In the pouch (and this one is from 2011): a hint of cloves (from the casing? the cavendish?), otherwise Virginias...

First light: Delicious! This is one tobacco to be savored and from the get-go a beautiful smoke. Captivating, gentle yet full of flavor, this is one heck of a blend! Draw in a mouthful, exhale a bit, draw it in again through the nose... or let some of it flow out again through the nose. A true pleasure!

The burn is perfect producing rich clouds of smoke. Good any time of the day... A perfect aperitif and yet supple enough to be enjoyed as a postprandial pleasure, this one has no bad qualities, is tantalizing, yet satisfying, and leaves the mouth fresh and clean.

Why smoke a pipe? Here's a very good reason!

Four stars! One of the very best Virginia blends available.

I love the aroma of pure Virginias in the pouch, and this one is no exception. Nice and grassy, with a faint hint of clove, even though I’m sure there’s no flavoring added. It simply comes from the sweet/spicy combination of Virginias chosen for this blend and does not show up in the smoke at all.

What a great pure Virginia mixture! The Cavendish really sets it off with a wonderful pencil-lead, fruity kind of flavor. Lots of fermented hay, dry grass and crispy toast flavors coming through. It’s got some sweetness, but there are many Virginia blends out there that are sweeter. The taste comes off very clean, and the only evidence that you’ve been smoking is a nice Cavendish aftertaste that lingers.

Maxim’s Commonweal probably makes more beautiful clouds of smoke than any Virginia I’ve tried. And no matter how hard I cranked on it, it would not bite. Feel free to heat it up and surround your head with white nice-smelling smoke, or back off and sip, to extract the toasty goodness and other subtleties. It simply refused to heat up the briar or misbehave in any way.

And remember, this is fresh from the pouch. After a year or three in the cellar I expect this to become a stellar blend. A classic even. Makes me hope that Mr. Engel is planning on introducing more pure Virginias or even a vaper into his lineup. This will not supplant Union Square or FVF since those two classics have their own flavor profile, quite different from Commonweal. This is the one you want when you’re hankering for a pure Virginia that is lighter to medium in flavor, interesting enough to maintain your attention, and just plain delicious. A very easy four stars.

my mistake was trying to smoke it in the evening. this is a nicotine lightweight, and a tobacco of refined flavours, which for me only shines in the morning. as a first pipe of the day, it suddenly reveals its elegance.

cut is loose, broad and short. pouch/jar note is of virginias, and one might even think it contained some sun cured orientals. lights easily, perfect humidity. smokes like a dream. taste is facetted, with all kinds of associations to it. rose wood, a little smoky tar, subdued toasted sweetness, and in the background, refined fermentational notes. there's some sort of cavendish too, i think, and it adds an extremely mild flavouring accent. through the pipefull, taste deepens and takes a turn to a more british manner, whereas it, at light up, is more akin to glpease's splendid union leader and other american flue cured blends i've tried. maybe has to do with the origin of the tobaccos used. could be american virginia, where you'll find "empire" tobaccos used for sam gawith va's.

this is good; very very good - and i'm once again in awe at the quality of the compton's offerings.

This had a beautiful toasted almond taste (but naturally so - no casing!) that was irresistable. As Maxim writes, it's a cool burning smoke, which isn't always the case with virginias. Expertly blended virginia varietals give this a wonderfully complex balance that really shows itself off early and often. As with some other blends, I found it impossible to concentrate on anything else when this one was in my bowl. I did not find this a sweet virginia but a nice toasty one. Think unsweetened toffee or dark chocolate as opposed to your basic Snickers bar. To top it off, this tobacco was "made" as a companion to a nice oatmeal stout beverage, and to a very slightly lesser extent, a dark brown ale. I was in heaven with those two!

The balkan blends may have put pipes2smoke.com and Compton's of Galashiels on the map but this one seals the deal for me. I've GOTTA get more of this! I don't care how expensive it is! :) Try it if you crave non-sweet virginia blends or even hybrids like Stonehaven. Good stuff!