Gallaher Limited Condor Ready Rubbed (Green)

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.

Most of what I said in an earlier review of Condor Long Cut applies here. This is a dark, strong, meaty, traditional English tobacco. I first tried it back in the ‘sixties, and I can't detect any difference between what it was like then and what it's like now. It's strong enough to hurt if you're not careful with it. It needs to be taken slowly, and probably isn't one for the beginner; but if you like a robust and unpretentious tobacco, this'll suit you very nicely.

Condor is cool, slow burning and consistent, and the flavour gets markedly fuller and 'rounder' from about half-way down the bowl. Despite a rather moist appearance, it burns well and consistently. It has a rather sour note somewhere in it that some people dislike, though my impression is that this note is present more strongly in the flake version.

The room note is pronounced and characteristic: pleasant if you like the smell of pipe-smoke, but perhaps a bit hard on innocent bystanders who don't. You certainly can't smoke Condor without drawing attention of some sort to yourself. It also gives you a delicious experience when you open the pouch – everybody mentions the ‘Condor moment' that featured in Ogden's television commercials back in the day before we were treated like idiots (i.e. when tobacco advertising was allowed). The pouch note is perhaps the best part of it!

Be warned, though: the ghost that Condor will leave in your pipe will take a lot of shifting. Personally, I think the flake form gives a slightly better smoke, but the ready rubbed is good stuff also, and both are readily available. There are differences between the ready rubbed and the flake, but they're very small. Condor is a popular tobacco in the UK. Newspaper-and-cig shops that still sell pipe tobacco at all will probably have Condor if they have nothing else. I suspect that, as more and more old favourites cease to be available and we move slowly towards prohibition (in the UK), Condor will be one of the last blends to go: which is one good reason for developing a taste for it. It's a little strong, but I'm happy to recommend it to people who like a tough, masculine baccy.

Oddly enough, more than with any other baccy I have to be in the mood for Condor, and my response to it can vary pretty widely: sometimes I like it a lot, sometimes I don't. The point, I think, is that it isn't at all subtle. Sometimes this is OK, sometimes not. Condor is what I would call a winter smoke: good on cold days, maybe with a strong black coffee, and good as an outdoor smoke, too. In summer, I tend to want something a little lighter and more sophisticated.

New pipe smoker. tried Condor as my first Bacca and enjoyed it. Next pouch was Clan. I'm disapointed and will be going back to Condor

Makes me laugh reading these reviews, good old Condor.

Back a few decades ago it was kinda looked down on, sneered at a bit....but it's outlasted a whole lot of fancier brands and it's here still.

If you're going to smoke Condor, and you should, then go for the Long Cut..ie the flake version; it's definitely better. But when needs must, then ready rubbed will do.

I have loads of different blends all of which have their place, but like my other reviewers I come back to good old Condor.

All this and no description of the actual tobacco...tsssk.

Leathery earthy soapy strong and nary a hint of bite...will definitely ghost your pipe, that's about it really. Get you some.

This is based on the Condor Original Long cut. Even though it comes in a cheap plastic pouch there are some real nice looking dark flakes sitting inside, just waiting to be freed and wanting to bring enjoyment to You, the smoker. Warning, definitely a good bit of topping used in this one!

It has a perfume and soap smell to it that really doesn't translate into the actual smoke as much as you think it would. It will leave a mark on your pipe though. I dedicated a Briar to it.

Nice strong tobacco taste and good nicotine content as well. No bite to it either. Not as natural tasting as most strong flakes but good in it's own right.

Ah that Condor moment. For me that was 45 years ago and for some years I had visited the hill and mountains with my parents. But now I was 16 and had started to take an interest in climbing. I was introduced to what would become a lifelong passion by a friend who also tempted me to take up the pipe. It's that rugged outdoor look that appealed to me. Anyway I bought a cheap briar and I think I cadged some of my Dad's St Bruno. That weekend, at a local Yorkshire gritstone crag my friend introduced me to the delights of Condor Long cut which was his tobacco of choice. Oh that aroma. It was so distinctive and smelt of all the climbing huts and pubs that climbers congregated in. I guess I smoked it on and off for a few years then this weekend I was getting a little low on my usual flake, Walnut, and on impulse bought 50 gram of Condor Long cut. I was instantly transported back 45 years to aromas of Lake District pubs and climbing huts, quite amasing. I am not sure whether I will continue to buy Condor but it has been an amasing experience so who knows, I might return to the legion of pipe smokers who would not smoke anything else. If you have not tried Condor then go out and buy some Long cut, rub it up and experience for yourself the pleasures therein. And, no, it does not taint your favourite briar. I have tried Walnut again to make a comparison, first cleansing my Dunhill pipe with pipe cleaners soaked in isopropyl alcohol and there was no flavour carry over noticeable

I'm a novice smoker and bought this tobac at the supermarket on a Sunday when the pipe shop was closed. The flavour was floral - I would say mostly violets, and yes, I have tasted violets (in hot chocolate at a shop in the Lake District). The smell really reminds me of my grandparents for some reason, maybe the combination of grandpa's cigarettes and grandma's violet soaps.

Anyways, the flavour I found to be full and pleasant. I found it could be puffed quite hard without becoming bitter or harsh.

I enjoyed the higher nicotine content and stopped about 1/2 or 3/4 of the way down because I'd had enough, but I prefer that type of satisfaction to the feeling you get with a bland tobacco where you smoke it all the way down waiting for something to happen and it never does. In my opinion the greatest shortcoming a tobacco can have is if it is too bland.

Condor is packed with an interesting flavour and strong nicotine, I find myself already looking forward to my next bowl.

note: it will leave an indelible flavour on your pipe.

I have been an on-off pipe smoker for about 35 years, but have never stuck to one brand. I have only recently tried Condor Original, even though it is a popular brand in the U.K. My first impression was in line with other reviewersin that it tasted 'soapy' However, the more pipefuls you light, this soapiness is less in evidence, and now I dont notice it. Having read that this tobacco 'taints' the bowl of any pipe, I have restricted it to three of my pipes! It is a heavy smoke, not to be experimented with by a novice, but is slow burning and quite pleasant for the more experienced.