Japan Tobacco Momoyama

I purchased a tin of this stuff while vacationing in Japan in 2006. It was the last tin in the shop. I have since "lost" the tin, so I can't say for sure if it was blended by Mac Baren, however, the lady who sold it to me said it was blended in Denmark for the Japanese market, so maybe. Frankly, I was surprised to see any pipe tobacco at all in Tokyo, pipe smoking isn't very popular there. At the time, I purchased the tin not for its tobacco, as I wasn't smoking then, but for the tin. What happened to the tin? Read on. I opened this only several weeks ago, in August. Now, I'll have to admit, the interim years of it sitting on my shelf may have done this tobacco a disservice (perhaps the stuff doesn't age well, who knows). Upon opening it I was greeted with a sickly scent of plum wine and figs. The tobacco was so heavily cased, and wet, I thought there would be zero chance of lighting it. I was nearly right on that matter—the rough cut dark tobacco was difficult to pack and it didn't take to lighting very well. The taste, a sweet syrupy plum molasses-like concoction was not to my liking. There was also a bit of a nicotine kick, and, if pressed, it bit. Truly, this tobacco was very unpalatable; I suffered several more bowls of this stuff over the summer and then unceremoniously threw the tin and its contents in the trash (all the time forgetting that I had originally purchased it for the tin). It was the only tin I dumped this year. Foul stuff. I cannot recommend it.

Cheers!