Paul Olsen No. 7000

(3.21)
Based on a blend over 103 years old, #7000 contains a very generous portion of top quality latakia with some of the finest Orientals. Then finished off with a black cavendish and Turkish Samsun for a full-bodied traditional English.

Details

Brand Paul Olsen
Series My Own Blend
Blended By Paul Olsen
Manufactured By  
Blend Type English
Contents Black Cavendish, Latakia, Oriental/Turkish
Flavoring
Cut Ribbon
Packaging 100 grams tin
Country Denmark
Production

Profile

Strength
Medium
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Extremely Mild -> Overwhelming
Flavoring
None Detected
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
None Detected -> Extra Strong
Room Note
Tolerable
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Unnoticeable -> Overwhelming
Taste
Medium to Full
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Extremely Mild (Flat) -> Overwhelming

Average Rating

3.21 / 4
9

12

2

1

Reviews

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Displaying 1 - 10 of 24 Reviews
Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
May 10, 2018 Medium None Detected Medium to Full Strong
The smokey, woody, earthy, musty, leathery sweet Cyprian latakia is the star component. The floral, herbal, woody, earthy, very spicy, dry and buttery sweet Samsun is a strong supporting player. The brown sugary black cavendish adds a smoothing sweetness in the background. The strength and nic-hit are medium. The taste is in the center of medium to full. Won’t bite, but may tingle the tongue of a fast puffer due to the high spice content. Has a couple rough edges despite the presence of the black cavendish. Burns a tad warm, and slightly fast with deeply rich, spicy campfire sweet, consistent and well balanced flavor that extends to the lingering after taste. Leaves little dampness in the bowl and requires an average number of relights. Has a pungent room note guaranteed to scare away your in-laws. Not an all day smoke. Three and a half stars.

-JimInks
6 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Aug 03, 2018 Mild to Medium None Detected Full Tolerable
I was gifted a good sample of this from a friend that, I believe, netted me about 4 or 5 bowls. It was enough to get to know this blend as it is not too complicated. This is a lat bomb, but a pretty good one at that.

From the smell of the tin straight through to the end of the bowl you will, no doubt, taste latakia with its camp fire aroma. The samsun does give it some alternative flavoring, a bit of sour to accompany the smoke. The black Cavendish is a key ingredient though as it "smooths" out the other ingredients and adds a little sweetness to make this easier on the palate. Even with the addition of the latter leaf, I still found myself getting an occasional scratch at the back of my throat here and there. This is something I notice happens to me from time to time with Heavy lat blends. Typically, a sip or two of a beverage will remedy this, so it is not a big deal.

I do not really enjoy blends this heavy in Latakia, but do review them favorably if they meet my criteria of smooth and creamy. This one, for the most part, did deliver well in these two completely subjective areas.
5 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Aug 09, 2012 Mild None Detected Medium to Full Tolerable to Strong
I am not sure whether this is still available or not, but I am throwing in my two cents as much for my own future reference as anything else. My tin is 7-9 years old, and has been opened for that long. It is a nice high quality tobacco. I gave it only two stars, however, because it is a little bitey, and there are many, many similar english style blends which are just plain better.

It looks and smells in the tin like a typical english blend. It packs nicely, and burns readily. The flavor is mostly of latakia, but the orientals do add some nice undertones. As stated above, my experience is that it has a bite to it that is present throughout the bowl. The strange thing is that it does not seem to burn particularly hot, but it still bites a little. Maybe my palate is just off on this one. While there is nothing wrong with this, I think there are any number of english blends (look to England, young man) that offer more flavor and complexity without that funky bite.
3 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Nov 10, 2011 Medium Medium Mild to Medium Pleasant to Tolerable
I love this blend! Its smoky and delicious, a real winner. The Latakia takes a front seat on this blend and the taste is deepened by the Orientals. I really didn't taste much as far as Cavendish is concerned but it definitely didn't take away from the blend. The flavor is complex and rich yet smooth and strong. I highly recommend this blend!!!!!
3 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Nov 21, 2022 Medium None Detected Medium to Full Tolerable to Strong
Tin note of campfire, very mild spices and mildly sweet. Tobacco ribbon cut is black, dark brown and a small amount of lighter brown. Tobacco is fairly dry. No prep needed. Burns a little fast with few relights. The strength is medium and nic is mild. No flavoring detected. Taste is medium to full and consistent, with notes of buttery sweet, strong smoky wood, floral, mildly tart sweet background note, musty sour herbs, dry earth, leather, and a peppery retro. Cyprian latakia is leading with Samsun and black cavendish supporting. Room note is tolerable to strong, and aftertaste is great.
Pipe Used: 2013 J.M. Boswell Poker
Age When Smoked: 10 years
1 person found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Sep 23, 2011 Mild to Medium Extremely Mild Medium to Full Tolerable
No. 7,000 is a Latakia forward blend that arrives a the perfect moisture level for smoking. The very thin ribbons pack with ease. My tastes tend to point more toward medium English blends where the Latakia isn't quite such a force, but Paul Olsen does a real nice job with this blend. Too much cavendish can wreck an English blend, but in this case it seems to be added with a light hand offering a slight sweetness, although not a sweet English (think Frog Morton or Northwoods). This blend should be on the must ry list for lovers of Latikia or full English blends. Recommended.
1 person found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Dec 07, 2008 Medium Extremely Mild Medium Tolerable
A very good full English mixture, rich in Latakia and fine oriental tobaccos, but sweetened and made more palatable by some Black Cavendish. The presence of Cavendish is not a sign of a bland mixture like many other "modern EMs", but a perfectly integrated component. The taste, while not as full as in some other mixtures like Balkan Sobranie, is very satisfying: sweet and full of "burnt-wood" latakia notes. At times it can be a bit watery, but usually it's just a matter of correct packing and smoking pace. I like this tobacco a lot, as it burns fine thanks to the perfect humidity and cut, and it has a very good taste sometimes comparable to some of GLPease's offerings (which, considering that this blend is Danish, is quite unbelievable!). The only problem for me and a fellow pipesmoker is that it tends to bite the tongue: nothing truly bad, and certainly no harshness, but at the end of the bowl you are left with a slightly tingling feeling in the mouth... I don't know if the Cavendish is to be blamed for this, of it's due to something else, though. Anyway, a very recommended tobacco: its balance, taste and sheer quality of the rare orientals are all strong points to its favour. Too bad that it has been withdrawn from the European market, and probably will suffer the same fate in the US: you will still be able to find it at Olsen's Copenhagen shop, at least, which is a minor consolation...

2008 Update: I still have a few tins of this left, and I must say that aging didn't kill the tounguebite at all. It has an excellent flavour, a true Latakia/Orientals lover's dream... but it is one of the most aggressive tobaccos my tongue has ever experienced... Weird, very weird.
1 person found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Feb 16, 2008 Medium to Strong None Detected Medium to Full Tolerable to Strong
I picked this up about 2 weeks back and have since smoked 10-12 bowls of it. Both in a Peterson full bent and a cheap ebay meer. EXCELLENT in both pipes, but very different.

The briar comes across as more subtle and soft, but the meer allows this baccy to taste the way the tin smells...smoky and earthy. I wish I knew what percentage of Latakia this contained, because I get the feeling that is what I like best in this blend.

Upon opening the tin moisture is as near perfect as I have come across. I don't need to try and dry it before smoking. It burns to a clean dry grey ash and the tiny bit of dottle is always dry, making it a low pipe maintenance blend.

Any bite I have gotten has really been my own fault and the result of my being an impatient smoker.
1 person found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Jan 31, 2006 Mild to Medium None Detected Medium Tolerable
It frankly surprises me that I like Paul Olsen's (My Own Blend) No 7000. I obtained this as a sample and subsequently bought much more and have been smoking it with much frequency. Based on the Cavendish listed in the contents, I would not have purchased this if not for the sample. That certainly is part of the beauty of a gift, is it not? The smell in the tin is truly very nice and drew me to it before any of the other samples in the package that I received. I packed, lit, and found something wonderfully new. Even with that said, there is a slight harshness produced in smoking. I do not mind it as I would in other weeds, however. 'No 7000' (dry yet just right out of the tin) burns quickly, but that is also fine because it has a quality important to pipe-smoking: this is a superb new pipe 'breaking-in' tobacco. Every bowl that I have smoked has burned well to a splendid dry ash that clings to create the markings of a fantastic cake. Additionally, I rather like the large tin that snaps tightly shut. I plan on keeping this in stock. Enjoyable stuff indeed.
1 person found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Jan 11, 2006 Medium None Detected Medium to Full Pleasant to Tolerable
Update Jan. 2006: This is extraordinarily similar to Peter Stokkebye Balkan Supreme bulk blend. If there is any difference, this is a touch sweeter. Both are delicious. Further, Balkan Supreme seems to me identical to Balkan Sasieni. Hmmm, all three blended by PS....

Update Feb. 2005: After smoking this for nearly two years, it is in my Hall of Fame of full English or medium-full Balkan blends.

It is not as full as Caravan, but fuller than Margate and Renaissance. Much fuller than McClelland's Balkan's.

The Orientals are scrumptuous, with tanginess, floral, herbal and woodsy essences. 7000 is less edgy than Red Rapparee (which Orientals I find even a bit sweet) and McClelland's Syrian Full and Super Balkans.

The Latakia is killer and generous; robust, but in complete balance with the Turkish.

I think the leaf cut requires a bowl with 3/4" or larger bowl opening diameter. The oxygen will help keep this lit and require lighter drawing. Add fairly tight packing for all three layers (if that is how you load your bowl), and tongue bit should reduce.

I ordered Stokkebye's Balkan Supreme and will compare it with 7000 and Balkan Sasieni in a future review.




Presentation is a large tin with a pop-top, not the twist top variety (kind of like a can of Quick). Tobacco is on the dry side, yet packs easily, burning fairly cool, thoroughly and with little dottle.

I cannot find fault with this blend, but much in the way of pure pleasure. Nice complexity and smoothness. Taste is upfront, plentiful and steady throughout the smoke.

Initial tin aroma led me to think "late evening." Instead, I enjoy this throughout the day and after a hearty meal.

I am considering cellaring many tins of 7000. Over the internet it can be had for a bargain. I will try 3005, too. If you like Dunhill's 965, this is a must. If you want a great, world-class English style blend, go for 7000.
1 person found this review helpful.
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