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.

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.

I did not notice any whisky myself. The nicotine was fairly low. It burnt well but got a tad hot and a little bit bitter. But it was by no means a poor smoke. Quite a interesting looking mottled mix of decent leaves. Some unfold to be quite big. I won't be buying again because it wasn't my thing. But it's to be tried

I smoked the "three colours" of Solani right after another and found them so similar with each other that I ended up copying pretty much the same review for them all. They are all flavoured, fruity, sweet aromatics on the mild, easy to smoke side, reminding me of Peterson's Connoisseur's Choice, but with different set of flavours and toppings. And for that very reason they don't do much to me; the tin note is exquisite, the room note enjoyable, they pack, light and burn well - the consistency of large, dry flakes varying from light yellow to black is delightful actually - but the smoking experience... While nothing wrong with it per se, leaves one with a certain feeling of artificiality, of everything not being 100% true to nature. Therefore, while an enjoyable smoke in itself, not really something I would be dying to have again anytime soon.

For me, Red falls between Blue and Green in just about everything. The burley does not come as fully as in Blue; I have trouble detecting the whiskey as is and the end result is... Something slightly woody, almost like red curry? No tongue bite to speak of if smoked calmly, but it does feel like this would quickly change if the pace is increased. While not bad as such, it's fairly indifferent and a more firm 2-star than the other two.

For my part, being "too aromatic" and a somewhat pricey brand to boot, Solanis can stay on the shop shelf in the future. I can heartily recommend them to fans of fruity aromatics though, you'll like it more probably than not.