House of Windsor Field & Stream

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.

I am currently hunting down the remaining Field & Stream, purchasing this beauty to savor, add life to bland blends, lift my spirit, dry out my nostrils. A little Field & Stream will flavor a pipe bowl for quite some time to come, so be careful. If you do not like black jelly-beans, stay away from this. I happen to love black jelly-beans. I also love anise/fennel. Onion, fennel, venison liver/heart, little salt and pepper..,who has it better? When fresh, yes it was pungent in aroma and did offer what I am reading from the younger smokers, "soap dish" flavor. Get a piece of paper. Lay out the Field & Stream on the sheet, and spread it with the flat of your palm as thin as you can get it to fit the paper size. Leave it alone, overnight. The next mid-morning, the heavy "soapy" flavor is tamed a bit. Casing of Anise, that's all. I've thrown more of this out over the years, and today regret every bit I discarded. I had an uncle who was a tanker and professional soldier. He told me that Field & Stream was one of the most sought after pipe tobaccos because it is one of the aromas you never smell in combat. It was a smell, of home. He always grabbed what I was chucking away. The flavor is Licorice. The room note, fantastic. When sipped, I love it. Too bad I had to wait for my tastebuds to mature. Smoke rolled through the nostrils will dry out the sinuses and each Spring, it is a staple in my pipes. Have any really bad tasting pipe tobacco? Simply place a good pinch in your palm, rub both hands together, and add the rubbed Field & Stream into your undesirable blend. It will truly make the unwanted mixture, very pleasant. I rate this at Three Stars. Another loss, since House of Windsor closed the business. Every time I smoke it, I think of Easter, Christmas Day, and the Beloved Ronald Reagan, who was a black jelly-bean lover; The simpler things, and simple times, we recall to memory every so often.

I had to try this for the same reason others did. It was a transport back to the past. Upon opening I was met with a soapy, flowery aroma which I found quite nauseating. Lighting up and smoking wasn't much better. So much for nostalgia and F&S.

I have to admit though, I do like the artwork on the tin!

I am sure your parents, like mine, always said if you don't have anything nice to say, don't say it. Well, I always assumed they were referring to people, not tobacco. I ordered a 2 ounce tin of this from Iwan Ries back in August of 06. I went on some sort of drugstore tobacco spree, trying out the old "classics". First impression of this tin was someone spilled Palmolive soap in this tin. Throwing caution into the wind, I packed it in a cob (no way I am taking chances in a briar) and proceeded to set fire.... I felt like Ralphie from "The Christmas Story" after dropping the "F" bomb. That is really all I remembered, was soap.

Now, July 2nd 2009, I decided to visit the tin again. I opened it up, and the contents were BONE dry, almost powder. The soap subsided, and once again, packed into a cob and lit her up. Not nearly as bad as the last episode, no more soap, and no tongue bite. Decent room note too! But the only reason I fail to rate this any higher is tobacco should be ready to smoke out of the package, not after two years of dry storage. It also leaves a funny cigarette ash feeling/taste in my mouth I do not care for.

I've been looking to try this tobacco for a long time, given that it is no longer available. Alas, House of Windsor is no more. I remember my father and grandfather smoking this when I was a child. I finally happened upon a lone 12 oz. tub of F&S in a tobacco store in Salem, MA and bought it immediately! Upon opening, I caught the distinct aroma of woods and flowers and noted that the tobacco itself was in rectangular chunks. Unusual. So I rubbed it out well and put it in my Bjarne pipe.

WOW! I was instantly transported back to riding with my family to New Hampshire with my dad smoking this in his bowl! There is a preliminary blast of floral sweetness that some have interpreted as "perfumy" but that soon settles down to a most unusual and original smoke. The secret to enjoying this mostly burley blend is rubbing it out well and smoking slowly. I do have a "match" from Altadis but its really no match. The room note gets compliments every time.

Try this if you can find it. And if you find it, please let me know if they have another tub/pouch/tin. I'll be looking for more!

If you took some black licorice and started a brush fire on your tongue.. thats what this is like! To hot for me.

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they shoul call it "field and SCREAM!!"

Man o man I loved this blend when it came in the big royal blue tub. It was such a chunky blend that reeked of licorice but in a good way. Burned cool and the room note was fantastic. Even the tub was so sturdy, nothing like todays tubs. Then came HOW version which was good too, different, smaller cut and different topping but still delicious. I have tried the Sutliff Great Outdoors and it is similar to the HOW offering but nowhere near the original F&S. I search Ebay monthly and never see an original tin and its heartbreaking but the HOW pops up time to time so I am content to buy that.

This is for MATCH field and stream from pipeandcigar.com. I cut this by a third with a fine Virginia blend to mellow out the licorice and maple notes and then dried it out to just shy of moist. The smoke was tasty leaving a good aftertaste on the palette. This is a SLOW smokers blend that stayed lit and burned to fine ash all the way to the last bit. It worked best with a narrow bowl and Cobs. It gets hot but not so much to bite the tounge if dried right. If you don't like black licorice or maple then this is not for you. If you don't like to blend it with some fine Virginia and dry it just right then move along. The curious flavor and easy smoking was good to me and my stash is marked for fishing, lol.

Found a 2 oz tin of this and jumped on it, as it is one of those old HOW blends that often produce hits. This one was mostly a walnut-brown colored crimp cut, close to a cube. Tin aroma was mostly licorice with a strong hint of mustiness.

Properly dried out, this is kind of a Mixture #79-lite blend. The perfuminess was diminished and the flavor was a relaxed kind of licorice/maple. Sounds weirder than it tasted. Sort of non-commital, but definitely preferable to moist out of the tin, where the taste was profoundly soapy. The best part about this one was the room aroma which all 3 of my kids described independently as like cookies. Indeed, there was a pleasant, homey sort of smell to it in the room. Nothing special, this one, but I didn't find it as bad as a lot of people. Worth a try if you can find it and you're curious about these old-timey OTC blends. For me, decent but not repeatable.

Smoked right out of a freshly opened tin it reminded me of dish soap and cheap perfume. There was an odor of anise that got lost somehow after I had lit up, and I hid the tin in the the corner of my basement. Several months later I came across it and decided to give it another go before I tossed it out. It had changed during that time, the soapy perfumely aromoa was gone and I could taste some anise. Unfortunalty I could also taste the maple which I personally did not care for.

This is a relatively highly flavored cube cut burly. Unlike many aromatics it is not doused with artificial moisteners, it is dry out of the can or pouch. It burns cool with no bite. Many reviewers have compared this to the much maligned Mixture 79, there are similarities but also critical differences. As with Mixture 79 at first light there is an initial explosion of flavor, but as the bowl progresses this fades and the burly comes to the front. Personally I find the flavor (most often described as licorice, which works for me) pleasant indeed. This blend will certainly ?ghost? a briar, which since I much enjoy the flavor is not a problem for this piper. I smoked this years ago when offered by Phillip Morris, and find the House of Windsor version to be faithful to its heritage. As I work through my stash will have to seek out one of the ?matches?.