Consolidated Z-50: Black Cordial

The aroma from the pouch is a little stronger than the taste of the tobacco, which is no problem for me. There's a light vanilla note or two playfully merging with the cherry flavor to create one of the coolest burning cavendish blends around. A no bite, smooth burning, and dry smoking mild to medium sweet mixture that doesn't overwhelm your senses. Burns at a reasonable pace, cool and clean with very consistent flavor. Needs a few relights, and leaves just a little moisture in the bowl. Has a very pleasant after taste and room note. Has almost no nicotine. Can be an all day smoke. Currently made by Sutliff.

-JimInks

I smoked this blend a couple of times, back in England. Together with many Consolidated blends, it was something of a novelty in the early 90's. In fact the introduction of these blends to the British market was an omen of sorts: it signaled the demise of much of the English blending tradition and of many brands that are now mythical anecdotes.

As to this extremely mild and steam cased Burley, well its nice, raisiny-sweet, soft, and ultimately uneventful. There is some flavor, yes, but the whole experience is as if you hadn't smoked at all. A British gentleman put it perfectly well when he asked me: "Excuse me, but are you smoking Ribena?"*

That pretty much sums it up.

*Ribena: in England, a very popular black currant drink, especially suited for kids.

There would seem to be a bit of a mystery surrounding this blend whether one chooses to call it Lane Black Cordial or Consolidated Z-50, you will find exactly the same description for either blend, that being; "A new generation of pipe tobacco. A blend of four new and unusual black fired-cured grades with added highlights of Sweet Virginia."

And if that isn't enough, I purchased the Z-50 as a blend manufactured by Altadis. The 2 blends appear to be the same, both to the eye, the smell, as well as the taste. I don't smoke aromatics as much as I did 3 or 4 years ago, but like most of us, I'm always on the hunt for that perfect aromatic blend.

Of course I never expect to find it, but Z-50 Black Cordial is one of the best I have found to date. I would call it a Cavendish cut in appearance with approx 80% being dark in color, the balance being lighter in color which I would guess to be Virginas. Describing the taste is a bit difficult as I have never tasted an aromatic I can accurately compare it to. Slightly sweet,possibly coming from the Virginia with a background of cherry and vanilla. But through all the flavorings, one can still get the unmistakable taste of tobacco. The blend lights easily but can get a bit on the hot side if puffed too rapidly. Also, it tends to get moist at the very bottom of bowl making it difficult to smoke it completely to the bottom. But I rarely get to the bottom of the bowl with most blends.

In summary, if you are a full time aromatic smoker or just smoke them occasionally, this is one of the best aromatic tobaccos I have tried to date.

Good Stuff.

F. Prefect

I actually don't like the flavor of this blend. It is a little too "busy" for my tastes. It is well behaved and smokes well to the finish. I think it most likely smells pretty good to bystanders. A good change of pace for the jaded smoker. Relatively unique.

Black Cordial is a very interesting blend. mostly dark, with ribbons of Virginia running through it.

I detect what could be a liquer topping, but it doesn't overpower the tobacco flavor. It is sweet and yet has a 'dry wine' quality to it.

Others in the room haven given high compliments on the aroma. Very smooth, no bite.

Be watchful on the moisture content. It wants to be a bit on the dry side to burn well, get too dry and the flavor disappears. Just a touch wet and you'll never keep it lit.

Not my every day smoke, but thoroughly enjoyable when I do select it. Very relaxing.