Solani 131: Red Label

Very akin to Peterson's Irish Whiskey, the tobacco flavor comes through, the casing is not overbearing and this burns cool enough to satisfy a sweet tooth. Overall good flavor and aroma. If whiskey aromatics appeal to you this maybe your smoke.

One of the better cavendish concoctions but not without its faults.

Solabni red label smells in the tin what it promises to be, virginia, burley, black cavendish with a good dash of scotch in the mix, and while it delivers this in the aroma and the smoke, it is not your typical american style where you can light it with thermite and go at it like a pair of bellows and it will barely heat up the pipe. No, this needs a calm careful measured cadence otherwise it will burn and heat up like a summer heatwave in Hades. Once it gets to that point there is no return the flavour is ruined and it will be downhill from there. However once lit and smoked gently and sipped like a glass of whiskey it will reward with a nice flavoursome smoke, tobacco flavours are very muted due to the casing but whether that is a negative to you is your decision. I dont mind smoking it and it is an occasional treat, however i woldnt queue in the rain for it and if it dissapeared from the UK market (like so many blends are these days) i wouldnt exactly be like a weeping widow.

Strength is a step past medium, its an aromatic where you feel like you have smoked, room note wont make you the enemy and it is quite pleasant.

All in all a decent enough smoke that does what it says on the tin but it doesnt set my world on fire.

id say 3 stars but with the caveat emptor of dont take it for granted and show it some respect. Oh and it will ghost a pipe from the first bowlful so do bare that in mind also.

This is nasty, very nasty.

I was met with a waft of strong alcohol as I opened the tin. I don't mind a mild whisky or rum taste in my tobacco, but this is a scotch laden blend, that really if you dislike scotch you will want to give this one a wide berth.

Fearing the worst as I scraped the underneath of the paper lid, this stuff was gooey and noxious. Like an idiot I thought this might not be as bad as the tin aroma suggested, as is the case with one or two blends, but it was worse.

Lighting this stuff I was expecting an small bonfire with all the alcohol in it. It growled at me for a minute or two then unleashed one of the vilest mouthfuls of poison imaginable. It hit the back of the throat through it's sheer strength and intensity and it felt like I'd sucked on Mustard Gas from the WW1.

I never thought I would find anything as revolting as Jirsa from Germany, but this takes first prize. It's a thick, malty and heady concoction with a medicinal taste that far surpasses Jirsagate by a country mile. Where Jirsa was dripping in bergamot giving a sharp angry taste, this brings a sour, rough malt whisky-like taste. There is no chance of finding any of the Burley, Virginias or anything in this one. This stuff would be a good substitute for surgical spirits.

I managed a few puffs and then, coughing and spluttering, pulled the whole bowlful straight out of the poor briar I had stupidly inflicted this one. I closed the tin lid (tight) and it will join the infamous Jirsa, Sunday Fantasy and Meine Mixture Rot at the back of the cupboard. Perhaps I'll come back to this tobacco in the future and it might have mellowed a little. It sure won't be soon.

Hideous, just hideous.

If anybody wants to swap this vile creation let me know in the Smokers Forum.

Note: This blend was reviewed about 10 years ago when I used a different handle. I've recently rejoined TRs & this is my most recent revised review of Solani 131. I can't say for sure now but 10 years ago when I wrote this review 131 was loaded with PG and I'm sure there's more additional casing & topping than just whiskey. I suspect it's probably something like peach, apricot or mango combined with vanilla. However, this one should please those preferring heavily cased aromatic blends. The room note is very subtle considering the strong bouquet from the tin... not like some of the aromatic blends that leave a lingering, intriguing, aromatic room note.

It is fairly comfortable on the palate for an aromatic but will bite a little if puffed too hard, especially toward the end of the bowl. The palate is bathed with a little of the flavoring that comes through while smoking & leaves behind a fairly pleasing aroma. This Solani 131 aroma is similar to Peterson Founder's Choice but the Pete is so much better in flavor, palate comfort, room note & smokes even better from the halfway point toward the end. What you smell in 131 is transferred to the palate during smoking but not much & it didn't taste all that sweet.

It leaves a lingering taste that I wasn't real crazy about. I just wanted to try it out since it received some favorable reviews but didn't like it well enough to barely get started. A couple of bowls was enough for me. Not that I didn't like it all that much, I just liked so many others much better. Actually I still have the nearly full tin stashed in my cellar & it's still moist with humectant. It left a goopy ghost in my bowl & I don't really care for aromatics containing humectants. Maybe two & one half stars.

Note: This blend was reviewed about 10 years ago when I used a different handle. I've recently rejoined TRs & this is my most recent revised review of Solani 131. I can't say for sure now but 10 years ago when I wrote this review 131 was loaded with PG and I'm sure there's more additional casing & topping than just whiskey. I suspect it's probably something like peach, apricot or mango combined with vanilla. However, this one should please those preferring heavily cased aromatic blends. The room note is very subtle considering the strong bouquet from the tin... not like some of the aromatic blends that leave a lingering, intriguing, aromatic room note.

It is fairly comfortable on the palate for an aromatic but will bite a little if puffed too hard, especially toward the end of the bowl. The palate is bathed with a little of the flavoring that comes through while smoking & leaves behind a fairly pleasing aroma. This Solani 131 aroma is similar to Peterson Founder's Choice but the Pete is so much better in flavor, palate comfort, room note & smokes even better from the halfway point toward the end. What you smell in 131 is transferred to the palate during smoking but not much & it didn't taste all that sweet.

It leaves a lingering taste that I wasn't real crazy about. I just wanted to try it out since it received some favorable reviews but didn't like it well enough to barely get started. A couple of bowls was enough for me. Not that I didn't like it all that much, I just liked so many others much better. Actually I still have the nearly full tin stashed in my cellar & it's still moist with humectant. It left a goopy ghost in my bowl & I don't really care for aromatics containing humectants. Maybe two & one half stars.

A good aromatic blend. I am not a fan personally, but that is because I am not generally a fan of traditional aromatic blends. This particular iteration is not the problem for me. Read my mere two stars with that in mind.

This is a classic aromatic in the Danish style rather than a dripping American style. No sticky mess – feels like any other slightly-on-the-moist-side tobacco in the tin. Anyone who say they don't like aromatics should try something like this and reconsider if they have only ever tried American style aromatics before (and btw, that includes American style aromatics produced in Europe, like several of the cherry, whisky and nougat horrors coming out of for instance Gawith Hoggarth & Co.).

To me, Red Label seems quite similar to Caledonian Melange No. 10 (which I have not reviewed so favourably) in terms of what it tries to be. Solani has more successfully achieved a good result, as Red Labes has a more enjoyable (and noticeable!) taste of natural burley melding with the flavouring.

This is a very nice aromatic if you enjoy the topping. I really did not enjoy the topping, or at least how it tasted in anything other than a cob. This is just one of those type of aros. Cobs allow just enough of the flavor to get lost to make this one more palatable. Usually Meerschaum does the same, but I did not like it as much in a meer and found it horrible in briar.

The base of burley and Virginia in this one is barely perceptible under the topping, which is billed as a high end single malt Scotch whiskey. I don't really like single malt scotch as I am more of a Bourbon drinker, but I have learned long ago what I like to eat or drink does not equal what I like to smoke. In this case I don't like to drink it or smoke it. I do think there is more to this one, however, than single malt, as I do pick up some fruitiness as well.

I was set to give this one a two star rating until I had it out of a cob and it just really sang. As this is almost a four star out of a cob, I am splitting the difference at three stars. Solani seldom disappoints.

A very nice aromatic from Solani. Top quality leaf, a combination of broad cut loose bright VA with red partially rubbed VA, black Cavendish and some burley that remains overall discreet.

The tin aroma is splendid and appealing. It looks like a topping rather than a casing, which is good, as where the green label is a casing more than a topping. Moisture content is excellent and the pipe is easy to fill and light. The scotch whiskey is detectable in the taste as well as pure tobacco. This mixture smokes very well and never bites.

For those new among us and requesting a top quality aromatic that will spare their pipes or tongues, or for the established aromatic lovers, Solani red label is the way to go.

Recommended.

Oggi vado di Solani Red Label. Devo dire che questo è davvero buono, non adoro gli aromatizzati eppure...

Dicono aromatizzato whisky eppure...

Aperta la latta si è pervarsi e inebriati dal Viginia e dallo stesso dolce del whisky, il taglio è un ordinato e perfetto ribbon.

Caricata la pipa percepisco subito il Virginia erboso, agrumato e dall'inconfondibile sentore di frutta secca che va a braccetto con un Burley davvero superiore, di forza non esagerata, legnoso e terroso eppure...

Ecco quando meno te lo aspetti il whisky, dall'inconfondibile aroma anzi sapore maltato che rende ancora più rotonda e morbida la miscela. Fumato in una pipa come questa (reverse cabalash) il fumo è fresco e le varietà di aromi sono esaltate. Una miscela di tabacchi da sorseggiare, non fumare.

Unica nota il tabacco appena aperto è umido, meglio lasciarlo asciugare un poco.

Giudizio 4,9/5