Esoterica Tobacciana - Hastings pipe tobacco reviews

Review

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Reviewed By:	Date:	Strength:	Flavoring:	Taste:	Room Note:	Recommendation:
Showing reviews 1 through 5 of 5 reviews of this tobacco
Kilmarnock Piper	05/13/2013	Medium	Medium	Medium	Pleasant
An unusual Esoterica. Yes, it is an aromatic. Stick your nose in the bag (or jar) and give it a good whiff, and you might think it's an overpowering, goopy aromatic, but not so. It behaves in the pipe more like a Lakeland, though the flavorings are a bit different. I get fruit and liquor, but I'm not sure exactly what. Underneath are some very fine Virginias. No gunk or goop; it dries out as much as you want it to before smoking (I like my tobacco dry, and use a wooden bowl), and the flavors remain, but are toned down a bit from how the blend smells when still moist. I like it, but I like some of the other Esoterica blends more. This will be more of a "change of pace" smoke. I can see why it's one of the less popular Esoterica blends, but don't dismiss it out of hand. Unusual, yes, but still a quality smoke.
Reviewed By:	Date:	Strength:	Flavoring:	Taste:	Room Note:	Recommendation:
JustPlainChris	07/23/2010	Mild to Medium	Medium	Medium to Full	Very Pleasant
I have been smoking Anniversary for the last couple of weeks, so I decided to visit my local pipe and tobacco shop to grab some Penzance. They were out. I really don't like Aromatic tobaccos with sweet, fruity, goopy additives. I like the taste and smell of fine, natural tobacco. So I browsed the other Esoterica tobaccos the store had in stock; to my dismay, they only had the $30 dollar sealed bags of different Esoterica blends. I had made up my mind to just grab some other English blend and be done when I saw a tobacco jar with the label "Hastings" by Esoterica. I thought "what they heck" and bought an ounce. I had no idea it was an Aromatic. In my foolishness, I had no idea Esoterica even MADE aromatic blends. I also had no idea how tasty and mellow and smooth it was! This blend is really, really good quality and the fact that it does contain some flavoring in the Cavendish should only make me hate it. But I don't hate it. I don't LOVE it, either, but... It packs very well, lights easily and stays lit with the proper tamping and tending. The flavor is at first intense and sweet. I think it reminds me of caramel, but not in a candy bar caramel way. More of a faint aftertaste kind of way. It burns very cool considering what's in it and leaves a-get this- fine white ash. It is stronger than I had anticipated nicotine wise but not in a bad way. I hate high octane high nicotine blends and this is just about perfect in having just the right amount of kick. Like the tin says, it is a soft and gentle smoke. I will be buying more for those times when I need a break from my Va/Balkan/Lat blends. Good stuff.
Reviewed By:	Date:	Strength:	Flavoring:	Taste:	Room Note:	Recommendation:
Pipestud	05/12/2009	Mild to Medium	Mild	Mild to Medium	Very Pleasant
Hastings is one of those tobaccos that tastes a lot different than it smells. I took a whiff just after opening the package and was afraid I'd gotten myself into a really sweet blend. Sweet tobaccos smoke (as a general rule according to my palate), wet, have little true tobacco flavor and are limp wristed in the strength department. Hastings was none of the above. It is a sweet smoke but actually had a baby mule kind of kick to it that I appreciated. Easy to load, light and keep lit. Although I wouldn't smoke this regularly, I will keep the pouch and finish 'er off in due time. As for the flavoring; I can't identify it. Kind of a fermented fruit of some sort?
Reviewed By:	Date:	Strength:	Flavoring:	Taste:	Room Note:	Recommendation:
DrDNA	09/17/2005	Mild	Mild to Medium	Mild	Pleasant
Notes: I don't smoke a whole lot of aromatic mixtures, but this one is topped rather lightly and is an enjoyable smoke. I have tried several ounces on and off as a change of pace. I enjoy it most in a small billiard. Appearance: About 50% nut brown, with light brown, dark brown, black, and red strands mixed into a thin cut ribbon, rubbed fully out. Aroma: Sweet, round, full, and rich frangrance. Pecans, walnuts, apple pie, new carpet, tweed coat, fig, plum. Taste: Not as round and mellow as it smells. Bright and spicy on the palate. Redolent of caramel. Spice cake, fresh plums, figs, sugar syrup. The topping blends nicely with the tobacco flavor and is not overly intrusive. Comparisons: Similar to Cornell & Diehl's Professor with a caramel-sweet topping. Along the lines of Paul Olsens No. 3005 or Dunhill's Early Morning Pipe, but less complex, brighter, and with a mildly sweet topping. Bottom Line: A simple, sweet mild English blend to start the day. For those who find Dunhill's Early Morning Pipe a bit too serious and desire a less subtle, sweeter blend.
Reviewed By:	Date:	Strength:	Flavoring:	Taste:	Room Note:	Recommendation:
Sceny	04/08/2001	Medium	Mild	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable
This is a nice, light, Virginia-based aromatic that is about as far from Captain Black as you can get. It's a nice, mild change of pace that Virginia lovers especially might want to try. The bag aroma is sweet but not fruity, almost musty perhaps, fairly strong smell that is not unpleasant. The tobacco itself is dark, with equal parts black, dark brown, and medium brown in a narrow, long to medium-length cut. The moisture level is fairly high, probably the highest I've seen thus far in Esoterica tobaccos but still no where near the McClelland standard. It packs easily and lights well, burning easily with an average number of relights needed. In the first third of the bowl, there is a fairly strong sweetness in the flavor, clearly present but not at all overwhelming. The tobacco flavor that comes through the casing is mild yet tasty, a pleasant, medium sort of taste common with Virginias. I find the combination good but mostly uncomplex. Moving on into the second third of the bowl, the sweetness has intensified a bit, though it is still fairly mild. I have also noticed a tendency for the smoke to bite and smoke hot; careful puffing is required. The tobacco tast has remained similar, a mild, uncomplicated flavor, not complex but not one-dimensional either. I can't clearly identify the casing, but it is closer to vanilla or carmel than anything else that comes to mind. In the final third, the casing has burned off partly, and the tobacco flavor is more clear. It is still fairly uncomplex, but there are several layers, and the taste is overall good. It's mild, when smoked carefully, and obviously comes from a quality blend of tobaccos. Overall, this was a nice, interesting tobacco with good flavor. I prefer other tobaccos to this myself, but I can certainly see where other might like this a lot. If you like mild, high-quality aromatics, you should enjoy this.
Showing reviews 1 through 5 of 5 reviews of this tobacco