Seattle Pipe Club Hogshead

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.