Dan Tobacco Independence

I really like this blend. I can definitely see why some reviewers did not like it. I can taste that maybe the base tobaccos are not the highest of quality? Also the flavoring is different. I really like it but it is indescribable.

First let me start off by making a confession. I initially bought this blend based on the tin alone. Yup, it is true. There was a time when CAO/Dan had a line of blends with the coolest of tins. Being a history buff, blends like midnight ride, independence, and black Frigate really caught my eye. Unfortunately those cool tins are almost impossible to find now, but if you look you can get your hands on independence.

I kind of lump this in with the lakeland style blends. It is not a true lakeland flavoring but it has the same idea. A good tobacco flavor with a sort of floral note. I quite enjoy it. It burns really well and does not leave any sludge in the pipe.

There is one caveat with this blend. It will leave an interesting ghost behind so don't smoke it in your favorite Virginia vessel.

Highly recommended. Enjoy!

This starts off nice enough with sweet, fruity, and floral flavors, mostly from the topping, but also with a decent input from the Virginias. Not much from the BC or Latakia. As the Lat starts to show itself the whole thing goes off the rails and gets acrid and just downright nasty. Tried 3 bowls and couldn't finish any of them. Time to move on.

Ready rubbed cut of various browns with a slight touch of black. Strong licorice tin aroma with a backdrop of dark fruit and a little booze, with perhaps just a smidge of florals. Not really a positive smell but I got something similar recently from McConnells Glen Piper which I enjoyed. So off I went. As an aside, the flat tin was rather tall but still the usual 50 grams. Not sure why it required a taller tin. The tobacco came dry-ish in the tin, furthering my theory that flat tins tend to leak in a small amount of air over time. But if you prefer your tobacco dry, no problem. If you want your 20 year old tobacco to be of the same moisture content as it was fresh, stick with McClellands/Pease-type tins. At least that's what I've been discovering with my aged stash.

The flavoring wasn't nearly as strong in the bowl but it was noticeable with every puff. Same licorice/dark fruit that I noticed in the bouquet. Not as sweet of a taste as I expected - really more spicy and just the barest suggestion of smoke from the latakia, which may constitute as little as 5%. Most noticeable in the snork. Drying out the tobacco causes the flavoring to subside and the high quality Virginias to shine, and of course this smoked best for me very dry. Still got the Cavendish casing taste but the blend became less aromatic. Yes, this is definitely an aromatic but it's one for those who prefer a little flavoring and a lot of tobacco taste rather than over-saucing the soul from the leaf. All in all, I enjoyed this tobacco but it's not a rotation maker. Great for a sometime treat, though.

This broad ready rubbed mixture is what I like to call a hybrid tobacco. On the one hand it's an aromatic with a distict fruity flavoring, but on the other hand it contains a detectable amount of Latakia, which might make it interesting for those who prefer English tobaccos.

The Independence 50 g tin is bigger than usual, big enough for 100 g in other blends. The tin note reminds me of the way the malthouse of a whisky distillery smells. Kind of warm and sweet.

The pipe should not be filled too tightly, otherwise it'll burn too hot. This tobacco needs a little space. However, if you don't draw too eagerly, you'll have a cool and smooth smoke leaving just some powdery ash. The elusive fruity aroma (lemmon, banana, red berries?) mixes nicely with the natural sugary sweetness of the Virginias and the distinct tangy, peaty notes from the Latakia.

The room note is quite pleasant, because it's dominated by the top flavors. What others smell is an aromatic, but what you taste is Latakia.

To review this blend, one has to know and like Highlands style flavoring. No one else will even begin to like it so they might not even waste their time trying to and leave a fair review of it.

This is a great mix of VA, oriental, and little black cavendish. The pouch note is a little gram cracker like in aroma and has somewhat of a musty note as well. It's mostly a brown RR flake with a few darker leaves mixed in but it packed quite nicely in my pipe. Upon lighting, it is a full creamy smoke with the under notes of a tangy and spicy mouthwatering flavor, One does really not notice the added flavor of the perfume is there, until you are well along in your pipe But it does add an interesting and unique flavor and room note that lovers of the Highlands like. It burned all the way down the bowl needing few relites and leaves a fine gray dottle and ash at bottom of the bowl. I enjoy this tobacco on occasion a lot, but then I love Condor and St Brunos but can't get them over here. This is a truly classic old fashioned tobacco and if you enjoy a tobacco of this type you will love it.

This is a perfumed leaf that is well, sure different. The Virginia base is of rather suspect quality and the artificially perfumed flavoring is cheap rather than a heady, natural flavoring of the Highland Lakes variety that so many pipe hobbyists enjoy.

I do try hard to offer some merit to all blends that I review. I just could not come up with any major kudos here. It is a blend for some, and for that I'll tepidly say it may be a good smoke for someone other than me.

Tin description: A blend of the finest grades of Virginias

Dan's not very long in the tooth about this blend, is he? This is one of four reintroductions of CAO blends and the first in the series I have tried. I have not tasted the the original so I cannot offer any comparison.

Blend presents in light tans in a mostly rubbed out flake with a few slightly chunkier pieces intermixed. My tin staged for 3 months and the moisture level upon opening was surprisingly perfect on the dry side. Surprising because of the aroma, I expected a much heavier moisture level. The scent is captivating aromatic. I am not a fan of American style aromatic blends; but I like this scent a lot. It is a mixture of dried black cherries, cranberries, pomegranates, and anise. As odd as that combination sounds, it's most enjoyable to sniff. Each scent is present and distinct without a melding or competing, I find that very interesting.

The moisture level from the tin being a little drier than most and the cut made this a very easy blend to pack and light. I have had no problems with re-lights or over packing / tamping. Quality leaf burns completely to the bottom of the bowl with no near end of the bowl acidity and no or very minimal dottle. The nicotine level is low, very low. I have smoked this through various sized bowls and packed my largest billiard without any nicotine effects, which I like. However, other pipers might be put off at the mildness of the blend. The leaf burns a little hot so thinner walled pipes do heat up a bit, because the smoke is mild and the flavors subtle I did sometimes puff to excess which contributed to the chamber heating up.

Blowing smoke through the nose for taste is best and shorter sips better than long draws. The black cherry and cranberry is just subtly noticeable. Unfortunately, the anise not detected at all. Blend performs best in moderate to large billiards. Oddly, it does not do well in a cob or poker. And it also doesn't perform well in the smoke rings column.

I like this blend as a change-up smoke. It is mild and tasty. However, this is not going to be for everyone. There is nothing reminiscent of any of the traditional VA flavors of "mown hay," or "acrid tomato" or the traditional "dried fig / dates," or "zesty brights," or "floral."

This blend might be a good choice to those that want to try a VA coming away from the American aromatic line. Or to those that enjoy a slightly aromatic and very mild smoke.

Like Pipestud, I too reviewed this blend under the CAO entry. My tin has the CAO logo but, unlike the description of the entry in TR, there's no mention of any leaf other than the "finest grades of Virginias" (made in Germany). Go figure.

It so happens that in doing some late-spring cleaning I came upon the same tin I opened 7 years ago, some of which contents I sampled for my review. I never really could finish the tin. When I opened it, I was expecting to find not tobacco, but tobacco dust. Well, believe it or not the remaining contents is still moist. Unfortunately so is the sickly perfumed aroma that all those years ago made me sick.

I don't know if this thing is still in production (either under CAO or Dan Tobacco's name). But in all good faith, I honestly cannot recommend this concoction. Not even my LSW would dare use this cheap, odorous perfume!

This is a rubbed out flake with a somewhat strong soapy smell, an odour that reminds everyone of Sutliff's Mixture 79. Never having smoked mixture 79, I couldn't say, but it actually reminds me of an undertone in Dobie's Foursquare Blue from many years ago. Plus plum, lavender, jasmine, and tea-shops frequented by little old ladies. Cold rainy summer afternoons.

I really wish I knew what the heck that smell is. It is a very recognizable aroma, but impossible to name. The tobacco itself is not remarkable. Other than the soapy reek, it is an unassuming little flake. Not much there, and what is there seems whipped into quivering silence by the smell.

The major pleasure I derive from it, however, is distinctly decadent. I love the echo of that fragrance which colours the next two or three smokes in a pipe. There is zest in sparking a memory-feeling that I cannot identify with traces of a perfume that I cannot recognize, much like enjoying the presence of a beautiful girl who has a vulgar accent, or an old woman with a youthful and springlike eau de toilette. Even an innocent downy teenager, with scarlet lipstick of a particularly knowing and depraved hue. Intensely delicious, in a degenerate sort of way.

I am somewhat confused (a normal state for me.) I reviewed this as a Dan Tobacco manufactured blend. But it is also listed here separately as CAO and spelled a bit differently. Oh well...

In retrospect, I should have put the tin in my cellar and scheduled its opening for the year 2050. I'd of been dead long before then. This is a perfumed leaf that is shockingly bad.