McGahey The Tobacconist Huccaby Dane

What can I say. I loved it. A friend was visiting Exeter just before Christmas and spotted McGaheys and had a sudden flash of inspiration regarding a Christmas gift for me. I know it's a bit of a cliche - what do you get a bloke who has pretty much everything he needs? - but she knows I like my pipe and treated me to a couple of loose tobaccos. I really enjoyed the Huccaby Dane, and found it to be a very enjoyable smoke and even my other half (who barely tolerates my pipe smoking) actually enjoyed the aroma.

Anyway, I'm not going to go all 'wine-snob' and say I could tell what blends of leaf were in this mixture, although the zest of citrus was definitely there, but I found this to be a very pleasant smoke indeed and was rather upset that they don't have this blend at my local tobacconist. Oh well....when all else fails, there is always mail order!

McGahey - Huccaby Dane. My reviewing of lesser known blends continues.

The mixture contains both Black Cavendish and Virginia in quite equal quantities. It has been left really coarse when rubbed; there are still some big 'leafs' of tobacco in there. It gives off a smell that has a little more than just a hint of citrus, it's not too strong smelling but easily noticed. Even though the pieces are large they've not retained lots of water, it can be smoked straight away:

The flavour from the tobacco matches the pouch's smell well. Again, the aromatics can be identified as fruit but the smoke doesn't have a huge, bitterness to it that can sometimes emanate from citrus; to me, it seems a lot more like lemons or oranges than darker fruits, apples etc. I don't get much Virginia taste, I mainly get a sort of vanilla type flavour from the Cavendish. The temperature of the smoke is a cool one, it burns good and gives me only a little bite; to do this it needs to be puffed hard.

Huccaby Dane is a good blend. Would I add it to my rotation? No, not my 'cup of tea'. Do I rate it? Yes, I think three stars is about apt.

Recommended.