Savinelli Armonia

I ordered this on a whim. And because I was intrigued, as a newbie, as to how a 'bad' tobacco was supposed to taste. My 50g tin came to me from those excellent fellows at smokingpipes.com. Upon opening, it was evident that the tin was far from new. Both the paper insert and the cardboard cover were stained with a mottling of tobacco colour, and had leeched out a little moisture from the tobacco itself. The aroma was the first surprise. I had been ready for the chemical nastiness others report on. I found the smell quite acceptable. A little camp fire, a little leaf mound, and the faintest touch of the claimed citrus. The leaf was a good mixture of light brown, dark brown and black. The cut is a little random, but I'm used to the uniformity of Dunhill blends, so I might be just a little over critical there. Tightly packed into its tin, it was perfect moisture level for an immediate bowlfull.

I used my thick-walled Radfords's bent briar, not wanting to risk sullying either the Dunhill or the newly acquired Savinelli with the awfulness I had been promised by other reviewers. It packed nicely, in three springy layers, and lit easily. Not much expansion from the charring light, and producing a thick cloud of white smoke on the main light.

So, what does it taste like?

Very surprisingly pleasant. Cool, smooth smoke. Not 'creamy' smooth, but not in any way harsh or bitter. The citrus flavouring is so mild as to be almost, but not quite unnoticeable. Smokey, with more of that camp fire thing going on. Fresh and grassy on the front, with faint notes of spiced pear(?) maybe. There's a spiciness in general and a warmth that suggests it would pair well with a decent single malt. The room note is not at all unpleasant or acrid, as I had feared it might be. Lightly packed in a good sized (large) bowl, it burned well, and not at all hot, all the way down. No gurgling moisture, and absolutely no tongue-bite.

As I said at the top of the review, I have no idea how old this tin is. Given the terrible reviews here, the boys at smokingpipes.com might have a ton of this stuff that they bought years ago, and can't shift. Some places say 'no longer available' for this blend. I hope that's not the case, because I should be sad to see it go.

Would I order it again? Well, I'm not the 30-plus tobaccos in rotation kind of guy, I'm really searching for two (possibly three) blends to make my own. One for daily use. One for high days and holidays. One for variety. But on the other hand, I might select two regulars (daily use and sabbath) and forage my way through others as a kind of adventure, an epic journey if you will.

Would I recommend this tobacco to a friend? Well, if I had any friends, that smoke a pipe, yes I would. Without hesitation. In a heartbeat. No contest. Yes. But maybe with the caveat 'buy it, store it a few years, THEN smoke it'

Remember, folks: If you don't smoke, and you don't drink, you don't live longer..... it just SEEMS longer!