Well, no surprise what the packet aroma smells of, doesn't really smell any stronger than, say, Dunhill's London Mixture or MM965. And no surprise with the packing either, well easy. The light is a bit of a pain, can take a few relights to properly get it going. From there the fun starts, yes it's strong, yes it's pungent, but oh, it's so fantastic too. It's like drinking blended whisky all of your life and then getting a glass of single malt. Superb stuff. And the room note? Well, that fails to register by and large, probably the stuff itself is so strong that it pretty much overrides the option of smell, though occasionally get a waft of that classic tarriness a few hours afterwards. And the tonguebite? That is negligible, I got half way through the packet before realizing there wasn't any.

I was worried when I ordered this that it was going to be too strong and would end up having to splice with it any number of ways with other tobaccos just to get my money's worth. It turned out I was wrong, this is a fantastic smoke, especially first thing in the morning with that first coffee. If you like latakia blends, you'll like this, and if it's too strong, no doubt it will cut well with most other tobaccos out there. My only word of reservation is trying this if you're a complete newbie to the whole pipe smoking business, I would try something else first, maybe start with EMP, work up through MM965 and Squadron Leader and then hit the London Mixture. If you can get that far, then you're ready. And then you will have arrived as far as pipe smoking goes.