Upon false lighting I was immediately taken in back the smokiness of the Latakia, a wonderful fragrance. I proceeded to tamp and light for the second time and was amazed by how well this tobacco lights and expands. It expanded so much in fact, that I needed to tamp and light for a third time. This did not bother me, as I was desperately waiting for the flavors to wisk me away...and that they did!

For the first third of the bowl, I was greeted with a smokey/tangy flavor, I am guessing this is the Latakia and "Mocha slices". The flavor is just amazing, albeit I did not actually detect mocha or coffee. No matter.

As the bowl smoked down, I was seduced, entirely, by the spiciness of the Perique, as it mingled with the other flavors. This stuff is gonna do me in, I can feel it!

The Latakia took to the background as the sweetness of the VA/Burley cascaded the spiciness into a somber tang.

I had to tamp a bit as I smoked, the tobacco produces large chunks of ash that need breaking up, given the slices pressed format. (I'm guessing at that.) No relights, no bite, no regrets. Also burns a tad bit unevenly, but it was my first bowl, so who knows...

...but...

I am in love with the Voodoo Queen.

This is going to be a regular for me, and a re-order for sure.

First, what's in the bag? Seems to be a three part mixture:

1. A rubbed flake similar to Rattrays Old Gowrie, this must be the "Mocha Slices". (Cake Cut - Burley, Virginia, and Turkish with Dutch flavorings added.)

2. The smoky latakia. Big chunks as in Count Pulaski with the same full smell of campfire.

3. Other stuff that may be broken parts of the first or perhaps some of the Perique, Spicy and pungent, sweet and saucy.

The smell is full, rich with the smell of perique, medium latakia smokiness and some topping similar to the anise and rum in Count Pulaski (also seems to be in Sutliffe #5). The rest is? Who cares!

We ain't goin to see an opera at the Met baby, this is Daytona Beach spring break. High compression V8's at red line, the heady smell of racing fuel. Spicy cajun cookin, hot crawfish with lots of red pepper and tobasco sauce. You be in the south now honey. Get the coon hounds and lets go huntin. Ever been to New Orleans Bourbon Street during Mardi Gras? (prior to hurricane Katrina). Well, this is the closest you will get.

Light this puppy up and the perique and latakia great you graciously, a hint of chocolate and coffee as the mocha slices offer a warm welcome. This blend starts out smooth and mild, and ends with your mouth on fire. Sweaty forehead hot, need an ice water hot. Florida in August 105 degrees and 100% humidity hot. Strip off your clothes hot!

Actors on a stage is not the analogy for this blend. This is Cirque Du Soleil in Orlando. The action all around you. Dancers, acrobats, jugglers, music, lights, trapeze, and one arm hand stands 30 feet in the air. All the flavors of rum, latakia, chocolate, coffee, virginia, anise and the rest are there to be enjoyed, but sooner or later the perique takes over. Then the heat starts and all the other flavors go away. Your tongue will light up, along with your lips. Don't confuse the heat of the perique with tongue bite. There is no tongue bite because it stays lit so you don't have to puff like a steam engine. It stays cool, but gets spicy hot.

Is it like Old Gowrie, 2105 or Beacon? Hell no, this is better. More perique, less nasty sharp or bitter virginia. Smooth, high quality. Rich latakia for flavor, a great rough cut you can play with, and that mesmerizing flash of anise and rum flavor unique to Altadis. Super weed, almost as good as a blast of codeine. (oops, scratch that last comment).

Will I smoke it every day? No. But I don't eat pepperoni pizza with a cold Bud every day either. But when the need hits I got to have it.

This is like two weeks of vacation before I retired, I would not miss it for the world, and like a vacation, I do not want the grinding boredom of "sophistication".

Dis be an island smoke mon, hot, sultry glistening with sweat, sexy, the Voodoo Queen. Oh, and by the way, we don't care how you did it up north.

Need more flavor? For you Grabow fans, soak your filter in Captain Morgan 100 proof spiced rum.

This one will continue to be a part of my occasional tobacco's for hopefully many more years to come.

The jar note did say (though faintly) English, but I don't think this tobacco tastes or smells English at all. I would consider it a natural aromatic. There does seem to be a light flavoring but the taste and aroma are all natural. The initial taste as I blow it out of my mouth is a mildly sweet cream, but that dissolves into a spicy sweet followed by a tanginess. I know everyone else says it's a one-note tobacco but this is what I experience when I smoke it. The sweetnesses to it are all tobacco, not something added on top. At least it tastes that way to me. The after taste reminds me of what I get after drinking strong coffee with cream and sugar. The aroma is quite nice also, but if someone is a tobacco hater they won't like it.

Beware; it IS for sipping and will bite if you try to guzzle it.

Pack it loosely and you shouldn't have any trouble keeping it lit.

The Virginias seem to carry the flavor more than the other tobaccos, though they do make their presence known, and do add to the overall positive effect I get from smoking this blend.

Some people have said that the differing review you see on Altadis blends is proof of their inconsistency. I don't think this is the case. I've found them to be quite consistent whenever I get the same blend of theirs from different sources. I think the differing reviews are an indication that different people have different tastes and life different things. You will, after all, find differing reviews on every tobacco on this site that has accumulated any number of reviews. If we all filled our bowls from the very same jar I think we'd find just as much diversity in our reactions.

I can definitely tell where some people would generate the negative reviews of this blend. It does have a slight tongue bite and there is a slight bitter aftertaste, but it is nothing stronger than a dark chocolate may leave. All in all it is not the best or even close, but I will have no problems finishing the bag. The room note is pleasant for an English blend. I call this mediocre.

I recommend this to those looking for a cheap English tobacco to smoke at times when they are not trying to relax.

Cheers.

And this is born out by recent experience with Voodoo Queen. I keep a jar around and periodically dip in -- for about a year now, each time I try it I swear off it forever. Bity, one-notish -- pretty well everything you can say about a tobacco that would indicate one didn't like it.

Finally found the match -- a no-name used pipe off ebay; nothing fancy, medium sized Dublin. There's the queen, sitting in an old Davidoff tin. Put the two together, and suddenly I am smoking a whole new Voodoo Queen. The top note comes out, virtually no bite and a great taste of the previously elusive mocha slices. Still don't know quite what they are.

Still pretty intense in the flavour department, and can't quite be sure what is in it. This will probably never be at the top of my list of favourites, but smoked in this particular pipe, it really is a decent baccer.

Fellow pipers, check those one-star reviews here on TR, dig out your pipes, and start sampling. Sooner or later, you are guaranteed to find the right match, and another three or four-star tobacco.

Also recommend trying this one in a cob. Something happens to it in a cob, and you can taste a lot of the flavours.

Other than that, it's a good smoke. It's not got big nicotene kick that you would expect. And it doesn't have a bad taste either.

Good: No sticks, just the right moisture as delivered, packs well, lots of nice Balkan flavor, smokes cool, no sign of a bite, goes to the bottom with no defying strength increase or gurgles, no real need for relights once it gets going, no bad after odors or taste left in pipe.

Bad: Just a little too coarse cut - needs a little extra rubbing to get it down to size (Use pipestud's method with a blender). Probably too much sugar - keeps getting crusty around the side of the bowl and needs constant attention with the tamper/scraper. Although the room note is nice for me, the wife can't stand it (as with all Balkan and English blends).

This is definitely a keeper and I will be ordering more. Reminds me a lot of Larry's blend, Our Best Blend and Margate.

I have read so many good reviews of this one that i thought I would give the voodoo queen a go. I have had better- whether I paid for it or not. In my case, the first time was free.

The worst of it- i was smoking my first bowl out of this with a cob (i do this for any altadis or aromatic tobacco) and when i was near the end of the bowl i smelled a fart. Now, if i were about 100 years old i would not know which it was, me or the queen. Since i am under 30, i know it was not me. I stuck my nose in the pipe and YUUUUCK. Some people might be into that kind of thing, just not me.

I regained my strength and came back to the queen a few days later for another go-round and she treated me with a little more dignity. I haven't decided what I will do with my remaining 1.5 oz. The queen is flat, impolite, hot tempered and boring. Only good for one thing and not very good for that. I take that back, good for telling your friends about as well- the story and description of her was what lured me in for a taste. Good story. Bad experience. She left me exhausted and in need of a smoke- a real smoke. I should have saved myself for another queen.

I found the flavor to be a middle of the road English that was not too heavy on the Latakia and maybe, just maybe, a tad "Danish." By that I mean the broken flake component was not a traditional English and did have a slight sweetness to it.

Frankly I did like the flavor of this tobacco. But it did seem to bite me. For some reason, a few of the Altadis tobaccos (not all) seem to nip my tongue.

Do try it if you are a fan of lighter English fare, or like an English/Cavendish blend. If it does not give you tongue bite, you might just keep it in your rotation.

The mocha isn't really noticeable but might peek through once or twice during the bowl.

really good stuff, I will get more!

The mocha is not very noticeable in the taste, but it really comes out in the room note. I tasted hints of mocha, chocolate, and that wonderful sweet and spicy perique among the classic English flavors. Packs and lights well. Burn is pretty good, I tried some that was a bit moist and had to reach for the lighter a few times.

Not an overpowering smoke, so one could enjoy this one all day long.

In the bag it is mostly dark browns and black. It's somewhere between broken flake and ribbon, tending more towards the former. It smells like faint chocolate and smoky latakia, with a sweet note that appears as the scent ends. The room note is surprisingly similar to this.

Highly recommended!

As a final note I really do not think this tobacco blend would even be notable if it were not for the high Perique content, the other tobaccos are just not that great.