I taste a congruent mix of vanilla, caramel, coconut and a drop of peach brandy. The taste is rich and buttery. Yet, unlike most aromatics the tobacco taste shines through. Yum! The sweet tanginess of the Virginia leaf contributes to a good mouth feel. The only complaint I have is that this blend can burn unpleasantly hot.

Turning to the room note, it is top notch. To all the young brothers who want to turn female heads with their pipes, this is your tobacco.

Also, I second the remark that the packaging looks like some sort of discount cleaning solution. CAO really ought to lend Dan the services of their package designer...

It is a true, cased aromatic, yet most competently and attentively tailored using -as many reviewers noticed- quality ingredients, and a fine quality tobacco leaf beneath the topping.

I cut the leaves into smaller pieces using a large scissor, and gently “gravity” fill my bowl. This blend seems to work better in a larger size pipe bowl. I smoke it in a straight large bowled Meerschaum and in a Peterson XL 315. Also results are increasingly improved after about 5 to 10 bowls, when a decent layer of “cake” has formed in the designated pipe, In my –albeit limited experience- I find these measures required to facilitate a consistent, easy burning smoke. In fact this blend calls for a patient, calm, pensive smoke, and if done accordingly it will reward tenfold. I find it FANTASTIC.

Many Aromatics I tried will leave behind an appetite inducing cake-baking-like scent, while burning your tongue with stabs of a diametrically opposite, repulsive taste. Blue Note is in a different class, and one I keenly recommend if you are attracted to aromatics but have been too often disappointed by their treacherous appearances concealing an "ugly witch”.

[a footnote of style: the name, “Blue note”, and the packaging label, with two lines of a red music score running over a blue background, are as distastefully cheap as a discount bathroom detergent. Perhaps, the blender did not believe in this Aromatic’s success and afforded it a hurried graphic design. If so, poor foresight; it is indeed one of the most popular tobaccos on the market. As whimsical as it may sound, I store it in old Dunhill tins, much more elegant as they are, to forget the irritating nuisance of the original Blue Note packaging.]

Conclusion, I generally despise Aromatics, yet I Highly recommend this.

The Experience: good quality leaf, after some experiments moisture content of 76% is where it really showed the inner beauty. First 5-10 smokes were good, but nothing really spectacular; here I was willing to conclude my testing, but then… here I am not sure, is it the matter of the pipe, maybe some airing? Whatever it was, the note exploded with texture and full bodied spectrum of a well balanced aromatic. Exotic fruits, I would say yes, by all means; the vanilla a bit missed me but I did pick up a hint of something herbal & sweet.

Audience verdict: aka ‘the woman test’ was passed with flying colors The afterthoughts: I will definitely buy it again; just a great aromatic!

I smoked my first bowl of this while visiting in my local pipe shop. This tobacco was a little moist out of the box which matches up with what I like. Good "fruity" smell and taste upon lighting. I packed my first bowl a little too tighly and got a little bite - but that's not the tobacco's fault.

Good smooth aromatic smoke. Second and third bowl were even better. I don't have the actual stats on the nicotine content, but it seemed to be a little stronger than what I am normally used to. This tobacco generated a good, pleasant room scent and was smooth through the entire bowl.

Maybe a little too much sweetness compared to my normal MB smokes, but I will keep some of this around for morning and/or ocsassional smoke.

UPDATE: this is a heavily flavored aromatic. Berries and vanilla. Smells FANTASTIC, and tastes almost as good as it smells. It will ghost your pipe so be careful what you smoke it in. My favorite example of a fruity aro. I've heard it actually ages very well due to the VA within - even though most aromatics don't gain much from aging.