Hey guys, I'm thinking about trying some Mac Barren HH Rustics while it's on sale. It's still expensive though. Has anyone tri d it? If so, what do you think?
@Londy3 I have some, I like it, it is not as scary strong as I expected. SG “Black XX kicks it’s ass for vitamin-N. I would have to revisit it for a better “review”. I have to find it first though. P.S. I have to admit, the second bowl of my personal blend yesterday caught me off guard with the nic hit. Nearly half burley and a good amount of musty old Perique….who’d a thunk it😬. These little Pete Patent Billiards are short and stout, but have full sized bowls.
just got an order from the Country Squire. Some Rivendell to try out for the first time, and enough Figgy Pudding to share with some friends. Going to repair some estate pipes and gift them to some buddies with a pack of tobacco. I must have ordered at the right time, because I looked again today and it says sold out already.
It is heavy on the maple, but I like it. Something about the cold weather has me going for aromatics. It is very fine cut. It may be considered shag cut. Anyone know?
Okay, so, as a general rule, I don't deviate from the blends I've homed in on over the years;
Straights: Carolina Red Flake (without the perique crap) Bright Virginia bulk ribbon (C&D in particular) Burley Flake #2 Crumble Kake Red HH Rustica (I just added this to my list with the latest batch they made a couple of months ago)
Lightly cased no topping: Interlude
Aros: Santee (best damn aro out there in my opinion) LL-7 (almost too goopy for my liking) Chatham Manor
But, every year and a half or two years I purchase blends I've never tried before and here is a picture of them (in bulk are Cherry Cavendish, Founding Fathers, and Virginia #1). I'll keep you updated as I go through the batch today/tomorrow. I don't do "reviews" simply because it's too easy to cut and paste the same 14 adjectives that everyone else does when they review something, but I will say whether I'll buy it again and add it to my list or not.
Exactly. I don't smoke aros much, so I'm certainly not an authority on them, but I've been smoking long enough that I've sampled a ton of them. So, coming from an occasional aro smoker, Santee is lite, has an apple-like background, high nicotine levels (for an aromatic anyway), and hardly any tongue bite. Most aro people don't really like it because the flavor isn't strong enough, but if you retro hale or inhale through your nose like I do sometimes, the flavoring is perfectly balanced with the flavor of the tobacco (i.e., you can distinctly taste both). Plus, I used to fish the Santee River a lot when I lived in Charleston, so there's the nostalgia angle as well.
Okay, well, I can definitely say the following so far...the HH Pure Virginia definitely goes in my rotation and Cherry Cavendish is simply nasty stuff (in my opinion...nothing against anyone that likes it though).
The Pure Virginia is supposedly lightly cased (I'm assuming with simple syrup from what I am tasting), that said, it's a nice clean smoke with a great after taste (which does linger for a while by the way). If you are a Virginia lover (which I am by far), it's certainly a quality leaf. It reminds me of the simple flavors of Interlude which I've smoked for years and absolutely love, but is a red Virginia lightly cased in honey.
The Cherry Cavendish tastes a lot like a Luden's Cherry cough drop...need I say any more?
Okay, just finished C&Ds Opening Night--this will definitely go into my rotation.
I love C&D's bright Virginia ribbon...it's extremely sweet and simply a pleasure to smoke. As some of you already know, I'm a CRF freak! (Without the damn perique!) This is a cross between the two. It's mostly red but the bright is definitely there in the background to sweeten it up. A very clean smoke. And since C&D has unfortunately chosen to screw us plain CRF smokers over this year, this will certainly be a great backup to make my remaining tins of CRF last longer.
@vtgrad2003 when I was going wide I picked up some tins of Opening Night and forgot about them. Rediscovered 10 years later and what a treat! It ages well!
So, I have now tried String Duster and MB's Cherry Ambrosia. Both will go into my rotation, however, since this has been an overly successful experiment (I now have 4 that will go into my rotation), and because I don't like to have a ton of different blends lying around, I need to drop some from my current list...so I'll drop LL-7 (which is borderline too goopy for my liking) and Chatham Manor from my aro blends, and Crumble Kake Red from my non-aro blends. CKR has fantastic flavor, but it's such a pain in the butt to work with--I can never seem to get it packed right.
Anyway, String Duster is a light aromatic that has a sort of cross between apple and orange flavor, but the tobacco shines through nicely (a lot like Santee). Cherry Ambrosia is the same. Neither would likely please a true aromatic smoker because the flavoring's are quite lite, but, smoking as much as I do, I don't like a lot of chemicals in it (artificial flavors are far more potent that natural ones), and the Danes are really anal about artificial ingredients in their foods, so I figure they are likely the same about their tobacco production. The cherry in it is very clean tasting and I get no indication there's artificial flavors in it at all (that's where the cough drop flavor comes from in some other cherry aromatics). And C&D's light aromatics seem to be natural as well; anyone that uses honey from their own hives to case with (e.g., from what I understand Jeremy Reeves uses on Interlude), probably tries to keep these lighter aromatics as pure as possible.
I still have a couple more to try (i.e., Founding Fathers and Virginia #1)...
Okay, so I have completed my experiment(s). I have smoked the remaining two--Virginia No. 1 and C&Ds Founding Fathers; I'll put both in my rotation. To be honest, Founding Fathers should be listed as something of a match for Carter Hall. I don't smoke Carter Hall anymore once I found out about all the artificial crap they put in it. Someone told me that Chatham Manor would be a match, and even though a decent smoke, it wasn't anywhere near a match for CH...I think this one is closer to be honest. It's also made by C&D so it shouldn't have all that crap in it. Virginia No. 1 was a fantastic, mild pure Virginia...need I say more? In fact, I said before that I was going to put HH Pure Virginia in my rotation, but I'll replace it with this instead.
Anyway, here's the run down. This is what was in my rotation beforehand (BTW, I forgot to include Vanilla Roll Cake before, so I put it here):
Straights: Carolina Red Flake (without the perique crap) Bright Virginia bulk ribbon (C&D in particular) Burley Flake #2 Crumble Kake Red HH Rustica (I just added this to my list with the latest batch they made a couple of months ago)
Lightly cased no topping: Interlude
Aros: Santee (best damn aro out there in my opinion) LL-7 (almost too goopy for my liking) Chatham Manor Vanilla Roll Cake
Moving forward I'll have:
Straights: Carolina Red Flake (without the perique crap) Bright Virginia bulk ribbon (C&D in particular) Burley Flake #2 HH Rustica (I just added this to my list with the latest batch they made a couple of months ago) Opening Night Virginia No. 1
Lightly cased no topping: Interlude
Aros: Santee (best damn aro out there in my opinion) Vanilla Roll Cake String Duster Cherry Ambrosia Founding Fathers
Again, I only do this every couple of years and I'm usually not at all successful with these experiments, so it's exciting to have found 5 blends to move forward with for the next couple of years!
Ordered 2 tins of Cringle Flake from SPC. Get them while they're hot! Tobaccopipes supposedly has some but their web page is messed up and says it's out of stock.
Comments
What a great friend you are….provided the friend smokes a pipe😬
I have some, I like it, it is not as scary strong as I expected. SG “Black XX kicks it’s ass for vitamin-N. I would have to revisit it for a better “review”. I have to find it first though.
P.S. I have to admit, the second bowl of my personal blend yesterday caught me off guard with the nic hit. Nearly half burley and a good amount of musty old Perique….who’d a thunk it😬. These little Pete Patent Billiards are short and stout, but have full sized bowls.
https://www.tobaccoreviews.com/blend/2077/cornell-diehl-autumn-evening
Of course, I read the Tobaccoreviews.com review, but I'd rather have an opinion/evaluation from you..... or one of the brothers.
Straights:
Carolina Red Flake (without the perique crap)
Bright Virginia bulk ribbon (C&D in particular)
Burley Flake #2
Crumble Kake Red
HH Rustica (I just added this to my list with the latest batch they made a couple of months ago)
Lightly cased no topping:
Interlude
Aros:
Santee (best damn aro out there in my opinion)
LL-7 (almost too goopy for my liking)
Chatham Manor
But, every year and a half or two years I purchase blends I've never tried before and here is a picture of them (in bulk are Cherry Cavendish, Founding Fathers, and Virginia #1). I'll keep you updated as I go through the batch today/tomorrow. I don't do "reviews" simply because it's too easy to cut and paste the same 14 adjectives that everyone else does when they review something, but I will say whether I'll buy it again and add it to my list or not.
Is the Santee you refer to, "Low Country Santee?"
The Pure Virginia is supposedly lightly cased (I'm assuming with simple syrup from what I am tasting), that said, it's a nice clean smoke with a great after taste (which does linger for a while by the way). If you are a Virginia lover (which I am by far), it's certainly a quality leaf. It reminds me of the simple flavors of Interlude which I've smoked for years and absolutely love, but is a red Virginia lightly cased in honey.
The Cherry Cavendish tastes a lot like a Luden's Cherry cough drop...need I say any more?
More to come...
Can't pass up a good deal!
I love C&D's bright Virginia ribbon...it's extremely sweet and simply a pleasure to smoke. As some of you already know, I'm a CRF freak! (Without the damn perique!) This is a cross between the two. It's mostly red but the bright is definitely there in the background to sweeten it up. A very clean smoke. And since C&D has unfortunately chosen to screw us plain CRF smokers over this year, this will certainly be a great backup to make my remaining tins of CRF last longer.
More to come....
So, I have now tried String Duster and MB's Cherry Ambrosia. Both will go into my rotation, however, since this has been an overly successful experiment (I now have 4 that will go into my rotation), and because I don't like to have a ton of different blends lying around, I need to drop some from my current list...so I'll drop LL-7 (which is borderline too goopy for my liking) and Chatham Manor from my aro blends, and Crumble Kake Red from my non-aro blends. CKR has fantastic flavor, but it's such a pain in the butt to work with--I can never seem to get it packed right.
Anyway, String Duster is a light aromatic that has a sort of cross between apple and orange flavor, but the tobacco shines through nicely (a lot like Santee). Cherry Ambrosia is the same. Neither would likely please a true aromatic smoker because the flavoring's are quite lite, but, smoking as much as I do, I don't like a lot of chemicals in it (artificial flavors are far more potent that natural ones), and the Danes are really anal about artificial ingredients in their foods, so I figure they are likely the same about their tobacco production. The cherry in it is very clean tasting and I get no indication there's artificial flavors in it at all (that's where the cough drop flavor comes from in some other cherry aromatics). And C&D's light aromatics seem to be natural as well; anyone that uses honey from their own hives to case with (e.g., from what I understand Jeremy Reeves uses on Interlude), probably tries to keep these lighter aromatics as pure as possible.
I still have a couple more to try (i.e., Founding Fathers and Virginia #1)...
Okay, so I have completed my experiment(s). I have smoked the remaining two--Virginia No. 1 and C&Ds Founding Fathers; I'll put both in my rotation. To be honest, Founding Fathers should be listed as something of a match for Carter Hall. I don't smoke Carter Hall anymore once I found out about all the artificial crap they put in it. Someone told me that Chatham Manor would be a match, and even though a decent smoke, it wasn't anywhere near a match for CH...I think this one is closer to be honest. It's also made by C&D so it shouldn't have all that crap in it. Virginia No. 1 was a fantastic, mild pure Virginia...need I say more? In fact, I said before that I was going to put HH Pure Virginia in my rotation, but I'll replace it with this instead.
Anyway, here's the run down. This is what was in my rotation beforehand (BTW, I forgot to include Vanilla Roll Cake before, so I put it here):
Straights:
Carolina Red Flake (without the perique crap)
Bright Virginia bulk ribbon (C&D in particular)
Burley Flake #2
Crumble Kake Red
HH Rustica (I just added this to my list with the latest batch they made a couple of months ago)
Lightly cased no topping:
Interlude
Aros:
Santee (best damn aro out there in my opinion)
LL-7 (almost too goopy for my liking)
Chatham Manor
Vanilla Roll Cake
Moving forward I'll have:
Straights:
Carolina Red Flake (without the perique crap)
Bright Virginia bulk ribbon (C&D in particular)
Burley Flake #2
HH Rustica (I just added this to my list with the latest batch they made a couple of months ago)
Opening Night
Virginia No. 1
Lightly cased no topping:
Interlude
Aros:
Santee (best damn aro out there in my opinion)
Vanilla Roll Cake
String Duster
Cherry Ambrosia
Founding Fathers
Again, I only do this every couple of years and I'm usually not at all successful with these experiments, so it's exciting to have found 5 blends to move forward with for the next couple of years!
Don't blame it on Black Friday!
Tobaccopipes page is always messed up it seems...they need a good IT person or something to clean it up.