Watch City Cigar Simply Orange Virginia

Full disclosure: I had an advisory hand in this blend. The first run was designed especially for The Society of English Pipe Collectors. Several grades of fermented light to darker orange Virginias with a dash of reds produce a wealth of zesty, tingly tart and tangy citrus, sugar, bread, some tangy darker fruit, earth, wood, mild floralness, grass, spice, and light sour lemon with a touch of acidity and a small hint of wine-like vinegar. That last aspect comes from the processing of the tobacco as there is no topping on this product. Has an attractive little sparkle note, too. The strength and nic-hit are a couple of steps past the center of mild to medium. The taste is a tad more potent, but doesn’t quite meet the medium threshold. It won’t bite or get harsh. Has a few minute rough notes. Burns cool and clean at a moderate pace with a very consistent flavor. Has a short lived pleasant after taste, and room note. Barely leaves any dampness in the bowl, and requires few relights. An all day smoke that should age exceptionally well. Four stars out of four.

-JimInks

Very nice. I tried it fresh; I normally age VAs before I smoke them, but I was curious. It is lighter in color then Simply Red, hence the name, although it has some red in the ribbon cut. I get a nice, sweet taste, some bread, some grass. I did not find the vinegar JimInks talks about, but it is tangy. I get a lemon/citrus taste particularly in the first 1/3 of the bowl, It, but I think it is rounded out nicely, and should age well. Enthusiastic thumbs up.

A friend gave me a 3-bowl sample of this and I enjoyed it. It has a very nice level of sweetness and is quite easy to smoke, particularly for a straight Virginia. It is a little weak in nicotine content for my preferences, but that is about the only negative I could conger up. In terms of the sweetness, this leans more to the earthy than to the hay; and has a light touch of citrus. Its tasty for sure.

This could be a four-star blend, but my sample did not allow me to spend enough time with it. If I were still buying tobacco, I would definitely buy more of this to further explore, so I do recommend it.

I got an ounce of this in a VA sampler pack from Watch City Cigar back in April. I’m a big fan of Flake 558, so I was optimistic. After going through that ounce of Simply Orange, I don’t care for it. Changing up my smoking cadence every way I knew how, I just couldn’t seem to coax a flavor from it I found enjoyable. I have no problem with one-dimensional blends, straight VA or otherwise, provided that dimension is good. Here, my palate continually registered little more than burning tobacco. Incidentally, feedback from others on the room note were consistently negative. One person, before she spotted my pipe, thought the room had caught on fire. I have an enormous amount of respect for and confidence in both Jiminks and WCC, so I’m adding a second star under the notion that I don’t truly understand what I am tasting.

Cheers!