Dan Tobacco Okapi

The pricier of some of Dan Tobacco's aromatics. I have to say this one fascinated me for a long time, until I finally got around to buying it.

The tin looks great with an Okapi gazing back at you from the jungle. The aroma from opening that tin was incredible. I mean this just blows you away and is up there with the likes of Larsens's Danish blends and Davidoff's Blue or Danish and, dare I say, it the king of aromatics, Firedance flake. It's smells like a school pudding : a hot toffee sponge with custard and dammit you don't know whether to eat it or set fire to it.

Unfortunately the smoking is a big disappointment. We all know that tin opening aromas only rarely come through in the smoke and this one happens to be one of the worst for this. There is only a faint tincture of what might have been, a ghost of toffee vanilla. It's only barely detectable and only on the first draw. The rest of the smoke is like sucking air.

Oh, and it's so dry, really dry. Ready rubbed flake it says, well I don't know about that, not that it matters as it doesn't really, but in this dustbowl of tobacco shards lie lumps, shavings and I swear what looks like pencil sharpenings. Even my best meer can't drag anything worthwhile from this one. It's going to be yet another long plod through this one that's for sure.

I can't recommend this blend except to the most sensitive of aromatic smokers or those with a vivid imagination.

I bought this weird tobacco browsing at Esterval shop in Germany. After a long order of VAs I went for this aromatic. Based on the description given into the site is made of mild Virginia. That enticed me. Moreover, it’s scented with rose and I love those florals like Ennerdale or other Lakeland. I bought a rather expensive 250gr pack (economy they say but costed me almost 58 bloody euros!). When I opened the pack it scented gorgeous: a whiff of vanilla, tangy and buttery blonde Virginia and a large amount of rose. Almost as an old cake made by my granny: my mouth weathered. The baccy wasn’t absolutely dry as the other Briar-Brother experienced. I would say quite the contrary: the right amount of humidity, maybe few minutes to dry out!? Could it be a different batch? I loaded a medium bowl old Pibe Dan (it’s like a classic suit, you’re never wrong) and started puffing. No bites unless you try to emulate a locomotive, very mild but needs several relights. The aroma is good but the first half is slightly overwhelmed by rose and vanilla: a bit too invasive. In the second half comes in the quality of Virginia sugars and is definitely better. From now and then that sweet aroma shows up again but is more tolerable. My tongue says there should be a touch of something else, hibiscus? At the end of the day, it isn’t a bad baccy but too light and too sweet for my taste. There is no similarity with any Lakeland (there is no match for them, always top-notch). It might be an all day smoker even for newcomers. No more in my rotation as soon as the big pack is over. Go for a try if you love pure aromatics with good quality tobacco.