing but ash. It was cool and smooth and I felt no trace of a bite but a little spiciness in the retro-hale or snork.
To me it has mild strength, mild to medium tasting and a tolerable room note. Was it a great English blend packed with flavor nuances and strength? Not on the first 5 bowls I smoked. But it was a good smoke in my opinion it could be smoked all day while hiking, camping, fishing or doing yard work.
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