House of Windsor - Barking Dog pipe tobacco reviews

Review

Please log in to add or edit a review. If you do not have an account yet, you can sign up for one here.

Reviewed By:	Date:	Strength:	Flavoring:	Taste:	Room Note:	Recommendation:
< PREVIOUS Showing reviews 21 through 40 of 53 reviews of this tobacco NEXT >
lustra	10/10/2005	Mild to Medium	Very Mild	Mild to Medium	Tolerable
I like Barking Dog once in awhile, but these days, whenever I'm in the mood for an "American blend," I smoke Morley's Best by C&D. Barking Dog is a fine smoke, with a great name, and cool packaging, but Morley's Best is so good that there's just no point, so far as I am concerned, smoking any other Burley/Latakia blend.
Reviewed By:	Date:	Strength:	Flavoring:	Taste:	Room Note:	Recommendation:
Anchkema	09/10/2005	Mild to Medium	Mild	Mild to Medium	Very Pleasant
Love the packaging. Think the flavor is better than just okay. Tastes to me like Revelation with a little latakia. If I had to pick one or the other, I?d probably go with the Revelation, and look for something with a little more oomph in my latakia choice. Barking Dog likes to be loosely packed. Begin with gravity feed. The texture and cubed burley lend themselves to this approach. Actually, the dog can bite if pushed, so put a little care in the packing. Barking Dog can be stubborn about taking a light, but once started is easy to keep lit with gentle puffing. This is also how it delivers its best flavor. I?ve found Barking Dog will leave a signature in a briar. I?m now smoking a bowl of Plumcake in a briar that last hosted Barking Dog maybe three weeks ago. I still get tastes of the Dog, though the effect isn?t at all unpleasant. If you plan to add Barking Dog to your regular supply of pipeweed, you might want to dedicate a pipe to it. This seems to be a tobacco that gives its best in corn cobs. It seemed most at home in my bent Country Gentleman, loosely packed and slowly smoked. Because it keeps a light, it?s a good driving companion. The family gives the aroma a thumbs up, one member saying, ?That smells good, like a campfire,? which is the feedback I like in a latakia blend. Barking Dog is a friendly smoke that shouldn?t be discouraged from following you home
Reviewed By:	Date:	Strength:	Flavoring:	Taste:	Room Note:	Recommendation:
Spike	07/08/2005	Medium	Medium to Strong	Medium	Tolerable to Strong
This one has been somewhat of a let down thus far. Maybe I need to give it another try but after about four bowls at various times I haven't found the key to success with this blend. Better than drug store blends not as good as many of the other House of Windsor blends. 9/15/2004: One of the few blends I returned to time and again. A bit monochromatic compared to Revelation or Country Doctor but it can be smoked more frequently than them also. A good amount of flavor and nicotine content without being too much for frequent consumption.
Reviewed By:	Date:	Strength:	Flavoring:	Taste:	Room Note:	Recommendation:
akaiser77	07/04/2005	Mild	Mild to Medium	Mild	Pleasant
As a lover of American English blends, I highly recommend Barking Dog, one of a trio of superb American Englishes (the others being Country Doctor and Revelation) offered by the HOW. Cubed burley and latakia: simple, consistent, and satisfying. A delicious aroma in the pouch and in your pipe, and it always smokes dry, leaving a nice ash with little dottle. My sole complaint is that it bites a little--yes, barking dogs can bite! All in all, very nice.
Reviewed By:	Date:	Strength:	Flavoring:	Taste:	Room Note:	Recommendation:
DUPE.1512	06/26/2005	Mild to Medium	Very Mild	Mild to Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable
A nutty flavored cube cut burley with a sweet Virginia, a touch of smokey Latakia and just a pinch perique. I taste the nuttiness of a good cube cut burley with just enough Latakia to enhance the overall flavor. Yummy stuff this.
Reviewed By:	Date:	Strength:	Flavoring:	Taste:	Room Note:	Recommendation:
Rusty	04/24/2005	Mild	None detected	Mild	Pleasant to Tolerable
My first pipeful of Barking Dog almost led to my re-appelation of it as simply an ill-tempered cur. The chunky-cut blend was hard to light, and I had a hard time keeping it lit after that, tempted to over-puff it and chance a bitten tongue. The second go round was much better, when I packed it loosely to give those burley plugs more air circulation. Then, I was rewarded with a great smoke. The old-fashioned burley taste comes through in full form, nutty and brisk, hitting on tangy notes along the way as the Virginia components catch on. There's not enough latakia or perique in the blend to provide any more than perhaps a seasoning effect. Properly packed, it burns fairly steady to the end, signaling some slight bitterness in the final stretch, not unexpected from a burley plug mixture. After a 2 oz. tin's worth, I would say BD is a good burley blend that deserves recognition. Although I prefer Revelation, I wouldn't rule out buying it again.
Reviewed By:	Date:	Strength:	Flavoring:	Taste:	Room Note:	Recommendation:
workingstiff	04/20/2005	Mild to Medium	Mild	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable
Not really all that bad, I like it alot more then some of the other selections from this company. It is a good simple smoke with a room note that I like. For what they charge for it at one tobacco store, there are I like so many things better. If I had a good source to purchase it cheaply it might fall into my low end rotation. It doesn't qualify as a good value for what I get out of it.
Reviewed By:	Date:	Strength:	Flavoring:	Taste:	Room Note:	Recommendation:
Effluvinator	03/22/2005	Medium	None detected	Mild to Medium	Tolerable
I will begin by saying that I do like this tobacco, although it is not my favorite tobacco of this type (see my reviews of Uhle's non-aromatics). I think when you factor in the price, this is definitely a good smoke for not a lot of money but I don't smoke a lot and am usually willing to spend more money for better quality leaf. I have not yet made up my mind on whether I will be keeping this on hand, but I suspect I will perhaps purchase it again as a occasional summertime smoke. There is a nice spicy taste that I like on occasion and although the burley in there isn't the best stuff I've ever had it makes a decent blend overall. Despite the claim, as others have mentioned it will irritate the tongue if you aren't careful and it can dry out the mouth and throat a bit. I found it to be a friendlier mixture if humidified just the tiniest amount. I had noticed that I had to pack it extremely tightly to control the burning rate, which was still too fast as I could hear it crackling with even a gentle puff. I had purchased it in bulk, and while it was not too dry as would be the case if it had been stored improperly, it is, I think, just a very dry tobacco to begin with. With a tiny amount of humidity it seems to slow the burning rate and it is less harsh. Worth a try.
Reviewed By:	Date:	Strength:	Flavoring:	Taste:	Room Note:	Recommendation:
BigSwede	03/01/2005	Mild	Mild	Mild to Medium	Pleasant
I was suprised by this one. I am slowly working my way through the HOW blends and have been pleased with the others. I wasn't sure if I was going to like how they used the latakia, in the can it looks and smells noticable in that regard. I like good latakia, but in smaller quantities than some of the brethern. So this one sat for months in the backround until one day I loaded up a briar, put the ashtray nearby in case I had to abort the mission, and lit up. I needn't have worried! I'm a burley lover and IMO the burley in this blend is superb. The very light topping and the latakia intermingle to produce what is a mellow-sweet smoke that does, indeed, awaken the olfactory memories of what pipe smokers of the past left in their wake. Smokes cool and dry. I too noticed the astringent quality that wasn't unpleasant but noticeable nonetheless. The room note is quite pleasant. When smoked slowly it has a sedative effect and time not only stops, but goes backwards to the 1950's. I tried this one out thinking I wasn't going to like it. Now I enjoy it so much that its in my regular rotation, with Revelation and Country Doctor. I would recommend this to those who enjoy burley mixes.
Reviewed By:	Date:	Strength:	Flavoring:	Taste:	Room Note:	Recommendation:
emmbee	02/14/2005	Mild	Mild	Medium	Pleasant
This stuff comes from Yoe, Pennsylvania. I have no idea where that is, but if I?m ever in that part of the Keystone State, I plan on taking a little detour to Yoe to shake the hands of the eccentric people who still believe in tinning these old standard drug store blends. Barking Dog is so adorable, you?d buy it for the can alone. They also produce Model, Country Doctor, Field and Stream and a few other standbys in two ounce narrow tins. I have a feeling these little cans might become real collectors items one day on EBay. The beige tin with its droopy boxer on it and its motto ?Barking Dog Never Bites,? is enough of a seduction. Anyone who has fond memories of Sir Walter Raleigh, Half and Half or other American drug store burley cube cuts will find this an enjoyable whim. Yes, Boston, Jackie Gleason on Saturday nights is apropos. Tin aroma is sweetish with that five and dime light casing that might remind you of the first tobacco you ever smoked when you were 16. It takes about two or three lights to get this going, but once you do, it develops beautifully with a fragrant, unobtrusive aroma. I had a bowl of this the other day while driving through the industrial squalor of northwest Indiana with its fiery blast furnaces, vast marshalling yards and surreal refinery tanks. Like the landscape, Barking Dog was simple, matter-of-fact and largely one-dimensional. Yet, somehow, the drive, the smoke, the aroma all made sense, coalescing into a contented Saturday afternoon drive. Don?t expect too much from BD, at the same time, prepare to be pleasantly surprised; perhaps even more so if you?re in a comfy chair and not driving around Whiting, Indiana. Three of five stars
Reviewed By:	Date:	Strength:	Flavoring:	Taste:	Room Note:	Recommendation:
thedstnguishdgntlmn	02/11/2005	Mild to Medium	Extremely Mild	Mild to Medium	Pleasant
I just couldn't resist the pup on the cup! It takes you back to a much happier and simpler time.The flavor is rather bland with just a hint of Latakia in the blend to give it some texture.It is an unpretencious and straightforward blend. A good blend while outside-it never burns hot. It is worth a try just to remember the past- a time when pipe smokers were looked upon with a certain admiration and not fanatical disgust by the politically correct.Let this take you down memory lane and remember"Barking Dog Never Bites!"
Reviewed By:	Date:	Strength:	Flavoring:	Taste:	Room Note:	Recommendation:
Mr. Dottle	01/10/2005	Medium	Mild	Mild to Medium	Tolerable
This is another of the burley blends from HOW that I found lacking both in taste and flavoring. And Latakia? Where is it? It didn?t bite me but I did find it somewhat harsh as others have noted. I find this to be true with some other HOW blends. Maybe it?s the quality of the burley or quality control issues at HOW. To wit and as an aside, my first tin of Country Doctor was delightful, the second tin of CD proved to be quite the opposite. The tins were bought months apart. Why the disparity? The quality of the tobacco used in each or quality control? But Barking Dog was a disappointment. Nothing special or worth trying IMO. ?DOG?gone it, you may be ?BARKING? up the wrong tree with this blend. Also note how most of the earlier reviews for Barking Dog are mostly favorable while most of the latter reviews tend to be negative. Is this a coincidence or is it perhaps indicative that the HOW blends aren?t what they used to be when they were first introduced. First impressions are lasting? Not always. I rate this tobacco 5.5 out of 10 Update 1/10/2005 My ?sniffer? and tastebuds may have been under the weather when I first tried BD. I recently finished (6 months later) what remained of the tin contents I had stored away in a ball jar. This time I had a complete change of heart. This is just a great American blend from times past. If you are not old enough to remember those times, I can?t help you but do try BD for a whiff and taste of that era. I update my rating of this tobacco to an 8.0 out of 10.
Reviewed By:	Date:	Strength:	Flavoring:	Taste:	Room Note:	Recommendation:
Beer	10/18/2004	Medium	None detected	Medium to Full	Tolerable
A great American classic! Sometimes we look for renowned tobaccos, for great complex flavors... and forget that simple is often good. Yes, this tobacco is as simple and unpretentious as it comes: granular burley (with bigger pieces than in C&D blends), some latakia and probably a hint of Virginia for sweetness. The result is stunning: it takes a bit more to light due to the burley "pellets", but then you are in heaven. This blend offers a smoke dominated by the nutty, earthy quality of the burley: it's high grade stuff because it never gets bitter! Latakia is not present in high quantities, but you can definitely feel its taste, which complements the burley just perfectly with its spicy smokiness. It's a blend which truly stays consistent from beginning to end, without off-notes or weird developments. Sure, it could offer more nuances and it doesn't have the dancing alternative paces of flavor of a GLPease, but you'll enjoy it a lot. A word about the "never bites" ad: well, my tongue is certainly quite rested after a couple of bowls of it. No noticeable irritation, which is good. The smoke is, however, quite full and pleasantly rough: it has a slightly astringent, mouth-drying, heavy on the palate quality. Nothing particularly bad, or long-lasting like tonguebite could be, but the burley sure is a "rustic" taste that could not appeal to those who want smooth and delicate stuff. This doesn't mean that it's a harsh smoke, anyway! For such a tasty blend, this is incredibly easy-going and tolerable: it simply has a "presence" in your mouth which at times doesn't go unnoticed. This is a good alternative to a classic EM, a blend you could smoke all day long without growing tired, as it's not too rich or cloying. If it weren't for the lack of "wonder factor", I might even upgrade its rating to the maximum. It's THAT good, and I might even do the update in the future...
Reviewed By:	Date:	Strength:	Flavoring:	Taste:	Room Note:	Recommendation:
Luke_Wyatt	10/10/2004	Mild to Medium	Mild	Mild to Medium	Pleasant
Overall this is a pretty good tobacco at first glance. Taste, room note, and strength all seem good. Unless you like to inhale your smoke. "Never Bites" obviously doesn't apply to the harshness of the smoke. This stuff course on the throat. I love strong tobacco's like Nightcap and 1792 Flake but at least they are smooth. I would smoke this again in the future but there are too many better tobacco's around.
Reviewed By:	Date:	Strength:	Flavoring:	Taste:	Room Note:	Recommendation:
Ivanhoe	08/27/2004	Medium	Very Mild	Medium	Tolerable
I really expected to like this tobacco. I first heard about it as the choice of a character in a novel I was reading. I like the taste of burley. I liked the character; I even like dogs. The picture on the can is nice, too. I was anxious to try the tobacco after I read the reviews here. Alas, I could not find it in a local store. I eventually mail-ordered a pouch of it. I found it to be quite a disappointment. It is a very coarse-cut cubed burley that looks a lot like the mulch that comes out of my garden-waste shredder. It is difficult to light and, once lit, burns as though the pipe is filled with charcoal briquets. The experience was hot and harsh. I gave it three tries and then stashed the rest of the pouch away. Maybe I'll try it again someday, but probably not as long as there is anything else around the house to smoke. If you are interested in a Burley-Latakia blend, you should try C & D Morley's Best - it is wonderful. I will avoid the Barking Dog from now on. ======= Time has passed, I have re-tasted the pouch of this I abandoned a year ago, and I have changed my mind about this tobacco. The rating is upgraded accordingly. The old-fashioned lawn-mulch cut of this tobacco makes it possible to pour it into a pipe and light it; tamping is impossible and unnecessary. I smoked more carefully this time to control the heat and found that the smoke was very tasty, with the light touch of latakia that I enjoy. If I have a complaint about the smoke, it is that it seems a little thin. I have obtained a large tin of this, and expect to be smoking more of it.
Reviewed By:	Date:	Strength:	Flavoring:	Taste:	Room Note:	Recommendation:
BostonPipe	08/26/2004	Mild to Medium	Very Mild	Very Mild	Pleasant to Tolerable
With the fairly recent resurgence in trying old time blends, I picked up a pouch of this to try on vacation. I like to think of this blend as inexpensive, rather than cheap. The aroma definitely brought back memories of my Dad "kicking" back in his lazy-boy on a Saturday Night watching the Jackie Gleason Show after a full work week. On to the review. The appearance is the old style cube-cut-coarse, with the burley-base the main component. Yes, there is bright virginia and latakia also. As a matter-of-fact, this was a great change of pace for this puffer. While not a big fan of high percentage latakia blends, I do usually enjoy a higher percentage than found in this blend. However, with the cooling base of burley, this is a delightful change of pace. As one progresses the length of the bowl, the flavor slightly intensifies with a nice melding of the components; but ever so gently. It burns to a nice dry dottle. This is one of those blends I like to smoke for the overall experience. A Nice Smoke.
Reviewed By:	Date:	Strength:	Flavoring:	Taste:	Room Note:	Recommendation:
Danno	06/24/2004	Mild	Very Mild	Medium	Pleasant
This blend makes me smile. I smoke it in an old no-name pipe when fishing and all is serendipitous. I am not old enough to have experienced some of the famed blends of yore, but I rather like the quiet company of this "american" mixture, even more so for its value. I keep ALOT of BD around.
Reviewed By:	Date:	Strength:	Flavoring:	Taste:	Room Note:	Recommendation:
Ducksbreath	05/22/2004	Very Mild	Very Mild	Mild	Tolerable
Last summer I smoked an ounce or so of this chunky American English. The flavor profile is very similar to Early Morning Pipe, except one changes out the VA for Burley. Not strong enough for me, even in the a.m., but tasty, though it will bite if overpuffed.
Reviewed By:	Date:	Strength:	Flavoring:	Taste:	Room Note:	Recommendation:
BriarLaw	05/11/2004	Medium	None detected	Medium	Tolerable
This is a nice old-fashioned tobacco. I think alot of English blend smokers have become too snobbish lately. You know what I mean; if the blend is not "designer" or is just not expensive/imported, well . . . . it just can't be any good! I learned a lesson here. Barking Dog is not "designer", is not imported, nor is it expensive. It is, however, very good. It is comprised mainly of cubed Burley and bright VA with Latakia added for flair. It has a nice understated Latakia flavor surrounded by a fullness that only Burley can give. It burns extraordinarily cool and dry as a bone. The aroma is pure natural "tobacco" with a hint of Latakia. Barking Dog is not complex, but sometimes complexity is overrated. After all, a bowl of ice cream is not complex, but does that mean it isnt good?
Reviewed By:	Date:	Strength:	Flavoring:	Taste:	Room Note:	Recommendation:
caddad	03/14/2004	Mild to Medium	Very Mild	Medium to Full	Tolerable
I have developed a real love for burley blends and this has to be one of the best out there. This is a great summertime blend for the english lover. big chunks of cubed burley with a lite taste of latakia in the background I'll never get tired of this one. This one and H.O.W. Revelation will both hold a special place in my heart.
< PREVIOUS Showing reviews 21 through 40 of 53 reviews of this tobacco NEXT >