Nat Sherman 580 Liberty Golden Virginia

This was sold as a Virginia and I instantly fell in love with it. I had never smoked any Virginia before and I was really surprised at the sweetness and the vanilla tones. I later realized, after smoking pure Virginia, that the 580 is vanilla flavored.

While the vanilla was up in my face in the first few months, I found the flavor to evolve over time. I can now distinctly pick up caramel and perhaps even a faint sourness of cherry on the nose. I'm not sure if the evolution of flavor is due to the 4 months aging, the weather or simply that I was just not experienced enough to pick up all the flavors correctly at first.

FROM NAT SHERMAN: STRAIGHT VIRGINIA, NO FLAVORING.

Straight Virginia, yes, but flavored. According to the manufacturer’s indications (Nat Sherman) there is no flavoring in it, but it is quite obvious the presence of sugar and probably vanilla or something like that. Anyway this is a good golden Virginia, light, mild and tasty. It has a medium to low content of nicotine. Ideal for slow and patient smokers. If you smoke quickly it is not for you. In my personal rating system (from 1 to 10) my score is 8 and three stars.

UPDATE 2018-12-24: I changed my opinion. Unfortunately I can not assign three stars to this flavored Virginia. In my opinion it is a common tobacco, nothing special at all and there are a lot of straight Virginia better than this one. I’m sorry but I can’t give more than two stars.

Roasted coconut, vanilla, and fresh straw. A delightful, natural aromatic smoke.

The baggy note (when bought at the Nat Shermans store across from Grand Central, the tobacco is placed in a thick, zip lock baggy) was light, reminiscent of freshly baked pound cake and sugar cookies. It lit quickly and smoked dry, with very little gurgle. The smoke flavor was sweet and full of subtle variety for the aromatics aficionado...vanellas turned to crisp smoked almonds, turned to mild spicy currants. All light, all sweet and easy throughout the entire bowl. When sipped, it smoked cool. When chased, it burned my tongue good. I found it best suited for a moisture wicking bowl such as a fresh MM cob pipe. When smoked in a briar that wasn't dry enough, the smoke took on a vinegar taste. Consider investing nine dollars in a clean, new MM pipe to best taste the subtleties of this excellent blend. The room note was very pleasant, but not in a casing-rich fashion (such as Captain Black). It departed a smoky, yet sweet and pleasant organic aroma to the room. The nicotine hit was mild and warm. I may spend the next 10 years chasing the enjoyment I got from this wonderful blend.

The best Virginia that I have smoked. I believe that it is the perfect Virginia. A greeting from Madrid, Spain.

Nat Sherman, Tobacconist to the World's elegant Fifth Avenue establishment is one of the High Places of smoking New York. His proprietary blends, all named after Famous Spots in the Great Metropolis of the American Empire, are fun. The tins are illustrated with pictures of the landmarks after which the blends are named, see? Neat Idea.

Howsoever that may be, though, I am not much for house blends. I just am not at all seduced by someone's Coco Loco mixture?which is probably someone else's Banana Daiquirí mixture. House blends are more often than not generic mélanges that industrial blenders, like Cornell & Diehl et al., provide to any number of mall-and-shopping-center practitioners, who then name them whatever their fancy strikes them. Cherry Rum Jambalia.

So when the nice lady at Sherman's suggested that I might require some tobacco as well?I had just bought a garnet-coloured, sunrise-grained Savinelli Punto Oro that immediately became a treasured favourite?I demurred. Still, since I AM a perfect gentleman, and she WAS wearing some ineffable Guerlain parfum that always gives me a giddy tingling directly south of the solar plexus, I said, with Manly Tone: "give me whatever you have that's pure Virginia". And so I got 580. And nothing else.

When I poked my nose into the nylon sachet full of golden tinsel, I thought that she had given me a helping of vanilla custard pudding by mistake. I almost tossed the whole thing into the nearest KEEP NOO YAWK CLEAN receptacle. Still, here I was, with a brand new purple pipe in my pocket, and nothing to stuff into it. I decided to give the Virgin Vanilla mixture a try.

Surprise. Amazement. Here was the real flavour of...tobacco. Naturally sweet, naturally mild, not bland, chewy, cashew-nut Virginia flavour. QUITE delicious. Not-at-all cloying. Not biting. Talk of judging a book by its cover! This almost reminded me of the old, beloved SOBRANIE "Pure Virginia" Flake (in the green étui, remember?)

I cannot taste the casing at all. I surmise that it is a mild sweetener, with a completely unnecessary topping. Leave out the twinky top spray, and this would be a classic. May be, like perfume, it will evapourate...

On a recent trip to Manhattan, my wife brought back for me several tins of Nat Sherman tobacco. One of them, 580, turned out to be a thoroughly enjoyable mild Virginia.

Tin tin aroma is almost non-existant, with only the faintest bit of vanilla and some other earthy note. Packing the bowl was very easy, facilitated by the ease of getting the tobacco out of the tin. Lightly rubbing two fingers over the dense packed tin caused the ribbon cut to almost shed from the tin. Lighting was simple and straight forward.

The tobacco is well behaved while smoking, not being too wet or too hot. The flavor is straight Virginia not adulterated by any other tobacco or topping. In comparison to other virginias, it is relatively mild, but very pleasant. It is perhaps a better all day smoke than FVF or Marlin Flake, both of which I prefer in flavor, but can only smoke one bowl per day.

First review. I find this a refreshing reprieve from overly aromatic blends, or much stronger blends featuring a large portion of oriental. It has a pleasant initial note of aromatic. I would consider this to be a "session" tobacco; I think I could smoke it all day.

some not so subtle vanilla flavoring, but once this burns off a bit, I find this a very agreeable smoke, and easy to maintain in the pipe. Also seems to keep very well (maybe something to do with the casing); I've been working out of a not so well sealed ziplock for over a year and a half.

LGV (580)by Nat Sherman would normally not appeal to me but, there is something about this lightly-flavored Va that makes it a nice smoke in the early hours. I was given an ounce from a friend that thought it was too "perfumy" for him though he smokes all Va`s and I am the Latakia junkie. He was very right about the smell but, does seem to evaporate after the initial puffs. It has a slight vanilla taste that is pleasing with that morning cup of java. Just dont be too vigorous and you will be rewarded! Will not cellar any as I prefer alittle perique with my Va`s. Too many good Va`s out there on the tarmac already!