Lane Limited - HGL pipe tobacco reviews

Review

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Reviewed By:	Date:	Strength:	Flavoring:	Taste:	Room Note:	Recommendation:
< PREVIOUS Showing reviews 21 through 33 of 33 reviews of this tobacco
OLDTIMER	01/28/2006	Mild to Medium	Mild to Medium	Medium	Tolerable
The more I smoke this stuff, the better I like it. I cant seem to get enough, after smoking back to back bowls. I love the sweet smokey flavor. I feel this is the best crossover blend out there. Burns to a fairly clean dry ash, and no tongue bite. I just had to update this review. Give it a try, it is wonderful.
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Collezionista	10/07/2005	Mild	Mild	Mild	Pleasant to Tolerable
I tried this out because I wanted a burley to smoke while I was out camping and it had the most burley out of all the blends at the shop I went to. It got me through the weekend but I dont plan on smoking it again. This blend is just too heavy on the cavendish and while it burns well its sickly sweetness and unpleasant bite makes HGL an iffy blend at best. Definitely not the best aromatic or burley blend I've tried.
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Spike	10/07/2005	Mild	Very Mild	Mild to Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable
I have to say I smoke this on occasion because I possess about four ounces of this stuff. I think CaptnDan has this one figured out. My slant would be that RLP-6 is the smoothest smoker in Lanes' stable. Otherwise I am not big on this crossover thing. I don't recall a blend that is an American style aromatic with Latakia other than this one. I have tried this many times with limited enjoyment. Not an offensive blend, just not a bell ringer. (10/02/2004) Update: O.K. for a stepping-stone tobacco. No longer smoke this blend.
Reviewed By:	Date:	Strength:	Flavoring:	Taste:	Room Note:	Recommendation:
smoker390	08/29/2005	Medium	Extremely Mild	Medium	Pleasant
HGL has everything I look for in an all day smoke. There is no extreme side of any category, and the taste posseses a complexity that I don't tire of easily - making it a great blend to take alone on vacation or a weekend getaway. The strength is medium, better than a boring mild and tolerable for multiple times a day regularity - unlike a real strong blend. Lane claims there is no flavoring added, the cavendish makes it sweet without added flavoring. Worse case - it has light flavoring. It has a pleasant room note, with a fusion of woodsy, sweetness, nuttiness, and fresh baked bread. This is how I would also describe the taste as well. The taste has a perfect balance that gives me the flavor I like from a variety of tobaccos, all in one. The tobacco still has its own identity in spite of the wide spectrum. I buy this in 8 oz bulk and store in a sealed jar without additional humidification. My only complaint is that it is slightly moist and will leave just a little wet spot at the bottom of the bowl. Not enough for a gurgle, though. I am suprised how well I rank this against comparable C&D, McClelland, G&H blends. After all, it is a readily available Lane blend costing $20 - $25 per pound. Update: I will have to lower my rating from a 4-star to a 3. I've been smoking this tobacco for a long time, however, I have to deduct points for quality, consistency and long term humidification management. Though this blend highly benefits with aging, the burley & virginias are of a lower to medium grade. There is not enough Latakia, yet it can be tasted more prevalently when kept on the drier side. That is at fault of the high quantity of cavendish. It requires a careful management of moisture, or the taste goes flat. When it's on the money, the latakia compliments the burley & VA so well with the hint of sweetness. When straight from the local tobacconist, the cavendish dominates because of the moisture. It is what it is, a decent crossover that can be smoked all day. There's plenty of better blends of this genre. I no longer dance in the streets over it, but it does bring me great pleasure on half of the bowls I puff on. It's still good enough to warrant a 3-star in my book.
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DUPE.1512	05/13/2005	Medium	Mild	Mild to Medium	Tolerable
This is RLP 6 with latakia added to it. If you have considered adding latakia to RLP 6 you might like this, although the latakia has a washout taste and is very weak. More of a crossover blend than anyting else. Not bad but certainely not a bellringer either.
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wmjotten	09/23/2004	Very Mild	Very Mild	Mild to Medium	Pleasant
It took a while to uncover the fact that "Cricklewood", sold by Florida Smoke & Snuff was indeed Lane's HGL. After trying this blend, I found that as an aromatic fan, this blend offered a hint at the pleasures of an English blend and the delicious tastes of latakia. It actually encouraged trying even more stalwart latakia blends to the point where I now really enjoy them. So I have a fond spot for this blend. At the match the bowl delivers a nice amount of latakia and along with the other components of toasted cavendish, Virginia, and White Burley, never gets to the mouth drying astringency of the heavier latakia blends. I feel it's a proper amount of that velvety smoky flavor in concert with the other leaf which delivers a cool flavorful smoke for quite awhile. Sometimes at relight (which isn't required often), the burley's nuttiness will predominate, but it isn't long before the balance between latakia and other leaf returns. What surprises me is that the blend is a mouth watering blend, rather than the more common drying. Even my wife has sipped the pipe on this blend without any negatives. I'd characterize this blend as nicely balanced between an aromatic and a latakia based blend, a nice transition between the two as it turned out for me. I still smoke the aromatics, but this is a mild, tasteful latakia blend I enjoy. It also has a pleasant room note. Recommendable.
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CaptnDan	04/28/2004	Mild to Medium	Extremely Mild	Mild	Pleasant
HGL is something of a crossover blend. It seems to be mostly Cavendish with a hint of Latakia. And I do mean a hint. In a way, it kind of reminds me of Captain Black Gold with a trace of Latakia. Not a true English blend, but then it doesn?t claim to be. Enough about what HGL isn?t, on to what it is. This has got to be the coolest smoking, and smoothest thing I have ever found in Lane?s repertoire. I was skeptical when I tried it. It?s a good baby-step away from aromatics, if you are so-inclined. The regular smoker of English blends will find little to hold his interest, let alone get excited about. For the newcomer to English, or for the person who wants a touch of natural tobacco flavor without getting banished to the porch, this may be just the ticket. While this is a mild-mannered tobacco, it will bite severely if you go searching for big, bold flavor. It simply isn?t there. Enjoy it for what it is. A mild and pleasant blend that you can smoke all day. Personally, I think it?s a bit weak for my tastes. But I can see where it could be perfect for many others, and I could smoke it without complaint if I had nothing else.
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Pounder 5000	11/12/2003	Mild	Very Mild	Mild	Pleasant to Tolerable
I've smoked better and I've smoked worse. The Latakia in this blend is almost non-existant. In fact you can't find it most of the time, even when looking. I do find this to be bite free and absolutely non-tiring. You could easily smoke this all day if you needed something pleasant and boring. I personally like a little more Latakia in my aromatic English crossovers.
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omegapd	10/12/2003	Mild to Medium	Mild to Medium	Medium	Pleasant
At one point in my smoking career, I fell for the latakia/cavendish mixtures. I thought I could get the best of both worlds in one. It was a short phase (maybe 8 months) but this was the best of the ones I tried. Frog was too wet for me and the C&D stuff didn't have enough aromatic agents in them. This was cheap, readily available and of good quality. I never got any complaints on the room aroma and it burned much better than most Lane blends. Every now and then I re-visit this blend and still like it.
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Spuds	03/14/2003	Mild to Medium	Mild	Medium	Tolerable to Strong
HGL is a blend I would smoke again in a pinch. I liked it at first, but with the arrival of Frog Morton and McClelland's #2040, I quickly lost interest. I must add, I rank it above all the other blends I have tried by this maker.
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Skilling	12/16/2002	Medium	Very Mild	Medium	Pleasant
Upon 1st light one detects the Latakia, but it is not strong. It's suttle and smooth. At a 1/3rd bowl and past, the cavendish becomes dominate with the latakia in the near background. One catches a very slight hint of chocolate from time to time. This seems to be from the burley, not a casing. The Latakia, Burley and Cavendish really join one another to produce a very nice smooth smoke with the Virginia giving it's touch of sweetness. It does not smoke wet and there is no gurgle. This is another blend inwhich my wife likes the aroma of. Pure and clean.
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GLC	04/06/2002	Mild to Medium	Very Mild	Mild	Very Pleasant
I'll admit up front that I'm a big fan of Lane's blends, and this is one of my favorites. I don't smoke it daily, but it's one I return to regularly as a 'standard'. It is consistently good, whether fresh or aged (some >9 months old). Appearance: Colorful mix ranging from tan thru medium brown to solid black in roughly equal proportions. Startup: The pouch aroma is mildly sweet, with only a slightly smokey hint of the Latakia present. There isn't much here, and by 'laced', I expect they are being truthful that a dash is all that's needed to contribute the smoothing effect. On lighting, we find that this cruise is Captain Black meets Lieutenant Latakia, with the Captain clearly in charge. The familiar aromatic sweetness of the Lane Cavendish/Burley/VA mix is on top, with just a hint of something else added. The first 1/3 of the bowl is smoother than usual, and the aroma hints that something is a bit different here. Mid-Bowl: On relight, the stronger, smokey Latakia is first detected, and from there on thru the next 1/3 the flavor is more intense, but still smooth and sweet and burns evenly. The Captain is on a pleasure cruise today, no race to burn the load quickly. At about the 3rd relight, and 30 minutes into the bowl, Lieutenant Latakia takes the wheel, and the steers us into a smokey fog-bank that brings on the smoothness and darker flavor he is known for. Now we're talking flavor! Let's try to keep this heading for a bit and enjoy the ride. Finish: The sweetness of the cavendish and VAs is still there, mellowed by the burley and Latakia, and together they are holding the flavor and aroma on a good heading. Each relight brings a re-bloom of the smokey Latakia, but never overpowering, and no gurgle, the Lieutenant is keeping the cargo high and dry. (this sample is about 2 months old, kept in a simple zip-lock bag). We're down to the dottle after almost 1 hour of uninterrupted smoking, and still no harshness or bitterness, this crew knows this route well, and has skillfully steered us to our destination, leaving only a bit of white ash in our wake. Summary: This is a nice bridge (sorry) between the aromatic and the English world. It's clearly not a classic English, but is definitely not the cloying, overly sweetened blends from the drugstore either. There's something here for both camps. Sign on for a trial voyage, and I think you'll book this cruise as a regular. Happy puffing!
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Tbombadil	11/04/2001	Mild to Medium	Extremely Mild	Mild to Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable
This is one of maybe two Lane blends I'd smoke in a pinch. As a matter of fact it was one of the first blends I tried when I finally moved away from goopy aromatics. Unlike most Lane blends this stuff actually does burn slowly and fairly clean. For those who like latakia I have to say there's only a suggestion of it here no matter what the description says, although that's not a bad thing for first time imbibers of that weed. All in all I'd have to say that although I don't smoke this one much any more it does make a good crossover smoke for someone who wants to move beyond cherryberrymangovanilla.
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