W.D. & H.O. Wills Capstan Navy Cut Full

The dark Virginias provide a lot of tangy dark fruit, some tart and tangy citrus, plenty of earth, wood and bread, a little grass, vegetation, sugar and floralness, slight acidic sourness, and a couple pinches of spice as the lead component. The earthy, woody, herbal, vegetative, floral, nutty, smoky, spicy, bitterly sour, rugged dark fired Kentucky is a strong supporting player. Its effect is a tad inconsistent as it occasionally takes a very small lead in the last third of the experience. There is a very mild floral sweet topping that lightly sublimates the tobaccos. The strength and nic-hit are a couple of steps past the medium threshold. The taste is a slot past the center of medium to full. No chance of bite or harshness, though it does have a few rough edges. The flakes easily break apart to suit your packing preference. Burns clean and a tad slow with a rich sweet and sour, savory, spicy flavor that extends to the pleasantly lingering after taste. The room stronger a notch stronger. Leaves little moisture in the bowl, and requires some relights. Not an all day smoke. Three and a half stars.

-JimInks

I was recently gifted two bowls of this long retired blend. I’m a huge fan of the old Wills Capstan Medium so I was hoping for a home run that didn’t materialize. The cut of the flake is similar to some very old Medium Navy that I had from the 1960's in that it was very thin. My poor description would put it somewhere between something made by Gawith Hoggarth and the old version of St Bruno. While I enjoy a large number of these blends, the topping for me wasn’t to my liking, leaning more toward perfume. In fairness, this sample is very old and thus the topping may not be what it once was. The Virginia’s offer some brown sugar sweetness and the Kentucky adds the backbone, body and a little wood. There’s no bite but it does burn a little warm if pushed. The bottom line is this, if you are looking to shell out some big dollars to purchase a very rare old tin, expect a blend that pushes much more to the Lakeland side of the ledger with some strength. Two and a half stars.

I was very fortunate to recently receive a gifted baggie full of some of the old, original Capstan Full. What a treat it was to savor the several bowls the gifted tobaccco provided.

Remembering that my sample was ages old, it was black as coal with broken flake. Once loaded, it provided a smooth, creamy Virginia richness that I cannot begin to translate to computer. The leaf was bitter-sweet, and provided an almost floral scent at first light. It quickly settled into a mouth watering burst of tobacco flavor with every puff. The nicotine content was better than average and the smoke was somewhat spicy and tickled the nose. It did burn a tad warm.

Finally, this one got better and better as the bowl progressed. By the time I hit bottom, I was almost in Heaven.

Unfortunately, this tobacco has very little in common with the "real" Capstan Full.

The closest two or three flakes to the original are:

Freiborg/Treyor Cut Virginia Plug

Samuel Gawith Full Virginia Flake

McConnell Scottish Flake

I was excited to see the name on the tin but disappointed when I put match to tobacco.

Not bad, but not Capstan Full. There is a reason you don't see much original Capstan Full available on the 'collectable' market - it was darned excellent tobacco.

This tobacco is now produced by "OTC Denmark" (Orlik Tobacco Company) and i've heard that they now are using an artificial humectant. Being a Dane i'm used to that, but what a shame to do such athing to a fine English tobacco.

But still this tobacco is of very high quality. The slices are neat and beutifully prepared in the tin; dark brown VA leaf mixed with a little kentucky. It rubs out perfectly, and packs and lights easy. It tends to be a little greasy, but i don't think it's been cased.

1/3 Of the bowl: Upon lighting, strong peppery taste, and you know allready that this is indeed a nicotine bomb.

2/3 Of the bowl: Well this may be odd, but i detected notes of burning pine. (pleasant) Not in a christmas kind of way, but more like fresh sharp-smelling harpic. The Kentucky is present but well balanced.

3/3 Of the bowl: Now this is what i love about brown VA! Full-strengh heavy VA sweetness and at the same time; gentle on the palate as a summer breeze. Yummy!

This flake should bear the name: Capstan Nightcap:) It´s strong, gentle, delicious. Not an allday smoke, but a perfect evening tobacco before bedtime.

A big, round, long-smoking flake. Cool and spacious. Less heady than some.

My favourite among the CAPSTAN classics has always been Medium, a hauntingly velvety and savoury desert-island treat. The Mild may turn vicious if overpuffed, and this one, like all the heavy Virginia solids, I find a trifle dull. If you have recently discovered the "lake district" plugs, twists and flakes, and enjoy them, you owe it to yourself to try this old standby. It, and some of Murray Sons traditional pressed blends, are part of a noble, and endangered, tradition. That none of them are readily available in America doesn't say much for our smoking culture.

A good tobacco! Seems a bit dry, if not matured i an unopened tin for some months, but - like the Capstan medium - good, if you run out of your personal favorite (mine is Paul Olsen's Plantagenet, which is very similar to the Capstan tobaccos).

A quite simple and honest blend, an all day smoke. I still need to smoke the shag cut from the same blend and then I would make another review.

As the tobacco I'm smoking here comes out of a 50+ years old tin, it may seem a little silly to recommend it to anyone, rare as it is.

Anyway, it is every bit as formidable as stated by Pipestud, and should be picked up whenever possible at almost any price.

This review is based on the original Capstan Navy Cut Full made by Imperial Tobacco and distributed in the USA by who or what once was James B. Russell.

The 50 gram tins I have look to be the same size as the current Peterson Irish Flake tins and the lid is painted a Salmon pink color. The thin black flakes themselves are very large 2" X 3 1/4"

The tobacco itself (A Va/Burley) smells similar to SG's FVF. The flakes rub out easy and light up no problem, the taste is medium to full and very malty and not as grassy as a lot of Virginia's can be. Nicotine content satisfies and there is no tongue bite. Like most flake tobacco's, one bowl can last fot a long time, which is a good thing when smoking Capstan Navy full!