Gallaher Limited Condor Ready Rubbed (Green)

I did not really get the soapy taste that others have described. It reminded me a little of Rattry's Hal O the Wynd. It has a nice flavor that is not overly aromatic. It aso has a nice nic hit.

Thought I'd try a Lakeland and selected Condor due to the rave reviews. The pouch scent is like diesel and perfume with the diesel the dominant scent.

After a few puffs I quickly dumped the bowl to save my briar from ghosting. Absolutely vile stuff. The worst tobacco I ever tasted.

I wouldn't call it a strong or manly cigarish tobacco, like say craven or other non-Lakeland English blends. The underlying tobacco is actually quite mild but the heavy girly perfumey casing made me feel sick to my stomach. How anyone could smoke this is beyond me. Unless you like smoking the underarms of old ladies blouses.

When the wife smoked it, it smelled even worse than it tasted. For the love of god please don't inflict this on anyone - smoker or non-smoker.

To be fair I am a 'super-taster' so that may be why I don't like it. I will air the pouch out and get a dedicated pipe for it and revisit this blend due to it being an 'acquired taste' but I'm not getting my hopes up.

If you are a first time pipe smoker avoid this like the plague.

UPDATE 17/05/13 - Let it dry out a bit. The perfume taste is now only there for the light. After that it is very rich and full which I like but it tastes of blood and bone. I can understand why others like it now but still not for me. Didnt ghost.

UPDATE 20/05/2013 - After leaving the pouch open for a few more days, the blood and bone taste is gone and this is starting to taste like a nice deep, rich leathery grandpa English blend of yore. I keep reaching for the pouch to sniff it. The diesel is gone, the floweriness is slowly being replaced with raisiney fruitiness. It is growing on me after every pipe. I am now very interested in trying St Bruno and Grousemoor. Consider me a tentative Lakeland convert. If you dont like condor at first dont throw away the pouch, let it sit for a while. Upgrading from 1 star to 2.5 stars.

UPDATE 5th June 2013 - I enjoy a pipe of this before bed nearly every night now - upgraded to 3 stars.

Condor, Condor Condor!

This leaf seems to have taken on mythical qualities on various forums and it seems this tobacco is a leveller of many. However, undeterred I decided to try my luck with it.

The 25g pouch was bought from a local Co-op supermarket near to my works and it was I believe nearly £6 which isnt bad, isnt good.

Upon opening, you are hit with a strong soapy scent with hints of brandy and liquor but with a little lavender in there as well. It is a tad spicy and very very pungent. The black rubbed flakes are slightly moist and are very dark brown.

Packing was easy enough and on first light it is an odd tobacco. It stayed lit even after the charring light and stayed lit til the end without any bite whatsoever. The taste however jarred me. Was it soapy? Was it spicy? Was the smoke at all like pipe tobacco? My missus said it smelt herbally like an old chemists and very flowery like incense and rather like lavender.

To me the taste is similar to the smell with hints of roasted coffee and the smoke is smooth if you sip but will kick if you puff (burner of throats!) as for the Nicotine. I am sensitive to Nicotine but I hardly felt this that is to say it was no worse than Players Medium Navy cut or St Bruno, the latter being similar to this but I prefer Condor. The after taste is very soapy, as if you have had your mouth washed out but to my pallete this is preferred over the crappy taste of burley infested aromatics that make my mouth feel like a pub ashtray.

Not for everyone and a ghoster of pipes I did enjoy this smoke even though it is a bit rough around the edges. I guess it doesnt suit everyone but it was a nice change.

I have been dreaming of Condor for years. When I started smoking a pipe at the end of the '80s, my tobacconist had Condor Green and Brown. Every time I wanted to buy some, he discouraged me to do so, telling me I would get sick to my stomach, that it was too strong a tobacco for a beginner. When I deemed I was ready, around the mid '90s, he let me buy some St-Bruno Flake. Boy, I should have listened to him. By the end of the '90s, I was convinced I was ready. Sadly, Condor or St-Bruno were no longer available for sale in Canada. At the end of the 2000s, I discovered online tobacconists. I browsed on British shops several times, never sure if I wanted to repeat my infamous experience. I finally ordered some Condor Green, Brown, St - Bruno RR, Walnut Flake and Highland Slices recently. The first one I opened was Condor Green. I have always been fascinated by a pipe tobacco named "Condor". I would like for soeone to explain to me why "Condor"... Anyway, opening the pouch, I met with the already familiar Lakeland District soap aroma I encountered in H & G blends. i was very pleased to see that Condor Green was made of dark & Stoved VAs, which are my favorite. I loaded up a MM Washington, lighted up and was in for an hour treat. Yes, it tastes like soap at first, and it is the weirdest thing to experience. But, soon after, this soap taste fades in the background and is replaced by well aged, deep earthy VAs that are full and satisfying, combined with some sweetnes every once in a while. The flavours do not really evolve, they become bolder as I went my jolly way down the bowl. This is a truly great tobacco. i enjoy it a lot and will order some regularly. You must try Condor Green if you can.

No B.S. needed here.

In a word - Fantastic.

A real Gem. Old school tabacco with a lot of class.

Well worth a try (beginners beware, nico hit!!!)

One of the first tobaccos I ever smoked in a pipe. Good, strong old school baccy. In my opinion a good all round smoke. Nuff said.

This has got to be a classic, even if it is very widely available (in the UK most newsagents and grocery stores sell it). A strong, slightly sour aroma, nice dark tobacco, and an unmistakeable taste. Possibly a little harsh sometimes, with the taste seeming to hit the back of the throat. Strong stuff, which should be smoked in a small bowl, or sitting down.

You open the pack and the smell hits you. You fill your pipe and the flaovor is just that you expect and more. You have not smoked a pipe until you smoke this. The best bit is that it burns very slowly and leaves little ash and no nasty stodge.

to me the best over the counter pipe tobacco's you can buy by that i mean at the newsagent.i have been a firm condor smoker for quite sometime,but i am starting to move to other brands,but condor will always be one of the best,dark in colour and a great aroma even before the pipe is alight,just wonderful.

i thought i would write an update about this tobacco,as i have been using another tobacco for a while i thought i would go back to 'condor' well someone has been messing with it...for the tongue bite is quite evident and i never had that before,so it has put me off it and that sad for me because i loved it...once upon a time. update as from 08-01-15..i bought somemore of the condor..and im happy to say that its more like its good old self now..no tongue bite...and quite well rubbed out..the aroma it how its always been..so for now im back on the good old condor..and im lovingit!!!!.