The cigar leaf was a fine compliment for that strong 'tobacco' effect that I like. There was a richness from the stoved VA that I also found favorable and one that I don't usually get from other Va blends. It was not hot, which for my smoking technique, is remarkable. It was a pleasantly dry smoke that gave an aftertaste similar to that of a nice cigar, though much less demonstrative. All in all a tobacco I'll be happy to smoke again and again hoping that it's elusive flavor doesn't morph into blandness and fatigue.

Grey Ghost is a uniformly brown tobacco. I can see the red Virginia and assume the darker strands to be the stoved Virginia. Fairly easy to see the flat flakes of cigar wrapper, medium-dark brown so probably maduro or EMS wrapper. I'm not very knowedgable on cigar tobaccos. Grey Ghost has only a slight earthy aroma in the pouch. It packs easily and burns evenly. I have yet to have any pipe gurgle even the slightest.

Yes, Grey Ghost is strong tobacco and very flavorfull but not at all harsh on the throat and tongue. Almost on a par with Haddo's in this respect. Taste is quite full and I detect the Virginia easily as well as the cigar leaf. I don't think it is overly heavy on the cigar leaf but it IS notable. After all if you don't want to taste the cigar leaf, why seek out a blend containing it.

I started out with small pipes to try this blend and have expanded into my larger bowled pipes. Grey Ghost smokes very well in either. I have been enjoying 1 or 2 bowls a day of this blend until, alas, my samole is nearly gone. It has become a part of my daily rotationand I enjoy it as much as Dom. Glory Maduro, which is also excellent but different. As a last nite, I have DGT'ed this blend on several occasions leaving a halfa bowl to finish the next day. No problem, still tasty and I can't say this about Haddo's which I don't think DGT's well at all. Overall, a very nice tobacco, three stars at least.

Regards to all here, Alan Stevenson N. Cent. WI

aj

I sampled it for fun, but it was no fun at all. The leaf is strong tasting and even a bit over the edge nicotine wise as far as I am concerned. It did taste like cigar - albeit a cheap one.

Positives: Gray Ghost is dry and smokes evenly. I've tried a lot of pipe tobacco blends with "cigar leaf," and this is the only one I can think of that truly tasted like a cigar.

This may not be a totally fair review because I only smoked half a bowl. My beautiful wife knows I am the master of my domain and she doesn't ever complain about the smell of my pipe tobaccos. But, she said that if I continued to smoke "that foul stuff in the house," she would go on a shopping spree. Now you know why I smoked only half a bowl.

If you are faint of heart yet want to try this blend, get a buzz on first. This ghost was not too friendly to me. I was overwhelmed by it. The phrase ?all-day smoke? is often mentioned in the reviews here. I would call this a once a year smoke??? or is that a once in a lifetime smoke?

A cigarette is to be smoked. A cigar is to be enjoyed. A pipe is to be savored.

I rate this tobacco 5.0 out of 10.

My first bowl was smoked in a meer that was most likely a bit too wet from an earlier smoke that day and, wow, Gray Ghost packed a surprising wallop! Strong, almost unpleasant flavor ? and I thought I liked strong tobaccos.

For the second bowl I moved to a small-bowled briar and the complexion of the smoke changed completely. Still full-bodied, but the smoke was enjoyable with a noticeable nicotine kick. The next day I went back to the same meer, this time after appropriate time for drying out, and the bowl was very satisfying and similar to the briar. It burned clean and dry and the flavor was no longer powerful to the point of harshness. Maybe I knew what to expect after several smokes, or maybe the "wettish" bowl from the first smoke was enough to cause Gray Ghost to really kick my tail. At any rate I've now smoked many bowls and I really enjoy the blend.

The cigar leaf is noticeable, if not prominent, although I don't get the feeling I'm smoking a chopped-up cigar in my pipe because the VAs are definitely in play as well. All in all a very nice change of pace and a tobacco I intend to keep on hand for regular, if not daily, consumption.

Composition: Almost a uniform short-ribbon mixture of light brown color, with the occasional flex of dark brown.

Pouch aroma: Pungent and sharp, the cigar leaf is the dominant scent, I do not smell the familiar vegetal sweetness of Virginia leaf.

Taste: Expecting the strength of the cigar leaf to shine through, I chose a small bowled (group 2) Upshall smooth prince. Flame hits weed, and I taste...nothing. In all fairness I did smoke a bowl of Civil War right before this, but I am drinking water now to cleanse my palette. I slow down my pace and am trying very hard to pick up the nuances of this blend. Perhaps I was expecting a blast of flavor, but this blend is very subtle. It did not grab me at first, but it is pleasant enough to be a good exercise for your pallette. The cigar leaf is hardly noticeable, I think I was expecting this blend to taste *like* a cigar. This is my mistake, there is no reference to the strength or dominance of the cigar leaf in this blend, my own suppositions were misleading. I do not think I will be purchasing any more of this blend, the two ounce sample possess will last for quite a while. The finish of the bowl was consistent, though hardly monotonous. Unfortunately a DGT of this blend introduced an unpleasant harshness.

I give this blend a rating of six out of ten. The quality of the ingredients are undeniable, the proportions simply do not motivate me to purse this blend.

GRAY GHOST is the only tobacco containing cigar-leaf?in this case, Connecticut wrapper?that has ever actually tasted like a cigar to me. At first I almost choked, at the unexpected tang of the thing. I let my Copenhagen Style billiard (a second by Gubbels, the Dutch maker of Big-Ben and Hilson pipes) go out, drank some cold water, and re-lit.

An ounce of Grey Ghost had been a free sample that Mssrs Davidoff of Geneva gave me, upon purchase of two tinned tobaccos, Peterson's University Flake and Robert McConnell's Original Red Virginia. The sample, from a bulk jar, was rather excessively dry, which might have exacerbated the piquancy of an undoubtedly strong mixture. Unlit, it didn't smell like much of anything!

I re-lit cautiously. Things were decidedly more enjoyable this time round. Frankly, I have never understood the idea behind putting cigar leaf into a pipe mixture. If I want cigar taste, I smoke a cigar! Having said that, Gray Ghost is a powerful, strong, pungent, cigar-like experience. After a dinner of highly spiced Indian cuisine, a large bowl of it was very pleasant indeed. At the end of the double whammy, I just had to irrigate my sorely surfeited throat with a large tankard of cold beer, which, not to put too fine a point on it, hit the spot.

An interesting experience, once in a while.