On smoking it, that flavor and many others come through: some alcohol hints that I can't put my finger on, and the fruit is there in the background like the lightest summer breeze that you barely notice on your skin. Quite enjoyable, complex enough to keep you guessing, yet simple enough to just smoke and enjoy without over analyzing it. It's definitely a keeper, not some goopy, heavy aromatic, but a melange of flavors that makes you want to come back for more. It could easily be a singular smoking experience for the whole day, or your only smoking experience if you like it. I think this blend deserves a wider audience. It's a very nice smoke that a lot of people will enjoy and come back to, if they give it a chance. I wanted more before I finished the last bowl.

Thumbs up from me.

I was surprised by the strong aroma of the freshly open tub. It was off putting at first, but then I gave it another sniff, and realized it was the whiskey (?) casing I was smelling. Now, whenever I open it up, I enjoy the smell, which is slightly reminiscent of the smell I get from fresh Painter Hills, and faintly akin to SWRA (must be the liquor casing). The room note is pleasant, and passes the wife test. The taste is a little sweet, but not coyingly so. I barely notice what latakia is here, so I suppose it's just a light condiment to give it a slight "oompf." The cavendish is not strong, but I taste a little sweetness from it, and I can see it in the tub, even though some claim there's none there. There's too many black pieces in here not to have some cavendish, because there's no chance all those black pieces are latakia or this would be a lat-bomb, and it isn't. I get the burley taste fairly well, and notice just a little Virginia. I also notice a plum note or two that reminds me of MacBaren's Plumcake in a minor way. Burns well and evenly, and has a little nic kick to it. No goop.

It is indeed a mild aro with a very pleasing taste. It's not a great, all-time classic tobacco, but it certainly doesn't deserve the one star ratings some "reviewers" have given it. It might be a little of an acquired taste to some, but I have come to enjoy it quite a bit, and find it quite addictive. For me, it was enjoyment at first puff. When I'm not smoking it, I occasionally am thinking I need a smoke a bowl. Why it's virtually unknown today is puzzling as it is still in production. But Robinson himself is largely forgotten today, so why not his tobacco, too, in this day of "only NOW counts?" One online retailer told me that he wasn't going to carry it because of the negative reviews here. I suppose I can't blame him, though I gave him my opinion, and suggested he give it a try. Okay, it's not a nirvana smoke - what is, really? - but it's on par with several other OTCs: better than some, worse than others, depending on your palate. I'm going to keep this around because I like it.

The Pipe Holster was a mandatory part of the college costume in the '60s... at my school, it went along with the Bamboo Six Shooter holster (the huge slide rule that Freshman engineering students ALL had dangling from their belts)!

At that time I picked up on the tobaccos that the drugstore had. Knowing absolutely NOTHING about tobbacco, I turned to my experience as an 18 year old Ancient Movie Freek... I spotted tough guy actor Edward G. Robinson's portrait on one of the 2 ounce or so packets... and in confused desperation I grabbed one to go with my shiny new Dr. Grabow's.

Hey... Little Rico Bandini was a GREAT gangster... he should know something about pipe tobacco too, right???

I didn't know it at that moment, but I'djust set up a sure recipe for disaster.

Well... when first encountering a pipe that hasn't been broken in yet, a novice / newbie pipe smoker couldn't have made a selection that was much worse.

EGR Blend on that naked briar, stoked by a frantically puffing Newbie, really BITES like a P.O.ed member of the police department's newly formed Canine Patrol!!!

The reason for the frantic puffing was to try to keep the damned thing LIT... nobody had ever showed me how a pipe is properly packed. I was using up Ohio Blue Tips at a rate of about one every 2 minutes.

That wasn't helped a whole lot by the copious amounts of "soup" that seemed to be forming in the bottom of the bowl... and I must admit that it was really YUMMY when it came pouring down the stem, courtesy of that neat little aluminum condenser which I hadn't yet ditched!

Half the time my new pipe was making noises like it was about to spout a cloud of soap bubbles!

In any case... about halfway thru the first semester I'd learned, by trial and error, just how a pipe should be operated and cared for. I learned it the HARD way; for a couple of months my tongue was on fire. It felt like it belonged inside of a combat boot on a 20 mile forced march during Basic Training.

It's a wonder that I kept at it... but such is the stupidity and tenacity of youth. I just didn't know any better.

But... I eventually reached the point where I began to actually ENJOY pipe smoking, even with EGR Blend.

In any case... based on my experience so long ago, I obviously can't recommend EGR to a beginner. It's WAY too much tobacco in terms of strength.

IMHO, the EGR Blend is mildly aromatic... something that I still like... but that's overpowered by the strength of the blend. You sure get your money's worth in raw nicotine with EGR.

Over the years I've flirted with the other drug store tobaccos... Borkum Riff, the infamous Cherry Blend (IMHO, Cherry Blend is only suitable for smoking by a novice Chicago pimp who's trying to make an impression), and a few others... but somehow I always wound up coming back to Good Old Eddie.

Only now, decades later, am I exploring what else there is out there in the world of tobaccos, and that was triggered by a matter of economics.

The little pocket packs of EGR are getting harder and harder to come by around here, and the last time I bought a tub it was almost $40.00... and moving up!

I'll probably always have some EGR around; I've come to appreciate it's honest, no nonsense tobacco taste... but I just got some assorted samples of Boswell's stuff. Besides the cost, the Old Lady is beginning to hint her displeasure with the room note of Eddie.

Funny... when we were just going together, she said she LIKED it! Funny what a difference 35 years makes...

Now I'm a relatively new pipe smoker but I had trouble detecting any taste from this blend. I had trouble detecting any aroma from this blend as well. There was a strong grapelike aroma from the tub but nothing overly powerful once lit. I got a tongue bite from this blend and I will not be buying anymore of it.

Now when I think of smoking EGR, I shake and quiver uncontrollably!

Okay maybe that was a bit harsh, but this is not good tobacco. The blend is all burly no black Cavendish and is irregularity cut. Making packing a difficult task. The tobacco is too wet to light, and when combustion has been archived it ignites your tongue also. The taste is very similar to Velvet but seems to be of even poorer quality.

It is a burley and Virginia blend, though it doesn't taste like any example of such that I have ever before encountered. There is a fruity, piquant sauce moderately applied that makes it taste much like many Asian candies I have come across. There is also a bit of Latakia, though I have no idea why. I could barely smell it before lighting and could almost never taste it. There was one evening of smoking for me with my rusticated Kaywoodie Gold Series billiard and a small private label English billiard where the Latakia, for once, finally came through and that was quite nice. Rather like a good Scottish style blend. That was the only time, however.

Edward G. Robinson's is also a fairly cool smoking tobacco and leaves no lingering flavor in the pipe, which is nice, I suppose. For once, I am almost at a loss as to what can be said for this particular smoking stuff. I went through an entire twelve ounce can of it rather quickly and I cannot say that it is at all bad. It's just?well, strange.

Regards, A. Morley Jaques

Ok, I was wrong about the grape juice. That's what I get for hearsay. :)

I do like this blend! To my nose it is reminiscent of good coffee with cream, spiked ever so lightly with burbon. How anyone could inhale its aroma and think "grape juice" is quite beyond me.

The cut of this blend is just a wee bit shorter than that found in most Cavendishes, and it packs well. Savored slowly, it does not bite (at least I've never experienced this problem with it). Like most cased blends it benefits from some drying prior to smoking. I do not find that the casing (whatever it may be) coats my tongue. The tobacco burns cleanly to a light gray ash, and leaves little dottle.

Mr. Robinson may have had a tough-guy image on the big screen, but his namesake tobacco is one pleasant pussycat. Highly recommended!

Edward G. Robinson is not an imported, expensive boutique blend; tobacco snobs will be disappointed. That said, it has a very pleasing aroma when lit or unlit, and it is consistent down the bowl, never turning bitter. I've never, even after repeated bowls, had it bite me. It creates a room note that everyone around me finds enjoyable, and as a burley lover, it hits the spot for me everytime. There is a slightly sweet element along with the natural tobacco taste, with the quiet smokiness of the latakia emerging now and then. It's delicious.

This is straightforward, nostalgic stuff, from an era when a celebrity's face on a tin of tobacco was not uncommon. Its most famous fan is Shelby Foote, the great Southern novelist and Civil War historian, who smokes bowl after bowl of this tobacco throughout the day. Jon A. Jackson, the well-known mystery novelist, also claims Edward G. Robinson's Pipe Blend as his personal favorite. Give it a try--for a pleasant, uncomplicated, satisfying smoke, you could do a lot worse than this.