I opened the bag and it smelled great and looked like all the other English style tobacco I have tried. It packed easily and took no time to get lit. Once lit I was awarded with wonderful flavors and a nice smoke texture. Creamy, buttery, smooth all describe it. I love the teture of th smoke and would smoke it just for that alone. But it has a nice flavor that I will keep coming back to.

For the price I have paid for others this one is a definite winner.

Jan. 30,2010 This has become my good to all day tobacco. I just purchased more from 4noggins. I love the cool mild flavors and I could sit puffing this all day.....wait...I have! Enjoy!

Because of the very dark appearance, I expected a flavor wallop on light-up. It didn't happen. There is, instead, a surpisingly mild, full English taste, without any Latakia overload. As the bowl progresses, the Latakia is a little more evident, but never as prominent as I thought it would be. The Orientals are more sweet and rich than herbal, not astringent at all, and seem well chosen to balance and smooth out the flavors. VAs take a back seat on this one.

Overall Larry's Blend is a very nice, very English smoke, and reminds me a little of McClelland's British Woods but without the super rich VA's. It did have a tendency to smoke a little hot, and because of the fine cut care must be taken not to over-tamp. Overall, this is a very tasty full English and worth a try for any fan of the genre.

The pouch smell is absolutely awesome, I can't get enough of it. I find that Larry's blend packs easily, but takes a few matches to get going. I don't dry it out, I just stick my pipe in my pouch and scoop away and pack, scoop away and pack. I find that once I get it burning good, I don't have to relight.

This blend is very smooth, cool and easy to smoke, but it isn't bland. I enjoy reading and or writing while I'm smoking and this blend is very suitable for that purpose. With the pipe in my mouth, I can puff away without worry of the smoke being too overbearing or irritating. It has a wonderful aroma and in my opinion a really good after taste. The Virgina note is far in the background on both during smoking and on the finish and aftertaste, which is what I like. The tobacco's used seem to me to be of a very good quality. So far I've been very satisfied with Hearth and Home Tobacco's.

My regular rotation, along with Larry's Blend, includes; Penzance, Abingdon, Odyseey and Westminster.

When first lit the smoke was very mild. About halfway through the bowl the smoke gets much more rich and the latakia taste becomes just wonderful, like I'm standing next to a barbeque with ribs on the grill. I should have stopped at half a bowl but decided to smoke it down to the last, that's when things turned south a bit. I'm not sure if it was the tobacco or my brand new pipe with the first bowl of tobacco, but the taste became harsh and rather bitter, perhaps it was the briar wood burning LOL. I stopped at half a bowl everytime on my other pipe and had a very pleasant experience with all of my tobaccos, even Larry's blend, perhaps my bowl just needs some conditioning, and I'll probably stop at half to 2/3 of a bowl and dump the rest from here on out.

I have to say that this is probably an aquired taste, i.e., the smokiness of the latakia. When I first opened the zip lock bag I was afraid to smoke it because the smell was so strong LOL. But the taste isn't nearly as strong as the smell of the tobacco. I do like the fullness of it, much fuller than Trout Stream.

By the way, I'm still tasting what seems like wood about an hour after smoking, I'm almost positive that I burned the wood on my pipe a little which made the end of the bowl a bit nasty. I'm giving four stars and blaming the bad taste at the end on my burnt pipe LOL.

By the way, I ordered two ounces of this, and recieved another small sampler with my second order, both were beautiful ribbon cuts, not swept up crumbs like other reviewers stated below. My tobacco was nice and fluffy, no small bits at all.

*********************** Here's an update, I smoked another bowl and was very gentle at the bottom of the bowl. No burnt pipe taste at all, very nice taste that lasted for hours! Four stars all the way. In fact I just ordered a pound of this delicious weed!

I've generally been disappointed with Hearth and Home blends, especially in comparison with similar offerings from other blenders. It not that these are bad mixtures, by any means -- they just don't agree with me. In any case, Larry's Blend is the big exception.

This is an absolutely flawless Balkan, one that manages to capture what is best about both Odyssey and Abingdon yet costs far less. It's complex, sweet, powerful, and keeps the latakia at the forefront (where it should be). It burns well, cool, and has little or no bite. This is far better than most blends that are labeled "balkans," and I wouldn't hesitate to recommend this to anyone who appreciates -- or wants to appreciate -- this kind of mixture. One caveat: Larry's Blend seems very young when shipped, and I aged this batch for a year before smoking.

This is a rich, delicious blend and I will certainly buy more. It's more earthy than Stokkebye's Balkan Supreme or 965, and when I say earthy I mean dirt, like the rich black soil I planted my tomatoes in last week. It's a big mouthful of taste for those times when I'm in the mood for a more raw, back to nature experience, while BS and 965 will remain my choices for a smoother and creamier smoke. Get a bunch of this stuff and put it away for while!

Smokes smooth all they way down staying smokey and rich throughout. Never overwhelmed or saturated my taste-buds, but that is a personal consideration. Smokey, buttery and spice filled this is a great smoke. Like the occasional heaping platter of juicy, hot, smokey barbeque pork, this has it's place in a regular rotation. At least here it does!

All I can say is thank you, thank you, thank you for what I consider to be a masterpiece of tobacco ingenuity. Excellent blend. Need I say more?

Ageing is recommended. I will buy a pound or two and leave it at the back of my cellar.

Niceties: The delivered moisture was about right, just dried it out about an hour and it lights and stays lit with no fuss; easy on the draw and nice to sip on; never gets too hot or bites; smokes all the way down with no gurgles or over powering increase in strength. Although it gets stronger near the bottom, it remains pleasant and manageable.

I like everything about this blend. The taste is great and hangs in there without having to chug on it. This has become one of my mainstays and is one of my top blends. Highly recommended, even for beginners. I just hope that my current batch is representative and the next order will be as satisfying.

I really cannot do full justice to this fine blend with words - if you've not tried it, give it a shot and I think you'll be pleased if not ecstatic.

The "tin description" is spot on, with a few additional comments...

My bulk pouch arrived in good shape - no crumbles or dust, and with just the right moisture content. I've smoked the blend in four different pipes of various bowl sizes and find that it smokes cool in all with no vicious bite at all detected.

One caveat - the "room note". I smoke on the 'smoking patio' at my nursing home and the rest of the smokers there are cigarette smokers who have castigated me time and again about the "foul odor" produced by Larry's Blend. I don't detect a foul odor at all it but others, in my experience, do, so be forewarned.

Four flaming matches! Er, stars!

It smokes slow and provides gobs of smoke. It also burned a little hot for me. Unique as far as Latakia blends go and I'm not sure yet whether I like it or not. Three bowls of a tobacco usually tells me what I want to know, but not this time. Hope my tongue isn't getting as old as the rest of me.

Strong but smooth with character. As long as you don't rush it there are no bite problems. And unlike some other blends in this series this one burns cool enough for me.

Little tendency to bite and a dry bowl earn this blend high marks for handling characteristics. I love the lingering aroma of incense that this blend leaves on my clothes and hair.

This blend is very good, but could be improved. I'd like to see a nicer presentation with fewer fines, probably requiring higher moisture content in the package. The salty finish was interesting at first, but now I notice it showing up earlier and dominating later in the bowl; I'd prefer more frequent hints of sweetness and a lot less saltyness.

What a difference a few months made! The aging process transformed this blend into something very special. Full-bodied, cool-smoking and buttery: exactly as described in the advert. Wow! Patience (and forgetfulness) truly paid off, allowing the VAs to mature a bit and the Oriental component to come to the forefront. This is a delightful, very satisfying blend with a consistently rich Latakia component. Kudos to Russ Ouellette for another superb concoction and a tip of the hat to Larry Loerzel for challenging Mr. Ouellette's blending expertise.

Yeah, this is really amazing. I've now tried Ten to Midnight as well, and though it is not that different, I do like this one better. It might freak you out if you don't know what to expect, like it did me, since I really only smoked Virginia blends of different sorts, but don't be afraid. Give it a chance and you too will be amazed.

I've selected Larry's Blend as my first attempt at reviewing because with scarcely more than 20 reviews archived, this seems to a blend that more smokers need to try.

Larry's Blend is a rich, smokey, buttery, smooth, complex blend with great flavor. This is one world class Balkan. Russ Ouellette has created a real monster here.

At less than $30 U.S. per pound, this is also a great value, considering the quality of the blend.

Larry's Blend rivals Penzance as my favorite late night smoke.

5 Stars out of 4.

It comes ready to smoke, drying out has never been an issue. You may have to lop off a chunk and rub it out a bit, which is just fine. I like the Latakia hit and yet it's not an overpowering smoke at all.

It's all good, price, quality, flavor...what else can be said?

That's the way I understood it, at least. So I picked some up from Pipes and Cigars for an amazing price. Russ has won accolades, many times over, and there's little wonder why.

Larry's Blend is a heavy hitting Latakia powerhouse with a sharp, intense taste, yet mellow enough to negate the fear of a painful bite. It arrived in seemingly beat up shape. I got mostly crumbs and a few ribbons in my bag, very dry in consistency. I tend to cut bulks some slack, though. But those two factors seemed to add up to a pronounced plume of billowing smoke rising into the air, and a burn rate with consistency and a complete lack of gurgle.

I'd say that Larry's blend seems to be a bit stronger than Odyssey, with a fuller taste, and a greater portion of Latakia. I don't know that to be true, however. It's just my opinion. And if you care to hear the end of it, I'll tell you. This is on the immediate list. Great taste and an unbeatable value.

Four of Four.

It is incredibly smooth, very slow burning and consequently very cool. My supply arrived dry in the bag in a cut which is most accurately described, if you please, as ready krumbled. Simply gravity feeding the blend into the bowl suffices. Pure Balkan pleasure from beginning to end.

Superlatives can be depressing, but the three blends I have tried from pipesandcigars.com - Anniversary Kake, Sunjammer and Larry`s Blend - have passed all tests with flying colours. I only wish the company shipped to where I live.

There's so much rich flavor here. I have a tendency to rush this one, and even with my impatient cadence it still won't bite (though it may nibble a wee bit)---it's just that smooth. Usually creates voluminous smoke and leaves lovely flavors on the palate afterwards.

Just fantastic stuff.

It needs to be packed with a light hand so as not to compress the bowl into a hard draw.

It chars the tastebuds a bit but I'm thinking that is just a byproduct of the amazing flavor. I enjoy Two Friends' Bed & Breakfast as a lighter all-day version of this; however, this tobacco remains at the pinnacle.

This blend evokes images of undead zombies rising from their graves, reclaiming some vendetta long-forgotten by the living, successfully ascending to an earthly throne.

Namaste'

This would be better with some (or more than some) Perique, then it would remind me a little of Ashton's Artisans blend, and that's a compliment.

Meerschaum Man Smoking an Altinok Smooth Canadian

I have three negatives to mention about this blend: it's one of the "twiggier" blends I've smoked, with a larger than usual number of big woody bits; the high Latakia content makes it a more effective wife repellent than a steady diet of beans, broccoli and microbrewed ale; and the temptation to smoke it constantly can lead to a "leather mouth" condition, where my tongue and palate become not burned, but numb. If I succumb to that temptation, I can sometimes spend two or three days with a seriously impaired sense of taste.

That said, let me say that it's worth it. I have simply not found any other blend like this one. Twigs are niggles, my wife is forgiving, and oversmoking is my own darn fault. Larry's Blend is - for now - MY blend, the one I reach for before any other.

Scores for Larry's Blend; taste- 17 of 20; packing and lighting- 8 of 10; value- 9 of 10. 34 points equals **** for this fine tobacco.

This particular blend reminds me nothing so much as the smoothness of Penzance but with the strength of Odyssey. Salty, smoky, smooth, and deliciously wonderfull. This is a pentultimate English taken to extreme levels of perfection. Larry, whoever he might be, obviously must have some divinely inspired tastes for tobacco to have guided Russ into creating this angelic wonder.

This ranks with Odyssey, Margate, and Penzance in my opinion. It is significantly more full than 965. It is also not a clone of any of these but a unique blend. If you like latakia, then you should certainly sample this magnificent blend!