Tobacconist Reserve Ltd. Virginia Blend

The tangy, dark fruity, earthy, woody, lightly floral, bready, slightly spicy and sour matured red Virginias are the main component. They also sport a light vinegar essence that quickly fades away. There are specks of sugary, grassy, citrusy bright Virginia in the mix as well, as a very small amount of stoved Virginia. The latter provides a touch of stewed fruit, earth, wood and sugar. The strength is a couple of steps shy of medium, while the taste is almost medium. The nic-hit is just past the center of mild to medium. Won’t bite or get harsh, but has a light rough edge here and there. This crumble cake is very mildly moist, and easily broken apart to suit your packing preference. Burns cool, clean and slightly slow with a very consistent, mild to medium sweet flavor from start to finish. Leaves little dampness in the bowl, and requires a tad more than an average number of relights. Has a pleasant, short lived after taste and room note. Can be an all day smoke.

-JimInks

This tobacco is a product of Mac Baren / Sutliff. As such, the flakes are similar in dimension to other Mac Baren flakes, like Navy Flake, except they are roughly 4 times as thick -- about 1/4" or 6mm. This is typical of a crumble cake. While in flake form, the tobacco feels fairly dry, but once rubbed out, the tobacco is surprisingly moist. I prefer to dry most of my tobacco somewhat before smoking, but found this was ready to smoke straight from the tin.

The appearance is mottled with the majority of the tobacco being a rich, medium-dark brown. The tin note is quite grassy and reminds me of dry hay. Once rubbed out, few threads exceed 1/2". The original ribbon-cut, prior to pressing into cakes, appears to have been similar to the thickness of standard Mac Baren flakes, which I was classify as medium-fine. It did not crumble into dusty pieces, which sometimes makes crumble cakes a nuisance.

In my meerschaum pipe, I found it to be pleasantly tangy with nicely-balanced moderate Virginia sweetness. I detected no obvious flavoring. The natural flavor was remarkably consistent throughout the bowl. The grassy aroma in the tin was muted in the smoke, presenting more as a pleasant woody/nutty flavor , with little to no fruity flavors. Although it burned hot, it did not tend to bite. Few relights were required.

Overall, I enjoyed this tobacco. It lacks a distinctive character that would draw me to it time and time again, but I would be happy smoking this anytime. As such, it would not make a list of my favorite tobaccos, but it is quite pleasant.

I found a tin of this at a local cigar shop that normally doesn't carry tins of pipe tobacco. Had never heard of this blend before, but sounded good. Turns out it smokes good too.

Red Virginia is in the lead, with a sugary, yet tangy dark fruit note. Lighter Virginia provides some citrus & hay in support. Didn't overheat the bowl, and I don't recall having to relight a lot. No bite. Pleasant throughout the entire bowl.

I'm not sure how easy this would be to get now, as I don't see it available on any website I shop, but if I come across a tin of this again, I will definitely purchase more. Highly recommend if you find a tin.