It tasted like warm air, even though it was a cool smoke, somewhat like really nothing.

After 3 tries I emptied the tin and had to discover that the tabacco was rotten at the bottem.

Something really strange.....

The flavors I detected reminded me of oregano and cilantro. I grow my own herbs, and in the summer the smell of my herb garden is so strong I can taste it when the breeze blows right. Aside from that, I picked up a little of the burley nuttiness, but it seemed somewhat muted. And oddly, there was a slightly smoky aroma in the tin almost like hints of latakia. However, this was not present in the flavor or pipe aroma. There was a series of faint scents and flavors, but I couldn't really decipher most of them. They were there just enough to add depth and volume to the aroma, but they were there all at once, mingling with one another. Most of these flavors were only picked up on the back of my palate, lingering like ghosts of flavors.

Am updating this after more sampling. This blend is definitely flavorful, but in what I find to be a busy way. Others have described it as a "malange" of flavors, but I find it to be more a crazy patchwork of flavors. I thought I liked it, and am still not able to find a good solid reason to say that I don't. But, it's just too complex a blend for me to get my tongue around I think. And many of the flavors coming through in this blend just don't, to my mind, belong in a tobacco, nor even together at all. I like chocolate, and I like coffee (not in this blend, just an example). And while I don't find the taste of chocolate and coffee combined all that objectionable, I still prefer my coffee black and my chocolate in bars.

This blend does have a lot going on. I am sure that aromatic smokers looking for something a little off the beaten path will enjoy it, and possibly even those looking to get unhooked from the full English blends. It is an interesting smoke, and certainly is capable of keeping a smoker intrigued. Still a solid three stars, just for the quality of the tobacco used, and knowing that it will appeal to those in search of a complex blend.

Appearance: What Hans Schurch once referred to as a "crazy cut" in the same sense as "crazy quilt." Ultra-wide broad cut golden leaf, wide-cut reddish brown broken leaf, medium cut black ribbon, dark brown ribbon, light brown broken leaf, black flecks. In a ready-rubbed form.

Aroma: Corriander, cardamom, fig, quince, star fruit, lemon zest, smoke, vanilla ice cream.

Taste: Pine needles, rosemary, smoke, figs, wood-fire, charcoal, honey. Bright, spicy, sweet, sour. A very intriguing melange of flavors that creates a distinctive, flavorful blend, not at all what you are used to. It seems quite "modern" and breaks with traditional English flavor schemes. There is a particular sweet-sour Virginia notes which is quite habituating.

Comparisons: On the lines of the Danish style English blends like Peter Stokkebye's Proper English but a lot more restrained. Has the same mildly sweet-sour taste of Capstan Medium Flake, but over an English blend rather than a Virginia flake.

Bottom Line: A unique medium English blend. When you smoke this, the forest is in your pipe. Those seeking Capstan Medium's flavor in an English blend, will like this one.