Gallaher Limited Condor Blended (Yellow)

Condor-Blended . This is a blend I've been wanting to smoke for ages but have never got around to! I remember the old U.K. advert with the irritating old sailor on the canal, that always made me smile!

The mixture is quite dark and doesn't appear to be very coarse or chunky. It's not that the pieces are exactly miniscule but they are slightly finer and shorter than a lot of ready rubbed blends.

The smell that's emanating is a very raw one, woodsy, grassy, and slightly sweet, as if there's a touch of caramel in there.

I can't complain about this when it comes to lighting it, a few minor touches of the flame suffice brilliantly and once lit it gives a very stable burn.

The quantity of smoke this produces is immense. Now, that's good and bad. Good for me as I get oodles of fortuitous grassy and sweet Virginia smoke to savour on my palate but bad for any company in the room and also quite unpleasant from time to time when it gets in my eyes!

Although it says there's no additional flavours I get a very slight caramel type of taste. Similar to the initial aroma.

I agree with the other title of Condor Mild where nicotine is concerned, there couldn't be a more appropriate description!

I find the taste from this takes feeling calm to the next level. As pleasurable as this is, it becomes a bit boring after a while, as if maybe a touch of something lively needs incorporating to give it some excitement!

Initially this is a solid four stars for me but after a little while that rating slips to three.

Recommended.

Condor Blended may have once been called Condor Mild, but if so, the 'mild' doesn't seem to apply as much to the underlying tobacco but to the casing. Most of the botanicals and other flavorings in regular Condor are missing, but it's still fairly flavored. One reviewer suggested brandy, but it tastes more like Tonquin to me. Compared to Lakelands, I'd say the casing is stronger than Glengarry's flavor, more similar to SG's but since I know there are many tobaccos out there I would rate a 4, the question arises would I rebuy this particular tobacco, assuming my tastes don't change much more. In this case, the answer is no.

Having absolutely adored Long Cut and Ready Rubbed, I finally decided to give this a go. Let's face it, after those, what could go wrong?

First off, the packet aroma is quite sweet, possibly a sweet brandy with a dash of port. Packing and lighting worked just as sweetly. Sadly, for the first few smokes I was relatively unimpressed by this, it was a bit rough hitting the back of the throat. It took a good few, perhaps ten, to finally get me into the the swing of this as eventually I began to warm to it, that sweet brandy flavour came through. A lack of tonguebite was quite a welcome surprise.

On the whole then, this doesn't win any awards and doesn't fair well against it's full blooded bigger brothers but nonetheless satisfies. Three stars is a fair assessment I think.

From the discription and the reviews i realized that this is a mild lakeland style blend.when the seal breaks a nice sour and florall smell comes out.the blend moisture is high and drying time isn't quite helpfull.the cut is very helpfull for packing•lighting is difficult and several relights are needed.while smoking the flavours are typical lakeland style without being high aromatic.the dark virginias are mostly grassy,citrusy and sour.some woodsy and sweet notes also appear.the process of the blend adds mostly frorall and some soapy notes.generally the flavours are nice and strong.burns cool to medium and very slow to almost perfect ash with a lot moisture being created so a small bowl is recommended.the nicotine level is almost medium and the aftertaste almost pleasant.no tongue bite present though it might have some harsh spots if puffed hard.the room note is unpleasant.it can be an all day smoke fot the lakeland style lovers but not one for a typical pipe smoker.generally i found it pleasant for an after dinner smoke to help me relax.