Half a tin down, I still find a topping in the tin note; citrus-fruity, but definitely not a sauce, and the VA and Latakia do come through. The leaf is a long-ish ribbon cut, with about equal amounts of dark-to-black and bright in there, and the occasional piece of a ready-rubbed flake. The overall impression is more dark than bright, though.

Stuffing and lighting (and maintenance) are pretty much typical for this kind of cut: easy. The first few puffs, to me, seem to be tainted by the topping; afterwards, Sundowner morphs into something halfway in between Dunhill London Mixture and Sam Gawith Squadron Leader. A bit further into the smoke, a wonderful sweetness comes, but is not too, forward.

The room note is, of course, typical of English Mixtures, but on the more acceptable side. The taste develops toasty and smoky notes, sweetness enough to make it interesting, spice and so on--there are more complex smokes around, but this one is not exactly one-dimensional.

The VA sweetness seems to build up throughout the smoke, as does the spice: I like that. I enjoy Sundowner alongside a nice and dry Chardonnay or similar varietal wine.

It burns well, and has an interesting mild flavor. Unfortunately, it was terribly irritating to the tongue - enough so that I could not enjoy it even to a small degree.

I confess to being rather sensitive in that regard, and usually avoid anything but classic English blends.

Others may find this product enjoyable, but I cannot bring myself to recommend it.

4/16/10 Though the tobacco did not seem particularly dry upon opening, I added a moisture device to keep it from loosing moisture (the tin is a taller one with a plastic lid, the type of which I find tends to dry the tobacco more quickly than the conventional all metal tin).In any event, I tried it again recently and found that the tongue bite has virtually disappeared. The experience was quite similar to the mild Balkans that I prefer. I am too much the novice to discern any topping.

1-18-10 Three months opened. The tobacco is pretty dry now, so there must not be any significant topping. I can taste something here, but can't quite put my finger on it. Hell of a bargain, but this is one of those blends which give me some bite even if I go easy. Also, this reevaluation bowl made me salivate more than normal, though I tend to have the urge to spit when I smoke anything at all. Still, the taste is very good, and this is incredible quality for what I paid. I will smoke those tobaccos more often which punish me less, but will not mind having two unopened cans of this in reserve just in case times get hard. Tongue bite can be a personal reaction, and in all fairness I must also say that with this one the bite goes away-when I stop smoking it!

I love it and also notice the similarities to House of Windsor's Country Doctor. It may be better for lacking in the nutty blandness of burley. Be warned though, this is a blend for either slow smoking or a very cold day, as it can become very hot without much coercion.

Regards,

A. Morley Jaques

The moisture content is quite high. The paper advertisement inserted with the tobacco was soaked with oils or PG or something. Each bowl required multiple relights in order to keep it burning all the way to the bottom of the bowl. And it will bite if you?re not careful.

I bought this expecting a traditional English mixture, and after the initial novelty wore off I became increasingly disappointed with Sundowner. The sweetness of the casing seemed to intensify each time I opened the tin, to the point that it almost became?to use an already overused term in tobacco reviews?cloying. I quickly realized that this one would have to be smoked only in pipes dedicated to aromatics. At first I likened Sundowner to Mephisto or to what I imagine Esoterica?s Pembroke to be like. In the end, however, I realized it was more like House of Windsor?s Revelation or Country Doctor, sans the burley, and that it was far inferior to Mephisto. Still, at less than $5 a tin, Chuck Fairmorn?s Sundowner is very reasonably priced and therefore probably worth a try as--OK, let?s use another overused term--a change-of-pace-English.