Paul Olsen B93

Gone but not forgotten, the line of Paul Olsen's My Own Blends are all quality tobaccos and B 93 is no different. A someone mild tobacco with loads of delicious and naturally sweet Virginia leaf, this one may have had something extra added - very mild, whatever it is. No bitterness in this one and it smoked nice and dry all the way to the bottom of the bowl.

EDIT APR25/2010:

The last quarter of this 100grms tin was left sleeping one more year... now it's finished. Sadly I will not smoke any B93 in the future. It was a good tobacco indeed, R.I.P.

EDIT MAY03/2009:

The last third of the can has been sleeping two years and more. Meantime the whole Paul Olsen's line of tobaccos has disappeared the italian tobacconist, which I partially regret.

Regarding B93, the age has contributed in rounding the edges, as a result the smoke is smoother and rounder, never offensive to tongue and palate, even if rushed.

I'm going to amend the strength which moves from mild to medium during the bowl.

I will grab more tins whenever available.

ORIGINAL FEB27/2007:

B93 is a young, mild and fresh smelling medium brown Va, of the genre of RMcConnell's London Mature or Rattray's Brown Clunee. I would say it's pure tobacco, but - as per Spike's review - maybe there is some kind of orange peel topping, but just a touch. The smoke is just a bit sweet, herbal, doesn't change so much during the bowl, nor does strengthen. Just as IHTP said, before me, you need a golden tongue to find more, but I haven't... so it's the kind of tobacco a bring with me when I work and haven't time to concentrate on smoking, just as I do with Capstan or other Va's of that kind. I also found a recurring piquant note which I like very much. This one needs long time - a month or more - to stay in the unsealed can, and it's still not dry (!), otherwise it bites your tongue very hard. I'm smoking the second third of the can, and will let the rest in the can for another month. If something interesting, I will edit my review, but I don't expect great surprises.

*Originally gave this one two stars by accident (stupid pull down menus and scroll keys), but it is a three star.

This one I would recommend with a caveat; if you don't want something requiring gobs of concentration to pick up the subtle nuances of flavor, you won't enjoy it. If you have a golden tongue, and can pick up the tiniest variations of flavor from even the youngest va., this may be up your alley.

It looks like a ready rubbed flake, not really a ribbon cut at all. The smell is sweet like hay and brown sugar, and putting nose to tin is a pure joy. Typical of young va.'s, the flavor is slightly reminiscent of clover and grass, bringing to mind long summer afternoons. Like I said, smelling the stuff is a real pleasure.

I found that it loaded pretty easily into a smallish bulldog, and lit right up. First light impressions; no tongue bite, and nice, sweet grasslike flavor and aroma. Unfortunately, the flavor was very monochromatic for the first 1/3 of the bowl. As I got down to the halfway point, I could start picking up more subtle variations, but it did require concentration.

This tobacco is mild, both in manners and flavor. However, there is no denying that it is a good pick for a va. Even with fairly aggressive puffing, I was only able to elicit a peppery tingle on my tongue. And when I concentrated really hard, it almost felt like little sugary sparkles going off on my tongue. The tingling would quickly subside to a sweet flavor, an interesting experience that I've never quite noticed with other va.s. I would really give this more like 2 1/2 stars, but that is only because I think there are so many other monochromatic va.s out there, and nothing about this blend stands out.

Recently my father and I had the pleasure of attending the Kansas City Pipe Show. I had a great time (I even won third in the smoking contest!), and spent far too much money on things pipe related. I also had the wonderful opportunity to meet Eric Nording. Mr. Nording is a true gentleman and all around nice guy. He has great attitude and a booming laugh bigger than he is! The day after the show, he even called me up on his way through Oklahoma City to Dallas for business, and took my father and I out for dinner. Getting back to the review (yes there is a point!), during the weekend my father commissioned Eric to make me a pipe as an early Christmas Present. This freehand beauty was an immaculate piece of work. All I needed was the perfect tobacco to break it in with.

Enter B-93! I knew that I would dedicate this pipe to Va tobaccos, I just wasn't sure which to start with. A friend of mine gave me a tin of this at the Pipe Show banquet, so I took a gamble and lit 'er up. Now B-93 is described on the distributors website as being a light aromatic. Nowhere on the label is this stated ,thankfully, or I might have never given it a whirl in the new pipe. As it was, I did, and the match was made in heaven. This baccy starts out with a nice Va zing. You can detect the topping, but only slightly. The smoke moves along nicely with just a bit of sharpness on the tongue hinting at tongue bite. This never came to be however, and I smoked it right out of the tin with no drying out. The second third of the bowl settled into a nice, straight tobacco experience. Nothing to complex just some nice smoke. The real surprise comes at the end. The last third of the bowl has the nicest room note that I have ever smelled. Not in a vanilla cap't black way either. In a sweet pipe tobacco way, with true tobacco aroma. My wife was delighted and I think I may have found a new winner. I have since tried this tobacco in several other pipes and find that it does better in a bigger bowl, with a medium pack. It smokes all the way down with only one light and leaves no dottle. A winner for sure!

Upon opening the tin, my immediate reaction was "whoa! I'm not going to like this!" The overwhelming scent of refined sugar wafted out of the tin, and my mind raced through thoughts of scorched tongues and miserable propylene glycol headaches, but I was wrong.

B 93 is a rubbed out flake tobacco made up of bright carolina belt virginias, topped with something sweet and Danish that I cannot quite place.

Once I got past the initial shock of the tin aroma and actually got to smoking it, I was quite suprised. The first bowl was quite underwhelming. I had expected a soggy, sodden mess of sugary, fruity crap, but what I got was understated virginia flavors, with barely a hint of extra sweetness wafting past my nose.

I was intriqued, and dedicated a pipe to this blend, to see if it developed a character with repeat smoking. I was not dissapointed. This is an excellent blend for someone who can dedicate a pipe to just it, I discovered. As I smoked more and more bowls of it, it began to reveal subtle nuances I had not been able to discern on my first smoking of it.

There is a faint wood smoke aroma underneath the sweetness, and the body does build up a good bit if it is smoked EXTREMEly slow, in a dedicated pipe.

I have, as a result of this blend, become very intriqued by the Danish style of aromatic tobacco, and am now on the look out for other examples of the genre that are as good as this one.

Give ita try, it may just make a believer out of you.