4noggins Harvest Moon

4noggins - Harvest Moon.

The blend isn't made up of only cube cut pieces, it contains a few ribbons and shag pieces too. The colour's about a 30-70% split between black and brown, and the moisture's good.

I don't recognize much of a topping, it seems mainly a natural blend: led by the Burley, but spiced with just enough Latakia to make it interesting. It's nice because although the Lat' livens things, it doesn't domineer the smoke. I don't doubt this is a good smoke, but it lets me down with tongue bite; this reduces the rating.

I find the nicotine to be slightly stronger than medium, and I don't mind the note.

Even though it bites me I'll still recommend it. It won't bite everyone and without the bite it'd be a belter!

Recommended.

This is a lovely smoke. The Latakia and the Burley are nearly balanced. The Burley is just a nose ahead. The Lat gets a little stronger toward the end of the bowl, coming into balance. The Virginias are the base. There is a mild topping that is honey-like. Floral and sweet. Hard to tell how much sweetness is coming from the Virginias and how much from the topping. It burns very slowly and can easily be kept lit by sipping. It's very enjoyable and satisfying. Medium in body and taste.

I am not a burley fan. I can't think of any burley blends that I buy a lot of, or have greedily finished a tin of. It is the cigarettey, washed out bane of my pipesmoking experience. That said, this is not a burley blend. It's a blend that happens to contain a little burley, and the burley serves as a toasty carrier for the sweeter virginia and the heavier latakia.

Some blends live up to the tin description, and some don't. This one does. It's easy smoking, very tasty (I suspect a light topping but it's very light indeed). Almost has a fruity element buried in the layers, and there are a lot of layers to the taste.

A nice pipeful, very pleasant. Well done Rich. I don't know if it's an American English, or what, but it's a nice tasting blend. It is NOT real heavy... this is no Nightcap, nor even Squadron Leader. The latakia is condimental, and the whole thing is good.

Pouch note is incredibly sweet... so sweet I did what I normally do not and read the description of this tobacco prior to reviewing to see if there was some sort of topping. I don't think there is, but there are quite a bit of high sugar tobaccos in this one. If I had to explain this unlit aroma, the closest thing I can come to is Candy Corn.

Codger scooped into my DGE poker. Match, tamp, match.

Nothing of the pouch note comes through in the flavor. That's not a bad thing, however. What I'm getting is a well rounded, nutty and mildly sweet classic burley with a whisper of smoke and sourness at the back end. Snork gives me a bit of that pouch aroma, but a sharp bite as well... almost like cigar leaf.

A little caramel as the bowl warms up midway, but definately a blend where good old bready and nutty burley takes center stage, with a smokey/sour component intermingling. The blend tastes more English as the bowl progresses, but the nutty flavors take dominance throughout.

Room note was pleasant, marshmallows, toasted bread, and woodfires.

Good nicotine buzz too. Not over the top, but still made it's presence known.

Anything that starts off with Cube Cut Burley, usualy gets ignored by moi, I read no futher, I am a self confessed SNOB, to put it very mildly, with leanings toward fine virginia's and latakia, this pleasant suprise, contains both, and, as it's creator IMHO is a Master Blender, it was worth a very small risk, and one which did not dissapoint.

Opening the pouch, one is greeted by a black, brown and reds with a little lighter cube cut. Load is easy and a single match is all I need for ignition. The Latakia stays in the background giving a nice smokiness without being overpowering at all, something I find unusual when a Latakia is present. The wonderful sweet Red Virginia (one of my favourites) is carried manfully on the shoulders of the Burley with just a gentle hint of it's nutiness.

Now I love McC's 5100, but a pipe or two in the evening is enough, else it may come over as being to cloying or sickly, but this, this is something else, even those who dislike Latakia could smoke this, so tame in the background is it, but just enough to let you know it is there.

I tend to smoke Latakia in the winter and Virginia's in the summer, this however, can be smoked in any season and a good all day blend at that.

Here in the Houston, Texas area we have hot weather for 6 or more months out of the year. Often steamy, muggy hot. For me, not the best weather in which to enjoy latakia blends.

Today, while warm, the morning was not especially muggy, so I fired up a bowl of Harvest Moon.

This is an enjoyable blend. Quintessentially American. Burley base, with latakia and Virginia providing spice and sweetness.

According to the 4Noggins website, there is no topping. Yet there is a distinctive sweetness in the background. I'd guess it comes from the Virginia and perhaps the casing, if the burley was cased.

There is plenty of latakia, but the blend isn't a lat bomb. The smoke would be perfect on a very crisp, cool autumn or early spring day. And would also be quite satisfying in the dead of winter.

I wouldn't call this an all day smoke for me. Too much latakia and nicotine. But it might be repeatable, with a few bowls of something on the mild side in between.

I'm retired and smoke in my garage with the door open -- unless it's blazing hot, then I keep the door closed and run the portable AC unit.

Today, the door was open and I enjoyed the warm breeze and the smoky sweetness of Harvest Moon. Another enjoyable aspect of this blend is that the burley doesn't bite or get bitter.

This is a superb American blend. A workable alternative to the now discontinued Match Barking Dog.

I'm very sad the dog has been at last silenced, but as the woman at Sutliff said, "They have to carry their weight." And apparently, with all the young smokers going English, there just aren't enough interested in carrying on the iconic American blends of the past. A shame that. A big shame.

But there is Harvest Moon. And Rich has done a marvelous job in creating a blend that carries on how we Americans do latakia. Good going.

Highly recommended.

Like Britt's Balkan, Harvest Moon had quite a bit of stems in the pouch. These aren't small. These are matchstick sized pieces.

Pouch aroma is sweet and smoky. Moisture is comparable with every other 4Noggins blend. Easy to pack with a bit of spring.

Each leaf presented is quite obvious due to color and cut. I don't recall smoking a blend that was cube cut that contained ribbon leaf.

Initial lighting takes more than average matches when fresh and the cube cut is not rubbed out.

Harvest Moon is smoky and sweet. I'm curious what the sweet topping is in this. It's complementary and done right. The Virgina is sweet and slightly fruity. The saltiness of the Latakia is in perfect harmony with the sweet VA. The Burley is toasty, with cocoa and nuttiness.

I am not the biggest burley smoker around. In fact, I don't smoke many at all. But this blend is probably my favorite of any I've purchased.

Unlike most burley blends, this doesn't get harsh, acrid or sharp like most can.

This was my first taste of latakia so bear with me, please. The tin note, or rather pouch/bag note was something that rekindled old memories. It smelt just like burnt wood in the forest, or one of those autumn mornings long ago when the entire neighborhood smelt like that out of every chimney.

The taste is very similar, the burley and stoved virginias are clearly present, but the latakia works it's magic on this blend. I don't really have anything to compare it too, but if you are like me and want to slowly get into English blends, this is heavily recommended!

As every tobaccos from 4noggins, I had to dry it first otherwise it burns hardly and give me headache. This blend is smooth with a good taste. If you are an aromatic smoker, it will be surely strong to you but if you like this type of blend, go try it.

i have sampled a handful of 4 noggins blends, this is the first one i have really liked, i will happily buy this in bulk in the future.

needs a bit of drying out, i have tried rubbing the burley cubes right out, and left them whole, both ways worked for me, but either way needs drying time.

To me its a simple flavour, which i am slowly figuring out is the thing i am most drawn to, a well balanced blend which relies on a small amount of flavours, blended well. I am looking forward to aging some in the cellar.