pipesandcigars.com The Cavendish in the Woods

As previously stated in some of my other posts I am a reborn Cavendish smoker and decided I would give this blend a whirl. I would have to agree with Bbrown that this blend is somewhat lackluster. It is a Cavendish and burly based blend that offers a mild and sweet smoke. It required frequent relights to get through the whole bowl and really loses its flavor about half way through a smoke. I don't see this becoming a part of my regular rotation. I wouldn't discourage anyone from trying CIW it's just not for me. This tobacco is certainly worth smoking or mixing with the Hodgepodge blend instead of discarding it. Perhaps the burning qualities would improve with some drying time.

I am an exclusive aromatic smoker. The quality of tobacco was very good, it burned well and did not bite. The room note was pleasant. However, I found the taste to be somewhat unremarkable, not bad, but it just doesn't stand out as well as some of the other "Russ Blends" I have tried. No reason to add this to my rotation.

I was given a decent sized sample of this and found it to be a good enough aromatic. I wasn't crazy about the topping, particularly early on, but it did get better to my tastes as the smoke progressed. I am not sure on the room note, but the side stream coming off the smoke was great, so I imagine the room note was pretty decent.

I typically smoke in my garage, but decided I needed to take the blend in the woods with me hunting to see if Russ captured the smell of woods. Well, two things happened. One, no deer seemed to be attracted to it, which is no different than most tobaccos. And two, It tasted the same. lol

As to the taste, I can't pinpoint a particular flavor but it is pretty sweet. I do get dried fruits, slight anise and some liquer that I can't put my finger on. It is a non offensive aromatic that may ring your bell if the topping is to your fancy. It wasn't really to mine, so I am leaving it to two stars.

While stocking up for the end of days (Corona Virus this time), I picked some of this up, since it was on sale... and who doesn't love a deal. It certainly was a bag of deep, dark, Cavendish, as scary as that may be; bursting with all manner of sprayed on flavor.

Did it give off chocolate, vanilla, honey, and the other advertised flavors? Maybe. I was just getting a lot of sweet stuff. Packed a bit densely, but lit well. I would say the smoke tasted pretty good throughout with a mild, biteless, nicotine easy, one note Aromatic (again general sweet) flavor that never let anything natural through. Not to say it had a artificial chemical taste, just nothing to latch on to.

I tend to think of these sun-eclipsed dark Cavendish blends as mixers that ought to be added to other blends. Kind of like having chocolate milk without the milk base, the syrup alone doesn't convey the whole story.

Vanilla smell, and sweet in the tin note. Taste is much the same, but some fruit as well, particularly berry. Flavor diminishes over time but remains quite good. It does a solid job as a simple, Cavendish blend.

You may see my video review of this blend here:

https://youtu.be/f7mjokZQHL4

I originally got this in a dark tobacco sampler pack. I liked it better than Lane BCA which had been my go to black Cavendish. I ordered more and my BCA has been sitting in the jar. It's not a bad yardwork smoke because it doesn't bite when I am puttering around with my pipe clenched in my teeth. It has replaced BCA in my rotation but I don't know if it will remain. It is still a work in progress at this time. Oh, an afterthought, it gets better tasting towards the bottom of the bowl.

I'm not usually a big fan of aros, but this is one I can get behind. The bag smells like vanilla, honey, and fruit. Enticing. Moisture content is fine, but if you let it dry for 10 minutes, it's that much better. Lights and burns easily. No tongue bite. Flavor stays pleasant and keeps me interested down to the end. I only get moisture build up when I smoke it out of a bent pipe, but even then, it is minimal. Room note is great. My wife says it reminds her of her grandfather's house, so that's a big plus. I give it a solid 3.3, the highest I've ever given an aro.

I love aromatic tobaccos and I'm a huge fan of Black Cavendish blends. Black Cavendish offers the best mouthfeel of any other pipe tobacco on the market. Cavendish in the Woods is a favorite "go to" tobacco for me: especially near the end of my day. It smokes slow and cool but must be tamped down regularly or it will go out. Nonetheless, unlike other heavy Black Cavendish blends, this one relights with ease and doesn't have a scorched taste on relight like some others I have tried. It offers a warm vanilla flavor bolstered with honey and caramel. Yes the flavor fades a bit about halfway through a bowl but this is easily a 40 minute smoke for me in most of my pipes as I like pipes with large bowls that "make" me slowdown and enjoy a relaxing smoke. I dare anyone to find an aromatic blend that doesn't fade during a long, slow, smoke. Best of all, my neighbors also love the aroma of this blend. On the rare occasion that I smoke it in my apartment, it doesn't leave a smoke smell but, rather, leaves the faint scent of sweet vanilla. I recommend it to anyone who enjoys a real "sit-down" smoke at the end of a stressful day.

Anyone who enjoys Black Cavendish should try this one. The aroma out of the bag is slightly sweet, but also very dark. The cut is short and it packs easily. The flavors that are advertised are very slight. I would say that the flavors combine to form a woodsy aroma and taste. It lights well and there is plenty of smoke. No tongue-bite at all. The sweetness, such as it is, disappears mid-way through the bowl. Like Russ's Walking Stick, a woodsy aroma is made without the presence of Latakia. Speaking of which, this is a sunset type of woods while Walking Stick is more like a sunrise type of woods aroma. The other comparison is that the wife will tolerate The Cavendish in the Woods while she despises the aroma of Walking Stick. The is no ghosting of the pipe and the burn is slow. The ash is not what I typically like, but not bad. These is no after-taste. While most Black Cavendish blends are heavy with vanilla, this one is a lot more natural in taste. The only sweetness I detect seems like honey. A nice change from all of those other Black Cavendish blends out there.

Some blends grow on you while some become less interesting over time. This one fell in the latter category. Perhaps because I wanted to like it more than I actually do based on the description. The aroma was nice with a heavy berry presence to me. Relights were normal for a Cavendish, giving this some air time prior like I do all Cavendish blends. Even with some heavy puffing this didn't bite, largely thanks to the Burley which remains noticable through the smoke. It is a little sweet with vanilla and berry standing out to me. Overall worth trying but won't be a regular for me.