It did burn down to a white ash and it burned very cool with no tongue bite. So cool in fact that I decided to try and abuse it, myself, and the pipe. So I puffed two bowls of this really hard and fast and I could not get it to bite, not even nip, and it would only came up to a medium warm on my bowl... Fantastic! Since I do absent-mindedly find myself puffing away pretty hard.

This is well on the way of becoming the standard in my pipe.

Note to GlSal: If you are going to pan a tobacco, have the decency to state why!

perfect is the best way to describe this blend. it's well balanced. it's full but not chokingly overwhelming. it's smooth but not wafty. after so many years of slavery to the nicotine craving, i found myself craving this blend just for the taste, which is hard to describe. it's kind of like eating a smore over a campfire. very enjoyable. also, when i'd smoke it in the garage at work, the managers would come in to pause and inhale the smell.

just a terrible shame that just for him stopped accepting mastercard. i had to switch to sillem's black, which is similar but not on par with this blend, which is, so far, my favorite. if you can get it, get it. you wont be sorry.

This stuff is in the same category as sillems black. Its an aromenglish, or an englishmatic, or whatever you want to call it. This stuff is definitely out of the ordinary.

The taste is really good, at times almost savory vs sweet. I know the name originates from a Tolkein reference but in a way I can almost understand why they named it shortcut to mushrooms. There is a nice sauteed mushroom flavor there. This phenomenon could be all in my head due to the name, but it is good stuff.

My one complaint here is the burn. This stuff is a little goopy. I believe this is due to the cased black Cavendish. It is also a little sticky. Due to these factors this stuff doesn't burn very well, even when I dried it out. It requires a lot of relights for me. The good news is this tobacco doesn't seem to be negatively affected by the increased heat of a relight.

Definitely different and definitely worth a try.

Had my first bowl of STM tonight, here are my collective thoughts from opening to finishing:

Tin note/first impressions: Amazing...it has an earthy/smokiness to it which I'm assuming is from the Latakia, but upon taking in a huge whiff, I also picked up on almost a vanilla sweetness and a bit of spice. It was a bit wet so I let it sit for about 45 min prior to packing my bowl.

First light:

Took to my match with no issues, I did 2 charring lights and then the final light. As soon as the flame hit it, you could really smell the sweetness, the smoke was smooth and creamy and tasted very mild. I was a little disappointed on the taste, the tin note had such strong aroma I was expecting an umph of flavor, not that it was bad, just expected more. I tasted a bit of the vanilla sweetness picked up in the tin note, but not a whole lot of the earthy/smokey flavor that was so prominent. It was still there, just in the back ground.

First 1/2 For the people who say the room note is tolerable...idk what they were smelling, but to me the room note smelled a little like waffle cones baking (so quite pleasant). I even asked my wife what she thought of it (big critic) and she like it as well. The mild taste from the first light continued throughout the first half of the bowl. I must say though that when snorked I thoroughly enjoyed the earthy tang that I sensed. I just wish it was a bit more prominent without snorking.

Last 1/2

The last half seemed to have a little trouble burning, I think that this was due to user error in not letting it dry out all the way as the tobby seemed moist. A little more earthiness/smokiness came out towards the end. The whole bowl smoked cool with about 5 relights (most on the wet second half).

Conclusion All in all I'm looking forward to my next bowl of this, I would say though, I am slightly disappointed at the mildness of the flavor. I packed a pretty big bowl of this and it was almost a 2 hour smoke so I'm guessing this is low on vitamin N as I didn't get a head rush or anything after puffing for 2 hours. This would make a fine all day smoke imho.

Note: the only thing missing is Gandalf smoking by your side making sailing boats of smoke.

If you were to crunch through the kaleidoscope of colour that was the floor of an otherwise muted forest in October, you might suddenly catch a whiff of this tobacco, and turn to see a wizened old hobbit sitting on a knarled root, sipping it from his churchwarden, smiling at you warmly.

Earthiness, savoriness, and smokeyness, lace a cool, creamy billow of smooth, sweet, spicey, mild smoke. It burns at the bottom of the bowl very nicely, and leaves you content to share that root by your new friend, not saying a word.

I sense a hint of white sage when smoking this as well. There is a very stong feeling of the old forest, I feel like this tobacco takes a person where no tobacco has, we are reminded of all things primitive and free. A touch of the old world resides in this tobacco with it's unmistakeable earthy aroma.

Do not expect an over all sweetness to this tobacco, instead expect a bit of smokey, robust, earthy taste with just a hint of sweetness.

Of course some will not like it but others like myself will fall in love with it. This is one of my "go to" tobaccos, I hope they will always make it.

My wife notes that aroma smells "...like cotton candy". As such, this is one she always enjoys being around. As for me, I find it a bit sweet but with a very enjoyable taste that suites my occasional "sweet tooth". IN that it is a nice alternative to the heavier blends that are a mainstay for me.

Pros:

- No tongue bite at all

- Very pleasant taste

- Fuller flavor

- Smooth & creamy

- Burns well down to the bottom of the bowl.

Cons:

- My wife doesn't like the smell, so I have to choose between kisses and the tobacco.

Shortcut to Mushrooms is the perfect gateway into English blends.

Update ... smoked the last of this and ordered more. This is by far one of my favorite blends. The more I smoke it the more complexities come out of the blend. I upgraded the room note on this as I really do like the way this smells. I can almost imagine sitting at the Gaffers in a room filled with this smoke....

The taste is hard for me to describe, but it is very smooth to me, with strong latakia notes, and a hint of something you just cant quite place. It's as mystical as the fair folk from Rivendel ;) to me the taste also seems to change as you progress through the bowl, which I haven't really experience with other tobaccos I've tried. Give it a go, I don't think you'll be disappointed!

DT