Cobblestone Plum Rum

The bright Virginias offer a fair amount of tart and tangy citrus, grass, bread, some sugar, honey, floralness, mild sour lemon, and a pinch or two of spice as the lead components. The nutty, earthy, woody, toasty burley provides strong competitive support. The toasty brown sugary black cavendish is a flavor holder for the aged, sweet and lightly spicy plum and rum toppings which moderately tone down the tobaccos. The Cyprian Latakia produces a little smoke, earth, wood, herbs, vegetation, floralness, and very light spice. It’s a step and a half above the condiment line though at times, it is a condiment. The strength and nic-hit are a couple of rungs past the mild mark. The taste is a notch past the center of mild to medium. This easily broken apart crumble cake is mildly moist, and doesn’t need dry time. Well balanced with a little complexity, it burns cool, clean and a tad slow with a mostly consistent sweet, fruity, nutty, mildly smoky, floral, lightly spicy flavor that extends to the short lived, pleasant after taste. Has a pleasant room note. Leaves little dampness in the bowl, and requires a few more than an average number of relights. An all day comfortable smoke. Three and a half stars.

-JimInks

Cobblestone - Plum Rum.

There's a few slices of kake, it isn't a single block. The aroma's plummy, also a little sharp. My pieces crumble easily, then the rubbed-out tobacco has a good amount of hydration for immediate smoking.

The smoke? Fairly decadent. The tobaccos give mostly a VaBur flavour; fresh Virginia, coarse Burley. The black Cavendish, being sweet, compliments the toppings beautifully. The Latakia requires a very diligent palate to identify. There's a touch of smokiness, but this is way down in the mix. The added flavour? To me, the amalgamation of plum rum, and added sweet/sugar, causes a flavour reminiscent of plum jam. From the rum there isn't too much of a sharp, alcoholic note, but plenty of the rum-molasses; with the addition of plum this causes a rather ''jammy'' top-flavour. It burns steadily, generating a low temperature smoke. I've had no bite from it.

Nicotine: maybe above mild. Room-note: lovely.

Plum Rum? A winner! Highly recommended:

Four stars.

This is a nicely balanced aromatic with a smoky side that should appeal both to aromatic smokers and those who like a lighter Latakia blend. Its actually a very pleasant and easily enjoyed blend that could be smoked all day or reserved for a nice change up. It’s a bit of a tossup as to which leaf takes the lead as the burley and Virginias sort of swap roles as you smoke. For the burley it is adding a nice earthy and woody taste with the nuttiness we expect of a good burley. It also makes a nice amount of smoke and gives the blend a nice full mouth feel that makes decent smoke rings if you are so inclined. The Virginia’s are of the bright variety and add a bright taste of citrusy lemony, some sweetness and bread as well. The well prepared Black Cavendish carries its own natural brown sugar taste while carrying the toppings. Neither the rum nor the plum flavorings are overly applied and enhance the overall flavor with out overly blocking the taste of the quality tobaccos. Up until this point it would likely have made a decent but not overly interesting aromatic but by adding a fair amount of Cyprian Latakia it becomes more complex and interesting. Enough is used to give you the classic smoky, herbal, woody and lightly spicy you expect, not too much but enough so you know it’s there to be enjoyed.

Strength wise it’s on the mild side of medium as is the impact of the flavoring, just enough to add a nice note. Nicotine is about the same mild to medium. It’s been pressed into a easily broken up crumble cake that burns pretty consistently and leaves little moisture. It doesn’t seem to have any harshness and smokes cool with some complexity especially if smoked slow and in a broader bowl. It’s a nice mix of sweet smokiness with that plummy flavor and hint of rum coming along with some nuttiness and and occasional spice note. Overall it’s an easy to smoke enjoyable blend that has a pleasant taste and seems to have a similar room note. Not quite a four star blend for me, but certainly one I shall repeat as long as it lasts as unfortunately it is limited and once gone, it’s gone but I encourage both aromatic and English smokers to give it a try.

Dave da Dragon

Tin note of plum liquor, sweet smoky and sour. Tobacco is a Krumble Kake of marbled reddish brown and dark brown. Moisture content is good, few pipe smokers will want to dry it a bit after rubbing it out. Burns slow with a few relights. The strength is mild to medium and nic is mild. Flavoring is medium, with notes of sugar, rum and plums. The rum was hard to detect, and very mild. The plum was a flash of flavor at the beginning and dropped to the background. The brown sugar was evident throughout the smoke. Taste is medium and mostly consistent, with notes of plum, spices, sugar, nuts, tangy citrus, floral, musty vegetation, wood, toast, rich earth, sweet grass, savory, dry mild herbs, mildly vinegary, spicy, orange peel, a stewed spiced dark fruit background note, and a peppery retro. Virginia is leading most of the time with Burley, Flavoring and Cavendish supporting. Latakia is providing backup. Room note is tolerable, and aftertaste is great.