Low Country Pipe & Cigar Natural Virginia

The tobacco came at a good level of hydration for me. It is a mix of tans in a medium ribbon. There are some irregular chopped bits, but it is really a short ribbon.

Smoked, this is lightly sweet, and it is a pleasant smoke without much "wow." In terms of all the standard Virginia adjectives, it is a little grassy with a tart edge you approach and never quite get to. It was an easy smoke and was easy to repeat. It did not burn hot or require a lot of relights.

I have no regrets, but this did not punch any buttons for me. I can believe it would make a good mixer. I can also believe it would make a great tobacco to "tone" and extend blends that are too strong for you in terms of topping or nicotine.

The bright Virginia provides a lot of tart and tangy citrus, plenty of grass and hay, some floralness, wood, bread, and a few sugar, spice, honey, and acidic notes. It is the lead component. The Old Belt red Virginia offers mild tangy dark fruit, earth, wood, bread, light floralness and vegetation along with pinches of sugar, spice, and a touch of malty vinegar as a secondary supporting player. The strength and nic-hit are a couple of steps past the center of mild to medium. The taste is a notch past that level, falling a couple of rungs short of medium. Has some rough edges, but it won’t bite. I suggest a moderate puffing cadence to avoid potential harshness, but you’d have to be a very fast smoker to experience that. Burns clean and mostly cool at a reasonable rate with a very consistent, mildly sweet, floral, lightly spicy, acidic flavor that extends to the pleasant, short lived after taste, and room note. Barely leaves any dampness in the bowl, and requires few relights. A fairly easy going all day smoke that also makes a good mixer.

-JimInks

This is a fine ribbon, I'd just about call it a shag, with a surprising amount of light leaf. The bag note is sweet and citrus.

Packs and burns easily. This is a one light tobacco. As one might expect from the type of leaf here, this is all treble notes, with not a great deal of complexity. It is clean and simple and can veer towards harsh without a careful cadence.

This is likely a dual use tobacco; natural bright Va shags are not usual fare in pipe tobaccos. Still, it works ok in a pipe and I quite enjoyed this as a change of pace tobacco, particularly given its amazingly low price. As I noted with its stable mate, the LC Va and Oriental, this baccy would serve as a good starting point for pipesters wanting to add condimental leaf to customise their own blends.

Somewhere between a 2 and a three for me but marking as a 2 because the cigarette like taste of this baccy will alienate some.

Much could be said regarding the psychology of opinion and bias here, but suffice to say that if Low Country changed its name to “Hoity Toity” and put this blend into a $12 tin it would receive far more high recommendations than the lone nod I’m giving it here. While many might feel justified in starting off their assessment of Natural Virginia at three stars based simply on its low cost, that is precisely why I must give it four. I’ve smoked several pounds of this stuff, I can’t deny that I love it - especially after a few months of aging.

This is nothing but raw Red and Bright, and its taste reminds me of the Virginia found in MB’s Acadian Perique. It may arrive a little wet and require a bit of drying time to stay lit. It burns clean and has no bite at all. The cidery Red dominates the profile to my palate, but I get plenty of sweet grass and hay alongside. Bear in mind, the bowl I have just packed to accompany this review has been aging since April - it’s six months old. The fresher it is, the more the lemony cream of the Bright seems to prevail. This is easily an all-day smoke for anyone who can appreciate an honest, naked tobacco. And at just over a dollar an ounce, how could it not come highly recommended?

Pretty middle of the road as far as Virginias go. Not bad, but nothing impressive. I think it will be fine as a mixer, since I really like the Natural Virginia and Oriental from Low Country. Alone, however, there’s very little in flavor and little strength. I give it a rating of “Meh” with a dash of disappointment. 2 stars with maybe 3 as a mixing tobacco. I’ll need to mix it with something just to keep my interest.

Straight Virginia flakes are some of my favourite tobaccos. I especially enjoy GLP Union Square and C&D Opening Night. Unfortunately, I've never, in 30somthing years of pipe smoking, ever been able to get a Virginia ribbon to behave for me. I was hoping this one, from a company and blender I like and made of quality ingredients, might be the one. Sadly not. My bag arrived at a good humidification level so I filled and fired up a medium sized briar straight away. It packed and lit well but, from the beginning, it burned hot, no matter how hard I tried to control my puffing. I'm honest about my less-than-refined palate in my reviews but, usually, I can at least get some sense of what the brethren are talking about. Not with this one. I got just a hint of that mixed Virginia flavor toward the last 1/4 of the bowl, a few puffs before it went out. For now, I can't recommend it and, as I said, it arrived at what I would consider optimum smoking moisture level. But I'm going to let it dry out a little more and give it another go. Maybe that will make all the difference or maybe, as others have suggested, it will render it suitable for a mixer. Stay tuned.

Low Country Pipe & Cigar - Natural Virginia.

A well rubbed blend, mostly medium brown, with a few lighter specks. I can't fault the moistness.

There isn't much to say about the smoke. To me, it tastes like a 'bland' Virginia, and becomes exceedingly boring after half a bowl; it lacks the ripe, fruity, zesty, qualities that I like in a Va. There's a subtle sweetness, but this doesn't add enough vigour to raise the rating. Due to the fine cut it tends to burn fast, so requires a tentative technique.

Nicotine: mild. Room-note: pleasant to tolerable.

Low Country Natural Virginia? Sorry, but I'm stuck on one star:

Not recommended.

Right away, it's easy to detect the bright and red Virginias. There's a bit of brown sugar sweetness, some grassy hay notes, with just the faintest hint of citrus, while the red Virginia adds some earthiness, bread, a slight red fruitiness, and a pinch of spice. At times it's a bit sharp, a bit rough around the edges, though. It's a good all-day-smoke type of blend that stays relevant due to the price point.

Jar note of sugar, spices, and mild sour fruit. Tobacco cut is mostly ribbon/shag. The yellowish tan, orange and red tobacco has a high moisture content, drying may be preferred. Burns moderate with few relights. The strength is mild to medium and nic is mild. No flavoring detected. Taste is mild to medium and mostly consistent, with notes of wood, spice, very bread, earth, floral, tangy, lemon zest, dry, mildly bitter, citrus, a sweet vegetation background note, and a moderate peppery retro. Room note is tolerable, and aftertaste is great.