1776 Tobacco Co Klompen Kloggen

I like to browse vintage pipe tobacco ads and while doing so found one for Klompen Kloggen. It was an amusing ad from the 1950's or '60's and a pipe mixture I'd never heard of so I can here to tobaccoreviews.com to look it up. Finding it was still in production I contacted Mr. Jack Peterson owner/blender of Sterling/1776 Tobacco Company and after a very friendly conversation I had enough information to place an order.

The tobacco arrived in record time well packaged in a plastic bag within a plastic tub with a label. It smelled great right out of the box. There is a faint cherry/fruit like smell to it mixed with the smell of cigar and Turkish leaf, very pleasant. Visually it's a course or rough cut, light brown to black and very light weight. It's rather dry, not too dry but certainly not wet or sticky i.e. very unexpected as it's an aromatic. It packs well, takes flame right off and stays lit and the taste well, first let's look at the description from the website: "KLOMPEN KLOGGEN (Aromatic) In the Holland tradition a mild, quality tobacco with no bite and a pleasing aroma. Hand blended using high grade shag burley, Virginia bright, Virginia long cut, #10 Virginia, Carolinas, Connecticut shade grown leaf, and Turkish yenidje". There is a lot going on here as you can see. There's some light fruitiness from the topping, sweetness from the Virginia, spiciness from the Turkish and the cigar leaf that really sends it over the top and makes it a great blend. It burns fairly cool and has no tongue bite although it is best sipped. I highly recommend this blend although it's a bit hard to describe and best experienced. It's mild enough for an every day smoke but for me best enjoyed as a treat. Sterling/1776 is an old school tobacconist now strictly internet based with great customer service and many other great blends to try ( a hint here Double Eagle cube cut Burley is great as well.)

If your superpower was being able to taste how a bakery smells, move along and find something else. For those of us that cant taste how a bakery smells this is the blend for you! Vanilla is what stands out but there are other subtle tastes that can be found while you smoke this blend like cherries or berries , maybe even a flavored liquor is hidden inside.

Smoke this everyday if you are an aromatic guy, smoke this every few days if you smoke aros and non aros in your rotation and if you stay away from aros thinking they are all like paladin and the rest of goopy sloppy sweet blends.. try this and you will find out what the gold standard of aromatics should be!

I got this as a 2 oz. free sample. The company ran a special for 5 free 1 oz packages if you paid $7.00 for shipping. I was surprised when I only got 4 but 2 oz of this instead of one. Two days later the other sample came. The tobacco itself is very mild and a pleasant smoke. Packs very well. The cut is solid. No crumbs here. It lights with one match and stays lit with little effort. Good room note and stores very well in jars. Ended up buying 5 pounds. It is not one of my daily smokes but when the mood strikes I crack open the jar.

I received this tobacco as part of a sample that I received from Sterling Tobacco. Upon opening the pouch I noted that it has a pleasant smell characteristic of many aromatics you may find. It is not the aroma of the pouch though that makes this tobacco different than others though. What makes this tobacco so special is that the casing carries through with a wonderful delicate flavor that hits about 10 minutes into the bowl. Not at all overwhelming, not at all offensive. Complementary would be the word. I think what makes this blend special is the cigar leaf that is added to the mixture. I would ask that you do not judge this blend based on other cigar leaf mixtures that you may have tried in the past as this one is not overpowering or offensive and adds a curious flavor that is very welcome. As far as the texture of the tobacco itself. It arrived to me at the perfect humidity level and has a very lightweight feel to it without any tackiness. There is no heavy casing that can be felt on the leaf itself. It burns wonderfully. You may be able to get good tobacco from other vendors but I challenge you to find many others that do business the old fashioned way like Jack. He is very helpful in helping you find what you want and is friendly to boot.

When I read about this blend on line - it immediatley became one of those - "I gotta try's." I mean "Klompen Kloggen" - Cmon what heck is that? Even the name conotates an exotic local somewhere in Europe - where people are running around in clogs and traveling in boats via cannals and water ways.

My sample soon arrived at my doorstep. I smelled the tobaco, filled my pipe, smoked a bowl, and then scratched my head. What are the flavorings? And....do I like it? - I wondered. This procedure continued for many days - as - I wondered, smoked, scratched and ruminated about this mysterious blend.

Ah, Lady Nicotine - you are a mysterious mistress sometimes...

As the days passed on - and - after many smokes - I started getting aquainted with this blend - and soon discovered that not only did I love it - but I started to crave it on a daly basis. In fact - during work - I would often think - "Boy, I want to go home and light up a bowl of that Klompen Thing in one of my Danish Pipes!"

So here is my take on this awesome blend:

The blend smokes warmly in the bowl. There is no bite. And the flavorings - as far as I can make out are - vanilla - like the vanilla in a Foster Freeze or Dairy Queen ice cream cone, sweet dairy cream butter, baking spices, toasted marshmallow and bitter almond. So the overall taste is a complex and almost impossible to describe - but absolutely delicious. The lovely thing about this blend is - the complexity continues throughout the smoke - to the very bottom of the bowl.

Holland. Klompen Kloggen - is definitely a place and tobacco I want to visit - especially - after a stressful day of work. 4 Stars all the way.

This is a very good tobacco. If anything Jack Peterson has impressed me with the quality of his blends and his service. I was excited to try a different blend from him and I'm pleased to offer up a review for Klompen Kloggen. I'm not an aromatic guy, but I like to experiment. I had to try this stuff.

Rough shag cut. The room filled with the smell just from the zip-loc pouch. The pouch smell is that of rich brandy, and cherries, maybe a hint of vanilla. It smokes a bit more complex. It is mild, straight forward Burley, Virginia sweetness and then the topping comes in to compliment. The topping does not overpower this blend. The brandy is notable(I believe that's what it its), again the flavors compliment so it's hard for me to pinpoint that single flavor. I do not taste cherries in the smoking, just a hint every once and awhile on the lips or in the room note. This blend is mild but well flavored. No tongue bite.

I know from my description it's easy to classify this as another cheap drug store blend, but it is more than this. This is the kind of blend that made aromatics popular. I could see people being reminded of their grandfather with this kind of blend. This is a fun smoke and deserves your attention if you enjoy aromatics.