W.O. Larsen Old Tradition

For me it was a tin of "Larsen Old Tradition" which was supposed to be a very high end product for them. I looked forward to trying it. It came in a very nice tin and had a great aroma as I opened the pouch. Basically the tobacco flavor was gently masked by the torch of hell fire burning the roof of my mouth and tongue into withered charred leather. I am fairly convinced the top dressing was 93 octane Amoco Ultimate!

I bought this some time ago, for the fancy tin. I opened it, smelt it, shrugged and put it away. I just wasn't in the mood for yet another Eurotrash banana-mango-maracujá concoction of the type that often gets packaged into showy multicoloured presentation tins. But then the other day I wanted some novelty, so I semi-hydrated some Old Tradition (the old tradition that fancy tins can be sold notwithstanding what crap you put in them) and stuffed it into a new Butz-Choquin junior calabash?breaking in new pipes is no fun, we might as well make it into proper Lenten penance by really frying the old glossy with dried-out aromatic nitroglycerine.

It was surprisingly peppery and not-so-surprisingly bitey to begin with, with some unexpected fire-cured Burley weight. By smoking very carefully, it settled into a pleasant, cool-ish, biscuit-y Virginia, nutty Burley experience, certainly a lot better than the tongue-murdering Larsen Classic.

So, if you must have the tin, and are a slow puffer, rest assured that you can make old tradition into a mildly pleasant exterience, if you let it dry somewhat and nurse it into civilised behaviour.

Old Tradition is one of Larsen?s luxury range tobaccos, packed in 100 grams tins, very nicely decorated, all collectable. Like all Larsen?s fancy tinned tobaccos, it is an excellent quality mixture, with top grade leaves, but so mild that inevitably there is always some tongue bite. These blends all seem to be tailored for parlour or tea-room smoking. IMO, OT is perhaps the best within that range (which also includes, among others, Classic and Premium). Becasue of its mildnesss it can burn quite hot, so it should be approached with extra care. Do smoke it slowly. The flavour, as my fellow reviewer states, is worth it.

OT?s main component seems to be a toasted burley leaf, used in such a way that the blend, instead of being indefinably sweet, acquires a rich and nutty taste, balanced by the earthy notes of matured Virginias. It comes in various cuts, not overly moist and it is easy to pack. It lights pretty well and if smoked very, very slowly (for some this means using the ?breathing technique?) it can deliver a cool, dry and very tasty smoke.

Old Tradition could be defined as a much milder and palatable version of Lasrsen?s Kentucky Gold. Elegant, pleasant, a good once-in-a-while treat.

(N.B. My review of this tobacco was misplaced. I wrote ths a long time ago, and found it in the Old Fashion page! Probably my mistake)

Heat sealed in mylar bag inside the tin box. Rather dry when I opened it. I smoked this in a number of pipes, hoping to find the one that would allow it to burn without becoming too hot or cause tongue bite.

Unfortunately that never happened. If I let the pipe sit for a while until it was just about out, and then slowly smoked it didn't bite, but there wasn't a whole lot of flavor to it either. Doesn't take long for it to become overly hot and burn the hell out of your tongue though.

Bought this on a whim because it was 20 years old, but time has not helped this blend. Just all around horrid.

Update:

19 Jun 2019

I set this aside and forgot it for several months. I pulled some out and tried it in a clay pipe. They must have topped this with spar varnish.

Dried it out a bit more to if that would help, tried another bowl. No help. I might as well have bought a bag of Cheetos Flaming Hot! and smoked those... Would have been the same result and a lot cheaper.

A heady dose of Burley with some Virginia comprises this offering (at least, according to my taste buds). Both were created in an old world style that will leave you knowing that you have smoked your pipe! Larsen was known for traditional flavors with no souped up goo in the mix, and Old Tradition follows suit. Thoroughly enjoyable and I sure liked the tin art, too!

The experience I endured from this blend was a medium bodied smoke with a bit of burn to it,the casing was some kind of liquer which gave some unnecessary action to my tongue.I'll dry it out to see if it improves...

HOT,HOT,HOT!!!!!! This is a beautiful tin and the description sounded wonderful,but i have never had my tongue seared like this in my life!From the first puff you will feel the burn.I thought it was just me, so I asked my tobacconist to try it with me and he felt the same sensation of having sipped scaldingly hot coffee.The blend is a broken Virginia flake with toasted burley and unscented black cavendish.It has a mellow top dressing which enhances the aroma,but doesn't really affect the flavor. The really sad thing here is that the taste is wonderful. A really rich tobacco taste resembling a navy cake mix.I am going to add some latakia to this and let you know what happens but for now I'll let it sit. Proceed with caution on this one.