E. Hoffman Company - Spilman Mixture pipe tobacco reviews

Review

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Reviewed By:	Date:	Strength:	Flavoring:	Taste:	Room Note:	Recommendation:
< PREVIOUS Showing reviews 41 through 47 of 47 reviews of this tobacco
Than	02/19/2008	Mild to Medium	Extremely Mild	Mild to Medium	Tolerable
I liked this blend for the first few bowls, but it just got tiresome and boring. It is good high-quality leaf, but it is just missing something that would make it great.
Reviewed By:	Date:	Strength:	Flavoring:	Taste:	Room Note:	Recommendation:
student	02/01/2008	Mild to Medium	None detected	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable
I confess, I bought my first 7oz tin of this because of the tin design. It just looks old-timey. The tobacco within more than lives up to the motto on the tin. "Without a bite or a regret." A wonderful mixture that I immediately knew would be in my rotation. Just a trifle damp from the tin, five minutes cures that and then its smooth sailing the rest of the bowl.A smokey blending of burley, VA, latakia and some turkish results in a very enjoyable experience for the novice and the experienced pipe smoker. The tobaccos compliment each other throughout the bowl with no particular one overpowering the others. I can't wait to see what a year or so in the cellar will do for it. Five stars for all around enjoyment. Maybe its an English but if it is, then its a very American-English. UPDATE 01 FEB 08: I liked the first tin of this blend so much that I bought two tins this time expecting to smoke one and cellar the other. I received them yesterday put one in the cellar and opened up the other. Disaster. Foul, chemical, YUCK. I don't know if its a quality control problem or this tin(dammit) probably both of them got contaminated but I do know that this tobacco is off my buy list. I cannot recommend anyone spend the money for what may turn out to be seven ozs of totally unsmokable tobacco. I am so disappointed. If there were categories of Taste: Chemical. Flavoring: Clorox I would immediately append them to this.
Reviewed By:	Date:	Strength:	Flavoring:	Taste:	Room Note:	Recommendation:
Stan	02/01/2008	Medium	Very Mild	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable
Sort of Frog Morton floats to Tennessee! Rough and a bit wild cut. Lots of burley, some stoved Virginia I'm sure, and some Latakia. Could not spot the other Turkish. Smoked about half a tin (in three pipes for comparison) with a friend sharing some. Medium, with Latakia but not real heavy. Heavier and more favorful than other burley types of this sort. Smokes cool with no bite. A hint of sweetness to compliment the Latakia (why I compare it a little to Frog). A little moist but not a problem. Sometimes hard to light but most of the time, once it gets going, it keeps going. Reminds me a little of DPE too, and other old fashioned burley- latakia types. But as stated, a little more flavor and hint of sweetness too. That's why it becomes a bit intoxicating -- that is you want another bowl after the last. An all day burley with some sweetness and extra body. Highly recommended for burley fans. (Can't comment on the QC issue yet.)
Reviewed By:	Date:	Strength:	Flavoring:	Taste:	Room Note:	Recommendation:
leathertongue	01/12/2008	Medium	None detected	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable
A TRIUMPH OF THE TOBACCO BLENDER'S ART! The newest addition to the THREE STAR line-up gets FOUR STARS from me. Don't put Grandpa Spilman in your cellar--rip open a can and smoke it right now! Velvety and sumptuous, Spilman Mixture is predominately latakia and burley, and more--I am not an expert (them what thinks they is usually aint). This barely Americanized English blend achieves a harmony between these two disparate leafs that is rare; other L/B blends on the market, as good as they are, don't quite seems to mesh on the tastebuds as well as Spilman. The latakia is not the least bit sooty and afterwards there is only the most pleasant iodized finish, like a light Islay malt (Laphroig?). A clean palate blend with no Morning-After latakia hangover. The VA and Turk is minimal, but add interest deep down in the bowl. If I were to describe the taste as a shape I'd call it incredibly "rounded", i.e., no sharp edges, no spikiness, a virtual absence of nicotine bite. And yet the burley steps in with enough earthiness to keep this otherwise ethereal mix grounded. More than anything I am reminded of the old Brindley Mixture of twenty years ago (in the key-lid can) (not the Aromartic}, which was the most autumnal of blends: sweetly smokey, ripely pungent, with an elusive, pensive character that I can't find the right words for. The large, wildcut flecks of Spilman Mixture require a slow burn and slow puffing in a medium or large bowl for these complex flavors to develop. The fact of the matter is that I only occasionally use English blends, to tune-up my tastebuds, Presbyterian and Dorisco Mixture being my faves, but no more--Spilman has thrown them out of contention. I have to admit that is is difficult for me to remain entirely objective about any product of the the Iwan Ries company. Mrs. Leathertongue and I visit the store whenever we're in the Windy City and its the highlight of our trips there. The Levi family are the nicest folks in the business.
Reviewed By:	Date:	Strength:	Flavoring:	Taste:	Room Note:	Recommendation:
WmZiggy	01/07/2008	Medium	None detected	Medium	Tolerable to Strong
I too bought this mixture for it's "retro" label back in October or November right after it came out. When I openned the tin, I was disappointed to find an American or English blend. I am discovering after putting my pipes away for 15 years that Latakia doesn't agree with me like it once did, and that is coming from one who smoked Black Mallory, Balkin Sobrannie, Dunhill's 965, often. I have found my taste buds now prefer flakes, especially those with Perique. So the can of Spilman's has been sitting in my humidor virtually untouched. Then for Christmas I was given Gary Schrier's book, The History of the Calabash Pipe, a great read and collector item. After reading it I dusted off several of my 'Bashes' (in which I used to smoke English blends) and gave Spilman's Mixture another try. It is all of the things the reviewers before me have written. After smoking it in my Bash all afternoon I found it did not bite, but left my palate tasting of Latakia which was not completely unpleasant. The Burley added a nutty flavor as the blend got going, and Virginia/Turkish played their roles. I agree with the reviewer who suggests that this is a "big bowl blend", and the Calabash handled it beautifully giving it time and space to develop its rounded flavors. This is a typical American/English blend that is made from high quality tobacco that looks great and is in a nice presentation tin. It is a chopped tobacco rather than a ribbon cut, which I liked too. Although I will not smoke it as regularly as I do my flakes, it will be in my rotation and I will smoke it in my Bash.
Reviewed By:	Date:	Strength:	Flavoring:	Taste:	Room Note:	Recommendation:
CPT/VSG	01/01/2008	Medium	None detected	Medium	Pleasant
After smoking about 10 oz. of Spilman, it's virtues are coming home to me--while it's kind of a "kitchen sink" blend, it works for me. The burley softens and sweetens the English-style blend. It burns evenly and dryly to a light gray ash. SM is a fine all day mixture, with a refreshing richness without being over-powering on the palate.
Reviewed By:	Date:	Strength:	Flavoring:	Taste:	Room Note:	Recommendation:
Counselor	12/31/2007	Mild to Medium	Extremely Mild	Medium to Full	Tolerable
This review is based on a generous sample of Spilman given to me by the fine folks at Iwan Ries; however, in the meantime I've already purchased a tin of this fine mixture. This is an excellent example of the American-English style: Virginia, Oriental, Latakia, with the addition of a goodly amount of cubed Burley. I can sometimes pick out the component leaves, but most of the time I just pick up on a good old-timey tobacco taste, with a "toasty" overtone, for lack of a better description. I will say that in narrower gauge pipes I'll notice the Latakia (good and smoky) more, while a wide chambered pipe will bring out more of the the earthy note of the Burley. Spilman reminds me a lot of the old Ehrlich DPE mixture I used to smoke a few years ago as a law student in Cambridge. I think there is some kind of a light top dressing--probably a neutral sweetener, maybe a hint of vanilla (I haven't noticed the latter flavor enough to be sure). I detect no PG. There is a bit less nicotine than I normally prefer, but surely this mixture is the epitome of an all day blend in terms of strength. If only I could smoke all day at work! Three and a half stars--four stars as an exemplar of the genre.
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