The tin-note is delicious, and it blends with alot of other stuff easily and adds a good bit of flavor to blander tobaccos. This was purchased in bulk, so the price is much nicer than any tinned tobacco. I purchased it under the name Dark Cordial, but reading the reviews, it was the same thing for sure.

It is a heavy tobacco, so it won't take up as much room per ounce as a lighter, fluffier blend. Buy plenty, because if you like aromatics, you will go through a lot of this stuff. Forms a softer cake and dedicate a few pipes to it, that will make it better.

This pouch was given to me with an online order. Not a fan of heavily cased tobaccos, I hesitated a long time before smoking it (and letting it dry properly before).

I'm glad I tried it. I will not smoke regurlarly but I might re-order every once in a while.

After the initial bout of cursing,(you see there were no aromatics in the order), I resolved to give it away to some aromatic lover.

I opened the pouch and took a whiff. It was very appealing. Cherry, vanilla and something else that I just can't pick out. But, my history with aromatics is not a great one. I want to like them, but always end up being disappointed. Too light in nic., to light in tobacco flavor, ...on and on. I was beginning to believe I just wasn't an aro smoker.

That all changed today! The pouch sat on my tobacco table for a few hours while I packaged my order in jars and stocked my tins. I went to work and came home to it sitting there. Calling me. Like Lucy taunting Charlie Brown with that damn football.

I packed up one of my cobs and fired it up. More moist than I generally care for is what I thought. But after the char, I was off to the races. Initially I did get a little undesirable flavor in the very first 1-2 draws. That went away immediately to leave a fantastic flavor that was balanced very well in my opinion. Just enough strength to hold my attention and some real tobacco flavor mingled in with the topping.

I have to give credit where it is due. Altadis of all people were the ones to create this little gem. And the only time I didn't pay for an aro, it was great! go figure. Thanks to the people at pipesandcigars.com for knowing me better than I know myself apparently. 3 solid stars.

I have always had to dry this out some before smoking it, otherwise it is too wet to burn well and will bite pretty hard. When properly dried, this is a wonderfully sweet smoke with a hint of "fruitiness" to it. The pouch aroma is quite similar to the room note.

While not my all-day smoke, I do find myself reaching for this blend quite often. It's sure to please anyone within smelling distance, and when smoked properly, it's sure to please any pipe smoker who likes aromatic tobaccos.

I find the pouch aroma a pleasing, subtle prune-like scent, reminding me of a rich botrytis wine, like Black Noble.

The mild, sweet fruitiness is clearly present while smoking the first 2/3 of the bowl, but becomes much more subdued--though not gone altogether--for the bottom third. I have experienced no tongue bite despite the presence of Virginia--just an enjoyable, mild-to-medium smoke.

If allowed to dry in the bowl for 10 or 20 minutes after a gentle packing, it lights well, and usually burns cleanly to the bottom with maybe one relight, leaving a fine, light gray ash that dumps neatly from the bowl.

BC is friendly enough to smoke in the morning, with enough body to do for later in the day.

I have smoked this many, many times in only one pipe, that being a 3/4 bent one that I carved from the crotch of a well dried branch of a large apple tree that came down in a storm several years ago. It has a moderately tall 3/4 inch bowl. This applewood pipe has never been exposed to any other variety of tobacco beyond the initial few bowls of 1Q Honey Cavendish used to create the carbon cake during break-in. That brings me to the opinion that BC and applewood enjoy each other's company. I would definitely not smoke BC in a Latakia-exposed pipe--not because of BC's effect on the pipe, but because BC's subtle flavor would be lost completely.

I recommend Black Cordial as a relatively mild yet flavorful, non-biting aromatic for the early half of the day.

If you enjoy a tasty aromatic smoke, then this is pretty good.

The Altadis represendation below is a very accurate one.

"A new generation of pipe tobacco. A blend of four new and unusual black fired-cured grades with added highlights of Sweet Virginia."

I don't smoke aromatics as much as I did 3 or 4 years ago, but like most of us, I'm always on the hunt for that perfect aromatic blend.

Of course I never expect to find it, but Z-50 Black Cordial is one of the best I have found to date. I would call it a Cavendish cut in appearance with approx 80% being dark in color, the balance being lighter in color which I would guess to be Virginas. Describing the taste is a bit difficult as I have never tasted an aromatic I can accurately compare it to. Slightly sweet,possibly coming from the Virginias as well as the casing which has a background of cherry and vanilla. But through all the flavorings, one can still get the unmistakable taste of tobacco. The blend lights easily but can get a bit on the hot side if puffed too rapidly. Also, it tends to get moist at the very bottom of bowl making it difficult to smoke it completely to the bottom. But I rarely get to the bottom of the bowl with most blends.

In summary, whether you be a full time aromatic smoker or just smoke them occasionally, this is one of the best aromatic tobaccos I have tried to date and would recommend it highly.

F. Prefect