Savinelli Armonia

Warning: I smoke naturals normally and I like them better than almost any fancy concoction I have been trying from time to time so... consider this a biased review. End of Warning.

Man... I almost quitted pipes as this was the first blend I tried: I had bought my first pipe from Savinelli's shop in Milan, Italy... and I did a big mistake: I asked the seller for some advice regarding what tobacco to buy. He pointed me to this: the fruity hell.

I remember the casing as I was opening it: strong and intoxicating... I remember thinking that it would have made a wonderful room note.

I. Was. Dead. Wrong.

Hot, gurgling, steaming... and that casing... so persistant that I remember I couldn't get it out of my system for a couple days: everything I tasted (food, water, coffee, whiskey) was tainted by the fruity hand of this demon.

In the beginning I was trying to enjoy it, then the fruit smell overwhelmed me like a bad acid trip to a chemical orchard.

And the room note: so strong and sweet it gave me a headache... I couldn't stand it any more. I needed to sleep in another room until the fruit from hell decided to subsede. One bowl and I was done with this infernal stuff and, I thought, with pipe smoking.

Until a day I saw a pipe smoker whose smoke smelled good to me... I asked him what he was smoking: Comune. Been smoking that ever since every time I find it. All the rest, but for Savinelli Armonia, is for when I get bored. Savinelli Armonia will be what they will give me in hell when I get there if I don't behave.

EDIT: I remember that pipe needed quite a few bowls with Comune to forget the experience it had endured... Now I discover Savinelli gave out free samples of this... I am pretty sure they did so that you needed a new pipe as it would have rendered one of yours an instrument of evil.

The Virginia is grassy with a little tart and tangy citrus. The burley is a little nutty, woody and earthy, and is slightly more obvious than the Virginia. The spicy, woody, dry, earthy, herbal, vegetative, sour and sweet Oriental/Turkish underscores the experience. The Kentucky offers a little chocolate, wood, earth, and nuts as a condiment. The artificial toppings are vinegary with an unpleasant apricot tanginess. The strength is a couple of steps past the center of mild to medium. The taste is a rung past the medium threshold. The nic-hit is a couple of slots past the mild mark. Burns a little warm and harsh, but doesn’t bite at a reasonable pace with a very consistent flavor. Leaves a little moisture in the bowl. Requires an average number of relights. Has a very unpleasant, lingering after taste and room note.

Apparently, the manufacturer has changed the formula since I reviewed it. Now, it has rum and chocolate toppings.

-JimInks

Savinelli - Armonia. Hmmmm; this has had a bit of a kicking review wise! Because of this, I was expecting a tobacco that I wouldn't insult a bonfire with. "It's not that bad"; that was my first impression. This lasted a VERY SHORT WHILE.

Armonia is best enjoyed un-lit; the tin contains a pleasant smelling, nicely hydrated mixture of dark, coarse ribbons. This is what lead me to my first positive view. But then I lit it; fun over.

I wouldn't go as far as saying the added flavour is too strong, it's just very unpleasant so even a tiny amount of it would be too much. Mind you, what added flavour I do get completely covers any of the natural tobaccos' identities. It's just a big, clumsy, mess.

A new paragraph for the worst points: 1. tongue bite.... ouch. 2. temperature.... scorching hot.

I'll keep this review quite short; it doesn't deserve a long one!

Not recommended.

Into the bin this goes!

Upon opening the pouch, I was greeted with a strong aromatic combination of sweet and pungent fruit. If this was in fact made from all “natural” flavors, then something “natural” was rotting. It truly smells of overripe fruit. I was not going to give into the strong desire to quit right there. The appearance of the tobacco is inviting with light and dark ribbons and a little bit of broken flake. Upon lighting, this tobacco smokes very hot, very quickly and the taste is anything but natural. I like the occasional aromatic, but this may be the worst of the many I have tried. I always avoid reviewing a tobacco after just one bowl, but in the interest of saving my mouth and taste buds, one bowl is all I am willing to endure. I am surprised a quality name like Savinelli would allow its name on something this poorly made.

In my 30 years of pipe smoking this is one of the most ghastly blends I have ever attempted to smoke.

As others here have commented, Armonia is an extremely heavily cased fruity aromatic; just one whiff and my thoughts turned to the tongue bite that was sure to follow if I were to smoke this stuff. Not one to resist a challenge, I lit up anyway. It had the taste and aroma of hazardous waste combined with rotten fruit. After a few puffs I was done. I could not stand it anymore and wanted to quit before I ruined the pipe. The only thing in Armonia's favor is that tongue bite was not an issue since I wasn't able to smoke it long enough for that to happen.

I received the tobacco as a free sample pack with the purchase of a Savinelli pipe. It is unfortunate that there are probably some people who have purchased a Savinelli as their first pipe because of the free tobacco. If this were the first blend I had smoked, I would have immediately quit pipe smoking.

Buy this tin next to others that discontinued in the store. Bad mistake. When opening the can, there was a strange aroma between vinegar and citrus, nothing pleasant. It was not moist, it burned well, it bit very little, on the tongue and at the end it warmed up and left a damp rest in the bottom of the bowl. The flavor of the tobacco at first was anodyne, indefinite, a pastiche of flavors. But the added chemical flavors were immediately manifested, horribly, almost disgusting. In the end I also have an unpleasant aftertaste in my mouth, which is slow to disappear. As was my mistake, I smoke it all as penance, arghh, I do not want to remember. IMHO I do not recommend it.

This is a blunt blend with nothing attractive or at least interesting for me... IMHO. The potential is enormous but somehow they fail to achieve that potential. Very sorry for that waste of time.

Blatantly evil. If Hell came in a tobacco pouch, this would be the stuff. Avoid this at all costs.

I've only tried this tobacco in the sample packs provided by Savinelli, and have smoked several bowls of it. Both in pipes by Savinelli. Armonia is a blend of Virginia, Oriental, burley, and Kentucky tobaccos, topped with what Savinelli calls "natural" fruit flavors. I'll take their word on "natural," but only because I have to.

Both of my samples of this tobacco were dry. The pouches gave off a nice, sweet aroma, which was quite attractive. As a dry tobacco, Armonia loaded easily into my pipes. Lighting was pretty easy, as well. But as dry as it was, I was amazed by the amount of moisture that condensed in the pipes as I smoked.

The taste of Armonia is, unfortunately, not there. The pouch aroma gave me thoughts of a nice, easy aromatic. However, the flavor all goes up in smoke, leaving nothing but warm, thick air to come through the pipe. My tongue longed for flavor, but got none.

I think Savinelli should keep their focus on pipes. Then they should let someone else sell tobacco.