Peter Heinrichs Curly Special

Cute little curly-squiggles in the tin with an aroma of the usual figs, raisins and various spices that is typical of a good VaPer (and not so good ones). Loads easily - really needs no rubbing out. I just tossed the coins in the bowl and fired up.

This appears to be the same thing as the current version of Three Nuns. I did one back-to-back comparison and am not sure I could tell them apart blind. This is a mildly spicy and sweet mixture where the perique is used sparingly but convincingly. It could stand to be a bit more flavorful but that's asking a blend to be something it isn't. This is an enjoyably light smoke with some zest to it. Unfortunately, it loses a star due to a moderate amount of tongue sizzle that it gives me for about the first 1/3 bowl. Of course, that's usually due to a chemical balance thing, so perhaps I myself lose the star rather than the blend. As my experience appears outside the norm, I can heartily recommend this to the smoker of mild VaPers. It's a good one that I'll likely never smoke again due to that sizzle. It occurred in each and every bowl I smoked. I smoked about 2 oz and gave the other 1.5 away.

Worth a try.

P. Heinrich's Curly is what I would categorize as a good middle of the road, mild to medium VaPer. Price aside, there isn't all that much here to differentiate Heinrich Curly from other blends in its class. The coin presentation is very well done and the VA flavors are quite reminiscent of Mac Baren's twist mixtures. In fact, if someone were to ask me to name the blender of this tobacco in a blind tasting I would almost surely say "That's a Mac Baren blend," as it has that characteristic Danish style light-sweet grassiness over mild even keel semi-earthy tobacco flavor.

Curly makes for well balanced pipe smoke and the perique presence is subtle at best, lending a sliver of spice that's on par with blends like Orlik Golden Sliced. Frankly this would make a good level entry VaPer or one that might be appreciated by pipers that don't care for much more than a trace of Perique, but I can't see too many perique aficionados falling in love with this.

Heinrich claims Curly is costly to make and the price definitely reflects that. The biggest problem here is that there are a plethora of excellent VaPers on the market, some for almost half the cost. This is high quality tobacco that smokes smooth with no bite or harshness and a subtle lingering sweetness.

The references to Three Nuns of long ago are not justified in my opinion. This is a mild blend, whereas Three Nuns strength was medium to full. The taste is mild to medium, where Three Nuns was medium to full. The nicotine is light, whereas Three Nuns could make your head spin. But the differences are what make Curly Special so appealing to me. Curly special is tasty, with the perique used so sparingly that you hardly taste it. But you know it's there. This blend burns cool and dry to the bottom of the bowl. I rub out the disks and pull the ribbons apart till I have a shag cut, which eliminates blasts of perique and produces a smoother smoke. A good choice for those who like their pleasure on the mild side and I'm one of them. Update: My only caveat is to make sure your pipe is very clean. A wonderful blend. One of my favorites.

I have been working through this massive tin and it has been great. at $35 a tin this is a major commitment, but well worth it. People compare it to Three Nuns, and I catch passing echoes of Nuns here and there in the smoking, but this is no clone of that venerable tobacco, do not buy it expecting such (even though I did). It is nether as deep nor as dark as Three Nuns, more sunny and with a nuttier flavor and a somewhat honeyed/fresh mown hay sweetness. While there reads no perique in the description, there is a stewed figiness at times that make you question whether it's there or not. The overall character is of a bright, fresh tobacco-y smoke. Very pleasant and relaxing.

Presentation: Unabashedly simple tin, but still nice.

Cut: Comes in small coins that rub out into a long, fine ribbon cut. Moisture level is perfect.

Tin note: Smells like sweet cedar.

Tasting notes: Sweet, smoky hay. Sometimes tart on the finish. There is a decent amount of spice that comes and goes. Pretty mild in the flavor department.

Mechanics: Although the coins are small and will fit well in the pipe, I still recommend rubbing it out before packing. Maybe I was not doing it right, but I did not have as good of an experience when stacking the coins into my pipe and smoking.

Extra Remarks: This blend is similar to Orlik Golden Sliced except I find no spice in Golden Sliced. Not quite full enough or complex enough to be my cup of tea, but a good blend nonetheless. 3 stars.

I like the cut of the blend as it makes for easy packing. I've broken it up to try against just packing the discs and I favor just loading the discs. I theorize it may slow down the burn rate a little which is important to me for this blend.

I've been smoking a lot of highly regarded leaf lately. This one really does hold its own. It's got some Red Virginia tang which could also be the perique, but it reminds me more now of the tang I get from Carolina Red Flake a tad subdued, but very familiar. It feels more tangy red virginia in essence so the perique is really an enhancement to a red virginia forward taste. So, it's an ideal blend as not to interfere with the tang type red virginia taste much, if any. at all. It's as perfect of an almost perfect taste of Virginia as many flake's. It's consistent is what I mean, and there's no moments I have an experience of, "there's that perique". It's blended subtle into the virginia profile as an enhancement to the overall flavor which I find absolutely ideal as a pure virginia lover.

I really have to manage my technique here, so a few re-lights are the conservative way to enjoy this blend. It's really tasty and easy to forget though and if I pull and puff to much, my tongue will know it.

With McClelland out of the picture, this is one that I find comparable in high quality Virginia without a doubt. I'll probably give it 3 stars though because I really have to slow down my cadence to properly not suffer any sand tongue.

This is very similar to Bell?s Three Nuns, but I, quite frankly, find it superior.

The cut is similar, in round disks approximately the size of a dime, with more of the blend rubbed out. Packing can either be accomplished by rubbing out fully, partially, or stacking disks, at you option. With flakes, I have generally moved toward rubbing out, but this responds well toward packing the disks directly, I find.

The overall burning character is good, with little moisture production and minimal relights. My most recent bowl was smoked down to a small dottle with a single re-light. The strength is lower, in my experience, than Three Nuns. I consider this to be a positive.

The flavor is smooth and natural, with no spiciness, nor with any excessive sugar characteristics. There is a somewhat fruity sense to it, no smokiness, and no nuttiness. I have started to appreciate these types of blends, with no oriental or latakia components as a somewhat relaxing smoke that requires little attention. Flavor is very consistent, almost too consistent, in a somewhat bland nature.

Overall, I find this a quality tobacco with good smoking characteristics, and very representative of its type. Consistency throughout the bowl is nice from the position that there is no bitterness or like flavors, but somewhat monotonous. A reasonable, non-adventurous smoke that is very comfortable.

November 2002.

Really enjoy PH blends,but my tin looked s if the coins were already rubbed out. Very difficult to find any coins in tact. That being said,the blend was excellent. Lights,packs and burns well.

I thought this blend sounded quite interesting so I split a 200g tin with a forum cohort. He'd sampled it before, I had not. I've been on a very Virginia kick recently and this sounded absolutely lovely.

The pleasant, lightly fruity aroma was quite nice when I popped my baggie open. The coins are perfectly sized for easy packing. That said, I found I like to rub this out a little bit. My first bowl packed with folded up coins and it ran a little hot. The flavor was almost entirely lost. I had a few good puffs in the bowl, though, and could tell there was potential. The next time I rubbed out several and loosely filled the bowl with that, then squished up a couple coins at the top of the bowl. That smoked much more nicely for me. The flavor was consistent through much of the bowl -- nothing out of this world, but very enjoyable.

I was nervous after reading the review about a horrendous room note, but I actually received a compliment while I was smoking my bowl. I certainly thought it was fine from what I could tell.