I was recently given a pouch of this complex blend by a good friend (and former professional tobacconist) who said Count Pulaski was a bell ringer. I was truly fascinated by the combination of tobaccos and addition of just a smidgen of Anise.

Why this is not a tinned tobacco, I do not know. It is truly as fine a blend (English in nature) that I have ever smoked. It was at the perfect moisture content and had a very beckoning smell in the pouch. Once packed and lit, I experienced a rush of flavors ranging from Burley to Latakia with Virginia thrown in. All were complimentary and the burn was nice and even.

Finally, check out the various cuts in this blend. Cube and shag Burley, thicker Virginia ribbon, Latakia chunks and tiny bits of who knows what made for quite a visual show.

Not just recommended, but highly recommended!

Although the description describes a hint of anise, I found its scent more evident than any other in the pouch aroma. But it is less noticeable in the actual smoking. This sweetness of the VAs / burleys are predominant with the Latakia and anise dancing lightly around them. As others have hinted, perhaps the ?secret? to this blend is the combination of anise with Latakia. It may be akin to that other great combination: peanut butter and chocolate. Who woulda thunk it? You could smoke this stuff like a Rhesus lab monkey and never get the slightest hint of a nip or bite. Thus it would be an excellent blend for the new pipe smoker. Additionally, Count ?P? has a bargain basement price with great burning qualities to boot. In summary, you can ?count? on this to be a winner so get off your ?dupa? and buy some today! You won?t regret it.

A cigarette is to be smoked. A cigar is to be enjoyed. A pipe is to be savored.

I rate this tobacco 9.99 out of 10.

Three of five stars set against the White Eagle -------------------------------------------------- Valentine's Day 2006

Actually, I'm raising this to four stars. Wonderful, and part of my regular bread and butter rotation. Spicy, sour, robust. My new Valentine love affair, and I don't have to buy the Count flowers!

Count Pulaski required two lights and once lit,it just needed the odd tamp. The taste and feel of this tobacco is truly amazing for the price.

I totally agree with Pipestud,that this blend is good enough to be tinned,but if it was available in tin's the price would more than likely go up considerably.

The flavour from start to finish is consistant,and highly delicious in a most respectful way.Plus,it doe's not bite at all like most inexpensive blend's,even after back to back bowl's being smoked.My pipe's suffered no ill effect's in anyway,like goop,or being overtaken by flavour's.

A clean grey white ash was all that was left behind at the bottom of the bowl.

If Count Pulaski were allowed to age more,it would be an even bigger blast! So,buy plenty,and put some aside for aging in rubber sealed jar's.(You won't be sorry)

Very highly recommended.

Altadis shows up at our pipe club meetings on occasion, and usually brings bags of tobacco. We are polite and appreciative, but none of us smokes any of the gifts more than once. I don't know where they get their tobacco, but they definitely show up after all the other buyers are done.

But four stars for this -- I had to try it. Thankfully, I only ordered 4 oz from my favorite shop. I don't think it is possible for me to disagree more. Do all you guys work for Altadis or something???

This is similar to the Fox and Hounds or, as I like to call it, moldy kibble that they offer. They perfume it somewhat. It completely ruined a Jobey pipe, and now even 965 tastes like it in the same bowl.

It isn't that it is nauseating, per se -- but it is definitely in the lower ranks of mediocre. Life is too short to smoke cheap tobacco.

I keep trying to explain to my aromatic friends that many blenders buy inferior tobaccos to "save" with a spritz of some vanilla or cherry or kiwi fruit and belly button lint. In my opinion, it never works, save in the case of some small batch blenders that start off with good tobac. These are rare. So, while they're smoking their "Conflagration in the Bakery" blends, they're encouraging this travesty. Feh! If you can't face real tobacco, go back to cigarettes!

I use unacceptable nigh-english blends, like the Frog Morton series, to add a bit of lightness to Holiday, which is grating to my tastes on its own. I think this stuff might work with that strategy, making something close to appealing (Holiday) moreso. But it is not going into anything but a corncob on its own -- I can't afford to lose any more pipes to its lewdly understated banality.

Update: For those of us who don't like waiting a week or more for an order from the Eastern U.S., The Little Brown Smoke Shack near Yakima, Washington now has Count Pulaski on their website...lilbrown.com. It is under Bulk Tobacco, C.C.C. Brand. It sells for $18.10 per lb.

To me this seems pretty mild, yet it does have a pleasant flavor. This is definately an "all day" kind of smoke especially owing to its minimal bite factor, and good yet subdued flavor. You can pretty much puff away contentedly with this without putting much thought into what you are doing. Instead of a flavor overload, this blend slowly builds up, but it does fill your palatte with a nice natural tobacco type flavor. This is comparable in price to the cheapest drugstore burleys, but it really has more in common with tinned English blends. It seems best in a large bowl, and as cheap as this stuff is, you can load 'em up as often as you want.

Overall, this is a pretty light mild-mannered blend, and I can't seem to find anything that I don't like about this blend. So, given its budget bulk pricing, this is an excellent deal. I'm giving it a solid three stars after some consideration. I recommended as a "go to" or "general purpose" kind of smoke. It's good stuff, just not super outstanding or unique in some way. I think it is better than most blends, but not absolute top-shelf. It's worth giving it a try sometime at least.