Fader's Hopkins

I like this, but have some issues. It's hard to get it to stay lit at first. I had rub it out additionally a bit. A little too much work, not exactly what I like to do. Baccy enjoyment should be more effortless. I ultimately prefer English blends, but now I know I could potentially get into Virginias as a secondary like, and I have a better understanding after smoking a VA, what they bring to the table in some of the English blends I like. It is quite spicy, probably due to a fair amount of Perique When I finally got this cooking I really enjoyed the taste, but it did clog up my pipe at one point and I had to run a cleaner through the stem to open up the draw again. The ash is very cigar like. After tamping it a couple times the clog occurred and I had to stir it and re-light. I wouldn't go out of my way for this, but it does inspire me enough to try some more Virginias.

Addendum: After watching some YouTube pipe videos, I decided to heed some advice and pack the bowl much looser. It burned much better, basically down to a fine ash, and only required one re-light and a little bit of tamping. Quite enjoyable.