The cut is appropriate - a combination of cube-cut burley and VA ribbon. It is easy to fill and pack, and requires no preparation.

The topping seems to be of a vanilla/fruit variety, is applied with a restrained hand, and does not detract from the base tobaccos. The room note is pleasant without being cloying.

This tobacco will smoke wet and hot. A meerschaum may be the best bet for this weed, as it will alleviate a great deal of the moisture problem. This blend also has a tendancy to nip at the tongue if pushed.

Grey Havens receives decent marks from me as a light aromatic with good tobacco flavor and complexity. However, its tendancy to be "bitey" keeps it from earning a top score.

Update: This is another tobacco that I grew very weary of as time went by. Its mildness grew increasingly annoying, as smoking this blend became too much work for too little satisfaction. The bitey problem never went away, either, further compounding my dissatisfaction. Previous rating: 3 stars, now 1.

One of McClelland's embarrassments, this blend is a particularly sour expression of perique, with a distasteful topping, to boot. Pointless, given the presence of St. James Woods in their portfolio.

Not a keeper. Wet, burns hot, Perique bottom note that is sour. Avoid.

The blend is as others have said a bit wet, and needs a few minutes to dry out. Once a tad dryer, it packs nicely into my slightly bent horn virginia pipe. It takes a bit to light it, but find a nice torch lighter gets it going nicely as well as drys it out a bit. The initial flavor is the sweet virginia musty flavor, but is quickly accomanied by the topping flavor. a rich smoking experience, about a third to halfway through you get the perique spicyness that rounds the blend out nicely.

I dont think alot of english tonbacco smokers would like this, but if you like a nice mautre virginia try it, it is a nice accompanyment to a good book and my wife found the aroma much to her liking.

The initial tin aroma leads one to think of mashed fruit, though not overwhelmingly sweet. It smokes moist (which I personally like) and that mild sweetness comes through nicely. The room note is also sweet and understated.

This blend would not appeal to lovers of strong english blends, I don't think, but mild tobacco lovers who are put off by the heavier aromatics should like GH just fine.

The Rev

I found GH extremely moist out of the can, almost damp. I had a lot of very unpleasant & bad tasting condensation while smoking, to the point where swabbing with a cleaner did little to counteract. In the end, I had to manually drain the pipe! Suggestion: after initially opening the tin, leave it exposed for a few days to dry it out a bit.

Although I liked the "hint" of perique, it's an even toss-up between Gray Havens and Deep Hollow.

Sight & Feel: Grey Havens is golden brown with shreds of black, slightly moist to the touch and not sticky, even though it is sauced. The loose, coarse shreds did not require rubbing before packing in my pipe.

Smoking Characteristics: I found this tobacco a little moist for my liking so I stood my packed pipe for 15 minutes before lighting it. It then took up a flame and smoked quite easily but usually required 2 matches to set-up properly. It also required slightly stronger draws to achieve good flavour than my favorite blends do. I enjoyed it best in a Canadian or Billiard-style pipe.

Nose: Some reviewers have compared the aroma of Grey Havens upon opening to chocolate or vanilla. I can't agree. It reminded me more of my early attempts to mix pipe blends; efforts that ended in confused aromas ranging from spoiled yogurt to oily coffee grounds. I do not find GH's aroma pleasant. However, the room note is much more attractive and has enough 'tang' to prevent the room from quickly lapsing into a stale or boring note. In small amounts it would be tolerable to most non-smokers.

Mouth: The initial taste is somewhat confused but settles down to hnts of lightly peppered jam made from overly ripe plums. Although it generally smokes well, a slight nip in it warns your tongue about the consequences of high speed puffing. As this is a Perique mixture, inhaling is not recommended.

Economics: In Canada, GH is mid-priced but as its rate of burn is only moderate, it is only a moderately economical tobacco.

Last Word: Gandalf and Strider would have preferred Old Toby. Although GH beats many corner store pouches, thats not saying much (I find too many McLelland blends lacking in some way). GH may suit those who want to stray a bit from corner store Aromatics. If you are searching for the Grail of Perique mixes, go straight to Germain?s Royal Jersey or even Bell's Three Nuns.

Yet another semi-aromatic with a Tolkien name. Unlike Deep Hollow I just couldn't develop much fondness for this one -- it could be a good blend without the fruity topping. Too bad too, Frodo et al deserve better.

I think the fact that Frodo, et al., now live in Grey Havens pulls me into the mystique of the mixture and I will continue to smoke it on occassion. Buy the 50 gr tin first, make sure you like it.