F & K Lancer Slices

The smell and taste are grassy and leathery. I like these aspects of Virginia and latakia, so I'm definitely anticipating a good smoke.

The taste does not disappoint. There is obvious latakia, but not too much. It overpowers the Virginia (can still taste it, though) but not me. It burns nice and cool and the taste very much reminds me of leather. Another blend that's really a 3.5/4.

You can view my video review of this blend here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7VtDxEfGBx4

it's definitely a full day Latakia flavor, and very easy to beginner to smoke it.

and, I wonder this one the the same as 『 Charles Fairmorn - Lancer's Slices 』

Opening the bag of dark brown and black, with a few yellow specs, of broken flake it definitely smells like smokey, campfire, latikia with some fermentation and just a tad bit of VA sweetness.

Very easy to load into the pipe. Easy to light as well with the charring light and final light. Remained lit with occasional light tamping and a fairly regular cadence of puffing.

Overall this blend is very good. I wouldn't say it's one of my favorites or 'wowed' me, but it is very high quality and perfectly balanced. It's a wonderfully pristine dance between the VAs and the Lat. Just when you feel that the smoky, a bit floral, robust flavor of the Lat. will overpower the smoke, the sweet and slightly bready VAs step in. It's an impressive volley that never ends, down to the bottom of the bowl. I thoroughly enjoy this tobacco and think this could easily be on many people's favorites or an all day smoke for them. For me, it's one of many great Lat./English blends, but this one is missing a few notes that I prefer for my English blends, but this doesn't diminish what an excellent tobacco this is.

Having wanted to try this for a while, I purchased 4 oz from 4 Noggins. I had an older tin of the re-release Bengal Slices and wanted to compare the two.

My 4 oz sample had a very appealing bag aroma of musty Latakia along with a faint sweetness. No top dressing or any other aroma noticeable. The broken flakes were rough in appearance and texture and just the way I like broken flakes.

After minimal rubbing out, loading and lighting posed no problem. After a few charring lights to get it going, each bowl I smoked remained lit and smoked to the heal with gentle puffing. The taste was predominantly Latakia but not overbearing in the least. There was the combination of a mild salty-sweetness in the smoke, and with a good mouth feel. After each bowl I was craving another. There was no bite, but only a slight nip to the tongue's tip with heavier puffing. BTW, you don't have to puff hard to extract the beautiful flavor of this tobacco, pure and without any additives detected. I enjoy the room note of Latakia, hence rating it as pleasant. It has an incense/churchy smell which, for me, is appealing.

Comparing it to the re-issued Bengal Slices, which is equally superb, I find Lancer's Slices to be more appealing to my palate. The price point is below what you would pay for a tin of Bengal Slices and that is a benefit. I don't know if F&K Lancer's Slices is the same as the tobacco listed as Charles Fairmorn Lancer's Slices. On the 4 Noggins website it is listed as "F & K Charles Fairmorn Bulk," and on smokingpipes.com simply listed under F & K's fare. I read on an online forum that it is produced by Dan Tobaccos, so who knows!

All in all, an elegant, yet simple blend, and in that simplicity lies its beauty. 4 stars and highly recommended for those who like Latakia.