House of Windsor Mapleton

Although HOW has several blends I enjoy, I really cannot say anything good about Mapleton. It burned hot, the taste reminded me of the time I tried eating some acorns, and I'm grateful I only smoked it in a corncob.

The one positive comment is I only had one small tin to deal with.

I really can't say anything good about this tobacco. I did not taste much rum or maple, just a bitterness while smoking, almost like biting into a bad walnut. (Or somekind of nut.) The room note was pleasant, I could detect a hint of maple. I probably will never buy this again, even if it became locally available.

Too expensive for what I consider an inferior smoke.

Not great. Had an idea of what this might taste like, and boy was I off. It had a very faint scent, drab appearance and burned hot and sporadically. If this is supposed to be a maple blend, it falls way short of that. Even if not, not worth the time or money.

Yet another HOW that came as a 'bonus' to a Pipe/Tobacco magazine subscription. Thank heaven I got my enjoyment from the magazine over the years because the HOW tobaccos are a distant unpleasant memory. Mapleton is supposed to be maple/rum flavored, neither of which I can say is sufficient to stand out in this blend. It smoked harsh, tasted poor, was dry in the can and soon was dealt with accordingly....I tossed it out. No more HOW blends for me, there are so many better blenders out there with premium tobacco, there's nothing premium in Mapleton.

This is the second disappointing tobacco that I have had from the House of Windsor. Truth be told, Mapleton in among the most disappointing tobaccos that I have ever smoked. Like other examples of House of Windsor's revivals of some classic American blends, I was highly anxious and even excited to try Mapleton: it was a Burley/Virginia, it was said to have a natural, old-world style casing and, depending on who you asked, it even had some Perique to make things interesting. It sounded like other blends that I have smoked and enjoyed for many years.

Once I did acquire a tin it was all downhill. Upon opening it the smell and appearance reminded me of nothing so much as a finely shredded grocery bag, though, at least, a clean and unused one. Lighting and smoking it left me with the same impression. Whatever light aromatic note was there quickly gave way to a hot blandness that left the tongue feeling thick and leathery after one pipefull. I can add nothing to the smoldering controversy as to whether this stuff has Perique in it or not, given that it really didn't taste like anything to other than hot smoke, perhaps like one would get from burning rags of straw. I am a relentless plodder when it comes to smoking any tobacco, no matter how much I may hate it, but Mapleton was one of the only tobaccos that I truly had trouble smoking all the way down. Worst of all, it was an aromatic that even those around me couldn't abide. My wife has tolerated a host of English blends and various concentrations of Perique for years. Mapleton, though, was a tobacco for which she had no patience. Even if I had smoked a pipe of it half an hour before, she would smell the stuff on me and her displeasure would be marked.

I like to save tobacco tins and keep them in my study as something of a reference of what I have been smoking in the past year, but I was even reluctant to keep the Mapleton tin around once the remainder odious tobacco it contained resided properly in the trash can.

I have really enjoyed other H.O.W. blends however this is one I just was not that impressed with. My sample was rather dry and seemed to me to be harsh. H.O.W. asked premium prices for their tobacco now and this is one that is not worth spending the money on in my opinion.

Review coming soon....6-27-05 Burns way to hot, must be the burley as my fine chap says, no taste whatsoever, but the tin was nice looking! Gave it a shot but no cigars! -MZMN-

The worst HOW tobacco I've tried. Smells like a gummy, haphazard melange of burley, Virginia, and some pedestrian topping. Annoying ribbon cut. Required frequent relights. Not pleasant in the tin or burning in my pipe. Why bother?

I never thought I would ever say this: too much Perique!!!!! Perhaps if I wasn't expecting a nice aromatic this wouldn't have hit so hard. I tasted no maple or rum- just burley with perique build up. IF you are enamored of Perique to the exclusion of all else, give this blend a try- you'll love it.