Wattsons Special Mixture (Green)

Being lately in the fortunate position of sailing to and from Denmark and thus being able to use the services of the wonderful establishment that is The Danish Pipe Shop, and always being the pioneering, adventurous soul willing to take one for the team, I decided to include a tin of this in my last shipment, seeing that it had zero reviews so far. (But see also later.)

From the combination of brand (STG) and price I was expecting a basic english blend a little on the el cheapo side and this is pretty much exactly what I got. Opening the tin the pungent aroma of Latakia takes over first, but is soon replaced by the real tin note underneath, which is the wonderful dried hay of the Virginia. There is suspiciously little Latakia to be seen in the mix though, and after the first few puffs - the cleanly cut ribbon packs easily, lights well and burns almost too well - it becomes clear that while the Latakia is there, it has been relegated to the status of a grumpy old uncle making snide comments from a recliner in a dimly lit corner. The main character comes from the Virginia/Burley mix, and this is OK, if nothing spectacular. Quickly bites the tongue if puffed too hard, so needs to be savoured even if the taste doesn't really invite to do this. The taste is bland enough to get a bit weary towards the end of a full bowl and overall, the experience is somewhat underwhelming.

All in all, it's a basic english blend, take it or leave it. If a supermarket had an english blend as an own-brand product, this is what it would be like. A firm two stars, would buy it again if in the mood for an english blend and nothing else available in that category, but likely not if there was.

(Again, I was a bit at a loss as to where to put this review - I strongly suspect that the Orlik blend is one and the same. Mine came in a tin that looks almost exactly as the one in the picture and interestingly the back of it lists the contents as Virginia, Burley and Latakia as opposed to Virginia, Oriental and Latakia. I'm putting it here for the time being to "open" this article, and will move later if there is cause.)