Tobaccos Seattle Pipe Club - Hogshead (Signature Series)

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	JimInks (3019)	2022-05-15		Medium	None Detected	Medium to Full	Pleasant

The ten year old African and Brazilian orange and red Virginias are the lead components. There’s a little lightly cased American bright Virginia in the mix as well. All of them combine to create a lot of tart and tangy, tingly citrus, bread, earth, wood, grass, vegetation, a moderate amount of tangy dark fruit, sugar, floralness, fermentation, stewed citrus, mild sour lemon, light spice and vinegar notes, and a small hint of smoke. The strength and nic-hit are medium. The taste level is a notch more potent. There’s no chance of bite or harshness. Has a few small rough edges which is typical of a straight Virginia blend with no topping. The plug is fairly dense, but it doesn’t take much to break it apart or slice off what you want. It’s mildly moist, and requires no dry time. Burns cool, clean, and a tad slow. With a punchy depth of body that includes a few floral, spice and smoke notes to accent the fermented fruity sweet Virginia flavor, Hogshead offers an old-world Empire leaf style experience that extends to the lightly lingering, pleasant after taste. The room note is pleasant, too. Leaves little dampness in the bowl, and requires a few more than an average number of relights. Can be an all day smoke. Four stars out of four.

-JimInks

31 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Ryan Nolte (8)	2022-08-01		Medium to Strong	None Detected	Full	Tolerable

As my staple is straight Virginia I promptly ordered what I thought was 8 ounces (4 tins). In my haste I overlooked these are 4 ounce tins so I was really hoping to enjoy the blend.

It is a masterfully blended full flavored Virginia. Very earthy and leathery with a background of mild sweetness. Just a dash of spiciness. Aroma is heavenly to the seasoned Virginia smoker. Easily an all day, every day smoke for the pure Virginia lovers out there. Nic-hit is perfect for my tastes.

The bowl starts out a bit wild with many different flavors vying for attention in succession, but about a quarter of the way through it stabilizes into an old school, intense-tasting, rich Virginia. I am glad I overlooked the tin size. This one will likely be in the permanent rotation as long as I am able to keep it in stock.

Update: This blend has made it into my top 10 of all time. Delicious Virginia. Highly recommended. Reminds me of when I was a young man smoking aged high quality Virginias.

11 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Tomcat (212)	2022-08-04		Medium	None Detected	Medium	Unnoticeable

SPC Hogshead- I am glad i finally decided to try this .A very flavorful Virginia blend that changes a lot working down the bowl in a good way . It runs the whole spectrum of flavor you get with a good Virginia blend . Bread , floral , spice , tang , malt . Caramel , Citrus. Highly recommended. 4 Edit 08/16/ 22 - I just want to add how great this tobacco is . Impeccable burning , delicious tobacco I have been smoking every day and twice on Sundays . 3 more tins on the way . 👍

9 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Dave da Dragon (22)	2022-11-01		Medium	None Detected	Medium to Full	Pleasant

A great Virginia blend for an old hat and a new smoker!!!

If you are an experienced Virginia smoker you will appreciate this blend for what it is, an excellent smoke. The mix of 10 year aged orange and red Virginia due to their obvious initial quality and curing and their age offer a smooth, mature Virginia smoking experience. As if you had bought it fresh 8 or more years ago. I am sure the pressing also plays into the melding and mellowing as it to can mimic age. Its a smooth and tasty blend with some initial muddle of flavor but once the cherry spreads and the bowl warms the flavor starts to expand and the true flavors come through. I get an earthy base, a touch leathery a taste I didn’t expect, some natural sweetness of quality grassy taste, a touch of citrus as well as vinegar. I get some deeper darker fruitiness like prunes, raisins and black cherries along with that sort fermentation taste that comes with age. I also get almost the taste of a nicely toasted marshmallow, a mix of caramel and the sweetness somehow generates it just now and then. It’s sweet and mellow and rich and delicious and any experienced Virginia smoker is likely to enjoy sipping it. For a new to Virginia smoker it’s also a great one as it is not prone to bite or get hot if pushed a bit hard, Virginia’s are best smoked cool and sipped or they can get hot and cause tongue bite as well as just not tasting their best. I learned that lesson the hard way. Also it generates a bit denser smoke and mouth feel than most straight Virginia so you are less likely to huff and puff to get a mouthful of smoke.

The strength and nicotine levels are midstream and the flavor level is a solid step up into medium strong…or maybe medium rich would be more appropriate. Preparation is pretty easy as the plug actually pulls apart fairly well with a little effort. Moisture is about right but drying it a bit does bring out some of the more subtle notes like a light spice and bread, also it lights well and stays lit nicely with a few relights. Nice after taste and room note. For a Virginia smoker it can easily be an all day smoke.

4 stars for sure

Pipe Used: Several

Age When Smoked: Fresh

Purchased From: Tobacco Pipes

4 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Mijnnif (126)	2022-10-17		Medium to Strong	None Detected	Medium to Full	Pleasant

Tin note is sweet citrus and fermented figs. the plug has just the correct moisture content for smoking without any drying time required. Cut a piece and it rubs out very easily. This one starts a bit harsh but smooths out once you are past the first few minutes. I find this in many un-topped Virginia blends. Patience is rewarded. A slow cadence is important to remember for the first half of the bowl. Lots of flavors going on, citrus sweet and sour, grass, hay, and some lite fermented plum, fig notes even a slight bit of spice. This is defiantly a full flavored complex blend. Burns a bit warm. I suggest a thick walled bowl. A lot will be lost if you puff this one too hard. This tobacco gets much richer/smoother and more full flavored as you progress though the bowl. nic hit is medium. needs a few relights. 4 solid stars

Pipe Used: Savinelli Brier

Age When Smoked: 2 months old

Purchased From: Smoking pipes

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Kuzuri44 (13)	2022-09-27		Medium	None Detected	Medium to Full	Pleasant to Tolerable

A Virginia that fulfills a unique niche. Earthy, full bodied and yet it doesn’t lack to meet the normal expectations of virginias. What is more is the carefully crafted balance and age to the leaf. Delicious, relaxing and certainly an all day smoke.

Pipe Used: LCS pipe

Age When Smoked: New

Purchased From: Smokingpipes

Similar Blends: Capstan, FVF.

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	JaWiBr (433)	2022-10-23		Mild to Medium	None Detected	Full	Pleasant

Tin note is sweet, figs and hay. The plug is easy to break apart and rub out, more like a cake. Maybe a little wet, burns slow, requires multiple relights. The strength is medium at most, Nic is mild to medium. No flavor detected; taste is full. Taste is consistent throughout, mostly a caramelized sweetness and tart fruit and mildly spicy. Room note is pleasant and after taste is nice. 3 stars

Pipe Used: 2015 XX Ashton Sovereign Prince

Age When Smoked: 1 month

Purchased From: Cup O' Joes

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Greybeard (62)	2023-02-16		Medium	None Detected	Medium to Full	Pleasant

Awesome smoke. Virginia is in the lead....and in the background....and in the middle. Tin note is wonderful. I think it's smokable out of the tin, but I do give in 10 minutes or so of air time first.

The Virginia's are sweet, tangy, citrus, with a sugary, plummy, dark fruit taste. Hint of bready, sweet-hay as well. No bite, and normal amount relights. Enjoyable until the very last puff. Highly recommended.

Pipe Used: Savinelli Caramella & Savinelli Tundra

Age When Smoked: 6 months

Purchased From: Governor's cigar lounge (Columbus OH)

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Rmsva (16)	2022-09-20		Medium	None Detected	Mild	Tolerable

This was a disappointment. It smells great and looks great But beyond the first few puffs the flavor disappears. On a bigger bowl it returns in the end as an acrid bitter note. I’ve smoked it a few times in a different bowls to see if I could get what others are getting but… nope.

Pipe Used: SMS, Peterson Xmas Hudson. Savinelli 320.

Age When Smoked: Fresh

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Quiggifur (84)	2023-02-26		Medium	None Detected	Full	Tolerable

Tin note: deeply aromatic dark fruits. Smoke: First a disclaimer, I'm feeling a little under the weather and I'm not sure my taste/sense of smell is entirely accurate. That said, I'm getting hardly any fruit in the smoke, but I am getting a ton of toasted bready, grassy, what I might describe as quintessential tobacco essence. Maybe leather. The second hand smoke is fairly harsh and unpleasant, might say cigar-like. The taste is very good, outstanding even for what it is, and if I were smoking outside I think the experience may have been greatly improved. That said, to my taste, I'd like to see more fruit or floral essence in the flavor profile at the very least. There's no sweetness either, which may be preferable considering what this is, but I do prefer some sweetness in my tobacco generally speaking. I get many similar flavors out of late-bowl G&H dark aromatic, Kendal flake, and Warhorse Bar for example, and I think overall I'd prefer to smoke those instead. As-is, this is easily a solid 3+ stars. I'll have to revisit this in the future to see if I detect any differences, and update accordingly.

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