Two Friends - Deacon's Downfall pipe tobacco reviews

Review

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Reviewed By:	Date:	Strength:	Flavoring:	Taste:	Room Note:	Recommendation:
Showing reviews 1 through 20 of 21 reviews of this tobacco NEXT >
Thoth	01/12/2009	Medium	Very Mild	Medium	Tolerable to Strong
Maybe I expected too much from this blend based on the fine pedigree of the blenders. It was not a bad blend but not an amazing smoke. I managed to get a a hold of a 3 year old tin, on which this review is based. Upon opening opening it, there was something in the tin aroma reminiscent of vomit, like others mentioned. Though this faded away after a few days of being opened. After which all one is left with is the smell of latakia. Flavorwise, to me this was rather one note with latakia predominent. None of the sweetness of the cavendish or virginias came through. If I was not told there was perique present I would never have guessed it. Also the orientals were drowned out by the latakia. Also it smoked wet for an english/scottish blend. It is a decent latakia blend, though I probably won't buy it again. Full flavored but very one dimensional.
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stonedlion	06/04/2007	Medium to Strong	Very Mild	Medium	Tolerable to Strong
The Deacon has confirmed that I am indeed an English tobacco smoker. I don't know that I have much to contribute to what others have already said, but here goes. I do my smoking primarily at home in the evening and while driving. I don't consider it an all day smoke. I think the nicotine would overwhelm me if I tried more than a couple of back to back bowls. A non-smoking friend described the raw tobacco scent as "a campfire" and I would agree with his assessment. I have tried it in a couple of pipes and find I enjoy it best when smoked from a medium sized billiard. A strong cup of coffee and I am home with 2 old friends, nicotine and caffeine. I find the coffee compliments DD quite nicely on my taste buds. This is not one to smoke around finicky spouses and small children, the room note is quite pleasing to me, but failed the sniff test with the lady of the house. Recommended.
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DoctorThoss	11/11/2006	Medium to Strong	Mild	Medium to Full	Tolerable to Strong
This is probably the most "conventional" of the Two Friends blends, IMO. This is a latakia-heavy blend, reminiscent of a strong Balkan or English. What makes this one stand out from the crowd is an odd, semi-sweet flavor/aromoa I've never encountered before. It's not strong but it's noticeable. I don't know if this is due to some kind of flavoring or if it's the leaf, but it adds just enough of a kick to elevate this to a three-star tobacco. There are a couple of reasons why I don't give this blend four stars. For one, there are many tobaccos on the market that are better examples of this type of blend than Deacon's Downfall. Also, as other reviewers have pointed out, the many tobaccos in this blend don't quite seem to "meld" together. It's like listening to a half-dozen virtuoso musicians trying to play Mozart while mildly drunk. I'm giving this 3 stars because it's a pleasant experience despite its drawbacks and I think it will improve significantly with age (at the least, adding a couple of years to this blend should take care of the drunken orchestra problem). As an experiment, I'm thinking about ordering a batch of this from C&D and having it pressed.
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dualkarnain	08/13/2006	Medium	Extremely Mild	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable
I like this tobacco, quite a bit! It is unique in that it hosts a wide range of tastes - latakia is steady, the virginias consistently donate flavor accented with a little perique and the orientals complete the chords of this billowing sonata. Add this to the fact that my wife finds this "less offensive" than most other brands I smoke (ie, Charing Cross, 965, Nightcap, House of Lords, Victorian Stroll) and full in the taste department, I am classifying this as my "human-friendly" brand because of the sweet, toasty aroma. This comes right in time as I'm leaving with the extended family to stay with other family in Thailand for a month. This is the first 2friends blend I've tried and I'm liking it a lot. When I smoke this tobacco, images come to mind of phantasmic fiddlers serenading flames within a light-hearted, jumpy Beltane fire.
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OPCElder	02/17/2006	Medium to Strong	Extremely Mild	Medium to Full	Pleasant to Tolerable
As with the rest of the Two Friends blends I can recommend this one. I am a novice pipe smoker and enjoy a bit of Latakia but not when overpowering. This one is a bit strong in that respect for my taste but will undoubtedly be relished by a more "seasoned" smoker.
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anixi	01/25/2006	Medium	None detected	Mild to Medium	Tolerable
Wet, wet, wet. Used over 5 pipecleaners to get the moistness out of this mixture. Taste, as described by the 1 star reviewers. I had terrible luck with this stuff, but not rank as others described. Reminded me of Squadron Leader, but, without the taste and dry smoke. Do not recommend this at all. Sorry, really wanted to like it, but it also bit me irreconcilibly. I suspect that I will have to dry this out and blend it with a poor English to get my investment back!
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emmbee	09/19/2005	Medium	None detected	Medium to Full	Pleasant
I agree with distinguishedgentleman: good, though not great. I did like it better the second time I tried it. The blend had been shpritzed with distilled water and left to air out a few days. A lot more interesting flavor and aromatic piquancy resulted. This is in the vein of Valle Crucis & Cordial, though I find the former a bit nuttier and the latter more flavorful & altogether intoxicating. Still, Pease & Tarler produce some of the most offbeat blends. Deacon's smells wonderful in the pouch upon first opening. It's even enjoyable picking out the flavors in the bowl before you light it. Definitely top quality, and an enjoyable ride in the car. Three of five stars
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thedstnguishdgntlmn	09/14/2005	Medium to Strong	None detected	Medium to Full	Strong
If you like offbeat English blends try this one! There are so many ingredients in the mixture that no one flavor dominates. Latakia is a major player in this one though,so be forewarned.The best description I can give is if C&D"s "Bow Legged Bear" had actually been good,it would have become this.A real assortment of potent tabacs in here so eat first. Not great,but actually good. Let it breathe in the pouch for a day after opening and you will find the flavor is much better. For the adventurous only!
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sasha	07/30/2005	Medium	None detected	Medium to Full	Tolerable
This is clearly a good quality tobacco, but I couldn't taste the latakia overpowering many have detected before me. To me the other tobaccos play their role, maybe just the Virginias are in the background to support the body of the mixture without adding any sweetness. I can taste a nutty flavour from the cavendish throughout the bowl and many "intrusions" from the orientals and the perique. Latakia is in the frontline, of course, but I've tried many more latakia-oriented tobaccos.
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DUPE.1512	05/31/2005	Strong	None detected	Very Full	Strong
Akin to Pirate cake, the latakia in this blend is the meat and potatoes and there is nothing subtle about it. While the latakia is premium grade no doubt, this one is for those that love to mainline latakia and use it as mouthwash and toothpaste. If you love latakia you will love this. If you dont like latakia stay away.
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Beer	09/03/2004	Medium to Strong	None detected	Full	Strong
Usually Greg Pease is a master of subtlety and complexity... Here, instead, he decided to have a go with the sledgehammer and create a blend which packs a big tasty punch. And he hit bullseye! The latakia overpowers the rest of the tobaccos, but the result is not harsh or excessive: it's simply a delicious blend for those who like it dark, smoky and stout. So, if you like heavy latakia give this tobacco a try by all means!
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Blackie	06/21/2004	Very Strong	None detected	Medium to Full	Tolerable to Strong
I was all over the map on this tobaco untill I got it to settle down a little. The key to getting the most of this tobacco was to age it in a warm place for awhile. That was accomplished by accidentally buying 4oz. of this stuff while having 4oz. vacuum sealed in a warm closet for the last three years. Here's what I found: I opened the new plastic bag that I had just received from the tobacco store. Immediately, it smelled like angry, bile soaked Oriental. Not too pleasant at all. I packed up a big bowl of the stuff and Viola- it tasted like C&D Rajah's Court, cased with Lysol. O.K., it really was not that bad, but the Oriental note was harsh, and the nicotine was forceful. I found it just satisfactory, but all in all a sour, mean blend. Fast forward three days. I found my vacuum sealed DD in my storage area, marked 09-2001. Cool, a horizontal tasting of sorts. I ripped open the bag, and guess what....? Still smelled mildly of barf; but I like strong smells and tastes, so who cares? I loaded up my pipe, torched it, and was more than pleasantly surprised. After the second light, DD settled WAY down into a delicious blend. Every last microgram of nicotine was still present, however the Virginia and Perique kicked-in and made the flavor of the Latakia and Oriental just sing out. Gone was the antibacterial scent. Away went the odor of the humors produced by a healthy liver. This turned into a very well behaved English that packed well, stayed lit, and burned down to an end that came all too soon. I believe that this could be smoked all day, save the waves of nicotine. Last but not least, in the interest of science, I took my new package of DD, and placed it in the back dash of my closed car, parked in the sun. DD arrives vaccum packed in a mylar and plastic bag. I set it with the tobacco exposed to the sun through the clear side of the pack. It was about 125 degrees, and it was left for a good hour. I then removed it and let it return to room temp. on my kitchen counter. The next day I tried it. The "home-stoved" tobacco apparently went through the same changes as the three year old. The Virginia element immediately stepped-up and added body and the needed sweetness to stave off the assaultive nicotine and bitterness of the condimental leaf. This was absolutely not the same tobacco that I had opened and shrunk from just days before. If this blend is not your cup of tea, I highly recommend laying it down for a few years, then revisiting. Or, you can "stove" it yourself and see what magic you can obtain by re-arranging those sugar molecules by showing them some heat. Either way, I was made into a believer of this blend. I recommend a(n) (older) package of this.
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Danno	06/14/2004	Mild to Medium	Medium	Very Mild	Strong
Where to start with this one...I do not care for it. The pouch aroma is reminiscent of Nitecap, but strangely mildewed. I compared notes with a fellow smoker and his findings were similar in the aroma department. I am a fan of latakia heavy blends but this one is astringent in its presentation. There is no cohesion of leaf in this blend at all. I smoked it in 4 of my best, most reliable Latakia pipes, with nary a positive result. The flavor is sharp and thin at best. There is no noticeable change, good or worse, as one works down the bowl. Then there is the matter of room note. I checked 'strong' because 'nauseating' wasn't offered. Lastly, there is the matter of flavoring. I am not sure if any of the other reviewers made mention of it, but his concoction is cased in some way or another, very sharp at lightup. This blend was not conceived by my two friends, nor will I revisit it.
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CaptnDan	04/26/2004	Medium	None detected	Medium to Full	Tolerable
Deacon?s Downfall is very nice looking. Plenty of dark coloration, with some bright highlights. And the aroma is full and interesting. It packs well. It lights well. It burns well. And the taste? Excellent. This is certainly not one for the newcomer to English blends, simply because it is so rich and full. Deacon?s Downfall is creamy-smooth. The smoke is thick, just begging you to blow a few smoke rings. It does, in fact, produce excellent smoke rings. Had it not been for the distraction of watching me blow rings, I think I would have been invited to go look at the porch while I smoked this. I think that little diversion kept my wife distracted long enough for her to get accustomed to the room note, which is petty rich and full too! Deacon?s is somewhere between Dunhill?s 965 and Nightcap for Latakia strength. But for complexity it is a few rungs up the ladder from either of these. The Tarler/Pease combo has shown that a two-man band can indeed come off like a full orchestra. Take some time with Deacon?s Downfall and get to know it. You?ll find that a blend can be at once full and rich, while still being subtle and complex. Another winner from the Two Friends.
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Ivanhoe	03/29/2004	Medium to Strong	None detected	Full	Tolerable
This tobacco is black in the pouch and felt moister than I expect a Cornell and Diehl tobacco to be. The pouch aroma was strong, rich, and fruity. It smelled to me like chocolate chips and raisins mixed together. This fruitiness was not in the taste of the tobaccos while it burned, though. I don't think there was any artificial topping on this blend because it burned easily and cleanly to the end, leaving only fluffy white ash when it was done. The taste is rich and full and not harsh at all. There is a lot of latakia and plenty of other things going on to keep the smoke interesting, and the amount of nicotine in a bowlful is moderate. I enjoyed it a lot, but it definitely would not be an all-day smoke for me; it is just too rich. I recommend this one for smokers who have tried a lot of other latakia blends. It will be a pleasant change for them.
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Inquisitor	01/03/2003	Medium to Strong	Very Mild	Full	Strong
John Aylesbury (Tinsky) bulldog, Two Friends Deacon?s Downfall. 60F, moderate humidity. A full dose of Latakia is quite evident, plus some sweet Virginia tones and enough Oriental T for nuance (but not taste, vs. Latakia). Med-thick smoke, cool smoking but with a bit of bitter aftertaste (not as much as Valle Cruces, though). At ½ bowl, has a ?toasted? nuance, some caramel tones; Latakia backs off a bit (though it still dominates the blend), and I think I feel/taste Perique, though well-used so I can?t be sure if it is here. But I think it is. What I call bitterness may be minutely soapy, but not completely unpleasant. Second half is shows some yellow VA sweetness, but it can't raise this blend above "not quite as monotonous and Latakia-happy as I first thought." Easy burn throughout, fine white ash remains.
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fourshephards	08/27/2002	Strong	None detected	Full	Strong
I had to try this just because of the name. It sounded so intriguing. What I found was a blend that has a great deal to offer the experienced pipe smoker. Note the use of the term "experienced". This IMO would not be a good "cross-over" for those coming off from the aromatic. This blend is rich and full of flavor. DD lights easily and stays lit well. I was a little suprized at the amount of strength that developes about 1/2 of the way down the bowl, but that's okay with me as I like stronger stuff. The room aroma seemed like you might expect from a rich latakia blend but it had a tinge of something sweeter with it almost like a cinnamon though I am sure that this is a coincidence and not an aromatic added. I love this stuff and so does my dog Gretchen. She gives it a full five barks out of five. If you are a latakia fan, try this one.
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Pipestud	08/07/2002	Mild to Medium	Medium	Mild	Pleasant to Tolerable
Sorry Pease and Tarler, but this stuff is rank! I know why they named it Deacon's Downfall. Any Deacon who smokes this stuff will be defrocked if the parishoners get a whiff of his pipe! Tasting it is worse. Don't know what flavorings were used to spice up this sooty blend, but I don't think they belong in high quality tobacco -- and certainly not any weed that goes into my nice pipes -- or even my bad ones! I am sure the tobacco used here was of good quality, but the combination seemed to be out of balance. And again, the flavoring is disgusting. If you are a fan of latakia, you will not like this blend because of the flavoring. If you are an aromatic fan, you will not like this blend because of the latakia. Both Tarler and Pease usually hit home runs with their tobaccos, but in the case of Deacon's Downfall, like mighty Casey, they both struck out!
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PuffNStuff	04/24/2002	Medium to Strong	Medium	Full	Pleasant to Tolerable
What can I say? This is my favorite of the Two Friends blends I have purchased. I find it to be rich and "woodsy", with a good burn and good smoke production. It doesn't seem as complex as the mixture of tobaccos used would lead you to believe, still this has become one of my regulars. Recommended.
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smokey	01/02/2002	Strong	None detected	Very Full	Tolerable to Strong
when i first got my sample of deacon's downfall, i found it harsh with a bit of a bite and not to my liking at all. it did seem pretty dry in the bag, so i misted it with some distilled water and bagged it back up for a day. instant transformation! smooth flavor, with that great latakia taste that i like so much. i didn't really notice the perique, but the virginias and orientals are a welcome addition. put together, they make for a very nicely balanced smoke. this one seems to have a pretty high nicotine content, which explains my strength rating. good lighting and burn, right down to a fine gray ash in the bottom of the bowl. this might be a good one for cigarette smokers who are trying to switch over to the briar, they would appreciate the high nicotine content. deacon's downfall has found a home in my pipes because of its' great rich flavor. craig and greg, ya' done good! please get together again soon. 4 big stars.
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