House of Windsor Field & Stream

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 '.

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.

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 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.

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!!"

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.

I am hesitant to throw in my 2 cents worth for a tobacco I don't like, but I guess I'll kick a man while he's down. Little chunks of tobacco reminding me of the texture of Edgeworth Ready Rub, smells like soapy perfume, tastes the same. A bit of tongue bite as well. I love the tin art though, and I recognize that this may be an acquired taste. I wonder if this would be better in a pipe well caked with only this tobacco? I will never know. I love old school stuff though, which is why it's hard for me to do this review without feeling like I just yelled at an old man in front of his wife. If you like Mixture 79 this would be a nice addition to your rotation.