Opening the tin, the leaf is packaged in a plastic liner underneath a piece of cardboard; this is a packaging style that I know from Pöschl, but everybody seems to agree this is put together by Planta. Not going to speculate too much here. The leaf is an even mix of widely cut bright VA, some darker leaf, and Latakia. A little surprising, since most classical English Mixtures come in a medium ribbon. So, large pipes preferred. The tin note is clean (sorry, only word I can come up with to describe it...), with VA and Orientals noticeable, and the Latakia there, but in the background.

Stuffing, lighting and puffing is easy in a wide-bore pipe; in a medium-sized one, this stuff may actually burn hot if not carefully sipped. The taste is nicely sweet, with a good meatiness from the Latakia and a very nice note of black pepper, which I will attribute to the Orientals used. The taste gets a touch deeper, sweeter and more spicy throughout the bowl. The room note is dominated by the VAs, but also shows off the flowery Oriental notes; the Latakia is outvoted by them.

In the end, I do not need to relight; I have a small amount of bright-grey ashes left and no condensation. Beautiful blend for me; I would classify it as a classic English except for the cut, but that is a moot point. An excellent smoke for the larger bowls that I enjoy with a good ale or one of the peatier Single Malts.