Calume Calume Kiowa-Cut

This came as a pleasant surprise. The cut of the VA leaf is huge.

About 1/3 of black CA. It smokes smooth and slightly sweet.

I bought a tin because it was on sale for $2 and the tin itself looked cool. The tobacco inside was disgusting, though. It tastes like a urinal deodorizer cake.

When this blend came on the market i did try it a couple of times and loved it just for being a non-usual blend. It *is* more or less your typical over the counter blend. So if you do not expect too much it is not a disappointment and you should be able to enjoy it.

The pouch has a very modern, pop-art design nobody can decipher but it caught my eye with ease. The "Kiowa Cut" is just a fancy term for broad cut with big chunks in it. Consequently i would not recommend a small bowl for it.

I can't really describe the pouch note or the room note. But both are pleasant and interesting.

It lights easy and burns well down to the end. I did not had any problems with tongue bite but i could imagine you could get some if you smoke it too hot. I'm not too sure in that case about what would happen to the flavouring either.

What i liked most about it was its interesting flavour and the fact that i wouldn't know how to describe it or what it was composed of. I couldn't make out a lot tobacco taste but it did not strike me as smoking paper either. The aroma developed over time and more or less would last till the end of the bowl.

It took me some while until i figured that that hard to describe flavour really was or could be pine.

But it wouldn't keep up with my taste after some pouches, it left me to a point where i started to dislike it. Since then i did not give it a try again and this also is the reason for a 2 star rather than a 3 star rating.

They also at some point sold Calume Piccolos, which are cigarillos. I don't know if they are still around but if you like how the pipe tobacco tasted you might give those a try as well.

thts a decent tobacco i would say,,even thu i havent seen any n the market long time ago,,the virginia cavendish mix is working great here,,u can actually enjoy the sweetness of V with a toasted cavendish tht is very lightly cased i would call it a natural tobacco n it holds fire perfectly yielding pleasant aroma sure worth trying,,would consider buying another tin

I loved Calume Kiowa cut!

A beautiful mixture of VA and Black Ca, now mostly available in bulk only, in Canada - a shame, I've tried the bulk version and it is very inferior to the tin one, that's why I always stay away from the bulk vintages...

A very broad cut, rather long cut, with a nice aroma of pine- country aroma.

I was not sure at first, reading the tin description, but I said "What the heck" and gave it a try.

For the 100g version,the bakkie is contained in a golden coloured foil paper that is vacuum sealed. So, once open, the tin doesn't keep it as sealed as a regular tin. The 50gr version is a regular pouch like Amphora, for example.

Smoking was very pleasant, the taste is medium, never biting and a bit on the slow side, but never boring.

This would be a good choice for someone who wants to rey a very different, high quality, aromatic.

Recommended.

This report is getting too long so today I am completely restructuring and abbreviating it.

FIRST IMPRESSIONS, FEB07, 2007 Discreet Pouch Aroma, Packs easily, Very Relaxing Mild smoke, Agreeable room note reminding of a pine forest, slightly bitter. No trouble keeping it lit. No tongue bite or scorching, burns cool. Almost as if this was not an aromatic at all.

Overall superb experience. The blend has "personality". It is refershing and - to my experience - unique.

SECOND THOUGHTS - OBSERVATIONS - TESTS

(FEB11, 2007): Trying a non-aromatic in a not-fully broken in pipe, Half way through the bowl I got a sourish smell - clearly a Calume residue. The taste was not there any more, the next time I tried it. To be safe, I dedicated a brand new Liverpool to CALUME and I will repeat the experiment with this pipe in a couple of months.

(FEB13, 2007): BREATH SMOKING I did try some early in the day, using one of my Corn Cobs. What an awesome smoke! This blend really lends itself for breath smoking.

(MAR02, 2007): INCONSISTENT QUALITY? Just through an overall dry second pouch. I started experiencing occasional problems with relights - needing up to two relights through the bowl.

(MAR20, 2007): DELAYED GRATIFICATION - NOT POSSIBLE! Last night I packed my dedicated Calume pipe and started it for a minute or so. Then I put it aside for today: I did not get any noticeable taste improvement / difference.

(APR30, 2007): MOISTURE LEVEL - EXTREMELY SENSITIVE 3RD AND 4TH Pouch were also very dry. I tried reviving them with a slice of apple (OK I overdid it somewhat) so for the last 40 days I have been trying this at different levels of moisture. The net outcome is that there exists only a very narrow moisture window for which this is OK. Outside this window, the blend is just problematic.

The blend is good and relaxing - regardless - but I guess it is quite simple. In view of my latest observations I will take a star away...

(MAY15, 2007): LAST UPDATE - PIPE STAINING Last weekend, I smoked a relatively non-aromatic blend in the pipe that I had so far dedicated to CALUME. I did not detect any Calume undertaste whatsoever - at least not a measurable annoying level. For the sake of completeness, please note that I had smoked about 4 full 50g pouches of Calume in that pipe.

Calume.02/03/07. This blend did not float my boat,not that it was bad or offensive.I think my taste is far more mature and maybe to mature for this offering.(Bland to me) For a new comer to pipe smoking it may very well be "Perfect" As its a very no fuss tobacco to light and keep lit.It leaves a very clean grey ash at bowls end,with next to no goop.

I bought this just to discover what was Kiowa Cut. I still do not know. It was possible to smoke the entire pouch, but it is not a blend that I pine for. For smokers of aromatic mixtures Calume is certainly worth trying.

Interesting. A rather interesting story behind this one. The copy got me hooked and so I went and tried it.

The aromatics kick in early. As you go along, they get more aggressive and that "pine country flavor" really opens up. The mouth feel is exactly like the experience of a fir or pine forest (which abound around here), say, after a light-to-medium rain, sitting at base camp and re-lighting your camp-fire. Nice, to say the least. Not at all stale, and sufficiently variety in taste combinations. Still, a bit too spiced for me at times.

But all is not well. This one's quite hard to keep lit. I mean, on a sunny summer's day with negligible breeze there should be no problems keeping a pipe lit. But this one goes out easily and a bit too often for proper enjoyment (it could be just me).

Again on the positive side, this one has a very fresh taste. Not to mention the aftertaste. After a bowl you notice how good it feels. This really must be the freshest after-taste of *any* tobacco anywhere. For this reason alone, it's a good choice.

But it leaves quite an aftertaste to your pipe. Kiowa Cut comes through for the next few smokes, even with other aromatics. Try it out in a testing pipe first, then decide if you like it.

A very interesting tobacco. The taste is mild, with the hint of vanilla and fruits. Beautiful scent which is similar to the smell of pine forest. Calume is worth being tried- I like it very much, especially its smell.