Dan Tobacco Independence

I absolutely concur with the esteemed P. Tatum on this one. When I opened the tin, I first thought this could be similar to Bjarne?s Flake de Luxe, or even to Smith?s Old London 100% Virginia, only with a more pronounced aroma of prunes/dried raisins. After a few puffs, however, I realised this is like Dunhill?s Three Year Matured?gone bad! In other similar flakes the natural aroma of red, mature Virginias does not carry on to the smoke, except as a tangy insinuation of the natural sugars. In Independence the aroma and taste are bloated. More than an aromatic casing, this is sickly perfumed.

I should have suspected something was wrong from the strangely high degree of moisture in the tin, which suggests some form of casing or deep spraying with a substance that could easily be cherry, strawberry or Chanel N° 5. It really is a pity, because the broken flake is visually very attractive, and I presume at one point, before its industrial processing, the leaf was of very high quality.

The Virginias offer plenty of tart and tangy citrus, grass/hay, vegetation, sugar, bread, some sour lemon, and a pinch of spice as the lead components. The sweet black cavendish is just above being a condiment.The Cyprian Latakia provides a very small under current of smoke, earth, wood, floralness, and a hint of spice in the background. The very floral, perfumy, acrid, tangy, moderately sour fruity toppings also have a small tinge of licorice as they dominate the proceedings. The strength is a step past the center of mild to medium. The nic-hit is a slot behind that. The taste is medium. Won’t bite or get harsh, but it does have a few small rough notes. Burns cool at a reasonable rate with a very consistent flavor that extends to the lingering after taste. Leaves little moisture in the bowl, and requires a couple more than an average number of relights. The room note is tolerable. Not an all day smoke. While the tobaccos are choice, there are too many drawbacks to recommend it.

-JimInks

I am also guilty of buying a tin based on it's tin picture, again being a sucker for anything historical. I have often wondered what a blend back in 1776 would taste like. Somehow I doubt it was like this.

Opening aroma I was quite impressed, it was different to my usual virgnnia offerings. Yes the latakia was there but it seemed to take more of aback seat. Just waiting to pounce I thought, having been poisoned by latakia blends before. The frontage offered crisp virginia, a little oriental leaf, perhaps turkish with a slight fruity twist.

Lighting up wasn't entirely what I expected either. The first mouthful promised an equal balance of the aforementioned flavours, but then the latakia barged it's way in. It doesn't dominate completely, but I found this tin was never-ending. It also went very dry (which seems to be a feature of some of Dan Pipe's blends at the moment) very quickly and needed hydrating.

It was still relatively palatable after this, but I still couldn't see past the latakia. I pressed on determined to finish this tin off and it remained throughout smokey and tarry with a very faint hint of fruit coming through occasionally.

I am not entirely convinced this leaves a ghost in your briars but I cleaned each time I used this blend just in case. In conclusion we have here a lightweight latakia blend which might suit someone looking to start up the ladder of latakia blends.

It would be a quality blend, but the flavoring doesn't quite work for me at least. I like Lakelands, the occasional American aromatic, but this one, as others have noted, is a bit too perfumey. Not my thing.

Despite of remark on the tin of " Virginia blends..." I tried to get to taste of Virginia, somehow I couldn't taste it that much. Do I recommend this tobacco? Yes I recommend you; in order to find your best taste you must try this tobacco to eliminate from your list :).

Cheers!

It is rubed out flake. I would like to be able to distinguish this scent. Nice but unknown. It contains different kinds of Virginia and I believe that Virginia lovers will enjoy smoking it. I was not impressed though. It burnt my tongue a bit; therefore I will not have it again. The signing of the final plan of the Declaration of the Independence of the USA was celebrated with this tobacco!?

I have no words that can describe this blend better than has been done above. What were they thinking?

Oh ***, why has though master blender forsaken thee? I won't use the Lord's name in vain here but, this blend sure made me want to. This stuff is like Evening Rose dancing in a hypnotic state at the electric coolaid acid tests, of the mid 60's. Truely a heavily perfumed, psychedelic monster that will leave you screaming, "ohhhh please make it stop!!!!" Just let me for warn ye brothers of the briar, it wont stop, you'll be reminded of this dispicable blend for many bowls after you through the tin away, (most likely just after the first light!) If you decide to try this blend, please do so with a throw-a-way corncob. Your coveted briar beauties will breath a sigh of relief to know that they will be spared the torture of a permanent perfume branding. On a more serious note, the conent of the tin does display a mix of bright VA, and darker cavendish/latakia. The tobacco was of high quality prior to its' perfume tainting. The blend is down right wet with moisture and would require a lenghty drying period, prior to packing. I didn't taste anything like tobacco in this blend, only that wretched perfume. Well, you get my point by now. This stuff is terrible. I'm really adventurous about smoking different blends but this one just rubbed me the wrong way. C.A.O. should consider this blend a total loss and demand a mandatory recall on every tin of this stuff and, apologize to the pipe smoking community for even letting this monster out of the factory.

* Bad day at the CAO blending plant is all I can figure. I can and will try almost anything but man, oh man, what the hell were these guys thinking? This blend even beat out Stokkebye's Evening Rose in terms of aromatic weirdness. If someone should ever offer you a tin of this stuff for free--run... really, really fast.