Gallaher Limited Condor Ready Rubbed (Green)

This was my first ever tobacco, many moons ago. I'd just managed to get a pipe, and was looking for something to put in it. As this was over the counter (indeed, the only pipe tobacco in my local newsagents at the time) I opted for it and went about enjoying my first smoke.

At first I found the taste quite remarkable, but not in a good way. However, I had read that the first few bowls of any pipe tobacco are rather... odd to anyone who's never smoked a pipe before (or in my case, never smoked anything before) so I stuck with it. I had no idea about technique or pacing myself, so the strength of this brand kicked me about a fair bit. After a good many bowls of unpleasant smoking and nausea, I threw the rest of the pouch away and vowed never to return.

Eight years later, and my local tobacconists was closed (cursed Sundays) so I had to go for something 'off the shelf' to smoke. I decided, having learnt somewhat about pipe smoking, to give Condor Original another try. My first mouthful of smoke tasted of nothing but soap, which did fade away after a while but was still a little surprising nonetheless. The taste was otherwise exactly as I remembered it - thick, quite meaty (as in, you almost felt like you had to chew - steak flavoured tobacco would be a strange experiment I'd certainly like to try though), but this time quite pleasing. A cool smoke throughout, which packed easily and needed no re-lighting once it had gotten going. Taking great care, I really enjoyed the smoke and this time made it all the way through the pouch without feeling ill once.

So, Condor Original (Ready Rubbed) is a strong experience that will knock your socks off if you don't treat it nicely. Certainly not one for a timid beginner, but maybe a good start for a beginner who has a guide on hand to teach them the proper way of doing things. There's plenty for the seasoned smoker to enjoy, though the soapy start could be the part that ruins the experience for most.

It is my first review. After years of reading and smoking pipe, now it's time to pay back debet to the Tobacco Reviews community.

It's not coincidence that Condor is the first pipe tobacco I review, it is the only pipe tobacco produced in the country, alhough of course, dozens of others known around the world are available in stores. I see some kind of symbolism or a clamp, connecting my story of smoking pipe with history of pipe smoking and tobacco. Here is one of the classic blend, like many others similar to it, ceases to be produced at the place of origin (it's good that it doesn't disappear at all). And new chapter is starting, I just happened to be part of this story, born now in Poland.

I am sommelier and wine specialist- professionally. Amateur barist, admirer of: history (doctor of humanities in the field of history), books, old stories and bikes. Taste and smell are the quintessence of my life.

Condor Orginal Ready Rubbed (Green), JT International

I have never smoked earlier versions of Condor, therefore, I feel relived of duty of polemics with sentiment for the so-called old times, when "everything was better"...

After reading old reviews, I am sure, this version is lighter in nicotin content (that's good for me) but still potent, there is not so much rose and geranium casing, instead of this is more subtle in direction of white flowers. But after few months in jar there is mainly smell of peony-rose-geranium and no white flowers nuances.

📑 Only available in plain packaging- 50 g pouch, and it's bad news, really prefer tins. Fortunately this one was perfect directly from pouch. Not too dry not too wet.

👀 Circa 50% dark brown and 50% black, and only a hint of brighter pieces (lemon Virginia?). Mostly short ribbons c. 1-2 mm wide and 10-15 mm long.

👃 Lakeland essence is highly noted but not overpowering like in Ennerdale. Citrus topping and others dark fruits, oak or different hard wood. Floral essence is created by: lilies of the valley, jasmin, bergamot, some aromas of green-bitter plants similar to mugwort. It can be consider as soap or cologne, but is not too intrusive. Cocoa, raisins, dark fruits, alcohol (honey tincture)- created something medicinal, like smell of old school cough syrup. Further in the background only a bit of vanilla and maybe a bit of bergamot tea. I can also catch the shy smell of vinegar covered by all the sweets.

👅Easy lit. Only 1-2 relights. Burns moderate. First few puffs- Lakeland lighter styl like Grousemoor, but then, in intensity is in half way to Ennerdale in floral crazy show. Second part is rather symphony of earthy, nutty, cocoa-chocolate flavours with consistent but lower presence of floral accents. Something new is flavour of almonds with cough syrup in last third of bowl. Interesting and tasty old school aro, with a quiet large dose of nuances. Has a pleasant, medium plus long aftertaste.

Medium plus nicotin content. Full flavour. No tongue bite but in last 1/3 of bowl can be bitter. Leaves moisture and some dottle. Will ghost pipes like all Lakeland style tobacco.

According to TR it's 100% Virginia but I agree with J. Inks, there can be some Burley. I can only guess that black ribbons are Virginia cured over hardwood or this mysterious Burley is a pinch of something like Kentucky dark fired.

Condor Ready Rubbed is definitely interesting tobacco, if only accept a modarate dose of Lakeland styl and you don't expect the wow effect. He's not here. However, you will find here the taste stability through every bowl. After two pouches I think 2- 2.5 stars (depends of the mood) not 3 stars-is proper evaluation.

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.

Hmmm still not sure about this tobacco. It has a pungent soapy incense aroma, which actually tastes as it smells, which is not usually the case I find.

It will stay lit all the way to the end of the bowl without re-lighting. It will billow smoke happily right to the end. It will give you a huge nicotine hit, even if smoked slowly, be prepared.

I have to say that I don't really like this tobacco, but I do like its qualities, packs well, stays lit, doesn't loose any flavour at all. Its just a bit too overpowering for me. It does stain a pipe with its flavour too unfortunately.

However it does have a large following, and is easy to find. Definitely a marmite tobacco, not for me I'm afraid, but a good tobacco nonetheless.

Probably one of the most common pipe tobaccos in the UK. Once available in all good corner shops, supermarkets, kiosks and petrol stations. Now found behind bars in hyper-supermarkets, except for Morrison's.

It's a fine old blend that's been around since I were a nipper and somewhat cruelly dismissed as a cheap n'nasty old OTC by tobacco pipe purists (you know who you are) everywhere.

I don't why this is, because this has hellava lot going for it. Well, apart from being relatively easy to find, it's opening pouch aroma which smells like rich figs or prunes and straight from the pouch convenience is nothing to be sneezed at. No, it's a really pleasant comforting smoke, with a certain taste that is hard to describe.

No doubt I'll be shot at dawn for this, but I find it not a million miles away from St Bruno. It's dark, moist, consistency is very similar and the taste is a little more fruity, but I don't know if I could, as a philistine, tell the difference in a blind taste test.

I always assumed that this blend would ghost briars. Massacre them in fact, but it doesn't seem to. Yeah, obviously trying to smoke a subtle aromatic straight after this in the same bowl would be ridiculous if not insane, but nevertheless I devote a pipe to it. The taste of dried fruit (christmas cake ?) dies away after half a bowl and you're left with a rather distant reminder of the opening pouch scent. It stays relatively moist throughout and is a bugger to light after the first half of the bowl is gone. The dregs are very unappealing.

As for room note, well Mrs RW's nose must be so used to the concoctions I've inflicted on her over the years, that even this blend doesn't arouse any interest whatsover. Maybe Uncle Charlie didn't smoke this after all. I have heard that 'some say' - in a Clarkson-type voice- that this lingers around the house, like a smelly dog but only a constant daily smoke of this would do that. I'm not about to do that anyway. Besides I'm still the owner of two front teeth that I'm rather attached to.

A good blend then, that's been around for donkey's years and probably a few more until the Government sends pipe smoking under ground, which I couldn't smoke everyday, but is just great to drag out every now and then for some thing a bit different. I can't recommend this to all - it's one of those you-either-like-it-or-you-don't blends.

Leaf: A mix of rubbed and broken flake, with a few slightly larger, but still very small, chunks of flake here and there.there. Colors range from medium brown to slightly more or slightly less medium brown.

Tin Aroma: The aroma is very strong. There is an acidity that jumps up your nose,there is tangy sweetness, a little floral note and then a good dose of some sort of alcoholic flavouring, it is almost a little acrid. The tail end is a raisin like note that make you realise 'this actually smells all right now I think about it'. You will go back for another sniff... is that Grandma's old perfume?

Taste: With the first puff I got a strong floral/soapy hit, I got a bitterness and a bit of tang, then I got the flavour of whatever alcohol this is flavoured with. I tasted the flavouring at the back of my mouth as I do with a scotch or bourbon, but I couldn't tell what this was, it was nice enough though. The soapiness made its way to the rear and the Sweetness of the Virginia came through for the rest of the bowl. It was earthy, tangy, bitter-sweet, and very robust, the floral hint and the little soapiness never disappeared. It really comes together in a nice smoke though, it seems well balanced, the flavours are strong and consistent throughout. If you don't like the Lakeland floral experience, or bar of soap style some people sense it as, you won't like this. If you aren't averse to it this stuff makes for a pleasant and flavoursome smoke. It has really grown on me, and watch out, it really grows on your pipe too! Who you gonna call? Ghostbusters!

Smokeability: Fire danger = Extreme. This stuff is very easy to light, and stays lit with practically no maintenance. Straight from the tin, got going with one match, no relights, and very little left but white dust at the end. It doesn't burn hot or bite, and seems to not mind how it is packed, or which bowl you use. It billows decent smelling white smoke the whole time.

DISCLAIMER: It has a decent Nic kick to it, which I didn't expect as I puffed away like mad on Huge bowls of this stuff. It got me, the bastard, snuck up on me it did. It felt nice though... a suprise for such an easy smoking and simple blend.

Summary: It is actually quite a nice tobacco, a bit different for me due to the floral and soapy tastes, which aren't what I consider overpowering, not by a long shot is this stuff bad. It appears the taste is how it is intended to be and typical for some Lakeland blends, and it is worth giving a chance if for nothing other than to expand your palette, and the Nicotine of course. Much like the Player's I recently reviewed, this seems to be a no fuss, no frills OTC blend that probably has a huge cult following of old codgers shouting praises at the heavens about it, and I can't blame them. It only seems to be available in the U.K and a few other countries they stole (Except Australia, but we are only Convicts anyway..) so U.S buyers will pay a premium plus postage which makes it hard to recommend to you. For people who can find it, go for it, I am pleased with my new experience with Condor.

I find it very difficult to review this blend, but I'll give a try nonetheless.

My first impressions teeter between the sublime and a dumpster fire. I'll begin with the good news—Condor imparts a most interesting taste. There are a variety of notes, though a floral one seems to dominate for me (I get no liquor taste, as advertised). It's a smooth, airy smoke, yet, oddly, this blend definitely has some balls to it. Those that state this blend is strong are true, yet the strength, for me, didn't slap me in the face, rather it built up as I smoked the bowl—then, towards the end, it gave me a bit of a clout on the noggin. There are stronger blends out there, that's for sure.

At times, the taste of this smoke was outstanding (including a great side stream), at others, not so much. In other words, it's an uneven smoke for me. This may be because of the vast amounts of additives injected. Marmite, bangers, and soap, indeed. Whether or not any of those "spices" have been added or not I cannot say, but something surely has been. There is a good amount PG added as the tobacco was still moist after a year of it being decanted. Let there be no doubt, this is an additive stew.

I definitely can see why someone would thoroughly enjoy smoking this, but, for me, it's just an every once in awhile smoke—I find it hard to bypass the additives in this one. So, I'm giving this blend two stars, a split right down the middle.

Happy piping!

I was prepared to give Condor a zero, and it certainly isn't my kind of blend. But some people do go for it, so I'll try to be a reasonable boy. From pipe tobacco, I do not expect Hotel soap. I don't look for it in my coffee or my chocolate, in my whiskey or my Stilton, or in a grilled salmon. Why would I want it here? I prefer the breath of a grassy field, the density of dark and complex sweets and the spice from Perique. Opening the pouch I got the distinct nose of grandmother's Yardley. However, it did burn well, and it must have a good dose of Nic b/c I had to sit down part way through my first headachy bowl. This floral sensation may be just the ticket for a former menthol smoker(?) Finally I like to comment on the aftertaste, which was, guess what? Smoked hospital soap. 2 out of 5 stars.

condor should change it`s name to soap, thats all i could taste maybee it becuse im quite new to the pipe, but i wont be buying it again and i still have not got the taste out of my pipe. yuk!!!