Paul's Pipe Shop Arrowhead

I was given an ounce of this with a pipe my daughter bought me for Father's Day. The description sounds like a blend designed by a committee. There is a little bit of everything, and I did not expect much. I was pleasantly surprised.

The blend reminds me a little of a mildly vanilla flavored Walnut maybe. The vanilla flavor is very good and there are no chemical flavors. The latakia and perique are subtle touches. There is a little sweet from the Virginia and some body from the burley. Sometimes blends with black cavendish taste musty or thin to me, and this does not. Some plum and spice from the perique may be what holds it all together. Then there is a whiff of latakia. It all just works.

This one is easy to recommend.

I am fortunate to have Paul's Pipe shop on my way from my home to my cabin and I occasionally will drop in. It is a piper destination for certain as the shop contains probably around 10,000 pipes, a pipe museum and so much tobacco that your likelihood of finding old treasures is always high.

Arrowhead is the signature blend of the shop and I picked up a pouch of this a few years back. It is an aromatic that has some latakia and Perique which is meant to give it something a little different than, say, any other vanilla blend. I think Paul's has successfully differentiated this from other vanilla aromatics, but I am not sure how much the lat and per has to do with it as I really don't distinctly taste them. I am not really sure if it is the topping or the leaf that is causing it to be different.

I am pretty sure the topping is not limited to just vanilla as I do get some whiskey notes off this. There is also some spiciness to it, but it doesn't really taste peppery to me as Perique typically does. In any case it is a good aromatic, not necessarily to my tastes, but I would recommend it just on the fact that it is something different than just the same old vanilla aromatic.

One of Paul's Pipe Shop's more popular house blends, Arrowhead had it all. An English style tobacco with a nice little dose of Latakia and Perique mixed in with the Virginia and Cavendish. Not sure about that secret recipe Vanilla though. It produced more of an Almond Extract flavor to me... and frankly, I enjoyed it. This was a fun smoke. And for whatever it is worth, I purchased several of the Spaniola house blends back in the late 1990s while purchasing one of their Cayuga pipes, which, by the way, came with a casing, too. The inner bowl was pre-carbed with honey, I think.

I went to Pauls some time ago and picked up several different ounces and a Cayuga pipe. Arrowhead is kind of the flagship blend over there so I was sure to get a couple ounces of that.

Arrowhead is pretty good. handles, lights, and smokes great. It is a mild blend with all components lending a mild profile to the whole. I found the flavor to be interesting and good but a bit "muddy". That is there is a lot going on in this blend, mostly components you would find in an English blend but with the added vanilla casing. Arrowhead is unique for sure and quite enjoyable. It doesn't bite and lends an enjoyable experience albeit without much nicotine.

As pipe-shop vanilla aromatics go, this one is a step above most. It has a very natural and full vanilla flavor, yet it doesn't mask the taste of the quality tobaccos underneath. I'm usually exceedingly bored with vanilla aromatics; this one has enough to keep me interested. It wouldn't be part of my regular rotation, but I could see keeping this around for group camping trips around the fire with mixed company when an English blend might not be fully olfactorily appreciated. This would go great with a second cup of coffee after breakfast in the morning.