About 1/3 of black CA. It smokes smooth and slightly sweet.

FIRST IMPRESSIONS, FEB07, 2007 Discreet Pouch Aroma, Packs easily, Very Relaxing Mild smoke, Agreeable room note reminding of a pine forest, slightly bitter. No trouble keeping it lit. No tongue bite or scorching, burns cool. Almost as if this was not an aromatic at all.

Overall superb experience. The blend has "personality". It is refershing and - to my experience - unique.

SECOND THOUGHTS - OBSERVATIONS - TESTS

(FEB11, 2007): Trying a non-aromatic in a not-fully broken in pipe, Half way through the bowl I got a sourish smell - clearly a Calume residue. The taste was not there any more, the next time I tried it. To be safe, I dedicated a brand new Liverpool to CALUME and I will repeat the experiment with this pipe in a couple of months.

(FEB13, 2007): BREATH SMOKING I did try some early in the day, using one of my Corn Cobs. What an awesome smoke! This blend really lends itself for breath smoking.

(MAR02, 2007): INCONSISTENT QUALITY? Just through an overall dry second pouch. I started experiencing occasional problems with relights - needing up to two relights through the bowl.

(MAR20, 2007): DELAYED GRATIFICATION - NOT POSSIBLE! Last night I packed my dedicated Calume pipe and started it for a minute or so. Then I put it aside for today: I did not get any noticeable taste improvement / difference.

(APR30, 2007): MOISTURE LEVEL - EXTREMELY SENSITIVE 3RD AND 4TH Pouch were also very dry. I tried reviving them with a slice of apple (OK I overdid it somewhat) so for the last 40 days I have been trying this at different levels of moisture. The net outcome is that there exists only a very narrow moisture window for which this is OK. Outside this window, the blend is just problematic.

The blend is good and relaxing - regardless - but I guess it is quite simple. In view of my latest observations I will take a star away...

(MAY15, 2007): LAST UPDATE - PIPE STAINING Last weekend, I smoked a relatively non-aromatic blend in the pipe that I had so far dedicated to CALUME. I did not detect any Calume undertaste whatsoever - at least not a measurable annoying level. For the sake of completeness, please note that I had smoked about 4 full 50g pouches of Calume in that pipe.

The aromatics kick in early. As you go along, they get more aggressive and that "pine country flavor" really opens up. The mouth feel is exactly like the experience of a fir or pine forest (which abound around here), say, after a light-to-medium rain, sitting at base camp and re-lighting your camp-fire. Nice, to say the least. Not at all stale, and sufficiently variety in taste combinations. Still, a bit too spiced for me at times.

But all is not well. This one's quite hard to keep lit. I mean, on a sunny summer's day with negligible breeze there should be no problems keeping a pipe lit. But this one goes out easily and a bit too often for proper enjoyment (it could be just me).

Again on the positive side, this one has a very fresh taste. Not to mention the aftertaste. After a bowl you notice how good it feels. This really must be the freshest after-taste of *any* tobacco anywhere. For this reason alone, it's a good choice.

But it leaves quite an aftertaste to your pipe. Kiowa Cut comes through for the next few smokes, even with other aromatics. Try it out in a testing pipe first, then decide if you like it.