Iwan Ries - China Black Fire Cured pipe tobacco reviews

Review

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Reviewed By:	Date:	Strength:	Flavoring:	Taste:	Room Note:	Recommendation:
Showing reviews 1 through 16 of 16 reviews of this tobacco
Stogie	10/13/2011	Mild	Medium	Medium	Very Pleasant
I purchase a fair quantity of this in pouches from Iwan Ries just about every year on our pre-Christmas trip with my wife to Chicago. So far, it is my favorite aromatic tobacco. I'll admit, I haven't tried that many aromatics, but am increasing my sampling of these as I am working closer to getting a pass to smoke in the house! I have learned that I prefer a tangy, even sour, taste profile in my tobaccos and tend to lean toward Oriental and McClelland style Virginia's as these tend to provide the taste I am seeking. This tobacco purportedly contains Oriental tobaccos (although not shown in the list above) which may explain why it seems to achieve the sour tang I prefer. Along with having an absolutely fantastic room aroma, this blend also seems to behave well in most pipes for me. It does cause a gurgle in some pipes, however, it leaves only a small amount of dottle. This tobacco generates some bowl heat for sure, but isn't too abusive to the tongue. I also find that this is a great outdoor tobacco. Often, when filling a pipe to take along on a hike with the wife and boys and beagles, it recives lots of compliments from passers by. If you are looking for a quality aromatic with a pronounced tatse characteristic involving a bit of sour/tang, then give China Black Fire Cured a spin. Recommended.
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naglinjsh	03/17/2010	Mild	Mild	Mild	Tolerable
Taste of mold, one of the worst tobacco I've smoked.
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Capt. Cavendish	12/10/2009	Mild	Medium	Mild	Very Pleasant
Heck yes! I had forgotten about this blend until I stumbled across it on this site. Shame on me. The room note can go head-to-head with Three Star Ebony, which is saying a lot in my opinion. I haven't smoked this stuff since '05 or '06, but it definitely made my 2005 highlight reel--several times in fact.
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Old Schoolr	09/30/2008	Mild	Medium	Mild	Pleasant
I received this in the Altadis sampler & it is one of the better blends in the assortment. It gives a sweet yet somewhat spicy smoke & has a pleasant room note. I did find that it is better if left to dry out slightly. This is definitely ?that? kind of aromatic which makes English blend & Virginia smokers think of Log Cabin or Karo syrup & causes pseudo-intellectuals to wail, gnash their teeth & rant about the blue collar pipe smoker. China Black is good in a filter pipe or a cob. The cob eliminated the tendency to gurgle that I found in a briar if I packed the bottom of the bowl too tightly. My only compliant is that if I was careless & over packed the bowl the last part of the smoke would get wet & bitter. Start out w/ a light fill; pack slightly heavier near the top & you?ll get a nice aromatic smoke. I only found it to bite if I smoked it like a locomotive climbing a hill. I can find this in local drug-stores which is no mean feat in an area where drug-store blends are usually restricted to Captain Black Gold & maybe the White. I rate this as better than CB Gold or White. The typical tobacco shops bulk Black & Gold?s are probably better on the wetness scale but don?t have the spiciness of this blend. I?ll smoke it again.
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PipeSmokerForLife	05/03/2008	Medium	Medium to Strong	Medium to Full	Pleasant
If it were not for the heavy casing and the high moisture content, I could really get to like this stuff. I bought this from the downtown store in Chicago in a duel pouch combo. Not the tin. This stuff is very sticky to the touch which is more than I can tolerate. If it were packaged dryer, I could buy this and smoke it all the time. Hey, Iwan Ries management.....WAKE UP and smell the coffee. Oops, I mean the tobacco. You need to change this blend a bit. Start taking a few lessons from C&D !!
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wintermute	03/07/2008	Mild	Mild	Mild	Pleasant
I have tried all of the China Blacks from the large tins and they are all very good. Fire Cured is the best, in my opinion. It has a woodsy smell and it doesn't bite. The tobacco is moist but lights and burns easily. However, packing it into the pipe must be done correctly. That is to say, by using the three stage method. The room aroma is sweet without smelling like a candy store. It really does sort of smell like a fire place. The taste is very mild and won't cause you to have to think too much. There is a richness that comes from the flavor and not the tobacco. This is one of the few good tasting tobaccos that the wife will let me smoke around her. By the way, this review is based on the Three Star 16 oz can. I am not familiar with the other versions of this.
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thedstnguishdgntlmn	12/28/2006	Mild to Medium	Strong	Medium to Full	Very Pleasant
This is a four star tobacco for what it is- An AMERICAN AROMATIC. People should know what that implies. If you like sweet, heavily cased tobaccos this is a real winner! I primarily smoke English blends but will smoke anything on occasion- except Perique! I must say this was excellent! Let me share an observation with my fellow smokers. If you are fond of Iwan Ries' "King's Oriental" you will definitely appreciate the entire China Black Series. For my West Coast Brethren- Dudes, Like, You know If you like RICH's "SWEET ORIENTAL" out of Portland , Oregon you will also like this series.Let it dry out in the Pouch for 20 minutes and then pack well and smoke normally and you will get a very rewarding experience! All of the blends have a sweet/ sour Oriental taste to them. I rank them as follows- FIRE CURED- 4 stars!, Whiskey- 3 stars! Vanilla -Burley 2 stars. The last being the least original in the series. Try 'em all. Splurge the $5 and try an American Tradition that has been around for a long time. Enjoy!
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SopwithCamel	07/18/2006	Mild	Mild to Medium	Mild	Pleasant
This blend is a nice, mild, black Cavendish. It packed easily, lit easily, and burned with no trouble. I found it had a toasted coconut flavor to it. It smells wonderful.You will not taste much tobacco flavor. Sure, it has some PG, but not more than most other otc blends. Just pack it a bit on the loose side and puff slow and gentle. Need I say you will need to smoke this in a pipe reserved for aromatics? I had no trouble with tongue bite. The bottom line, is if you are looking for a mild, sweet, but not cloying aromatic, and you like coconut, this is worth a shot. It is indeed very good with black coffee. If you need a natural blend, with a heavy charge of nicotine, you will hate it.
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Bezoar	06/17/2006	Mild to Medium	Mild	Mild to Medium	Pleasant
This is a rather good tobacco. It has a great taste for a virginia. Im not sure what i do differently, but i can puff as hard as i want and get almost no tongue bite. It burns to a fine black ash. I smoke it in a grabow lark bent. The pipe is a nice light color with a massive amount of figuring in the briar so maybe i got a high grade piece of briar somehow. Anyway i interchanged smoking this with the all black cavendish blend from tobacco galleria (half a pouch), maybe that flavored the pipe, but anyway everything aobut this is good. Sure it can bite if your rough with the packing, but otherwise just sit back and forget aobut it, and the smoking ocmes fine and naturally. Seems to have a creamy smoke to it.
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pipeman	05/11/2006	Mild to Medium	Mild to Medium	Mild to Medium	Pleasant
i found this to be a up and down smoke,it started out dry and sweet,but half way down the sweetness disappeared and my pipe started the gurgle that heavily cased aromatics can be famous for.the sweetness came back just a little after half way,but didn't last and smoked to fast this will definately heat up the pipe.all in all i thik its good for a beginner,preferably smoked in a straight pipe,or a cobb .i liked the aroma,although it didn't seem to last long.
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jackhackett	04/02/2006	Mild	Mild	Mild	Pleasant to Tolerable
It won't bite you, but it won't excite you either. This blend offers a nice, slightly nutty floral scent in the pouch, and it's comprised of very lovely-looking leaf but, unfortunately, when smoked, there's just no 'there' there. Slightly synthetic sweetness, on occasion sort of ashy-tasting, and often bordering on bland; but I believe it still beats a considerable majority of the other drugstore offerings in quality and is probably the best of the three blends in this line.
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zulujerk	03/23/2006	Mild	Medium to Strong	Mild to Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable
This baby is sweet, like eating a spoonful of maple syrup. It's wet out of the pouch, though tends to burn evenly--including your tongue. Others have remarked that smoking this blend is like puffing on hot air. I find the opposite to be true. I'm not talking about a big tobacco taste, but there's enough to keep things interesting. Very much along the lines of Captain Black White. So watch out, and don't expect a miracle.
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Uban	02/19/2005	Mild	Strong	Mild	Pleasant
For the rare foray into the world of aromatics, this stuff is a crowd pleaser. People tend to sniff happily at the aroma, which is VERY sweet but not overwhelming. Smoked in a tiny pipe, it can be a fairly pleasant change of pace. Is must be smoked quite gently to avoid burning the tongue, but its powerful casing gives the decent cavendishes a creamy smoothness. Not bad with a cup of strong black coffee.
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pop-pop's pipe	02/24/2004	Extremely Mild	Medium to Strong	Extremely Mild (Flat)	Pleasant to Tolerable
My pipe certainly doesn't need friends like this! Another Captain Black ripoff! If you want a good cheap black cavendish to smoke go to your local tobacco bar and get some BCA.
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Pounder 5000	09/18/2003	Very Mild	Medium to Strong	Very Mild	Very Pleasant
This is only for those who have no personal care for their tongue. It has a very classical pipe smoke aroma that is pleasing to the masses, but is so thouroughly drenched in glycol that I defy you to dry this out enough to not parbroil your tongue. There is the slightest interest from the addition of orientals but not enough to be worth it. I got it in a free sample pack, so at least it was free! If you want cheap drug store tobacco, stick with Captain Black Royal and save your poor mouth!
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Pipestud	04/23/2002	Extremely Mild	Extremely Mild	Very Mild	Very Pleasant
This tasted like a step up in grade of leaf from Captain Black White to me. It burned a bit more dry than the Captain, but had that same heavily cased taste to me. If you like sweet blends that will not bite your tongue off, give this brew a ride in your pipe!
Showing reviews 1 through 16 of 16 reviews of this tobacco