War Horse War Horse Bar

It is a pity that the health warnings spoil what was originally a beautiful tin with a horse on a red background, which is now reduced to the upper half of the container (at least the one that touched me). Tin contains a dark brown block of tobacco. Although the plug is dense it crumbles easily and the not too high moisture content allows it to be loaded directly from the tin.

I agree with other users that it is a full-blown aromatic and that I also had a hard time getting real tobacco flavors under the coverage. This coverage is quite scented and in my perception the ingredient that stands out is anise. Sometimes it has a certain aftertaste of medicine, especially in the first pipes I smoked. Then I got used to it and it reminded me more of certain spices or medicinal herbs. Of course, it behaves frankly well in the mouth, with absolutely no tongue biting.

In general it is too aromatic for me to repeat but I understand that there are people who like it, since it cannot be denied that it has its virtues, and among them is the originality of the mix.

01/30/2021: I have continued to smoke this tobacco sporadically and although I am not a fan of aromatics, I have liked this more and more and I have enjoyed it as the typical “change of pace”. Add that being a tobacco very different from what I had tried so far, at first it seemed strange to me, but now it is precisely that difference and originality that I like, so I would recommend trying it and not staying with the first pipes, but giving it a try. chance smoking a full tin.

02/08/2022: I would also like to add that one year after opening the tin, the Kentucky is much more noticeable, without the coverage being able to overshadow it at any time.

01/17/2023: Definitely, the passage of time improves this tobacco a lot, increasing its virtues and reducing its "defects", (IMO).

This tobacco has been given a name that, to older English pipe smokers at least, has ancient associations. The old Gallaher War Horse bar was like a stronger and much more pungent recension of Condor long cut. This tobacco is IMO nothing like that, and has only the name in common with the original War Horse. This one is all right, though: strong, full-bodied, slow-burning and cool, with a traditional 'Lakeland' flavour profile. If anything, it's reminiscent of Gawith & Hoggarth Bosun plug, only rather stronger. I think that, in using the War Horse name, it's sailing under a false flag, and for this - perhaps foolish - reason I give it three stars instead of four. I recommend it, though, to people who like a muscular, old fashioned smoke and don't mind all the foreplay necessary to prepare a bowlful for the pipe.

Tin note of anise, barbeque and sweet floral. Tobacco is a plug of dark brown, black and a little brown. Moisture content is great. Plug need slicing with a sharp thin knife or razor. Rubs out fairly easily. Burns slow with few relights. The strength is medium to strong and nic is medium to strong. Flavoring is medium, with notes of Anise (spicy, aromatic, sweet licorice) and a Valerian Root like essence (herbal, woody, earthy, very bitter). Flavoring is quite potent in the beginning but dies down quite a bit but never drops to the background. Taste is medium to full and mostly consistent, with notes of anise, bitter, very woody, herbal floral, dryness, salty vegetation, spices, cigar, orange peel. mild cocoa, fermented tart/sourness, a spicy semi-sweet nutty background note, and a very peppery retro. Dark Air Cured is leading with Kentucky, Virginia and Flavoring supporting. Room note is tolerable to strong, and aftertaste is great.

Pretty good stuff. I like this blend. Tin note is interesting and slightly sweet smelling. Although this is called a plug its more of a firm crumble cake in my opinion. It burns nice and slow and no bite that i found. Definitely on the stronger side as far as nic goes. Not as much nic as say Macbaren Bold Kentucky but it is there. The taste is bold but smooth with dark fired as front man and virginia playing back up. There is a subtle topping of some sweetness that is along the lines of anise and vanilla and some herbal essence very faint in the background which reminds me of tarragon for some reason. Would I buy again? Sure, if it was on sale but not regularly.

I bought this because it sounded interesting, even though I have a love-hate relationship with anise blends: Orlik Dark Strong Kentucky was not my thing, Peterson Irish Flake is one of my top five. So I think it has more to do with how much topping is used rather than the topping itself.

The tin is very old timey and the description is vague: made of dark fired Kentucky, dark air cured and matured Red Virginia. Sounds good. Opening the tin you will see a nice brick of tobacco mostly dark brown in color. In the tin note the anise and tonquin is very noticeable, I do smell some Kentucky spice and Red Virginia sourness and bread.

This strikes me as a crumble cake more than a plug. It's made of a pressed ribbon instead of whole leaf, and is thus really easy to break off, rub out and stuff in your pipe. It is really firmly pressed similar to the John Cottons Double Pressed series. But when I think of a plug I think of using my knife. It does come at a suitable dryness to smoke and it does take a light well.

I have no problem saying that when I first tried this I didn't like it and it sat in a tin for a month. Lighting up I do taste the toppings and they slightly sublimate the other tobaccos in the blend, but age has helped them smooth down. I can taste a smokey, spicey, and floral Dark Fired. The Virginias add a lot more bread than I detected from the smell and also some dark fruits hovering around in the background.

The taste is a medium-full, robust, smooth and well balanced. The strength is a medium-strong. It is there, it's not as strong as some of the other things that I usually smoke. The toppings make the room note very interesting and I do get questions about this one. All in all the topping works pretty well with this one. Would I go out of my way to reach for a tin off of the shelf? No probably not. Would I enjoy it when someone offers on occasion? Yes.

I give this three stars. A good tobacco to try and it may be a nice crossover if you like aromatics and you are looking to get into dark fired blends.

As I posted in a pipe group, while I know that my grandfather never smoked this, the aroma of the tobacco is so close to whatever he smoked, that it brought me back to when I was a kid poking around his stuff and enjoying the aroma of his pipe tobacco. I have several of his pipes and I will smoke it in them.

Beautiful hard pressed bar, more of a cross between a plug and a cake. Easily hand crumbled.

It's a rich full smoke. No bite. You get that taste on the retro. It's almost vanilla cherry like, with a tin note close to playdough, although no play dough in the smoking. I don't get the licorice that some speak of, but everyone's palate is different. I don't know what it smells like to others, but I imagine it similar to what most people may think about when they think of pipe smoke. My wife says that the tin note reminds her of stuff her grandfather smoked, but I smoke outside and I have no feedback on what it smells like to others when it's actually being smoked.

I am not a regular aromatic smoker, and I have seen this listed as a non aromatic while it is clearly flavored to a degree. The flavor fades into the distant background when smoking. Spicy on the back of the throat and on the retro. I am primarily a Va/VaPer and English/Balkan smoker, but this would be my pretty smelling choice right here. I can no longer see myself smoking a cheap drugstore cherry or vanilla, but this is a top shelf "version" of that, but it's NOT an aromatic. (the green label is said to be the aro version)

Between the dark fired Kentucky, burley, pressed Virginias... this is a WINNER. After trying it and being blown away as well as the memories of smelling my grandpa's tobacco stash which had a similar sweet tobacco smell, I was hooked and ordered 4 tins straight away, to have on hand, since it went on sale at that time.

I have been a longtime cigar smoker, so I know a bit about nic hit and even nicotine sickness (dizzies)... I never get that from any pipe tobacco, so while some others claim strong/full on the strength and flavor, I naturally would make this out more to the medium-full range in both flavor and strength, but leaning towards full. It is stronger than many a pipe tobacco, though. Great for ex or cigar smokers.

This is definitely a man's smoke with a pretty casing. It's a great change of pace from my normal and more frequent fare... It's a macho smoke. Don 't do it on an empty stomach! It's like that brothel lady who is pretty but will take you for a ride and maybe steal your wallet if you take your eyes off her.