J. F. Germain & Son Royal Jersey Original Latakia Mixture

I have been smoking Penzance pretty steady for years now and when I returned to my favorite tobacco store (http://www.cigarleaf.com/) one day to pick up a fresh tin, but alas they did not have any. He had ordered it, but it was not sent so he recommended Royal Jersey. Now I was not sure b/c I had tried so many other Latika blends that people have claimed tasted like Penzance but as we all know nothing quite does, but I was very surprised. It is not the same flavor but I do enjoy smoking it as it provides just the right about of nic, smokes cool, and has a wonderful flavor. I have heard many people say that "such and such" tobacco has a creamy taste and was never able (outside of aromatics of course) to taste anything near what people had describes. That is until Royal Jersey. I love the creamy taste and texture this produces. I recommend it to anyone and should for sure not be overlooked by any Latika smoker or fans of the Esoterica tobaccos.

Outstanding stuff! This is a wonderful tobacco in the vein of Esoterica's "And So To Bed".I have a request for future reviewers.If you don't like Germain Products - Please don't slam them. All Germain has that anise type flavoring added to it.Their treatment of the Orientals really brings out a unique flavor. You either like it or you don't.Enough said.This is a very unique tobacco. It is a full English with a wonderful Oriental component in it.Upon opening the tin you will be greeted by the wonderful smell of Orientals!I think it might have a very natural apple casing added to it.It has a very herbal smell to it.Upon 1st light you are met with a lovely, sweet,and intoxicating flavor. This is a very complex blend with Latakia in the forefront.The virginias provide some sweetness, but it is the orientals and latlakia that drive the blend. It burns easily after 2 lights and produces billows of sweet English smoke.It is a great all day companion that never gets hot. A must try for all Germain afficianados! 4of 4 stars!

This is a fine, fine Latakia blend. It comes in the typical rect. tin, with the strange mylar bag holding the precious leaf inside. Inside you are greeted by mostly dark, broad ribbon cut leaf. Tin aroma is delicious, very similar to "Margate" which they make for Esoterica, but a little less complex. Moisture is perfect, packing is easy, with three lights max to get going. Flavor is smooth with the latakia in the forefront but nothing in this blend overpowering your taste buds. It seems to taste a little darker than "Margate" but just as delicious. I am surprised this has not gotten more reviews since it is sooo delicious. It builds strength nicely down the bowl with a nice, rich finish that is not off-putting and has you thinking of another bowl. Rating: 5 out of 5 points. Don't just sit there! Go out and get a few tins and enjoy!!! Update: 11-14-2003 After smoking a few more tins of this tobac, I must say that it is definitely underated. This tobac is very delicious. The tin aroma reminds me of the complexity of a high quality cheese that my grandparents made in their farm. It is smooth enough to smoke all day and the cavendish never is cloying. Try it, you'll like it.

I see that some prior reviewers are not quite as fond of this fine mixture as I am. Opinions are only subjective. I'll claim no expertise, however I know what I enjoy or not and that's what I'll express here. I find this Original Jersey Mixture to be almost magical. The cover of the tin is purple the color of wisdom and and in legend wizardry and from the moment I opened the tin and viewed, touched the somewhat roughly cut and moist mixture of light and dark tobacco and sniffed the nostril stimulating tin aroma I was draw under it's spell. Soon I was enveloped in the smoke of my pipe, (most recently an old Comay's Pebblegrain in a Liverpool configuration) It's quite a pleasurable purple piping experience. Yes,the Latakia element of it is nothing close to being a riot control quality smoke bomb and yes,the signature perfume of Lakeland we all hear so much about in these reviews subtly but noticeably raises her elegant head. I for one enjoy this blend immensely. The smoke is deliciously unctuous possessing a smooth and wonderful balance of flavors within it's lightly textured medium bodied smoke, complex flavors somewhat herbal, flowery, sweet/sour, a bit tangy. These flavors are carried along in a smokiness that is a bit piney not at all the hickory or heavy campfire smokey essence. There certainly seems to be a seasoning of some sort of light casing or topping. But so what, it tastes wonderful. For my most recent bowl, I paired it with a tea composed of a mixture of black tea, herbal tea and few drops of rose water (a secret recipe) and enjoyed both while listening to a compilation of "West Coast Jazz". Most highly recommended.

This has to be about the mildest Latakia dominant tobacco I've smoked. If you like Latakia very laid back then punch this ticket. The only other tobacco I can think of that reminds me of this compilation is Peterson's Sherlock Holmes (although the leaf color and cut is much different here.) And, of course, Germain uses its special processing to make this one shine. Quality Virginia adds depth and character. In fact, it is, in my opinion, very Virginia forward in its presentation.

Spotted a few tins of this blend resting on the shelf at my local B&M, and they've been there a while. The tin artwork looks pretty nice, so i decided to buy one. On opening, the tin note was very pleasant, slightly sweet, sour, with just a hint of Latakia. Probably something added too. The tobacco was also a feast for the eyes; the wax paper was oily and stained, and some sugar crystals were apparent on the leaf. The cut is a fine shag, the blend is mostly dark in color, with muted, gray-ish browns. I was excited and loaded up a bowl after some drying time. It is then that the disappointment begun... It finally took a light, and the initial taste is a subdued version of the tin note. Something fruity and sour (yes, it may evoke apple cider), a hint of delicate smoke, some spices (cloves?) and some ''dry'' sweetness. All delivered very lightly. On paper, it sounds delicious, but as a smoke, it somehow fails to impress or leave any lasting impression. To me, Presbyterian is a ''light'' smoke that satisfies, so is 3 Oaks Syrian or some of the Grand Orientals from McClelland. But sadly, Germain's Latakia mixture dosent quite hit the spot. I would still recommend it, were it not for the awful burn characteristics. The fine shag is a dubious choice... smoke it too wet, it will torch your mouth and leave a funky lump at the bottom of the bowl and gurgle. Smoke it too dry, and it is consumed all too quickly, turning to ashes in a few puffs, lacking in taste... maybe my technique is to blame here... I still find this blend's taste profile interesting, but not really worth the hassle...

2017-02-23 update: this tobacco REALLY must be sipped slowly, like some virginias, or else the taste quicly becomes unpleasant. Once again, not worth the hassle...

2017-06-17 update: I am now partially reconciled with this tobacco. If you can smoke it at the proper moisture content (and that sweet spot is quite hard to find...), you will be rewarded with: 10 minutes of tasteless smoke and acrid room note, and THEN, if smoked in a big, wide bowl, the flavour will start developping, and it becomes quite interesting. There is something powdery, light and faintly sweet, which merges with the subtle latakia, making it quite pleasant. A bit like the new Bengal slices, only Bengal Slices is about 10 times as tasty... The end of the smoke is the best part, and luckily for nicotine lightweights (like me), this doesnt pack a strong nic hit, so finishing a big bowl shouldnt be a prolelm. Under the right circumstances, will burn down to a proverbial fine, white ash. 2 and a half star !

Let me preface this review by stating that I enjoy smoking primarily Latakia-based blends. I am a big fan of Dunhill's Durbar and Nightcap blends so I have some experience with smoking and handling heavy nicotine blends.

Our shop got some of the Royal Jersey Original Latakia Mixture in recently and having never seen it before I gave the tin a sniff. Even through the seal it smelled delightful. Intrigued, I went ahead and purchased a tin to smoke. Upon cracking open the tin I was greeted with the full gorgeous aroma of this tobacco. It has that wet grass smell that one associates with a good fresh English blend as well as an undertone of cider or sour apple. Unique to say the least.

Packing this fine-cut tobacco was easy but lighting required about three or four tries before I could get a good burn going. Once lit however, this tobacco smoked right down to the bottom of the bowl with nary a relight required. After this tobacco has dried out a bit the lighting problems vanish and one can usually get it going with just one false light and tamping.

It's worth the little bit of extra work to get it going however as this blend provides a very interesting and unique smoke. It starts off pretty mellow with a wonderful Latakia flavor which is enhanced by a sour apple/cider undertone. I don't believe that this tobacco is cased but rather that the sour apple flavor is created naturally by some step in the curing process. Towards the latter half of the bowl the Latakia flavor becomes much stronger and smokier and the sour apple taste drops away almost entirely to be replaced by the soft, mellow flavors of the Orientals in the blend. This part of the smoke reminded me of how a bowl of London Mixture tastes but with an overall sweeter undertone throughout. Overall, this is a wonderful, complicated blend which requires some attention to apprectiate fully. On the subject of strength, while this blend is nowhere near the velvet hammer that is Nightcap, it can still be heady at times. I would advise excercising some caution while smoking this on an empty stomach.

In my opinion a great blend. Currently I smoke this blend, the Germain's Special Latakia Flake, and Dunhill's Durbar in my English pipes. This stuff is definately worth a try if you enjoy smoking English/Latakia blends.

This one was very strange. Like Germain's 1820, when I first smelled this one I thought it was cased. This blend has a distinctive apple flavor, both in the tin and in the pipe, however, unlike 1820, the apple character doesn't seem to go away with time. I'm not sure if it's cased or not, but it's certainly bizarre for an oriental/latakia blend.



This blend reminds me of Harrod's English Mixture (green lid). The flavor is sort of burnt apple and black walnut, with some additional spiciness from the orientals, although the Harrod's blend smelled like black walnut in the tin instead of apples. However, this blend definitely had Harrod's oriental throat-coating effect. Towards the bottom of the bowl, the flavor gradually turns more burnt and ashy.



The first part of the bowl was certainly interesting (if different), and would probably appeal more to fans of aromatics than to english fans. A meerschaum might help as well.

I’m not a big fan of making notes on tin labels but I do feel that it’s appropriate to have an elegant label with an appropriately elegant name. Royal Jersey Original Latakia Mixture fits the bill just fine. JF Germain is a fine tobacco company. They produce the Esoterica line of tobacco blends which I consider some of the finest blends on the market today, using some of the finest leaf anywhere. Penzance, Margate, Pembroke, And So To Bed all excellent English blends that are always in my rotations. This blend, Royal Jersey Original Latakia Mixture falls into the soft and pleasant world of And So To Bed. It is the same fine ribbon cut. Moisture is a bit heavy but slight drying suits it fine. Out of the tin fresh was 2 starting lights with one relight 3/4 down the bowl. Not horrible. Burns evenly. The first half of the bowl was soft and very pleasing. No bite. A bit lighter on the Latakia than ASTB. The Virginia’s take more of a leading role and slightly more piquant. The orientals taking a supporting role as the Latakia adds the smoky spice. The Vanilla topping adds a pleasant roundness to the mixture and creates the slight sourness near the finish. Vanilla and Latakia don’t always work together but this is not bad. I don’t detect any spirits added to this blend. The blend also doesn’t evolve tremendously throughout the Smoke, yet doesn’t leave my palette trashed with the fireplace ash taste that some Latakia blends tend to leave. The room note is pleasant to me. All and all a good blend.

J.F. Germain - Royal Jersey Original Latakia.

Inside the tin resides a block of tobacco wrapped in greaseproof paper that's about a centimetre smaller than the tin itself. This set alarm bells off in my head at first as it's oily and moist; the paper's lost all of it's crispness. However, when I peeled it back to reveal the blend I was met by adequately hydrated ribbons that are fine enough to be labelled Shag and some crystals had even accumulated in places; perplexing!

If you like Lat-Bombs, this isn't for you. The Latakia adds a slight depth to the flavour, but in a different way to normal. I don't get any of the usual nuances I expect from Latakia; that's not a bad thing for me though, I like the way the Lat' comes over: calmly.

I also get a pleasing sweetness; like the dextrose variety that's produced by age. I don't really notice any other tastes that could be considered toppings; this sweetness accounts for a lot of the flavour.

I don't get much nicotine from RJO Mixture, I wouldn't even say it's any more than mild.

Personally, I enjoy this blend; I can see how some people would find it disappointing though; it just shows how our taste differs!

Three stars from me!