Paul Olsen B93

This is and all virginia danish tobacco from Paul Olsen and the My Own Blend stores in Denmark. I have smoked only a very small handful of these tobaccos in my life - all of them being excellent tobaccos of ultra high quality leaf. I just cracked open a fresh tin so let's have a look!

The first thing to hit you is a wonderful, but light aroma of apricots, brandy and hazelnuts. This is what my senses are telling me anyway. The tobacco itself is a medium brown in a rough ready rub consistency. It looks and feels very much like a dutch style cavendish such as Troost, Sail or Amphora. It is not wet, goopy, sticky or reeking of PG and the tobacco has a silky smooth feel.

I've experimented with packing this very loosely at the bottom and firmer near the top. This seems to work out pretty good. Usually takes two really good charring lights to get it going. Once going, however, the smoker is treated with a wonderfully smooth tobacco with intermingling citrus and nut like flavors. The tobacco taste is sweet, of a medium full body. Tabacco taste is not at all lost in the flavoring and reminds me of Stokkebye's Luxury Twist Flake.

At every relight, one can sense the heat and threat of tongue bite being just off on the horizon. This settles down quickly though, and in my mind, is a direct result of the naturally high sugar content leaf used. This tobacco smokes like that of a typical matured virginia - lots of sour notes in the upper third moving towards a richer taste in the middle and a slight pickup of strength in the lower third.

I inhale a few puffs to test it's strength - no problem and definetly no air cured leaf in it. The nose is good and it seems to have more strength than I originally remembered - a definite full blodded medium. The upper half of the bowl has quite a few interesting things going on with the interplay of flavors. By the second half, everything has caramelized and remains quite consistent until the finish.

I highly recommend this rare treat to imtermediate and veterans smokers, but would caution novices to stay away unless they can smoke very slowly and have mastered the ability to control the rate of burn. I have a strong suspicion that this tobacco is capable of inflicting a nasty case of tongue bite if one isn't careful. This and the other Olsen's I've tried are enough to make me wish I lived in Denmark. They ain't cheap and aren't exported to most countries. Next time you order a pipe from FF Piber, ask for a sample - or better yet, buy it if you get the chance an you'll be rewarded!

This is a famous Olsen blend with naturally sweet Virginia leaf that is ribbon cut and quite satisfying. The presentation of the blend is signature "Danish."

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!

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.

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!