Exclusiv No. 6 (Sherry & Cherry)

Update: What was I thinking? a while has passed since I last smoked this blend and do not at all have the same results. I am downgrading this blend to two stars.

I think this tabac has recieved a bad note. I was not knocked down by openeing the tin, but rather found a mild tin aroma. I wish not to discredit anyone elses reviews as each has his own taste. Of course my tin aged a while before opening.

The tobacco seems to be a good quality ribbon cut which burns good in a medium size bowl.

Lighting it up is easy and will burn without going out throughout the bowl. It also does not change flavor from start to finish and burns dry with no dottle at the end.

However, it still will not be one of my favorites as I find CAO [bulk] Black Velvet, Gaiwith & Hoggarth Top Black Cherry, Pipeworks & Wilke Cherry Cavendish and Tinderbox Cherry Almond to be better choices for the cherry blend afficiando. I used to smoke English blends exclusively until my girlfriend treatened to leave me. It took a while to find cherry blends I like and have a good room note. Sherry & Cherry has a good room note.

I do not give overall ratings for a tobacco, but rate it in its own class. Cherry or vanilla or whatever cased tobacco is not English or Danish and therefore cannot be in the same catagory IMHO.

I give this a three star rating. Well, maybe 2-1/2 because half stars are not available. By the way, my tin says Made in Germany NOT England. I may give another review after my existing tin ages for about five years provided this web site and I am still around.

Keep your powder dry, Flintlock

I found this a tolerable blend, but not anything I would purchase a second time. The "sherry/cherry" flavor was not terribly noticeable to me, although I can't say the flavor was unpleasant. I would not consider this a "mild" smoke either -- it has a little punch. Not a bad choice for those of the cherry persuasion. The main downside I found was that it has a hint of that nasty "cigarette" flavor and stench -- not pronounced and not frequent, but apparent every now and then.

As I puffed this blend, I imagined I was a college professor, wearing glasses with thick, black plastic rims, poring over some obscure manuscript. The office is dark, lit only by a green-shaded "board room" lamp. My smoking time is augmented by measures from a bottle of cheap scotch hidden in my lower right desk drawer, the occasional shots poured into a coffee mug on my messy desk, which is piled with loads of papers.

As I enjoy all forms of pipe tobacco, I shall review this with my aroma-phile hat upon my head.

First of all, noting that this is a German tobacco, it is important to smoke this in a pipe fitted with a fresh 9mm charcoal filter to in order to measure it fairly. Failing to do this should invalidate any evaluation. I understand why my bohemian taxi driver in Germany told me on a business trip he smokes this daily after dinner, exclusively. This is a fine aromatic that could easily be enjoyed as a daily smoke. Given that there are some great deals on this, I bought five tins for a bargain. Before opening the vacuum sealed tin, I was expecting a wet, sticky blend packed with sugar coated black cavendish chunks with a little virginia and burley. Instead, I was greeted by a uniformly brown ribbon cut blend with a pleasant red-fruit aroma. The blend was perfectly humidified in the tin with only the odd glisten from saucing. It is definitely cased in a less obtrusive manner than some heavily flavoured american blends. A light packing works best.

The burn is perfectly dry, staying lit at the smoker's whimsy, burning straight to the bottom (yes, no gurgle or even a hint of excess moisture in the bowl by the end of the smoke). While not extremely cool, it hasn't got the bite of straight virginias. Just don't smoke it like an intake manifold. Draw gently as one should when smoking a pipe.

It has a subtle sharpness to it, which satisfies the virginia lover in me. The flavour early on definitely has the volatile flavour and aroma of alcoholic sherry, but this fades gradually, leaving the more pronounced fruity flavour to accompany the rest of the smoke. The room note is friendly for the non-smoker and doesn't linger, though it is not as friendly as Captain Black or the like. It has nicotine to satisfy, which makes me believe this is not a novice blend.

All in all, a decent aromatic that I will smoke when non-smokers are around, and I wish to get away from my non-flavoured mainstays. I can't believe that it is so inexpensive at some online shops.

-- hemlock --update 10-27



This is not as aromatic as the tin was when first opened. It is apparent to me that the flavour comes only from topping, not casing. The room note is not really that sweet, and it may well be made from virginia/burley leaf that is also used for cigarettes made by the same blender. This is clearly a tobacco for the everyday smoker who doesn't want anything too fancy and enjoys his nicotine. The leaf quality is so-so. That must make this a German drug-store blend?

The tin has a lovely piccie on the front, the tobacco itself is rather dry, being ribbon cut... you could probably roll it up in those little paper things people rave about.

Mind you, don't inspect the inside of the tin too closely, it'll knock you over - very rich smell of casing... not a problem for a Cherry Cavendish fiend like myself - I know I should grow up and join the big boys but the smoke drifts out under my door and the other students would get angry if I was smoking harsh Latakia!

I jammed a whole bunch of this stuff into a small cheapo lovat I've had for ages and took a match to it. Charring light was a piece of cake and I got through the whole bowl on about two more matches (I do smoke wet though - it's that lovely smell from the open tin!) Also the thin ribbon cut combined with a small bowled pipe made it burn rather on the warm side...

A light smoke, VERY nice room note, I'd smoke this in the morning so when you return in the evening there is a pleasant 'fuggy' smell in which to relax!

I probably won't buy it for a while, it takes a long time to cut through 50g of this although it is not a battle.