Tinder Box Connoisseur

Lots of Cyprian latakia for a smokey, woody sweetness working well with a decent amount of earthy, lightly nutty burley, which is a supporting player. The Virginia is dark and grassy, earthy, very mildly fruity, and perhaps a little overpowered by the other ingredients. Not much sweetness here. Has a slightly more than mild nic-hit. Burns at a reasonable pace, fairly smooth, but there's a little roughness as you go along, so I recommend you sip it. Doesn't bite. Has a consistent flavor. Leaves a little moisture in the bowl, and needs an average number of relights. Has a lingering after taste. More for an experienced smoker, and is not an all day smoke.

-JimInks

This tobacco has a very nice woodsy smokey taste with a very subtle pet shop and extremely subtle Play-Doh note at time which is actually a good thing. It's very subtle though, those complex nuttier tastes. My only complaint about this tobacco is that it's too mild in strength. Not much nicotine. It burns very well and is quite smooth.

The initial sniff of this tobacco is basically an English blend of strong latakia--smokey, burnt tree branches. The aroma of the unlit tobacco also reminds me of old musty pine needles, but very faint. I cannot detect the other tobaccos in this blend. Once lit, the smoke aroma is pleasant. It's almost like a subtle wood campfire and sweetness. The flavors are initially very mild until about the third to fourth draw. Yes, the latakia is there and so is that maple pancakes sweetness. The flavors are very subtle and will gradually become stronger the more time spent with this tobacco. I dare say that a novice pipe smoker might enjoy this English blend. It doesn't bite and it has a subtle lingering sweet feeling the rest of the day. I've tried two other English blends offered by Tinder Box-- Sherlock's Choice and Special Blend. Those blends are more complex while Connoisseur seems rather elementary. If I were desiring an especially quiet and soothing session, I would definitely select Connoisseur. But, I would not rate either blends over the others. Connoisseur is an excellent blend, which I would purchase again.

This may be a variant of Lane's HGL, without the Cavendish. It certainly tastes like Lane ingredients. I find it to be a decent English, rather light on the Latakia, but not lightweight in flavor. I liked my couple of ounces slightly more than Philosopher, but in this style you really could do better investigating some of the blends by Wilke or Peretti.