Gallaher Limited Condor Ready Rubbed (Green)

I tried this in 2001 or '02 and still can't shake the memories of this tobacco. It came as a gift from a friend in Ireland who wanted me to try a "TRUE" pipe tobacco.

Well this Yank was not able to smoke this, as much as I wanted to enjoy this tobacco I could not get past the taste. To me it tasted like someone added way too much cardamon to an Indian dinner.

I know this is a very popular tobacco but I just can't bring myself to ever trying this again,it is just not my kind of tobacco.

Recommended for those that enjoy Lakeland tobaccos, run and hide from this if you dont like Lakeland tobaccos.

This tobacco was crafted by the devil. Slow burning, addictive and oh! so unassuming. It will bewitch you or worse, disgust you if you are one of those paladins with the gift to see beyond the devil's work.

The matured Virginias, mellow and creamy, with some hay and tanginess, become fuller as the smoke progresses. The floral, lavender like topping, while quite strong, works in symbiosis with the Virginias, adding to the whole flavor profile. The tobacco and topping never fight for dominance but work to provide smoking pleasure.

This old school tobacco is perfect for a chilly, damp and wet day, it helps you to accept and to put things into perspective... a contemplative experience.

Virginia lover

Pouch aroma reminds me of my Aunt Shirley with her Rose and Sandalwood perfume.

I'm sorry, but I just can't do it. I smoked about a half a bowl of this and it absolutely incinerated the back of my throat. It's not tongue bite, it's a chemical type burning. Although pouch moisture was spot on, it smokes dry and acrid. I've been a career firefighter for 16 years, and I have never had any smoke burn my throat the way this has, and I've been in some nasty fires. I enjoy Lakeland florals tremendously but not this. Sorry!

This is the best OTC tobacco available in the UK...of that I have no doubt. I've loved each and every bowlful I've ever smoked. There's a creamy aftertaste left in the mouth that is absolutely wonderful and comes after a brilliantly intense smoke. I just love this stuff so much that when I die I want to be cremated with my pockets stuffed full of the stuff. At least that way I'll go out with a mesmerising aroma. One thing I will say is that this blend may not suit new pipesmokers as I hear many moaning about a soapy taste. I don't see that but I can see how this could be too overpowering for new pipe smokets. Still when you get used to puffing on the briar you will want to try this....you'll fall in love immediately

UPDATE - I recently had the winning bid on an unopened ounce of Condor dating back to the 1970's and it was an incredible smoke... so smooth and quite different to current day Condor. I'm not sure if this was due to the aging of the virginia or that the blend was different back in the day, but what an incredible smoke this was.

I bought a 25g pouch just to sample this tobacco. I've read lots of "extreme" reviews on this tobacco, from the extremely satisfied, to the extremely dissatisfied. Now I find myself loving this stuff.

Brown tobacco, smells like a true English blend, with herbal and oriental tobacco odours. The description says Virginia, but I also say Oriental, however I am no expert (I've been smoking pipes for a year now). In the pipe, it smokes like heaven with an excellent nicotine hit. A full round taste that lasts in the mouth and taste buds. Very cool smoke, not too "lakelandy" or soapy like some GH or SG tobaccos.

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This tobacco fiercely ghosts the pipe you smoke. Even smoking a completely different tobacco, you will mostly feel Condor for a while. Beware!

I tried this one for the first time as a novice pipe smoker and was nearly sick. It was strong, soapy and offensive however....

A few years latter after smoking all sorts of brands I came back to this stuff for a final go, I am glad I did. This one will not satisfy a new smoker but, o boy, when yourve tried a lot of different brands and then return to this one you find a spot in pipe heaven.

This is a strong, even burning brand that you must try. Stronger than St Bruno and richer than Royal Yacht, more subtle than Mellow Virginia but more dimensional than gold block. Its the perfect smoke for the more experienced smoker.

Enjoy

Condor is another tobacco that I have been smoking regularly for over twenty years. I smoke less of it than I once did now that it has become difficult to obtain. It is a very dark tobacco, and appears to be fully rubbed out from very thin flakes into short narrows strands and bits. The pouch aroma reminds me of fermented corn silage, sweet, strong and somewhat resiny. My guess is that it has been topped with an extract made from fermented sugar, corn or sorghum cane and probably a few other things I do not want to know about. It packs and lights easily in a little Peterson system, full bent #314, p-lip that I use only for Condor Original. As with Maltan, St. Bruno and other English scented flakes, the pipe can only be used for this specific tobacco. The aroma of the tobacco comes through from the first puff. The taste is sweet and tangy right in the middle of the tongue combined with the strong flavor of dark pressed English flake. This a more powerful smoke in every respect than is St. Bruno Flake. The nicotine content is extremely high and will get your ticker clicking. The taste effect is almost identical to heavily concentrated Perique, but is even stronger. The smoke is mild and carries no bite; it is all taste and nicotine. Other than the strange flavor, this is not a complex smoke. Each puff delivers the same piercing tang on the tongue and in the back of the throat. It burns to a powdery black/gray ash right down to the bottom of the bowl with very little tending. At times when I have had to relight it, swallowing has turned my stomach and given me the hiccups. While puffing on this tobacco during a sing-song in Kinsale, Ireland about a dozen years ago, I sat next to a gentleman who appeared to be in his mid to late seventies and who spent the evening rolling his own cigarettes from a pouch of Condor Original, so I concluded that this stuff will not necessarily kill you at an early age. I smoke it once or twice a week and enjoy the unique, exotic flavor. Paddy.

I first tried Condor as a student in the early 1980s when relatively new to pipe smoking. It was like being punched in the face. It was a completely unsubtle extremely heavily cased, very strong tobacco which to me at the time tasted like concentrated Fairy Liquid and made my head spin. At Durham university our rowing coach Eric Halladay always smoked this and recognising the smell I realised that there were possibly some people who could actually smoke this stuff for pleasure. Since then and a 13 year hiatus from pipe smoking later, I never tried it again until recently. The current incarnation is a pale, almost invisible shadow of the 1980's Condor. It has a barely detectable lakeland floral aroma, it is not very strong and leaves absolutely no ghost. The current version is perfectly amiable but is a politically correct version of the one I remember, an eastern veal as opposed to the full blooded bull of old. Very disappointing.

First off, this is not quite your conventional review, more of a rant. I have managed to get my hands on this, my parents brought it over from Tenerife when they went there - I understand that it is a common OTC blend all over Spain though. I am not sure how to describe this blend. After my first bowl all I could say is that ... it's soapy. After my first puch, well it grew on me so much that I bought another 5. There are various hints of flowers and other stuff over there, but that casing is so in your face that on my first impression I couldn't say anything beyond that. It's a fine smoke, no bite, no moisture, easy to handle ... but boy, that soapy stuff sure is persistent. At the end of the day it grows on you, so yes, I actually grew to like it so much I keep it in my rotation permanently, but I can understand why some simply love it and some do not at all. Probably in the past there have been versions of this tobacco that were less soapy (?) but this EU made version (Poland I believe) may not be the best version of condor, still a unique smoke - a splash o color any day of the week.