Since taking up the pipe, starting with a pile of aromatics, and then trying a decent English blend and realizing that all my aromatics tasted excessively cased and harsh, and tended to bite my tongue, I've left them alone. Now, a couple of years ago, I was in a tobacco shop in a not-so-great part of Minneapolis, just to see what they had. They had copious quantities of the typical "drug store" blends, and I was uninterested. Not wanting to arouse the ire of the shopkeeper or his mates, however, who didn't look so savory, I decided that discretion was the better part of valor, and I bought a pouch of the nearest thing at hand, which was Captain Black. I never even opened it, just threw it onto the lower shelf of my tobacco hoard, and it's been through three moves with me since then. Today, I found it, and decided to give it a try.

Opening the pouch reveals tobacco that is still nicely moist, a good smoking consistency. This attests to the longevity of the humectant used, since I doubt Lane ever designed this pouch with aging prospects in mind. It's a pretty good consistency, with a few stems and tougher pieces, and the smell is of classic vanilla aromatic. Packing and lighting are both simple and straightforward.

The tobacco burns very nicely, and surprisingly, smokes very nicely as well. I could detect a little bit of a chemical tang in the first couple of puffs, but that disappeared quickly, and it provided me with a cool, flavorful (for what it is) smoke.

I think I can see why this tobacco is so popular. It has a very mild flavor, of tobacco and vanilla -not enough tobacco to be offensive to someone who wants to smoke an ice cream cone, but not enough cloying flavor to make the smoke unpalatable. Really, it's almost possible to forget you're smoking anything at all. The flavor is very light, and the aftertaste in the mouth is very light too, and not at all unpleasant. These characteristics would make this tobacco ideal for an all- day smoke for someone who had to use their hands and couldn't fuss and fiddle with their pipe every thirty seconds, and who likewise couldn't afford to be distracted by tongue bite or an overly complex flavor profile. One could get one's nicotine fix in pipe form without having to actually taste the tobacco. Hence, it's no surprise to me that this is very much a mass-market smoke.

It would also be very good for theatrical circumstances, when one really wants to be seen smoking the pipe. It's quite tolerant of heavy puffing without developing fangs, it sends up voluminous clouds of creamy white smoke, and it leaves a most delicious room note. Smoking this in a pipe with a wide-open draw, it was relatively-quickly reduced to naught but medium-grey ash. Would I go out of my way to purchase Captain Black in the future? No. However, it could prove useful to keep a pouch of the stuff around, and if I'd started off smoking this, I might have a better opinion of aromatics overall. I am envisioning using it in some blending experiments, to see if the lack of flavor with a pleasant room note might be useful in making heavy latakia blends less stinky, while not unduly mucking up their flavors. Can't hurt to try, right?

Upon opening the pouch I detect a very sweet aroma, a strong casing somewhere between vanilla and mild whisky, with little tobacco scent. The toby is very moist straight from the pouch, almost too moist. After a few bowls I had to let it dry with the pouch open for a few hours.

It packs and lights reasonably well, although the smoke lacks body and the casing flavor is hardly noticeable after the first few puffs. The room note and smoke aroma is delicious, reminiscent of a bakery and toasting marshmallows - there is something unnaturally good about it.

If you want a crowd pleasing aroma then this is a winner, but due to the lack of flavor I find it somewhat dissatisfying. One other note on this blend, I find it consistently turns into a soggy mess by the time I near the end, so I advise against smoking it to the bottom.

The brand does have a few redeeming qualities however. I would strongly recommend this tobacco to anyone new to pipe smoking and/or someone who has no prior experience with smoking tobacco in general. It also would be ideal for anyone smoking at say a family gathering or event, and is very unlikely to be offensive to anyone odor wise. This blend would also be suitable for blending.

Hate to give such a classic brand such a low rating, but 2 stars it is.

Was it worth busting a gut to lay hands on ?

Well, yes and no.

It's what I call a 'friendly' blend. What I mean by this is although it isn't a major player in the aromatics field in terms of taste and room note, I find myself reaching again and again for this stuff in between my pipe rotation.

It isn't a sickly chemical brew like some or a nasty biter like some of McBaren's horrors.

Yet there is something about it that draws you. Whether it's that slightly sweet caramel taste or the easy load straight from the pouch I'm not sure.

I've heard it likened to McBaren's Seven Seas blend, and I have to say it is very similar. That's true ; this isn't a million miles away.

I thought I might get bored of this blend but I'm halfway through the pack and still returning for a bowlful.

It's something of a favourite on here and now I can see why, without really nailing down the reason.

It should be interesting to see what the other blends in this range are like.

If you are a UK smoker and want to try this blend you won't be disappointed if you manage to track this blend down. If you can't then buy Seven Seas.

This blend burns very well... I hardly ever have to relight, and it generally stays even throughout the whole smoke. The room note is very sweet, but I find myself getting a little woozy from the sweetness after smoking for too long, so I don't smoke this one unless I don't have anything else.

Like I said, don't let anyone tell you that all drug store tobacco is bad. It's all about what you like, and if you are a new pipe smoker, I think you may like this one.

Your Brother in Smoke

3/4 Stars

I've been looking for the pipe tobacco that my grandfather used to smoke...it smelled like he was smoking whipped cream. When I smelled in the pouch I thought this might have been it, but alas, no. If you're used to premium tobacco I wouldn't recommend this.