Highly recommended.

This aromatic pushes the same question to my head as the others that I have tried:

"Is there an aromatic that exists which maintains a center?"

It seems to me that when tobacco is used for aromatics, it is almost completely unable to keep its original body and flavor. The tobacco merely becomes a vehicle to carry hints, whisps, flavor bombs, and goops. I would like to smoke an aromatic that holds its body / center as well as its unique topping.

You know Latakia eh? You know, "that one"? Has anyone ever questioned that they were smoking Latakia? I say not unless you lost your tongue in Nam. When you smoke Latakia, you say something like "yeah baby, LATAKIA!" You don't say, "What f-ing tobacco is this?"

So far, every "reputable" aromatic that I have smoked makes me go, "what F-ing tobacco is this?" I can taste the maple, the vanilla, the mystery casing, the sugar, but not the tobacco itself. The tobacco becomes a brown-grey tasting bog, with the Tollund Bog Man still buried inside of it. And you know what? If the Bog Man were to wake up inside of your aromatic, 3000 years after his death, the first thing he would say is:

"What f-ing tobacco is this?"

Here's a comparison:

I like Treebeard more than I like C&D's Autumn Evening, which is unfortunate, because I REALLY want to like Autumn Evening. But the truth is that they both have no center, and Treebeard wins because I can taste more of the goodies on top of the Bog Man.

As a huge fan of Tolkien, I wanted this blend to be as strong as Tolkien's legacy, and as strong as the character of Treebeard. As it is, it is nowhere near either. This blend should not be named Treebeard. It should be named after some inconsequential squib character that barely gets mentioned. The character should be one of those shady guys who lives in Bree and kisses Bill Ferny's a$s.

The name of this blend should be something like, "Mangar Turdburgle".

It smelled sweet with a bit of a smokey flavor mixed in. I loaded up my pipe with it and lit it up. The pleasant vanilla and almost caramel vapors were wonderful to smell. The blend seems to be balanced quite nicely. The only problem I had was that it seemed low in flavor on the tongue and not much of a N-kick.

It is a decent tobacco and will be pleasant to those around you.

Finally, the cut of the leaf (a cube cut), makes loading up a pure pleasure.

However, I'm going to write this review on behalf of a good friend of mine who has declared this to be his absolute favorite tobacco of all.

Treebeard is indeed a grown-up version of the longbottom leaf blend, but it's got an extra hint of complexity in there that I just can't put my finger on. It has a definite deep woodsy, earthy sort of taste and aroma, which comes as no surprise because Just For Him has succeeded in capturing the essence of Tolkien's work on more than several blends so far.

Just like the fictional forest, full of dark and angry trees, centuries old, rich earth, and decades and decades of isolation, this tobacco invokes the essence of a fantastic, otherworldly sort of place. Best enjoyed in a churchwarden, Treebeard is a complex but quiet blend. It's more atmospheric than active when smoked, preferring to suggest rather than define the flavors that it's made of. A masterful little blend, my friend finds it to be the very reason he smokes a pipe, and I don't blame him.

This woody gem is definetly worth a try.

This is truly Long-Bottom Leaf with a little more kick.(See my review of LBL). However, not enough kick that I would like but its good for a sweet treat. The sweetness is not overdone and if your looking to try something to satisfy that tobacky sweet tooth you may want to fire some of this up.

In the Middle-Earth Pipeweed line I recommend Short-Cut To Mushroom and in the Just For Him blends I recommend Just For Him...if your looking for something with a hint of sweetness. Just For Him blend starts off creamy and rounds off into a delicious nutty euphoria. You can find these at justforhim.com. Call them they will sell by oz.

Treebeard is the first in the series that I have tried. When I read the description I immediately thought, "Uh-oh... Vanilla". I suspected that someone was trying to cash in on the current LOTR popularity with some cheap heavily cased tobacco, and that this wasn?t going to be a very pleasant experience.

I needn?t have worried. I opened the pouch and found a very natural-smelling blend. Yes, there was vanilla present, but it smelled natural as well. The cut is nice, a mixture of short and medium ribbon. A mixture of predominantly reddish-brown leaf with a nice mix of dark (almost black) and bright highlights make for a visually appealing blend.

Treebeard packs easily, as you would expect from the cut. Moisture content is OK, but a bit of drying wouldn?t hurt.

Lighting was easy. On the initial light you get a taste of the vanilla, which isn?t overdone at all, nor does it taste like candy. The red Virginia comes into play right away, and the vanilla stays in the background. As the bowl progresses, the Burley comes out now and again. The vanilla is always there, as is the Virginia. If not for the Burley, this would be a truly one-dimensional smoke. The sweetness of the Virginia keeps it pleasant.

This is a cased Virginia ? take normal precautions for your tongue. Smoke it slowly and enjoy it.

The room note is actually quite pleasant. It almost doesn?t smell like smoke. Where the vanilla is a secondary player in the bowl, in the room it dominates with the Virginia in support. The aroma is light and fresh.

On the Just For Him website this tobacco is listed by the pound only. If you contact them by email or phone, you can buy it by the ounce.