J. F. Germain & Son Eighteen Twenty

This is one of Germain's staple blends that has been around for a very long time and is named after the year Germain was founded. It is a classic blend that balances the Virginias, Orientals and Latakia to perfection. It is smooth as a baby's bottom from first light to last puff with no harshness or bitterness. I believe this is because of the Virginia leaf that displays a richness not often found in blends of this type. A 5-star tongue tingler!

Over the last four months or so I’ve noticed that, where once I smoked mostly English blends, now I'm smoking almost exclusively VAs, VA/Pers, and Oriental/VA blends.

Maybe I overdid it on the Latakia, maybe I've just finally found the cadence needed to enjoy the milder tasting blends. Either way I just haven't been as interested in smoking some of my old favourites. So today, recalling that it was fairly forward on VAs and Orientals, I loaded up some Eighteen Twenty and sat down with a nice hot cup of tea.

It’s exactly what I wanted, the VAs and Orienrals are definitely the stars, simultaneously sweet and umami, with the Lats providing a solid, creamy base. It also tastes like there might be some Cavendish in here, a sweetness that’s not coming from the VA, though it may be a topping.

Despite the high moisture content and cut, which is pretty close to a shag cut when it comes to the Virginia leaf, I didn't detect any bite. I was focusing pretty hard on sipping it slowly as to get the most out of the VAs, so I can't speak to how it behaves when not being paid attention to.

Overall this is a great blend, with each of the components complementing each other to create something complex and interesting, but not so full flavoured that you can't smoke more than one a day. Eighteen Twenty is definitely going back into my rotation.

Update, October 2016: This stuff just keeps getting better with time! And the way to slow the burn is (duhhh...) to pack it snug in the bowl to begin with, at least once it's rested and dried some. It's so civilized!

Update, June, 2015: 6 months rest in a jar has perfected my remaing stash of 1820, so please keep this in mind if you read my original review. Once this tobacco has rested, the extremely mild topping becomes an asset and the tastes meld and unwind in interesting ways throughout the smoke. Still no good way to significantly slow the burn, and more's the pity because this stuff is a very relaxing taste treat while it lasts, also a nice respite from stronger Balkan-y English blends, being in this akin to SG's Skiff Mixture. The Orientals are slightly musty, with "exotic" rather than "hot" spices, the VAs are flue and air cured as well as stoved, the Lat is nice and plain, and the lot sours off like aged Balkan Sobranie of Old as it is smoked down. Plenty of smoke, by the way. Very Nice. Thus, I am pleased to up-rate 1820 to a well-deserved 4 stars. PS: Because of the way its VAs have developed, I now suspect that 1820 is a prime candidate for in-tin aging ahead of subsequent rest in a jar.

Original review: IMO, Germain’s Eighteen Twenty smells good enough to eat from the tin, like warm, buttered oatmeal, along with the smoky Latakia and just a drop of old, dry Sherry. Though the packed, variegated ribbons are quite moist to start, it lights easily and smokes down very fast right from the tin. Twice now I have really enjoyed the first bowl I’ve smoked straight from a fresh tin, and it struck me as delightfully well balanced, albeit it's gone in 60 seconds. Unfortunately, I have not consistently enjoyed subsequent bowls as much as the first bowl from each of two tins. At its best 1820 reminds me of Skiff Mixture, but with less developed Turkish, and its bright VAs are more forward, with high quality, "plain" Latakia always present but never in the fore, apart from the first few puffs. The odd bowl or parts of odd bowls aside, however, 1820 tends to muddle up on me, and it often exhibits a slightly acrid quality that IMO does not serve this particular blend. The tobaccos seem to be of high quality, with excellent, “traditional” processing, and I think my problems with it may be a matter of personal chemistry; I don’t know. Along this line of thinking, 1820 also sports a very mild topping (tonquin?) that gets unpleasant for me the minute I start to taste it. Ironically, I always enjoy the sweet, lingering aftertaste. Strength is more mild than medium. Tastes are more medium than mild. Room note is “pleasant” – for a “Turkish” blend.

A “2” from me means I think this is quality tobacco, and I can see where others might appreciate this blend, but I won’t likely buy more, especially since there are so many pipe tobaccos I enjoy and can also count on. All considered, I’d give Eighteen Twenty a 2.4 if I could.

As my very first smoke of any of Germain's tobaccos, I approached this with some trepidation, with little idea of what to expect. So time to dive in and find out what's what.

The tin aroma is a warm, oaky scent with hint soap. Lighting and packing are their mandatory ease for ribbon, surprise surprise. The smoke is much like the smell, but kicks it up a notch by adding a cigar like quality to it, almost like the taste of Henry Winterman's half coronas, tells me Germain's are using some good tobacco. The room note is along similar line.

On the whole then, a cracking smoke more than worthy of four stars. Bang on!

this is another Germain masterpiece. Oriental forward in tin note and taste. The tin note is spicybOriental and Latakia. With a Germain like sweetness that I have a hard time defining.

Others have compared this to Skiff Mixture, and I agree but i would say a cross between Skiff and Squadron Leader. Woody and spicy Orientals and Latakia. Sweet and grassy Virginia's boarder on. Balkan flavor but not wuite malty. Very unique. burns cool and dry. Great smoke

This is a top notch Balkan blend. Orientals out front with the Latakia not too far behind. The Virginias provide a modest amount of sweetness. All week I've been smoking both 1820 and Balkan Sobranie, back to back, in order to make a comparison and noticed that the Orientals are very similar. In fact I think they're the same. Could be mistaken though. 1820 has a pinch more Latakia. BS has more body and sweetness. As far as quality and consistency go I find 1820 to be equal to BS, in other words, superb. I think I like both equally. With 1820 being more readily available and not limited in the number of tins one can purchase I have to give it the edge. I do wish it had a little more body though.

This is an excellent choice for those who DO NOT want a Latakia bomb. I'm hard put to decide if this is a light English or a light Balkan. In either case it is an ideal entrance to either of these blend styles. The latakia in particular is a background for the orientals and the virginia's add just the right amount of sweetness for a virginia or VaPer smoker to comfortably enter the English or Balkan blends. I, as others, found this overly moist upon opening the tin so I dumped it into a mason jar and left it there for a week. A bit of zing so puff slowly. I have intentionaly not compared this directly with the tobaccos I listed as similar they are there only to let you know if you like one of them then you just might like this as well. Happy smoking to all and to all a good night pipe!

Untill I have the words to describe this most awesome of English style blends ..... in the mean time ... OMG ! What a blend

***This is a review of a 6 year old tin***

I quit smoking cigarettes going on 3 years and pipes and cigars went with it. In order to keep off the butts I did turn to using snus which is in my mouth every waking moment of my day I find. So take this in to consideration when I say I didn't find a lot of nicotine in this blend. I have tried this before years ago and did not like it. Someone said it tasted of oatmeal? Well it didn't then and certainly does not now after 6 years. I cracked the seal on the tin and found that it did still smell of musty tobacco. The paper wrapper was almost brown. Moisture was perfect at almost dried out but still sticks together when pressed between the fingers. I used a straight billard meer everytime I went to this. Light up is easy and the first half was clearly VA dominant with the orientals just poking through. The latter half the oriental start to take over with what seems to be a nice burley like grassiness putting its head up once in a while. Strength did progress as the bowl burned down. No gurgle, no bite. What a wonderfull experience. My rating is based on the fact that I did try this as a newly opened fresh tin and this one as a newly opened 6 year old tin. The fresh tin wouldn't have gotten a single star from me, but this would have gotten 5 stars with an aged tin. The fresh tins I did have had to blended with aromatics to get rid of them. Maybe they should age it like whisky and not sell the tins untill they had 3 years on them. Oh well...buy a couple tins and cellar them and you will see why I enjoyed this one so much.