Ken Byron Ventures Moriarty 2020

So, I’m only the second person to review this blend, after JimInks. That’s a hard act to follow. But here goes nothing. This tobacco isn’t anywhere near as complex as his review. Not only is it not complex, it’s generic and boring to the point of Captain Black. When I received this in the foil bag, it was sopping wet. After one bowl, I set it away for 5 months in its original packaging. Today I pulled out the bag and packed a bowl in my 673. The bag note was wonderful. The tobacco was at perfect moisture. The bowl burned flawless with great smoke output, few relights and the pipe stayed dry. That’s where the good ends, and the meh begins. The Latakia in this is very, very soft, and only leaves you with a slightly smoky aftertaste at best. Which is odd, because the tobacco is almost all black. The only other leaf detectable is a very basic burley and Virginia taste that most pipe smokers would relate to an OTC or inexpensive aromatic tobacco. The topping, after 5 months in the bag, was not offensive. It was not sugar sweet, and leaned more towards herbal and mild flowers. The room note was probably this blends best quality. Who knows. Maybe that’s what the blender was aiming for. The problem with the Ken Byron blends (in my humble opinion), is that they list a wonderful and exotic combination of tobaccos in their description, and the taste just doesn’t deliver. I love his packaging and the jar labels. The flat cost including shipping is really easy. But the experience I have had when it comes to Ken Byron is that his blends end up muddled and washed out. His product is marketed as ‘exotic’ aromatics, but they really just end up being big disappointments.