Stanislaw Driver Mixture

Appearance: the 40 gram packet was packaged late last year, so the blend was fairly fresh. Inside the bag was a mix of bright and orange (the description says "red", but the tobacco is clearly light) bright virginia rough cut. The tobacco was pressed into a flake, then chopped and broken well - and in this case the manufacturer's description corresponds to reality. The blend has the color of fresh straw. The tobacco is slightly moist, there is a slightly excessive amount of glycerin and propylene glycol - the tobacco dries slowly in the air, in addition, when kneaded, the glycerin remains on the fingers.

Flavor: citrus and honey topping, hay, yeastless dough, a little molasses. Very simple and uncomplicated, all the notes are about the same intensity, below average. Actually, there's not much more to say about it. The topping is almost unweathered in the air

Taste: initially harsh - either the virginia is too fresh, or the quality of raw materials is lower than in Rattray blends, based on which the series is produced. In the bouquet one can find, in addition to a faint citrus-honey topping, sweetish herbs, some woody notes and some earthiness. Gradually, the topping disappears, the herbs move into the background, the flavor changes towards woody notes, but the sweetness remains in sufficient quantity. Nevertheless, the blend is extremely intolerant to overheating in any pipes, it immediately starts to get bitter and the flavor disappears. The strength of the tobacco is below average. It burns slowly into almost white ash without lumps. If the mixture is well dried, the tobacco leaves no moisture in the pipe. Aftertaste is woody, slightly astringent, mild.

The smoke is not noticeable, with a woody note.

What's the bottom line? I'm confused. On the one hand, the price of this virginia buys me up, and the blend itself is frankly not bad. On the other hand - the same price is quite decent Virginias from Mac Baren, which can still be found in our stores. What to choose? In my opinion, Driver Mixture is quite suitable as an everyday tobacco, if you buy it in packets and discount the fact that it should be smoked quite slowly. If you buy it packed in tins, it will increase in price dramatically, and its intolerant smoking pace and uneven initial taste will make me personally choose other blends.