Nat Sherman 509 Blend (Manhattan Twilight)

God I hated this. I went out to purchase a tin of tobacco on The Fourth of July to no avail. Every single smoke shop in Southern California was closed, so I was forced to compromise at the local liquor store.

This was the first aromatic that I ever smoked and perhaps this is where my disgust originates. I opened the tin and the paper packaging was soaked in a dark brown syrup that seeped through. I immediately emptied the tin and found that the paper was stuck to the bottom.

After tearing it loose, I found that the can was oxidized clear through. I could smell the metal not from five inches away as the syrup had eaten away at the shiny finish. I immediately discarded the tin and stuck the tobacco in an old Nightcap tin.

It took a lengthy time lighting the thing and when I finally got it smoking all I could taste was the syrup. I even tried watering it down with some Haddo's Delight and after that some Early Morning Pipe, but it was a lost cause.

I wish I could throw this thing into the Grand Canyon. If future archaeologists found this tobacco as the sole artifact of our civilization, they would think we were a sorry bunch. Save the five bucks and buy yourself a yoyo or something.

What an extraordinary waste of a marvelous name on a perfectly mundane, utterly undistinguished Cavendish nothing!

580 Liberty is the only Sherman blend worth smoking, I still believe.

Manhattan Twilight came to me years ago as a sample along with some Sherman proprietary cigars. Ledford Miller, an employee of the shop back in the '80s, was always helpful and since he knew that I was a pipe smoker, always included a Sherman sample. He knew I liked Vanilla flavoring on occasion, so, this was my gift. Not sure if Ledford is still around, but if he is, I sure hope he doesn't read TRC. His thoughtfulness in sending me this tobacco (at least, I think that's what it was), was appreciated, but not the half bowl I smoked before dumping the leaf into the nearest trash can. Hell itself could not have been hotter. Take some Vanilla extract, boil it in a pot of corn husks and you'll have a pretty good facsimile of Manhattan Twilight.

Pipestud

This is a dark, rich cavendish with a wonderful tin aroma.

The description on the tin (see above) is right on. It is a very cool smoke--no tongue bite. It is indeed moist, but I was amazed how well it stayed lit for such a dark cavendish. I had previously tried some bulk dark cavendish, but had trouble keeping it lit; it was too syrupy. Now, straight out of the tin this isn't perfect; it doesn't stay lit as reliably as an uncased, or an English blend, but it holds its own. I let it dry out a bit, and that improved things greatly.

The flavor is warm, seductive nougat/vanilla-like marriage, though not overpowering. It is so unobtrusive that there is no ugly aftertaste after smoking it. The consistency is rich and smooth. The room aroma is sumptuous: sitting in another room, my wife and my buddy's pregnant wife both loved the aroma wafting its way from underneath the closed door of my buddy's library as we smoked away. That should be the mother of all room aroma endorsements.

I try to smoke it in the morning if I know I'm going to have a rough day because the after-smoke moustache aroma is as wonderful as the taste. The morning after smell is also pleasant, much like the aroma while its being smoked.

Great tin aroma, wonderful flavor and room aroma, including the day after, no tongue bite; this is a great tobacco.

Nat Sherman - 509 Blend.

Like a strong aromatic? Step this way!

I popped this open last night for an evening smoke, I must admit, I really enjoy it. The blend smells heavily cased, and it's jet black. The ribbons are a bit too moist, but nowhere near as sticky as the heavy aroma implies.

This is my kind of aromatic, ticks all of the boxes for what makes an enjoyable evening smoke: thick and heavy smoke, heap loads of sweet vanilla, some nutty nougat, cool in temperature, and a splendid burn. It's very indulgent!

Nicotine: mild. Room-note: very pleasant.

509? A brilliant evening smoke. Highly recommended:

Four stars.

This tobacco showed me what aromatics are: they are the liqueurs of the pipe world. This blend consists of a dark fired Cavendish soaked in a combination of syrup and alcohol, laden with vanilla and some maple flavors, and like a liqueur, should be taken after meals in small dosages.

That being said, "509 Blend" showed me why people enjoy aromatics. The tin note seals the deal: a fantastic blend of rising vanilla, maple, sugar and fermented tobacco scents. It lights easily and burns readily, as if soaked in accelerant. However, the flavor is gentle, without the rough edges of natural tobacco, and it feels more like a soft drink, marshmallow, after-dinner cordial or other treat than the rote process of an all-day smoke. In addition, the room smells fantastic, like people might want to eat it up and come back for more. During the bowl, you mostly taste the vanilla, followed by a flavor of Cavendish itself, which is like a very mellow sweetened Perique. As the bowl goes on, the maple burns off, which is fortunate because it is not necessary with the vanilla in this blend being so enjoyable, and the Cavendish and vanilla flavors merge into something sort of like a custard flavor. Then one sees the genius of soaking tobacco in goop: it burns nearly uniformly, down to a light amount of dottle and a thick grey ash.

You may poo-poo the aromatics if you want, but if I smoked one bowl a day and did not care about nicotine, I might choose this or another variant on this classic style. Then again, I started out with "Golden Burley," which was a vanilla smoked Cavendish mixture just like this one, and found that people enjoyed the scent in public and I liked the mellow, consistent burn and flavor. I can see why 90% of the smoking population enjoys these, having tasted a top-notch aromatic which preserves the smoking characteristics of the leaf. That being said, my own path leads in another direction, and I find myself cutting this blend with Cube Cut Burley on subsequent bowls. But I have found much to enjoy in it, and an understanding of what the majority of pipe smokers desire as a result.

This is the first decent tobacco I've ever smoked as a new pipe smoker. I find it quite delightful, and look forward to smoking it each morning with my coffee. I've tried a few garbage pouch tobaccos before I decided to try this, and I am so glad that I did. I payed 10 dollars for a 2oz tin, which was sealed like fort nox by the way. It took a group of three of us to remove the lid off the the thing, but in the end I (the only smoker of the bunch) found the smoke quite enjoyable. Although it was quite moist I found it burned quite well throughout, and had absolutely no tongue bite. I will enjoy this tobacco for quite some time to come.

my favorite smoke so far. very delicious and smooth. great for a relaxing pipefull on the porch with friends. goes great with port, beer, or just about anything else. highly recommend this smoke.

And the prize for sloppiest and gloppiest tobacco of the last millennium goes to....you guessed it, Nat Sherman 509. It’s literally stewing in it’s own juices when you crack the tin, albeit very pleasant smelling juices. It smells great in the tin, vanilla x 10 with some lovely amaretto overtones. It smells great when someone else is smoking it nearby. Unfortunately, it’s just so wet and sticky , any benefits are far outweighed by the tarry havoc this leaves behind in a pipe. It ghosts a pipe...forever. It’s that strongly topped. It lights easier than you’d expect despite not really drying out even when left out all night. It’s incredibly boring to smoke, but leaves a nice smell on your clothes and beard. I keep what’s left around to smell once in a while in the tin, It’s really pleasant. I doubt it will ever dry out, due to what I expect are gratuitous quantities of humectants, not bothering to jar it. There are so many better, less messy alternatives to recommend this one. I’m puzzled how a respectable tobacco company like Nat Sherman gave this the green light. It smells great, really! Just way too wet and messy.

Edit: 12/24/20

‘Twas the night before Christmas...I mixed the ounce I had left of this with 2 oz of my driest jar of Three Sails shag cut and let it sit a few hours. What a pleasant surprise...being so wet, it rehydrated the shag, slowed the burn, and made a very nice straight Virginia vanilla aromatic that practically ignited itself, required ZERO relights and minimal tending. This stuff is too much on it’s own, but makes a wonderful blender. Additional props to Three Sails for being the perfect tobacco for this sort of thing.

2 stars on it’s own, 3 as a blending component

Recently I took a chance on Nat Sherman (they made good cigarettes, so why not), and fell in love with their deep 536, prompting me to pick up the other two available. 314 turned out to be a bust, but 509 I quite enjoyed.

I was not terribly impressed upon opening the tin, it was a sticky topped wad of stewed black cavendish, which the flavor spray-tan didn't even smell that great. Yeah it was sorta vanilla, but was very musty. It did however light without hassle and had a pleasant easy smoke. The low nicotine made successive bowls of this sweet concoction a breeze. It never tasted like much, but certainly had an aromatic angle.

I can understand some of the 1 star reviews from veteran reviewers, for this is more of a "cute" tobacco and quite light for a serious pipe smoker, still it came at the right palate cleansing time for me after some intense Balkans. There are times when light is just right,