Brown tobacco, smells like a true English blend, with herbal and oriental tobacco odours. The description says Virginia, but I also say Oriental, however I am no expert (I've been smoking pipes for a year now). In the pipe, it smokes like heaven with an excellent nicotine hit. A full round taste that lasts in the mouth and taste buds. Very cool smoke, not too "lakelandy" or soapy like some GH or SG tobaccos.

Going down in my favourites department.

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This tobacco fiercely ghosts the pipe you smoke. Even smoking a completely different tobacco, you will mostly feel Condor for a while. Beware!

After a few puffs I quickly dumped the bowl to save my briar from ghosting. Absolutely vile stuff. The worst tobacco I ever tasted.

I wouldn't call it a strong or manly cigarish tobacco, like say craven or other non-Lakeland English blends. The underlying tobacco is actually quite mild but the heavy girly perfumey casing made me feel sick to my stomach. How anyone could smoke this is beyond me. Unless you like smoking the underarms of old ladies blouses.

When the wife smoked it, it smelled even worse than it tasted. For the love of god please don't inflict this on anyone - smoker or non-smoker.

To be fair I am a 'super-taster' so that may be why I don't like it. I will air the pouch out and get a dedicated pipe for it and revisit this blend due to it being an 'acquired taste' but I'm not getting my hopes up.

If you are a first time pipe smoker avoid this like the plague.

UPDATE 17/05/13 - Let it dry out a bit. The perfume taste is now only there for the light. After that it is very rich and full which I like but it tastes of blood and bone. I can understand why others like it now but still not for me. Didnt ghost.

UPDATE 20/05/2013 - After leaving the pouch open for a few more days, the blood and bone taste is gone and this is starting to taste like a nice deep, rich leathery grandpa English blend of yore. I keep reaching for the pouch to sniff it. The diesel is gone, the floweriness is slowly being replaced with raisiney fruitiness. It is growing on me after every pipe. I am now very interested in trying St Bruno and Grousemoor. Consider me a tentative Lakeland convert. If you dont like condor at first dont throw away the pouch, let it sit for a while. Upgrading from 1 star to 2.5 stars.

UPDATE 5th June 2013 - I enjoy a pipe of this before bed nearly every night now - upgraded to 3 stars.

If, on the other hand, you crave strong English ales, porters and stouts; if you regard mature Cheddar and strong onions as ambrosia and if you adore the thud and blunder of proper(fifteen a side) Rugby Football then you are gonna love this stuff.

Condor is the best over the counter tobacco available in England, bar none. From the first puff it is all about the scent, slightly mildewy flowers, locker rooms, old fashioned barber shops and burnt toast. After that it's good old vitamin N, all the way to the heel!!

If heaven is a Public Bar where there is a never ending flow of IPA, the company of Pipemen and a constant supply of Condor then, Sweet Baby Jesus, take me now!

This leaf seems to have taken on mythical qualities on various forums and it seems this tobacco is a leveller of many. However, undeterred I decided to try my luck with it.

The 25g pouch was bought from a local Co-op supermarket near to my works and it was I believe nearly £6 which isnt bad, isnt good.

Upon opening, you are hit with a strong soapy scent with hints of brandy and liquor but with a little lavender in there as well. It is a tad spicy and very very pungent. The black rubbed flakes are slightly moist and are very dark brown.

Packing was easy enough and on first light it is an odd tobacco. It stayed lit even after the charring light and stayed lit til the end without any bite whatsoever. The taste however jarred me. Was it soapy? Was it spicy? Was the smoke at all like pipe tobacco? My missus said it smelt herbally like an old chemists and very flowery like incense and rather like lavender.

To me the taste is similar to the smell with hints of roasted coffee and the smoke is smooth if you sip but will kick if you puff (burner of throats!) as for the Nicotine. I am sensitive to Nicotine but I hardly felt this that is to say it was no worse than Players Medium Navy cut or St Bruno, the latter being similar to this but I prefer Condor. The after taste is very soapy, as if you have had your mouth washed out but to my pallete this is preferred over the crappy taste of burley infested aromatics that make my mouth feel like a pub ashtray.

Not for everyone and a ghoster of pipes I did enjoy this smoke even though it is a bit rough around the edges. I guess it doesnt suit everyone but it was a nice change.

I have smoked Condor for many years and it has always been in my top 10 tobaccos. Packs, lights, and behaves well in any pipe, and I smoke this throughout the day without issue. I also appreciate the floral/parfume scent, and there is nothing quite like it anywhere.

Agreed...you either love it or dislike it...no in between...I don't reserve any pipe for this and smoke it in all of my pipes. It is now difficult to buy unless you have someone who can send it to you...and I have it shipped to me every 2 months...Never tiring, hardly a day goes by without at least one bowl!

...a pipe is to be savored...

If your a newbie dont go for this, you will be left wondering where the hell you are, but if your into your pipe smoking and would like a strong but floral smoke then this one is for you, one tip though if you share a house with none smokers or who dont like the smell of pipe tobacco then expect to be banished outside. Apart from that its one them old time greats, who have stood the test of time and gained a good following, which i am one of them followers, tip though dedicate a pipe to this one because it will ghost the hell out of any pipe you use it in.

A couple of problems though, that "Soapy" flavour ghosts your pipe for a long time, so I'd suggest that you would have a pipe that is dedicated to this blend, secondly it can dry out too quickly and burn rather hot if smoked like this, resulting in some very unwanted toungue bite.

Overall, comparing this to St. Bruno, I prefer this blend when it comes to any OTC blends, I have 2 pipes that are dedicated to it, a Mini Cob and an MM Macarthur, I would say that you should smoke this blend in cobs or a clay, overall, a nice pleasant all round, everyday smoke.

Admittedly, the prospect of a floral, soapy smoke doesn't sound appealing, but this is one hell of a great smoke any time of day or night. Just get some! No bite, I find a good half hour drying is needed to calm down the soapy edge. I also prefer this in a bigger bowl, loosely packed and I can see her off in about 30 mins, ideal for a quick, strong smoke...

The aroma upon first smell was a heady rich mixture of the original movie, SGs' fabled Squadron Leader and a more pleasant incarnation of largely atrocious Mellow Virginia. Packing is fairly easy, though, due to the large ribbons, a little care is needed. This also makes it a little harder to light than most ribbons, but it's no really biggie. The taste in the mouth is just fantastic, a mixture of Long Cut and a nicer Mellow Virginia. The room note is very good, and has a way of just nicely hanging around the place, popping up every so often to provide a pleasant reminder of a thoroughly good smoke.

A very good everyday tobacco, so good in fact, that I smoke it to the exclusion of my other stashes of the naughty leaf and finished my first 50g packet inside a week. It is a heavy smoke though, not for beginners, but can be sampled regular with no big deal once you're used to it. If Condor Long Cut is a fine steak to be eaten best in the evening, this would be a fine bacon - good all day round.

Not for the feint hearted, a very bold and powerful aroma indeed. Admittedly a very pleasant room note, but right from braking the seal you can tell its going to be a strong one!

I must say, for all its downfalls, this is a fantastic tobacco. Its just one which should not be touched with a barge pole until you've developed a bit of a pallete and indeed a tolerance to nicotine!

Tounge burn is noticable, and the nocitine hit can leave an unwary smoker wondering where he is. However, if smoked with caution the tobacco is very pleasant, complex and intriguing. A powerful, spicy, sweet tobacco with hints of all sorts, mentionably rum, pepper and spice.

To be enjoyed in the depths of Winter, it will undoubtedly warm your coggles!!

In a word - Fantastic.

A real Gem. Old school tabacco with a lot of class.

Well worth a try (beginners beware, nico hit!!!)