House of Windsor Field & Stream

Continuing my recent trek down memory lane, the latest stop was with Field & Stream. As OSR mentioned, William Serad recently reviewed these House of Windsor blends in P&T magazine. Like Sir William, I did not taste licorice as I smoked a few pipefuls of F&S. Unlike Sir William, I found F&S to be ordinary although I agree it is unique. Typical of most "less expensive" Burley blends, this one got a tad bitter as I completed the bowl. Though an aromatic, it never tasted particularly sweet either. I appreciated the true tobacco taste and heavier than normal nicotine content.

The pouch contained leaf just as OSR described, and I'll add that mine was quite dry. The blend also smoked on the warm side, which is unusual for a Burley. Hope I don't wake up with tongue bite!

I doubt I'll finish the pouch because this one didn't ring my chimes. I will enjoy another bowl or two before moving on. I will not, however, be smoking it to the bitter end!

This blend was fairly soapy and even more perfumy with an anise/licorice topping. While it lingered to the end, it became less intense by the half way point, and a nutty, earthy, woody burley became more prominent, though still fairly sublimated. I barely noticed the black and gold cavendish outside of hints of vanilla, grass, tart citrus, and sugar. The Virginia notes were few and far between, except for a little grassiness and tart and tangy citrus. There was a slight maple flavor here, too. The strength and taste levels were medium. The nic-hit was a couple of steps past the mild mark. Fast puffing could produce a light harshness. Burned pretty warm and rough at a moderate pace. Left little moisture in the bowl, and required an average number of relights. Because it fell just short of the tongue bite stage, sipping it produced better results. Had a decent after taste, a pungent room note, and was not quite an all day smoke.

-JimInks

What a delightful surprise!!

A problem I (meaning my tongue) have with many of the American "drug store" blends is the cut of the tobacco. Wee flakes which burn quite rapidly leaving me often liking the flavour but unable to withstand the heat. And I'm sure that the sensation isn't helped by whatever chemicals are often added for moisture control and taste.

I'm presuming that this is a fairly long-standing problem which lead to the profusion of system and filter pipes in the bygone days.

Such measures are not needed for Field and Stream.

The tobacco is presented in a rather unique cut, I betray my inexperience by being unable to name it; perhaps "cube cut" would do, although there are a profusion of the little flakes. The taste of the tobacco is there, not overwhelming, but not shy either. The aromatic additive is quite like the one applied to Mixture 79. If you like Mixture 79 but had found it to be too hot to handle, here's your answer.

I believe I'll be stepping up from the 39 gram package (Shame about that! It really should be 1 1/2 ounces!) to the "bucket" size. I really am quite happy I gave this one a try!

I remember this stuff from the '70's, tasted odd, sort of like it might be GOOD for you ! ! Because it reminded me of a Cough Medicine !! The Licorice/Anise smell-taste is there to a degree, but this pipe tobacco always sent my tongue " out to pasture " every time I tried to get along with it. I recall trying mixing it up with ' Sugar Barrel ' and got absolutely/positively NOWHERE !! !! I think my next stop after this was ' Borkum Riff ' or maybe ' Amphora '.

The tub aroma hints strongly at licorice with herbal background notes. The cut is a well-fabricated, coarse, crimp-cut burley cavendish with a minimal amount of residual fines. The coarse chunks are probably best broken in order to facilitate burning and ensure proper airflow.

This is a pure burley blend which is heavy on the licorice and flavored with maple syrup, presumably. Herbal extracts lend a fresh, clean impression. The burley is of very good quality: smooth, rich, and husky.

Field & Stream is an excellent blend which is made all the more ingratiating by the flavorsome additives. This will quickly ghost a briar and was best in a narrow gauge chamber.

They should change the name to TRASH AND SINK. I think I may have smokes 2 pipefulls, before dumping it (not into the stream, since I wouldn't be so cruel to the fish).

I have not said enough bad words as a child to aquire a taste for SOAP! I don't want to smoke it as an adult. I refuse to "aquire" a taste for something to "fit in" (been there, done that). If I wanted to smoke soap, I would take up crack and buy it from my nutty neighbor.

This re-issue from House of Windsor is very welcome to this old-timer. The dryness was ideal for me, and the pipe stays lit very,very well. My daughter and her children came into my den and she says "that smells nice, you should smoke it more often!"

After a charring light and then lighting it fully, it burned evenly to the bottom of the bowl with no re-light. No bite and very good taste. Try it!!

Frankly, I don't understand the hate for this. If you like Lakeland tobacco and other strong flavors F & S is not so strange. I really like anise/licorice and maybe that's the reason I enjoy this tobacco. It reminds me of Avanti cigars, which are another favorite of mine. This has become my usual "fishing smoke," and I bought a few tins right after it went out of production. I find the licorice and maple flavorings delicious, and while not a complex smoke by any means it is a great outdoor tobacco due to its partial cube cut and refreshing taste. If you don't like licorice or highly flavored aromatics stay away from F & S; if you want to enjoy a great old classic I recommend this one.

I bought a can of this stuff because some one had told me it was Gerald Fords favorite tobacco and I thought, "if its good enough for a president"; I was wrong there are presidents who do not have a taste for a good smoke. I thought that it might have been the worst stuff that I ever had; not trying to be a wise guy, I just didn't like the tobacco. I normally don't smoke aromatics but even so it was a very unpleasant experience. Guess that is why there is chocolate and vanilla. Sorry Gerry

One of the things I like about aromatic tobaccos is that they take me on a trip down memory lane. They say that smell is the strongest trigger of memory. In the case of this tobacco I certainly found that to be the case, though I can't say it was a great memory trip. The pouch aroma of the blend is quite pleasant. The color of the tobacco ranges from a golden brown to a deep brown, though the overall look is pretty consistent. In appearance, the tobacco is somewhere between a cube cut and a rubbed out cube cut. Though I found my sample to be slightly dry, it was not overly so, and packs nicely into a pipe. The first memories brought up by the blend hit me with the charring light, and remained as I got into the smoke. I was taken back to my days in college, when I had a roommate who almost constantly burned incense. The taste I was hit with was exactly what I would have expected his incense to taste like. And I asked him to not burn the stuff when I was in the building. Not the room, anywhere in the building. A second memory came to me deeper into the bowl, taking me back further into my childhood. It was the memory of the smell of the plastic that the old G. I. Joe's were made of. Again, what I tasted seemed like what that plastic probably would have tasted like. And then I thought of an album I had, vinyl, of course, which would have fit the tobacco – Frank Zappa's "Weasels Ripped My Flesh." Except, of course, I liked the album. By the end of the bowl the flavor was becoming acrid, as some aromatics are prone to doing. I am a great admirer of William Serad, and both envy his job and admire his ability to review tobaccos. However, if memory serves he spoke reasonably well of this blend. I wish I could agree with him. House of Windsor deserves our support, and this blend has some fans. Unfortunately, for me it simply doesn't work.