Van Erkoms Assegai Cloudy

I agree completely with what Pipemanuk has said about this blend. I do believe it is good for blending as many 'house blends' have this as a component ( well spotted Tony )

Overall it is not the most exciting smoke and its typical African as a blend. It is impossible to describe what an African blend tastes like except to say that it is spicy in a very different sort of way. This reminds me of how the Esteemed Eulenburg once described the taste of Virginia tobacco in his review of Sherlock Holmes i think. I will not quote as i will never forgive myself if i get the words mixed up, so i suggest you read his review

I think we could have a different catogory of blends altogether actually. We all know what an English, Balkan, Vaper etc is, but how many seasoned pipers can identify an African blend and its virtues??? Hmmmmm I should post this question on [email protected]

Many European and American blends use leaf grown in Africa in their blends but it does taste very different. Eg its very common to see Malawi, Zimbabwe etc on the tins or pouches of blends but taste nothing like African blends. I think African blends and African Tobaccos are two different things and you are right, we need a blog Pipemanuk

Mo, South Africa

I would hazard a guess that this tobacco, which comes in a paper bag, is towards the basic, value-for-money, no nonsense end of the spectrum.

It's very dry; drier than Boxer or Jock or even the Navy cut flake and it takes careful smoking not to set your mouth on fire....reminds me of Gold Block actually. Not that I ever liked Gold Block mind you, and Assegai Cloudy has quite a bit more going for it. For a start it has that African dry spiciness I keep on banging on about. Trouble is that it's tendency to sear gets in the way of enjoying it.

I have given it 2 stars because I think that this will make a good blending tobacco and I am going to experiment with mixing in some 5100 and a little perique...see if i can soften it's fieryness and release some flavour...and I'll report back in due course.

Well Mo....African tobacco's are a fine fine breed as you know, and quite separate from American varieties. I am convinced that this is due to the climate and the soils more than anything else. From what I remember being told, I think the way the harvested leaf is processed is pretty similar to the USA. Would you agree that there is not so much sugar in them with the result that the tobacco is, like we have said; spicier, earthier and less rounded than American tobacco's? We need a blog on this site!

I have smoked a mix of Assegai and Maverick for about 20 years and although I tried almost everything on the market, I always went back to the Assegai / Maverick mix. The main thing was that it always tasted good. In some of the other makes you get two packets that are good and the next one is horrible. Full of sticks and tastes like ****. Never had that with either Assegai or Maverick. The problem is it is very difficult to get these days. WHY?