I bought a pouch of this and some Borkum Riff Cherry Cavendish from a sad and lonely tobacconist in a near-empty shop. I bought it just to buy something. The Borkum Riff was hideous, but this is a pleasant enough smoke. The pouch aromas are all chocolate and vanilla and the tobacco itself is passable--moist, shaggy, black and gold Cavendish. It burns outrageously hot, as expected, but also produces copious amounts of sweet-smelling smoke. The latter stages of the bowl find the Captain getting a little angry and bitter and so I put him out of my misery about two thirds of the way in.

Measured against all of the other quality aromatics out there, this is at best a modest quality smoke and deserves a guarded 2-star recommendation. But I think that if we bring price into the equation, then this merits greater consideration. If the economy continues to slide, I might have to invoke the "Quit or Go Captain" compromise.

So: 2-stars when the bulls are running through the streets; 4-stars when the bear is rummaging through the dumpster.

Pros: Available worldwide, cheap with consistent quality, this tobacco is the king for the social smoke, the room note is amazingly attractive and positive for none smokers, forgivable by anti smokers militant, the vanilla/chocolate tastes good especially for a beginner.

Cons: highly syrupy smoke, will leave your briar oily and wet for few weeks, the flavoring is chemical and will stay in your pipe4ever ( ). The pleasure of vanilla/chocolate smoking taste and smell is highly affected by the diminishing return effect (the more you smoke it the less you enjoy it.).

Royal is the best of captain black series and was my first pipe tobacco. Highly recommended for a new pipe smoker.

Widely available and generally a pleasing smoke.

Hard as heck to keep lit, and it does leave syrup in you bowl.

Lots of people stopped me and told me that my smoke smelled very good, though. Really surprised me.

I'm tempted to revisit this (or the White) now with a little more experience. I'd smoke this in a cob or a seriously dedicated briar, though.

Captain Black tastes like it smells for about 3-5 puffs, and then the taste of chemicals kicks in. If you end up sticking with and liking this blend, more power to you. The point of smoking is to enjoy. But if you have never tried anything else (this was my first pipe tobacco) you owe it to yourself to try some good non-aromatics, whether American or English.

Oh yeah, the tongue bite is brutal.

10/26/07 After visiting several drug stores this morning, and not finding anything worth smoking at 6:00am, I finally found myself in a very busy CVS Drugstore. The place was packed with people. I weaseled my way over to where I could see what they carried for the Pipe behind the counter. Plenty of stuff for the roll your own crowd, but not much in the way of pipe tobacco. Suddenly behind a large plastic box of overstocked stuff, I noticed some Captain Black - in Royal and White. Back home, I have some of this stuff, the Royal variety, well over a year in age from the date of purchase. Well I bought a pouch of the stuff, Less than $5.00 mind you. On opening the package, I was rewarded with a sweet plum-like smell. The tobacco was moist, but not overly so. I slowly loaded up my Italian Milano and fired it up. It was Heavenly. I don't know why I like this stuff, but dang-it, I really do, when it's fresh...

11/28/07 OK, I've played with this stuff, and I've figured out how to smoke it. Gravity fill the bowl, and very lightly tamp the product. The more loosely you pack this stuff, the better it performs. I've tried the Frank Method vs this loosely packed method, and loosely packed is the answer.

For those who say this is a good starter tobacco.... Not a chance. This was a horrible way to get back into it, and save for knowing that there are better options at one of my local smoke shops, it may have scared me away from coming back all together.

The room note is great, there is no denying that. Anyone within snouts distance is gonna love this. However, that is where the positives end. I found the taste, from what I could gather over the tounge bite to be boring. There is not much to this and unless you are willing to suffer through a bitter pain on your lolly pop licker, not worth it at all.

If this stuff worked in a potpouri burner... I might keep some around. Otherwise... even in a jam, Ill suffer without smoking.

Well, I refrain from opening that second pouch that I had bought. The reason is simple:

The original pouch was unfinished when I tried Dunhill (965 and EMP). Ever since, I cannot really tolerate bland blends.

So I am taking a star away.

But, recognising the fact that on occasions I will need something with a pleasant room note, I will still try to get my hands on the american versions of CB white and CB gold before I decide which one of the three will undertake this duty. It is still quite likely that CB Royal will be the eventual winner... (an outsider being Amphora Red). Of course, WO Larsen Signature might be appropriate but it is expensive and only comes in 100g tins around here - thus making it difficult to have this just as a standby...

INITIAL (MAY07 2007)

I finally got my hands on it! The American Version too - not the European.

It seems like a good choice when you are around people. It is heavily cased but does not give too much of a tongue bite. It tends to burn hot and wet-ish. I am frequently tempted to inhale through the nose - as I like the smell. Overall though, I do not reach too often for this - as I find the taste quite bland.

One thing is certain: if I could only secure a significant quantity to just have around always I would.

Also, guess what: I bought this in Russia and the price, after taxes and duties, was extremely reasonable less than 5 Euro per 1oz pouch (roughly 6,3Euro per 50g pouch or 45% of the price of the overpriced European version...