Missouri Meerschaum Country Gentleman

The red Virginia provides tangy dark fruit, a little earth and wood as a the lead component. The bright Virginia offers just a little tart citrus and grass as a supporting player. The mildly spicy, plumy, raisiny perique is a condiment. There's a dash of dark fired Kentucky that possesses a little spice, wood, earth, smoke, dryness, nuts, and a floral note. An extremely light sweet topping doesn't tone down the tobaccos much at all. The strength is in the center of mild to medium, while the taste is medium. The nic-hit is a step short of the strength level. Won't bite or get harsh. Needs a little hydration to bring out the red Virginia. Burns clean and cool at a slightly quick rate with a mostly consistent, mildly sweet, lightly savory and spicy flavor that translates to the short lived, pleasant after taste. Leaves little dampness in the bowl. Requires few relights. The room note isn't much stronger than the overall taste. More of two and a half star entry level VaPer because it lacks depth and body, but it gets three for those who are starting out or are looking for a milder VaPer.

-JimInks

I've been smoking the new Country Gentleman and Missouri Pride tobaccos almost continuously, and to the exclusion of everything else, since they arrived in the mail a couple days ago. I need a little more time getting to know Missouri Pride before I post a review, but Country Gentleman I think I've got a pretty good grasp on.

Smells great in the pouch. There might be a light topping on it. I can't taste it but I can smell that sweet fragrance that you smell when you walk into a tobacco shop that has bulk aromatics in glass jars. Just a whiff.

Unlike most pouch tobacco, it's not necessary to dry Country Gentleman before packing your pipe. It's already at perfect smoking consistency. The coarse cut makes for easy packing, lighting, and smoking.

I get a little bit of bitterness and astringency on first light. I don't know how else to describe it. It reminds me of the tannic flavor of a tea that's been brewed too long. It subsides as the Virginia picks up strength and sweetness. That interplay, or transition, from bitter to sweet is one of the interesting things about this smoke.

Country Gentleman reminds me a lot of McConnell Scottish Cake, but with less Virginia sweetness, more Kentucky tang, and maybe slightly less Perique. The Perique is definitely subdued here, more of a condiment than a main ingredient. I don't get the tingly sensation on my tongue that I get with stronger Perique blends. There's plenty to like about this tobacco even if you're not a Perique Freak. I'm not (usually) an all-day smoker, but if I was, I think Country Gentleman could easily be an all-day smoke for me.

Good, tasty, easy-smoking tobacco that also happens to be a good value. $4.95 for a 1.5 oz. pouch seems real reasonable to me.

I am a big fan of VaPers. I love the combination of good Virginias with just the right amount of Perique, so I was really looking forward to trying this blend. My normal maintenance smoke is GH Louisiana Flake, so I was curious to see how this compared. The initial aroma from the pouch was just good, clean Virginia, maybe more than one kind. I did catch just a tiny whiff of Perique, sort of like a promise of things to come. It looked just like ready-rubbed flake. It packed very nicely and lit easily. The first puff had the expected slight catsup-like aroma common to these blends, but it quickly settled down to an outstanding medium-bodied Virginia flavor, clean and slightly sweet, with just the right amount of Perique spice to keep it interesting. It smoked cool, with no-bite at all, not even the threat. My wife (who does not smoke) informed me that the room note was nondescript, just a nice clean smell, and not unpleasant. Louisiana Flake is a bit strong (to my mind), and I can't really smoke two full-sized bowls of it back to back without getting a little loopy, but Country Gentleman, while not by any means mild, is a blend I could (and probably will) smoke all-day. It burned evenly with no re-lights needed, and the taste never changed, all the way to the bottom. The short 15-minute smoke definitely left me wanting more. I think I have a new favorite.

Brown and chunky coarse cut that came nice and dry and smelled of figgy perique and of a nice clean Virginia. Some darker notes as well, probably from the Kentucky.

A nicely balanced blend with the Virginia at the forefront and the perique and Kentucky sharing second billing. I got the impression that there wasn't much perique here but the merger of it with the Kentucky gave this a nice spicy hit that was more than the sum of its parts. This was nowhere near as powerful as my reference VaPer, Telegraph Hill, and yet it fills a niche in my rotation. Comparisons to GLP's Stratford were inevitable for me and while the Stratford is more of a true Vaper, the Kentucky jolt in this one won me over, all the while this being somewhat lighter in flavor than Stratford. I also noticed to my chagrin that relights with this one were mildly troublesome, with an ashy bitterness coming to the fore. But it dissipated quickly, and luckily this one did not need many relights. It looks like a cheap blend, and indeed it is inexpensive but it would not be embarrassed by the best out there. I love it when these OTC-type blends shine this brightly, and Russ' Anglers Dream is another. Really well done. I'll probably not smoke a lot of this but I'll always have some around. I give this 3.5 stars but rounded to 4 because if you consider this an OTC because it comes in a pouch, prepare to be wowed beyond belief.

The Perique element added some interest in this solid blend. Not really full of flavor overall, but the Burley gave it a little more punch than what you would normally expect from a blend of this type. Similar in some respects to the old HOW blend, Country Doctor.

Pipestud

Pouch note is very light, with a pleasant, plummy, dried fruit aroma barely detectable over the smell of the plastic pouch. Moisture content is perfect: ready to smoke immediately with no drying time needed. The charring light, however, is of sharp contrast, bringing a pungent, Perique-forward flavor, framed in earthy Kentucky, with the sweeter Virginias further in the background. This blend immediately reminds me of McConnell's Scottish Cake, though with a ribbon cut.  As the first third of the bowl progresses, the Perique balances out with the Virginia and Kentucky to create a very smooth and mild smoke.  I find this blend to smoke mellower in a cob, and more assertively in briar. 

By mid bowl, there's a bit more tang.  No bite whatsoever, but a bit more intensity to the smoke and a more hot and sharp flavor profile.  When sipped slowly, one can extract a bit of sweetness from the Virginias. But generally, this is a smooth, rich, leathery and lightly earthy blend, with a hint of plum always in the background - easy to pack, easy to light, smoking dry and cool.  The finish is of damp wood and pine needles, burning to a dry, gray ash. 

Country Gentleman is an excellent introduction to VaPer blends; a fine, dry-smoking blend for those who prefer a lighter, smoother VaPer (or rather, VaBurPer), and an economical alternative for lovers of Scottish Cake. This could easily be an all-day smoke for lovers of this style, and I can see myself reaching for this blend quite often as a daytime VaPer. 

My only (minor) complaint is the packaging, though perhaps I am overly sensitive to the scent-inhibiting effect of thick plastic. The plastic pouch detracts from what might otherwise be a plummy, earthy and woodsy, natural VaBur nose.  The key here is to jar this immediately upon arrival.  Overall, this an excellent blend, and like most of Russ's blends, it's priced well below its class.  A great intro to the style,  or for those who desire a milder VaPer/Kentucky blend. 

Can I just say yum? Guess not. Nice thick, easy to use plastic bag. Bag note: raisin bread. Moisture level: perfect ready to smoke! Relight very easy and wonderful sweet flavor ... raisin toast? Suspicious there might be a cinnamon/vanilla light topping? Nice quality tobacco with excellent pipe manners. Perique is more of a sweet black pepper than a hot green mustardy feel, very tasty! Stronger than mild; a weak medium. Pack a bit on the firm side or tamp for flavor. Can be smoked hard; flavor and temp stay good. Flavor is great to the bottom of the bowl. Leaves the pipe clean and dry; practically no dottle. This is a brilliant marketing move by Missouri Meerschaum. I hope to find this wonderful stuff for sale at Wallgreens along with the pipes - look out Captain Black! PS Order from smokingpipes.com and you can get 1/2 ounce samples of Cornell & Diehl for free (try Pirate Kake). Happy smoking. Hope this review is helpful.

Alas, unlike the first reviewer I did not detect much Perique or any Kentucky, but nearly all rather bland VAs. Oddly, I also got some tongue burn from this blend, which is unusal for me, esp from VA blends. Overall, despite the burn, this came across as basically innocous, even somewhat generic. Hopefully others will find it more rewarding.

A nice spicy VaPer with just the right amount of Kentucky. The Kentucky doesn't impose on the VaPer, just supplements it with another layer of flavor and depth. Nicely done.

Mild to medium in body and flavor. May need a couple of extra matches to get it going. Ok after that.

Missouri Meerschaum - Country Gentleman.

Anyone who bothers to read my reviews will have noted if posting on a Friday I normally smoke my Altinok Lee Van Cleef replica. But, not wanting to sound moronic, CONSTANTLY recapitulating the same thing, I mixed things up today; went with a morta!

In the pouch it appears finer than a mixture, or the blend pictured here. Well, that's my blend's appearance, I note other esteemed reviewers have a blend congruent with the description. Mine's mostly medium and light browns, with just a few darker pieces. The moisture's exactly as I like for imminent smoking, albeit, a touch dry for long-term storage.

The smoke? Nice, simple but nice. The Virginia occupies first place, with a notable support from the others. Although it states Kentucky, I get more of a straight Burley flavour than a fiery, cured, Kentucky one. The Perique lifts the flavour, with a touch of piquancy; a touch, not a smash of spice. A bowl burns nice and perspicuously, giving a medium temperature, bite-free, smoke.

Nicotine: maybe above medium. Room-note: not TOO bad!

Country Gentleman? To me it inculcates three stars:

Recommended.