Imperial Tobacco Group, PLC Scaferlati Superior

A friend gave me a packet of this tobacco - as smoked, I'm told, by Inspector Maigret, of whom I'm an admirer (though I notice that Georges Simenon himself, who made a sort of second career of pipe smoking, liked Dunhill Royal Yacht).

Maigret or no Maigret, I have to admit that this is not my kind of thing at all. I'm not all that fussy, and I don't like fancy "boutique" tobaccos, but this is in a class of its own. It's as rough as a badger's ear and completely without frills or pretension: rather like smoking one of those infamous French cigarettes in a pipe. I'm inclined to recommend it somewhat because, for what it is - a rough-and-ready, cheap-and-cheerful "peasant" tobacco - it's a classic, and if you like that kind of thing you'll like this. It comes rather dry in its paper package, and burns away quickly. It doesn't bite you, and it isn't as strong as you might expect, but it certainly isn't for the fastidious palate.

I think French intellectuals of the Sartre/Camus era smoked stuff like this as a matter of principle. It was an experience worth having, but I won't be repeating it. If you like roughing it occasionally, have a go. The room note won't win you any friends.