Motzek Hallo Twist

The gold and dark Virginias host a lot of tangy dark fruit and earth, some tart citrus, wood and light grass notes. The darkest, stoved Virginia is also earthy with a fair amount of stewed fruitiness and a little sugar, all of which competes with and compliments the other Virginias. The Virginias have a mild fermented quality about them as well. The spicy, raisiny, figgy, plummy perique is a punchy supporting player with a hint of sour. The brown sugary black cavendish also has a touch of toast in a condimental role as it adds some creamy smoothness to the product. The strength is in the center of medium to strong, The taste level is full. The nicotine sits squarely on the medium threshold. No chance of bite or harshness, but there is a slight rough edge in spots. No matter how you cut and prepare the rope, the flavor aspects are very well balanced and complex with a bold, deep richness; sweet and spicy with a little savoriness that translates to the lingering after taste. You’ll notice every nuance in every puff. Burns cool, clean and slow as the tobacco is a little moist, but it needs no dry time. Leaves little moisture in the pipe, and needs a fair amount of relights. Not an all day smoke, but if you use a small bowl, it’s certainly repeatable.

-JimInks

EDIT: This got "refined" somewhere around June 2017 and was unavailable for a short while. I adjusted the review, it got a tad more spicy, and comes a bit less moist. They also increased the amount of salt in it, to prevent mold - yes, they avoid chemicals at all costs, as Tom Darasz told me!

"Hallo" Twist (=german or "Hello; Hi"), which got introduced in spring 2017 is an(-other) enrichment for Motzeks offering, and the german pipe market. When the twist arrived, I couldn't hold back my nosiness and instantly opened the bag to cut off a piece of this lovely looking twist tobacco.

"Hallo" twists apperance is intriguing. On the outside it's wrapped with bright brown, yellow and partly orange coloured wrapper-leaf, which shows all three Virginias used for this blend I guess. If you cut off a piece and take a look at the inside of the twist, a mostly black, to deep brown melange of spun tobaccos is awaiting you. Tempting appereance.

When taking a sniff on the twist, you won't detect much (like with a lot of Motzek blends!), but that isn't a bad thing at all and only fortifies the very natural impression of this tobacco. Once you cut off a piece and stick your nose really close to the tobacco, you'll finally explore the pleasing scents of this tobacco. Deep plumy, with what I perceive of orangy/peachy and hints of other stoved-fruits, gentle sourness and hints of spice along with a whiff of sweetness. Really a complex and intriguing smell.

As it's a twist, it needs at least between 30-60 minutes to be medium-dry, 2-3 hours to get it with only slight moisture and overnight will make it real crispy. Everyone has his own preference mine is between 45 minutes and 2 hours, as I like it more with a bit of moisture to it.

Smoking "Hallo" Twist the first time was a revelation to me. The taste is most natural and the smoke is full of flavours.

Perique - which is one of the main actors - offers very intense and dark, stoved and fermented fruit notes of plums, with something reminding me of tangerines/oranges and peaches as well as a touch of raisin-like flavour to it. It has a full-bodied, but never overpowering peppery spice. The other main-actor, the Virginias used deliver a lot of earth and may well be also responsible for the rich fruity taste of this blend. Only slightly grassy tone. Virginia & Perique form a melange of tobacco goodness, that's top-notch under the countless Va/Per offerings available. Well woven into the flavour-profile, the Black Cavendish supports the fermnted quality of the Perique and adds a toast-y dimension to it that's rather in the back but it rounds the blend in a pleasant way. The rich spice, in interplay with the intensely (fermented) fruity nuances create a top-notch melange of Va/Per goodness.

This blend joins the club of my most favorite Va/Per blends of all times. (Edit: I smoke this blend with insane speed, and on higher ratio than any other tobacco. This is MY smoke, the one I'd take to a lonely Island, and I'd have to choose only few blends, this would be my first choice, no doubt!)

4/4 stars - HIGHLY recommended for anyone who like Perique and Virginias, as this is a outstandingly good melange of well measured ingridients. Suitable for any time of the day, never tiring or boring at all.

I had high expectations from this blend. I ended up dissatisfied. The aroma is wonderful. It smells like peach to me, sweet and smooth. Unfortunately this is the only good thing about it. It needs a fair amount of drying time, at least one hour. This is the only blend that I couldn't light it, without drying it! The taste is mild to medium, but completely unexceptional. A huge disappointment.Room note is pleasantly fruity, and nicotine level medium. But I couldn't care less.

I tried this when I first got it, and periodically for subsequent months.

Presented in a nice twist with a prune-like smell. I guess that's coming from the Cavendish.

The taste is medium to full with lots of zest and prune and plum and raisin notes. It's pretty sweet in the way Luxury Bullseye Flake is a sweet Virginia Perique Cavendish blend, but it doesn't override the tobacco flavor. You know something is added.

The nicotine is medium and the strength is on the high end of medium. I found the most success slicing off coins and cube-cutting into little chunks and just gravity-filling after some drying.

I ordered this from their site, and it did take some time to come (I am across the Atlantic) and I had to do some work to get it, so I am not sure I would get it again. However, it is an excellent Virginia Perique and I would recommend it to any lover of Virginias, or anyone that likes a zesty, robust, yet sweet smoke. I rate it as 'highly recommended' for the unique taste it adds to this genre of tobaccos.

Decent warm smell of fruit jam from the pouch. Cutting some nice coins from the beautiful rope that has a wrapping of bright Virginia and a core of dark fermented Cavendish with a bit of Perique I leave it open for breathing for half an hour before packing it in a slightly bigger bowl. Needs some time and several relights to get started and may also take some attention or could go out from one second to the next.

Very smooth and plum like flavor from the beginning. Very round with no taste taking over too much. Kind of sweet but not sweet for me this is the best you can get out of a natural unsweetened leaf. This blend is getting a bit stronger in smokiness when the bowl continues. The VA offers a wide range of citric notes on top of the dark dry fruit body. There is a certain sourness but not overwhelming when puffed slowly.

Well balanced blend that offers you all the assets of Va Perique and Cavendish containing superb quality leaf.