BriarWorks International Country Lawyer

I'm an English/Balkan aficionado (EMP, Exotique, etc.) who also enjoys the occasional cigar and wanted to try something completely different. However, I guess I just wasn't prepared for something this far out of left field.

Upon opening the jar, one is greeted by a big, natural tobacco scent; something like equal parts Hershey's Syrup and barbecue sauce drizzled over a pouch of Red Man. It's fairly strong and perhaps overly sweet, but still pleasant. And... holy St. Francis, what a change is here! No latakia!

I've smoked a pipe for many years, yet I smoke only a few times per week. So when I do, I'm fully committed to the experience and want to get the most out of it. Unfortunately, I just can't say that I enjoyed this. To my palate the flavour is almost completely dominated by a flat, heavy, mushroom-like mustiness; earthy to the point of being muddy; organic -but in the way that molds and fungi are organic. This lends a decidedly "ancient" quality to it, as one might imagine tobaccos of the 17th or 18th centuries.

...Or, perhaps it just tastes like it spent the last 350 years in a dank cellar. It completely lacked that rich softness that I've become so desirous of as an english smoker and letting it waft through the sinuses produced a decidedly dirty impression rather than the creamy, incense-like ambrosia I've become accustomed to. In any case, as a lover of strong cigars, I didn't find it to be particularly cigar-like, save for its lingering aftertaste (which is certainly not my favourite aspect of cigar smoking anyway).

Let me stress that despite my less than glowing enthusiasm, Country Lawyer is not repugnant. But as an infrequent smoker, I just can't afford to waste time with smokes that I don't personally find outstanding. This could find use as a kind of bolt-from-the-blue palate cleanser for those looking for something really different. Some may even actually enjoy it. No doubt, I'll eventually smoke the rest of it and maybe it will even grow on me. At the very least, it won't bite you at all. Looks like it's back to latakia for me.