Alfie Turmeaus The Classic Gentleman

Another gem acquired in a trade with StevieB. I can't thank you enough for this one Steve.

I've never encountered anything quite like this blend. I've never seen one that smokes as differently in briar, cob, and clay as this one does. First I'll go through what they have in common. Body is medium to full. Nicotine is medium to strong. Taste is full. Now for the differences:

Briar (Nording Dublin) - Lat is very light, sometimes completely unnoticed. Perique is the star riding on a base made up of the Mac Baren roll cake. The roll cake provides a sweet, nutty and mildly fruity flavor. The Perique adds more fruit and a good amount of spice. As things start fading toward the end you get a little more smokiness from the Lat. I'd give this 3 stars in a briar.

Clay (Tavern pipe) - Holy crap! The Lat is barely discerned. The main flavor is the sweet nuttiness from the roll cake. Very little fruitiness. Can't really taste the Perique, but this is a spice bomb........more like a spice nuke! It very nearly makes my eyes water. 2 stars in a clay. I'll only smoke it this way when I really want to jar my senses. Whew!

Cob (MM Country Gentleman) - Now this is superb. The Lat has a mild to medium presence through the first half of the bowl. The base is the sweet, nutty, fruity roll cake. The Perique is about equal to the Lat until mid-bowl when it takes charge with a fairly strong figgy spiciness. Toward the end the Burley and Black Cav in the roll cake step forward and give you a nice sweet, nutty ending. Very complex and ever-changing this is a solid 4 stars. This is a blend tailor-made for a cob.

Burns well from the pouch, but burns perfectly with a little drying time. An outstanding blend and very unique to my experience.

Alfie Turmeaus-The Classic Gentleman.

When I opened the pouch I was met by a very classic aroma, no pun intended! Full, raw, and natural. I think anyone who enjoys the full aroma of a non-aromatic would adore this.

The mixture comprises mostly medium sized ribbons. There are a few larger pieces but it's pretty much a simple ribbon cut.

The colour is mainly medium to dark brown, there are some very dark bits but it's prominently the browns that fill the pouch.

It says in the description that there's the addition of Latakia but if it's present it must have been the tiniest amount, it's pretty much absent from the taste. The main players are the Perique, Virginia and Burley. The Black Cavendish lends a slight sweetness to the flavour but this is far less conspicuous that the others.

I get a hearty dose of N from this one. It's not stupidly strong but it still gives me a large dose.

I enjoy the room note from this. Albeit, it's not overly complex but like the title it's 'Classic'!

For me, this isn't quite a four star blend but it's better than three stars.

In that case three and a half stars!