W.O. Larsen Classic

I know that Orlik makes Larsen so they must have messed things up with this one...

This blend is more of a SKANDINAVIK REGULAR with something else..!

Its not bad at all but not worthy of holding the LARSEN name on it..!

It is probably too early to comment on this. Anyhow, my ratings are meant to be interpreted as "nothing special".

Perhaps it will improve if I let it stand and breathe somewhat...

This tabacco is no doubt a quality one, very aromatic. Though being highly aromatic could not be a prove of quality, the good balance in mouth and the elegant expression of a series of vanilla, toasted hazelnuts, creaminess, smoked pine-cedar wood notes could be a remark of the term "classic".

I suggest to have this tobacco smoked at a lower temperature and a slower pace in order to experience the complexity. I've felt that a more compact filling could enhance the strength in the mouth, but the layers of the flavoring might not be unfolded in a whole-scale way as when lightly-and-slowly burned. This tobacco requires careful smoking. Its nuances could easily be ignored, wasted, or even destroyed when we taste it without care. Sit down and enjoy it, that is a way to enjoy and show respect to a delicate tobacco like this.

This tobacco could receive negative comments such as being too creamy or too weak. However, it shows rather good quality when judged from a more or less objective point of view.

A member of the Larsen?s ?fancy tin club?, I bought Classic because amongst its ingredients it purports to use tobaccos from Mexico. Though in Mexico there are a number of regions in which the climate, soil, sunshine hours, and humidity conditions are similar to some of the best tobacco growing regions inthe world (including Cuba), none of the local pipe tobacco blends remotely taste like anything you would like to smoke more than once. So I decided to give Classic a try, to see how well the native leaf fared under Scandinavian blending techniques.

Needless to say, this is a top quality blend, contrasting both in structure and leaf colour, with an elegant and gentle aroma, IMO reminiscent of dried fruits with a touch of figs and dark, unsweetened chocolate. Not too moist, it is easy to pack as it is from the tin. Neither cool nor hot, it smokes fairly well but does need some relights, probably on account of the Cavendish, which also produces some gurgle by the end of the bowl. I agree with the esteemed Eulenburg in that the casing is very discreetly applied and does not mask the tobacco flavour (something which is common to virtually all Larsen?s aromatics).

As to strength and overall denouement, this blend is tasty enough to woo a certain degree of attention, but not entirely satisfying (one has the impression that something is missing there, the touch of a stronger leaf, perhaps?) nor memorable. As I pointed out in another Larsen review, it is more a ?parlour smoke? (e.g., when in the company of mature, tea drinking ladies, or at a diplomatic reception, so as to not offend anyone), than a proper pipe experience one would be eagerly willing to repeat. Otherwise, it is a classy tobacco, very nice and civilised.