Ashton Original Oldchurch

Tried this one in my quest for that one mild blend I can smoke once in a while for a "rest" while still maintaining a bit of intrigue and aura. This blend has a nice, sweet, spicy aroma out of the can, and has a reddish appearance which would indicate that the virginias will dominate. Once you light up, that changes quickly and the smoke quickly becomes a black cavendish spiced up with a bit of virginia that comes through early on (unfortunately during the hottest smoking stage) and then settles into an uncomplicated sweet smoke to the end of the bowl. Out of the can, it smokes fairly dry, but what you don't smoke will leave your pipe very wet, which if you like heavily aromatics, is just going to be fact of life. It's a nice smoke, and has no real vices, but the black cavendish type aroma dominates too much for me and I can see myself adding some Mississippi Mud to it to spice it up a bit to finish the can. Others who like sweet tobaccos will find this worth a try, if you like black cavendish/vanilla with a slight extra.

Good aromatic blend here. This tobacco is tasty and mild,and I slowed the puffing down and was not bit at all. I actually could taste the Virginia cavendish along with the nice casing. The backy does come a little moist, but packs well,and people who hate tobacco smoke will want you to smoke this around them.It's a simple aromatic with a rounded taste that stays the same down the bowl.

This review is my first, so I am going to keep it simple. I opened the tin about 3 months ago and had a bowl and wasnt impressed so I put the cover on and put it in the cabinet. After awhile I found myself looking for something without Perique, or Burley, that wouldnt give me a nicotine buzz. So I pulled out the Old Church to give it another try. The tobacco loaded easily into my pipe, the aroma was nice and mild and the tobacco lit like a charm. I puffed it all the way down with out any bite(I am a puffer)I didn't get any gurgles, or problems with burning.(that alone makes it 5 stars).I enjoyed a mild full smoke.(I love lotsa smoke) Although mild it left me satisfied that I had had a real nice SMOKE! No buzz either.If your looking to try an aromatic that is not sickly sweet or tastes of flowers give this one a try. I finished that tin in a week, record for me.

I don't typically smoke aromatics and in fact look down on those who do with scorn and contempt. How dare you put that sugary crap in a good pipe? At least most people who smoke this kind of thing do so in a cheap pipe. That being said, I have tried to find an aromatic that I could live with for those occasions when I smoke around others. This aromatic suits that purpose just fine. It has a pleasant aroma to most people and is not overwhelmingly juicy or sweet. While I would never smoke this at home in my easy chair, preferring Virginias or Latakias, this is OK to smoke around others. I have two of my least favorite pipes dedicated to this.

This is one I would not smoke again. Very boring and burned a bit hot for me. It had no taste or presence to my palet. There just was nothing to it.

I was anxious to try this brand after reading William Serad's review in Pipes and Tobacco. Alas! This blend proves he is not the Samuel Johnson of tobacco reviewing. The blend packs and lights OK, but it burns hot, has little flavor, and produces a mere wafting of smoke. I suspect Mr. Serad might say this has the subtlety of angel's wings: I can only reply that angel's wings, when smoked, are boring, underwhelming, and bitey.