Savinelli 140th Anniversary

The red Virginias are mildly tangy, dark fruit sweet with earth, wood, and a touch of spice and bread. The bright Virginias have some tart and tangy citrus along with a little grass, though there is less of the latter aspect than expected. Both Virginias compete and complement each other. The dark fired florets from Italy add a little wood, earth, herbs, vegetation, lightly sweet and sourness, mild spice, a slight cigar note, and a rather obvious floral quality. The cigar florets are processed from dark fired Italian burley off cuts. Background support comes from the woody, buttery sweet and fairly sour, incense-like, herbal, earthy, lightly spicy, floral Orientals. The tangy citrus topping sports a mildly sweet richness, contrasted by the addition of the medium floral essence of wild flowers. The floralness of this blend creates a European feel to the very smooth, consistent flavor. It never weakens or gets harsh, and will not bite even if pushed. The toppings moderately tone down the tobaccos. The nic-hit is in the center of mild to medium. The strength is a couple of steps short of medium. The taste is at the medium threshold, mostly due to the addition of the wild flowers. Well blended and complex with some nuance, it burns cool and clean at a reasonable pace. Requires an average number of relights. Leaves very little dampness in the bowl. The after taste pleasantly lingers, and the room note is mildly sweet and floral. It’s close to an all day smoke for the experienced piper, and a good starter for those just exploring blends in this genre.

-JimInks

As far as I know, 140 Year Anniversary Mixture is the only recent Savinelli offering that is made for them by Cornell and Diehl. While 140 is not rough, like some other C&D blends, it is qualitatively different from the other, recent Savinelli blends I’ve tried (and especially enjoyed). In fact, it took me a while to get the most from this blend, and I came close to setting it aside before I locked onto it.

In the opened tin, moist tobacco ribbons range from golden brown to dark brown. The melded VAs and Orientals smell like grassy, tobacco-ish cake, with a mystery topping, supposedly citrus and wildflowers. The smoky Sansepolcro is not discernible under the initial scents. The ribbons are easy to load and fairly easy to light, and it burns down pretty fast. I first tried smoking 140 straight from the tin, lightly loaded into an ODF briar that I figured would offset a fast burn. All was not well. It was myriad and random, blunt, unbalanced, and dry enough to choke me. Still, I persisted with large pipes for some time, because 140 really does burn quickly. Then I drew a blank with a WW II Comoy’s I use for cigar blends. Hmm… Finally, on a hunch I wish I’d gotten in the first place, I tried it in an old, group 4 Punto Oro ½ bent bulldog. Bingo! This pipe presents 140 so well that I’ve stopped experimenting, and the following review of the smoke is based on my use of “the right pipe”.

140 handles, packs, lights and smokes easily, and there is plenty of smoke. I pack it lightly and I draw very lightly for the best results. For me, so much of this blend is in the light snork. I smell and taste the lighter VAs first, mild, grassy, with very faint meadow flowers. Next I smell and taste Macedonian leaf that is mossy and dry, with vague Middle Eastern kabob spices. Next comes the slightly smoky, slightly nutty, slightly bitter Sansepolcro, which is also mildly cigar-like. Though it waxes and wanes through the smoke it never really rears up like a full-fledged cigar, at all. About ½ way down the bowl, the earthier, red VA comes up to meld with, temper, and enrich the lot. I want to be clear, although 140 was poorly balanced when I smoked it in my large pipes, in the pipe I settled on it is very well balanced, with just enough wobble to keep it interesting, and it works for me in this pipe with or without my brain engaged. I particularly enjoy the frisson between the Sansepolcro and the Orientals, which reminds me in that way of GLP’s Key Largo, albeit 140 is less cigar-like, and it lacks Latakia. Strength is toward medium. Tastes are just over medium. Room note is tolerable, despite the stinky tobaccos the blend employs. Aftertaste is more of the smoke.

Perhaps I’m too easy, but I figure all’s well that ends well, and danged if I haven’t gotten ahold of yet another 4 star blend. I recommend Savinelli’s 140 year Anniversary Mixture to anyone who likes Key Largo, and I offer the same advice I offered when I reviewed KL: Take it easy, and don’t give up on it too soon. FWIW, I’m betting that 140 is going to age very well (just as Key Largo does).

Update, 07-25-2018: Smoked some that's been cellared in a jar since before I wrote my review. This 140 has matured/evolved into a rich, "luxury" smoke, like the other recent Savinelli blends. No issues. Very nice, indeed!

Savinelli 140th Anniversary - Ultra-fine!!! Multi-nuanced levels of full flavorful sophistication best enjoyed slowly in a contemplative large conical-bottomed bowl... there is so much going on in this beautiful blend, yet no part eclipses another... yes, IMO, this one is SPECIAL. A marvelous concentrated spicy sweet leathery floral cigar multi-flavor-hit to the palette, and stellar on the retro-hale!

After I first tried Savinelli's 140th Anniversary, I immediately bought another tin. Then over the course of it's runs, I bought a few more. I really do love this stuff. Upon opening the tin/jar... there is a sweet and fresh floral note and the hay scent of the Virginia's. And the cut is perfect, although I may be biased since I do prefer finely cut pipe tobacco. It's a moderately fine ribbon cut. Packs very easily. First few puffs... very nice grassy and hay flavors of the Virginias. It's fairly Virginia-forward. There are some citrus notes as well, and a nice fresh floral flavor. The Orientals add the perfect amount of sour, herbal flavor. But I think it's the dark fired florets that really make this blend... they're not overwhelming, but there's a definite cigar sharpness, just enough to add something really different and nice... a bit of an edge, and a woody, earthy flavor. Every aspect of 140th Anniversary balances out and works perfectly together.

Bottom line: High quality tobaccos, with amazing flavors, masterfully blended. Seriously great stuff. Also, it ages *so well*. I really hate to think about the day when I'll run out of this blend.

Certainly a unique Virginia-based blend. The light Virginas see more evident with the hay, citrusy notes than the reds, though their dark fruitiness is apparent. The spicy Orientals play a nice back role and are always evident. The dark-fired cigar leaf and the wildflower "flavoring" are what set this blend apart. The Dark fire lead isnt strong as you would expect from your Old Dark Strong Kentucky but is earthy and does bring out a cigar addition to the flavor array. The wildflower note isnt the floral note you may find in Lakeland blends either.

It truly seems natural and perfect with a blend originating from the Italian countryside. An excellent, all day, springtime/summertime blend that really surprised me. If you are a Virgina fan, this may not make your rotation but I believe it will be a blend you keep close by for a unique smoke and one that will be at your reach often during the spring/summer months. 8/10 for me.

This tobacco is so different from anything else I have ever tried. Aside from Doblone d'Oro, it is the only Savinelli tobacco I have sampled; the only “Italian” tobacco I have in my cellar. (Kudos to Jeremy Reeves for pulling this off/putting this together).

This tobacco is so quintessentially Italian. (Granted, I have no idea what a "quintessentially Italian" pipe tobacco tastes like, but, as it is a Savinell, and because the special dark-fired florets come from the Tuscan Tiber Valley region of Italy, I am totally comfortable in saying that this tobacco is "quintessentially Italian" -- as opposed to, say, "quintessentially English").

As I began smoking my first bowl, I immediately thought/felt that this is what Ciarán Hinds may very well have had in his Peterson pipe when he played Carl, the former Israeli soldier and tweedy, professorial “cleaner” in Steven Spielberg’s “Munich,” the movie about Israel’s Operation Wrath of God campaign following the 1972 Munich massacre. 

The team is in Rome, in pursuit of their first target, Abdel Wael Zwaiter, who was a Palestinian translator, poet and Black Septemberist. Following Zwaiter’s demise, “Carl” -- with pipe in hand -- calmly, coolly, collects shell casings from the scene once the job is done.

As of this posting, Savinelli 140 has only 4-star ratings. The only other tobacco I own with all 4-star ratings are Druquer & Sons' Trafalgar, along with my two tins of McClelland's 1992 Christmas Cheer.

Excellent stuff, this Savinelli 140.

Wonderful blend of florets, Virginias, citrus, sweetness and a great smoking experience with a terrific room note. Sadly if you didn’t have the chance to buy it, you can’t get it! To bad because it’s worthy of a production blend!

Simplest review ever. I've had about a dozen bowls. This tobacco is why I smoke a pipe. It's pure. It's delicious, I could go on with the often-annoying adjectives but i won't. If you want to smoke a stunningly good KY/VA with whatever (to my taste, great oriental presence) then buy a tin. I bought 12 after I tasted the first.

I've been wanting to try this one for a long time, I finally got around to trying it and this was a love at first puff for me. The blend is golden in color with some darker specs of leaf, nothing too exciting but the tin note is a delicious sweet floral aroma that just makes my mouth water. The wild flower topping absolutely makes this blend smoke very much like an old fashioned British style blend, the florals and sweet citrus are applied lightly but it's just enough to taste it on each retrohale. There is a good juxtaposition of sweet and smoky leaf in here that creates a nice myriad of wonderful nuances in this smoke, this blend would be great without the topping but the topping just makes it top shelf in my opinion, it's definitely used with a light hand and it's a brilliantly concocted sauce at that. I recommend this blend to those that like a little floral flavoring added to their tobacco. I just love how florals intertwine with the natural tobacco flavors and this may just be up there with some of the best of them, think blends like Erinmore Flake and St. Bruno. I am also honored that such a wonderful Eruopean style blend was created right here in the US by our good friends at C&D. Hats off to you all for making such a masterpiece. My only complaint would be that it's a limited release, yes even this last time around.

Definitely an essential purchase!

I have been smoking pipes for just over a year now and have tried many different tobaccos. So I do not have any authority to say what is good or not. However, I find G.L. PeaseEnglish blends and Mac BarenODF blends to be my favorites so far. I find savinelli 140th to be refreshingly mild with a pleasant taste that smokes to the bottom of my pipe without any complaints. I enjoy the flavor and smoke equally.I don't know how you guys differentiate the flavors from each other but I enjoy this smoke all the way through and will be ordering more soon.