Savinelli Janus

Savinelli - Janus.

A truly splendacious blend; I love it!

The flakes appear rather compressed together. There's just one row, they're a little speckled in colour, have good hydration, and the Perique is easy to identify in the aroma. Filling up is as easy as from a loose kake; just pinch some and stuff it in!

At first the VaPer side takes the lead; fresh and sprightly Virginias with a touch of toast, yet sharp, slightly bitter, dark fruit sweet Perique. The Orientals make the blend quite inimitable, they detract from it being 'any old' smoke. Sure, they take until halfway to gain recognition (IMO), but when they join in the fragrance from them really brings a buoyancy to the smoke which elevates the pleasure! It burns at a fairly slow pace, giving a very cool, quite thick smoke which refrains from biting.

Nicotine: medium. Room-note: hmmm!

Janus? A resplendent smoke which easily deserves four stars:

Highly recommended.

Based upon the ingredients I was expecting something more along the lines of Cairo by GL Pease.. Nothing against Cairo, but I was very pleased to find something unique and more satisfying in Janus.. Instead of being another bright virginia based blend this one has quite a bit of funk to it.. More of an earthy barnyard funk that must have something to do with the ratio of oriental and perique.. I find it quite satisfying and a lot bigger in flavor than I had anticipated.. The oriental sort of builds throughout the smoke and is assisted by the perique.. The perique, while not overwhelming certainly contributes a lot to the overall flavor.. It certainly sits on the sour side of the spectrum which I find quite pleasant as the bright virginia has the sweetness to balance it out.. Not a strong nic blend but when you have enough flavor like this does it can still hold up as an evening smoke just fine.. I like it quite a bit.. Should age very well.

Of Savinelli’s most recent offerings, Janus sounded best to me, and I have not been disappointed with it. In the tin are what appears to be a stack of “perfect moisture” cut flakes lying on its side. Colors range from light-red-ish to medium dark brown. Tin note is woody, grassy, earthy, moldering meadow grasses, dates, and mulch. There seems to be some sort of very mild topping that I can’t quite draw a bead on. I like to take a few chunky “ribbons” out to dry a little, then I bundle them and stuff them into the same pipe I prefer for Savinelli’s 140, C&D’s Sansepolcro, and Warped/C&D’s The Red Hunt. Janus handles, loads, lights and smokes down very well, with plenty of (though not copious) smoke. I would say the dominant leaf is Oriental, with the odd twist that Janus smokes slowly, unlike most Oriental tobacco. This is a very fragrant treat for Oriental lovers, and the pale VAs are well met, fragrant and meadow grassy, with the Perique deepening the tastes and smells with musty dates and some plummy effects in addition to its own savory spices. The lot is both sweet and sour. Not sure where the floral effect comes from, but it’s nice. This is a complex blend that is balanced enough to be a no-brainer, and I can pull hard if I want to, or I can slow down for more ethereal side notes. Strength is medium, with not much in the way of nicotine. Tastes are over medium the way I smoke it. Room note is better than tolerable, and I suppose this owes at least partly to the elusive topping. Aftertaste is a nice, long trailing off of the best of the smoke, sweeter and sweeter as time passes.

If I have to deal with the allusion, the two faces of Janus here are sweet and sour; but there’s more to be had, and the lot stacks up to 4 stars, IMO.

An absolute winner, see JimInks above for comprehensive taste notes, but would and will buy again, and perhaps recommend new pipers interested in fairly complex but not overly so blends. Great all day smoke.

1/15/2022

I just took my cellared jar of Janus out after a year or so resting. The time in the jar has helped to bring the flavors out and at the same time made it taste much more consistent from beginning to end of bowl. There is some background sweetness, but the perique and orientals now are evident during the entire smoke.

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6/11/2020

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I received a tin of Janus with a recent Sav pipe purchase from Smokingpipes.com I picked the Janus as I thought the oriental/perique additions sounded the most interesting.

Upon opening there was a large block of flake comprised of a variety of different tobaccos as expected from the tin description. The moisture level of the flakes seemed ok, so I did not dry out and used a rub out technique on the first few bowls. After a charring light, the tobacco took well as burned at a very slow rate.

The taste to me was led by the orientals in each of the bowls and across several pipes. The VA was held in the background but there was a sweetness that would drift in and out of the smoke. I didn't get much from the perique unless it was mixing with the Orientals in the spices.

No bite, no overpowering nicotine wise, slow burning. An enjoyable smoke and I wonder as the tin ages (or is jarred) if the components will blend together to a greater level and improve even more.

I'd rate this 3.5 stars, its not the best thing ever, but I'd smoke more of it given the chance.

Tin note of sour, spices, and mildly sweet. The reddish-brown broken flakes have a little tan and dark brown mixed in. It rubs out easily and needs no dry time. Burns slow with a few relights. The strength is medium and nic is medium. No flavoring detected. Taste is medium to full and consistent, with notes of tart citrus, spicy, sweet grassy hay, bread, sugary lemon, dry earth, very woody, floral, a lot of herbal spice, mild raisin, mild sour plum, a mild consistent sweet background note, and a moderately peppery retro. Virginias leads, Orientals support, and Perique filling in when needed. Room note is pleasant to tolerable, and aftertaste is great.

Basically a VaPer with gently sweet undertones, braced by a gamey, musty Oriental mix that sets it apart. There are spice-like flavors (sensations), but they aren't prominent enough to characterize this as a spicy blend. Great mouth feel and smoke volume (I pack it fully rubbed-out).