Imperial Tobacco Group, PLC Route 66

In the UK, this tobacco costs more than pound less per 25 gm than "mainstream" tobaccos. You'd think it would be rubbish, wouldn't you? It isn't, though - not by any means. It's a fine cut Virginia, cased, though not heavily, with a sort of caramel/biscuity flavouring. I suspect that it's really intended as a cigarette tobacco, but it works fine in a pipe. Pack it tight and smoke it slowly and it will give you a longish, cool, pleasant smoke. It comes in a handy resealable pouch, too.

Incidentally, if you want something a bit more exciting, Route66 would be a good mixer, I think.

Route 66 isn't a tobacco for the connoisseur - of course it isn't, at the price - but it's mighty good value for money, and it has virtues apart from its cheapness. It's an unpretentious down-to-earth all day smoke in much the way that (say) Prince Albert is. It reminds me also, in some respects, of Ogden's Gold Block. I bought it out of curiosity, with no great expectations. I was pleasantly surprised, and shall smoke it regularly. It deserves to be popular; I hope popularity doesn't drive the price up. My only beef is that it gets a bit acrid and ashy towards the end of the bowl; but at this price, you can't really complain about such things.

In a word: well recommended, for what it is. Dunhill, it ain't, but it's mighty good buy if you're a bit strapped for cash. Don't rush it, though; it'll bite you if you do.

Firstly i would like to add a little back story to this. In my local shop i seen this new tobacco nestled amongst the RYO tobacco needing some fresh supplies of RYO tobacco i opted for this. Getting outside i opened up "oh bollocks its a shag tobacco" i got it home and tossed it on the back bench and forgot about it. Today rummaging through i found the packet and opened it up, the pouch comes with a handy zip lock seal so it stayed fresh. Opening up the nose on it is a little weak but digging deep there is a lovely fresh virginia/citrus aroma and a slight chocolatey aroma from the smidgeon of burley that is added. I loaded up my pipe which it does with ease and it takes the light easily. Now i wasnt expecting much, but smoking through it is actually a very decent extremely palatable smoke, which when sipped slowly, oozes loads of fresh virginia tastes and is cool amd dry throughtout the smoke and tastes very nice all the way down.

Now i am a firm believer of in this life you get what you pay for and at under 5 quid for 25g i wasnt expecting anything great, but this tobacco is a very pleasant surprise and for a pipe smoker who maybe on a tight budget this is a perfect answer. Sure its not going to rock the world but for what it is it knocks the socks off other similar cheap shag cuts and performs a hell of lot better, never getting hot and bitter or turning nasty. And the tobacco will stay fresh for longer as the pouch has a zip lock seal. For price, value and qaulity and taste this is highly recommended from me.

I bought a 25g pouch on the recommendation of Smoggy, his previous recommendations haven't been a let down so I figured I couldn't go wrong, especially given the price.

Upon receiving the pouch, I was pleasantly greeting by it's resealable strip, turns out to be quite a nice touch, especially seeing as the tobacco doesn't stick to it at any point. The aroma in said pouch reminded me a little of the tins of Golden Virginia RYO my grandad used to smoke. The tobacco is a fairly fine shag that packs and lights easily enough. I was pleasantly surprised by the smoke, it has a mild fruitiness, possibly has hints of cherry, though that could be me.

In summary, I can't help agreeing with Smoggy. Not a classic by any means and there's better stuff out there, but given the budget price it's more than worth it. I'll quite happily purchase this again, even if and when my finances perk up a bit.

This tobacco is cheap, which is all it's got going for it really. I didn't like this one at all and thought it tasted terrible, like sucking on a cheesey dick. No more...please take it away from me.

This is not too bad, quite nice really with a fruity taste. I bought it because I saw it in the shop and I always try out new pipe tobaccos. It' made of burley/virginia and smokes well when the bowl is packed correctly. There's very little room note to speak of and I found that I was finding some lovely tastes in my mouth as I slowly savored the smoke - fruity without a doubt, cherry I think. It's pretty good. I have experimented with this tobacco and also find it a good base tobacco for mixing - it is delicious if mixed with a little Clan and I think I'll always keep a pouch of this on hand for mixing but in all honesty it's not bad when smoked on its own.

Route 66.

O.K, it was the price that drew me to this, I was really intrigued to find out how much quality so little money can buy. The only aromatic I can detect by smelling it is a really slight citrus one. The tobacco happens to be at a good moisture amount straight from the pouch, it immediately gains a point for that as I detest having to wait for my tobacco to air and diminish its water content.

It's an easy blend to get ignited and once it's burning the burn is reasonably good, it does require the occasional re-light but it is pretty consistent if regularly puffed. A lesser impressive point is the speed, it burns quite well for the first fifteen minutes but after that it develops an ashy flavour and keeps becoming un-lit, it would suffice for your mid-morning nicotine fix when time is against you. Although it says that this has Burley in it I can't taste much Burley in it, Burley? Are you sure?! The room-note is nothing special, it's not horrible, it's not flashy, it's not too heavy but it exudes the same mediocre quality I have found all along!

For me this falls into the '"O.K" category, it gets three stars as it isn't poor enough to warrant two stars but if they were to have added some Perique or Latakia to spice it up a bit then it would have got full marks!

Unpleasantly sweet, this tobacco reminds one of Rum and Maple, or perhaps Prunes and Custard. The only freedom it offers is the choice to give up smoking.