BriarWorks International Bacon Old Fashioned

I must admit, I generally find anything with added bacon better than it is without added bacon! With that said, I had some issues with Bacon Old Fashion as it related to the balance of tastes. There is an ample amount of what would be described as a smoky bacon flavor, but not much of the “Old Fashion” as the spirit component was lacking. Dry to the touch, it burns cleanly for an aromatic but lacks the sweetness that one would expect with an aromatic. This leaves just tobacco and bacon flavor. In fairness, my two bag sample may have lost some of the added flavors because it was stored in a sample bag. So there is a chance that fresh out of the cool jar that this arrives in, that your results will be better than mine.

The smell is strong, heavy on citrus, like an orange peel. It smells a lot like the cocktail it's meant to represent.

I think this is an accurate representation of a simulation of smoking an old fashioned. It takes a few bowls to get there, to be sure, and the first couple are very stongly an odd citrus flavor. It kind of feels sometimes that the flavors of the Kentucky are fighting the flavors of the casing a bit. There is a non-zero nic hit with this one.

So far, this is the most "love it or hate it" blend I've encountered. Give it a whirl and don't give up after one or two bowls, it could grow on you.

As proof that each of us have different palates, I am going to have to disagree with some of the other reviews on this. Bacon? Where? I only occasionally found myself, okay there is something vaguely reminiscent of bacon.

Upon opening the jar and sticking my nose over it, I smell cheap whiskey. Actually what I get is that smell of a whiskey on the rocks that didn't get finished and sat on the table overnight. It's recognizable as containing whiskey but that's about it. After loading it into a pipe and testing the draw, I do get a whiskey taste that is better than the aroma though, so that's something.

As for smoking it, I have tried it in a new clay pipe, a meerschaum, a briar and a cob. By far the tobacco was best in the clay and the cob. It was good in the meerschaum. With the briar, which is also relatively new and I've just broken in, the tobacco was lacking in flavor. To be honest though I've only smoked 6 bowls of Bacon Old Fashioned and feel I am still trying to determine what I'm smoking. I have decided that it will probably be one I only smoke in the cobs though.