Butera Sweet Cavendish

A black and brown sticky mess in the tin with ribbons and larger chunkier pieces. Typical aromatic smell that I can't place... caramel or nougat or some such. This was gifted to me from someone who regarded it as a huge step up from the usual Lane or Sutliff aromatics. A step up, to be sure, but not to that extent, IMHO. I smoked 5 bowls, which is plenty to figure out an aro - they tend not to hide too much.

This came pretty wet but I found I did not need to dry it out much. Naturally I did so with one bowl but it didn't smoke much dryer and what flavor it did have went AWOL. So I smoked it pretty much at tin moisture. Interestingly enough, amidst the usual candy corn casing, was some actual tobacco taste. Not a lot but it was there. And it smoked much drier than its feel between thumb and fingers would indicate. No odd chemical taste as I find with most aromatics, but just not enough overall flavor to suit me. And as is typical, it's hard to place the flavor because of its artificial nature. But this is one of the better aromatics I've smoked - not on par with those from Steve Books or the "higher quality" ones such as C&D's Autumn Evening or McClellands own #2050, but I rank those as such because of the tobacco taste they impart as well as the casing. If you love aros, this may throw you for a slight loop, but you'll recover nicely. If you just want something to please company and don't want it to be too goopy, this should be on your short list.

The lightly grassy, toasty, citrusy Virginias can be tasted some, and have a whiff of the “vinegar” that doesn’t last. There’s some dark fruitiness from them and a touch of earth, too. The black cavendish has some sugar and vanilla and perhaps a touch of cocoa. I’m not sure where the latter note comes from. I taste some caramel in the topping as well as another sweet flavor I can’t identify. Has a very mild nic-hit. Needs some dry time, burns a bit wet and will leave moisture in the bowl, as well as some dottle if you are a wet smoker. The flavor is consistent to the finish, and it has a nice after taste and room note. Won’t bite. Two and a half stars.

-JimInks

This is a very unique aromatic! The use of McClelland's Orange and Red Virginia's really make SC stand out since aromatics usually emply cheap leaf, typically black Cavendish and cheap burley but SC is heads above most Lane blends since it contains McClelland's wonderful Virginias. The casing is divine both in tin aroma and when burning, sure to entertain a room full of non smokers and throughout the tin never bit me or overwhelmed me. I am not sure what the flavoring is but perhaps vanilla and cocoa. Butera is a master at creating masterpiece blends that contain superb leaf. A great choice for someone wanting to upgrade from Lane aromatics and for new smokers skip the Captain Blacks and try this first, it's very forgiving of technique.

I think this is a very nice aromatic. I feel its strongest point is the fact that it does not have a certain flavor tied to its name. When a tobacco is named cherry this, or chocolate that, you spend the entire time looking for the cherry and or chocolate flavors. This detracts from the experience, as sometimes they are nice tobaccos but we aren't impressed because it wasn't exactly a cherry taste.

The ambiguity of the name of this blend allows me to enjoy it without searching for some flavor I cant find. It is sweet, but has a really nice tobacco flavor. It smells great in the tin and even better in the pipe.

This is a typical aromatic in that it is sticky and will leave your pipe goopy at the bottom. This did burn remarkably well considering how moist it was. This is really nice with a decent tobacco taste underneath the casing. Would recommend to anyone, and think most people with an aromatic aversion should give this a try.

If you are a non-aromatic smoker, and especially if you dislike aromatics, do not bet on this being something tolerable. It is moist, sticky, and sweet. Though certainly of superior quality to the drugstore aromatics, it is an aromatic all the same. It does have a hint of the charactaristic McClelland ketchup, which actually makes for a weird aromatic. I got this as a sample from a local B&M, the gentleman there exclaiming that it really wasn't like a typical aromatic; that even he, who hated aromatics, was enjoying it. I'm not sure if this was all a practical joke, or if he has gone completely off his nut, but this is a very typical aromatic. If you like aromatics, it will provide a little more contrast than you are used to, as it does taste more like tobacco than candy. If you detest aromatics, as I do, then you would do well to steer clear of this stuff.

This is a good tobac to have on hand for those times you just need a little sweet in your bowl. This is one of the very few and far between aromatics I'll allow to touch my pipes and I enjoy it for a change of pace from my standard VA, VA/Perique and Balkan blends.

If I'm going out for an evening and am intending on enjoying a pipe in a public situation, I'll make sure to take a small pouch of Sweet Cavendish along with my everyday smoke... this comes in very handy when one needs to disarm the most anti of the anti-smoking folks. There's nothing quite like seeing one who ordinarily sneers when someone 50 feet away lights up a cigarette begin to gush and snuffle at the air like a pig locating a truffle when I fire up a bowl of this blend. Recommended... but only if it suits your taste buds.

Contrary to some of the reviews here, I have found this tobacco to be very nice. When I'm in the mood for an aromatic I reach for this blend. It's nothing extraordinary, but that's what I like about it. It's a reliable blend, pleasant flavor, easy to smoke. The smell in the can is more than pleasant, everyone loves it.

Not to mention that my last name is Butera, so I find it quite nostalgic 🙂

As a relatively novice pipe tobacco enthusiast, I found this aromatic to be quite a pleasure. Maybe I am not a "purist" or a connoiseur yet, but this is my honest opinion. Recognizing that this tobacco has been blended to be a pure cavendish, I judged it based on the purported characteristics of sweetness, room note and novelty. It burns well with a caramel-chocolate nut flavour, a little smokey due to the heavy casing, but with the strong aroma of sweetness that will appeal to co-inhabitants in the room. The smoke is very light and moves quickly in the rooms-not dense or thick, without tongue-bite. Sometimes, the pleasure of a pipe is being able to enjoy gentle draws of the briar bowl with the hearty acceptance of the fairer sex and colleagues in the same room. This tobacco may be crossing the line of excessive sweetness for those purists who insist on a tobacco flavour foundation, but if judged on intent of this blend, I give it a top rating as cavendish.

As opposed to many others, I've got to say that this blend is good. If you don't like aromatics, you'll hate this. If you like aromatics, this will be fairly decent.

SO, on to the review.

Tin - It smelled good on opening, but definitely cased in something that had vanilla and some sort of fruitiness. Looks really attractive.

Packing - packed well, but I needed to light twice after the charring light in order to get it tight enough. Once lit it stayed until the last 3rd of the bowl.

Room note : chocolate/nutty

Taste : First third was fairly unremarkable. The second third a definite sweetness was apparent. The final third developed a harshness, normal to most aromatics, but not as harsh as the local cherry blends.

Aftertaste : mild, not as bad as most aromatics.

So, enjoy.

With more than 20 years of aging in the tin, this tobacco was still moist upon popping the lid. Exceptional deep and rich flavor from the Virginia leaf combined with a totally saturated and pleasant casing made this an aromatic to enjoy!

I will say that if you know an aromatic fan, give him a tin of this and you will have a friend for life! It smokes cool for an aromatic, and the tobacco will no doubt remain moist for eons.