House of Calabash Canadian Maple

Well, this is delightful. everything Steven Books blends is, after all, but this is a particular treat. You don't find aromatics like this anymore, and that's a shame. I pity the people who don't know about Steven Books' tobaccos. They'll never know how good masterfully blended aromatics can be.

Canadian Maple has a lovely, hair-like, shag cut. Not quite as fine as, say, a cigarette tobacco, but finer than any other pipe tobaccos that you'll find. Steve Books employs this cut for many of his blends and I am glad that he does. It makes for a good, easy burn. The tobaccos used are to fine and well cured to ever be pressed to burn hot, so don't worry about that, though you might have to be careful about packing it too tight.

Here's something amazing: in the pouch, this blend smells like a mild maple cookie, delightful but not cloying or strong, and when you light it up and chance to smell it, it smells just the same. People will love it.

It tastes mildly sweet and warming. Nothing special, I suppose. It tastes like maple and pleasant burley tobacco. Really, an achievement in itself. Not strong in the least, but not insipid or uninspired, like nearly every other tobacco named for a confection.

If you like aromatics, you'll love this. If you don't like aromatics, you'll at least be amused by this. It's that rare and copacetic occurrence of a master blender who is truly a master bringing his mastery to a style of tobacco that is very hard to master.

Another 1 oz sample. The aroma of maple is prevalent in the pouch and this one comes a bit more moist than most of the other Books aros. But I found I preferred it with no drying time.

I've thought for quite awhile that making a great aromatic must be one of the most difficult accomplishments in the tobacco world. There are so few of them. It's not hard to add flavoring to a bunch of leaf but it seems to be more of a challenge to make a blend taste like both the flavoring agent and tobacco. Steven Books has once again accomplished the near-impossible. This tastes like tobacco gently sweetened with maple, and it smokes like it would be a fine blend without the maple at all. But the flavoring adds its delicate sweetness and room aroma. The aroma is easily noted as maple but it doesn't enshroud the room. I prefer a bit more maple flavoring and so I prefer C&D's Autumn Evening to this one, even while recognizing that this blend is certainly superior in terms of craftmanship.

As with all of Steven Books tobaccos, this is well worth an audition if you enjoy lightly flavored maple cavendish. Overall, this man is head and shoulders above other aromatic blenders.

I should start off by saying that I am not an aromatic smoker, preferring bold Virginias and heavy Latakias. That said, I was very pleasantly surprised at the gentle sweetness and delicate flavor of this blend. It is a wonderful morning smoke to go with your coffee, (and pancakes?) Perhaps if I were an aromatic smoker I would give this four stars but I still recommend it highly.

Soli Deo gloria!

This is a very high quality aromatic. It does not burn nearly as goopy as many of them do, and it has very little bite. The aroma is nice, but from the smoker's perspective, it's an enjoyable burley blend with some Virginia and casing. I may damn with praise, but think higher quality maple flavored Carter Hall and you wouldn't be far wrong.

I was fortunate to come across Mr. Books blends thanks to TR and I am glad I did. I have smoked several other maple aromatics and while some have been pretty good, I have yet to run into a four star one until now. What I find different in the Books aromatics is that they are of light character. They are lightly sweet without the heavy casing that many aromatics (even good ones) often have. When I choose an aromatic over my regular English blends or flakes, the quality of the base tobacco needs to be of top quality to grab my interest. Canadian Maple hits the mark on that point. Unlike many aromatics, the chopped, thin, light ribbons don't stick together when pressed together with my fingers. I can still taste the quality tobacco while getting the nice sweet taste of maple. I often can't tell the room note while smoking my pipe, but my wife was enjoying a bowl recently and it may be one of the best room notes I have ever smelled. Highly Recommended!