House of Windsor Country Doctor

Country doctor is quite an unusual blend. It is very flavoured, in that Union Leader fruity/honey-like way. Unfortunately I think the blender tripped the bottle into the blending machine. The appearance in the tin is not good either. Half of it looks like something someone swept from the floor with a broom; half cross-cut leaf and half tobacco powder.

I could not find almost no Latakia and Périque. VA was only present in small doses: that leaves alot of Burley, soaked in flavour and PG. You should puff this one slowly and with caution, because it burns like MacBaren.

On the upside, it does have a decent dose of nicotine and it does make an ok outdoor smoke. Two stars, max..

Jakob Kiilerich, Denmark

Country doctor is quite an unusual blend. It is very flavoured, in that Union Leader fruity/honey-like way. Unfortunately I think the blender tripped the bottle into the blending machine.

The appearance in the tin is not good either. Half of it looks like something someone swept from the floor with a broom; half cross-cut leaf and half tobacco powder.

I could not find almost no Latakia and Périque. VA was only present in small doses: that leaves alot of Burley, soaked in flavour and PG. You should puff this one slowly and with caution, because it burns like MacBaren.

On the upside, it does have a decent dose of nicotine and it does make an ok outdoor smoke. Two stars, max..

Jakob Kiilerich, Denmark

A similar tobacco to Barking Dog, but much more burley-oriented. Don't be fooled by the various tobaccos in the recipe, because the dominating taste (compared to Revelation or Barking Dog) is nutty, earthy and grassy: yes, the familiar cube-cut burley at its best.

It is a tasty blend, but not as rich or interesting as the two other House of Windsor blends I have mentioned above, or as smooth as other burley-heavy tobaccos like Barbary Coast or Edgeworth Slices. Towards the middle of the bowl and onwards, you can actually get some of the dreaded burley bitterness.

Overall a good, stout (I smoke it in little bowls) blend: quite simple and uncomplicated, and enjoyable. But there are better products by the same maker, which offer me a more balanced experience. Worth a try, though.

There are some tobaccos you like from the first puff and there are some tobaccos that grow on you. CD fell in the latter category for me. I wasn?t particularly impressed with the first bowl I smoked but I didn?t give up on this tobacco. Ensuing bowls grew more tasteful and pleasurable. This tobacco can be smoked without any concern for how fast you puff as it has no bite whatsoever. I call such tobaccos like this as well as MacBarren London Blend ?drinkable.? This is a ?drinkable? smoke. I am not a fan of Latakia or Perique in heavy doses but these stay well in the background and only modestly come to the forefront from time-to-time. They say nicotine is addictive. I found Country Doctor the most addictive tobacco I have smoked so far out of about 25 blends. A great all day long smoke, especially for burley lovers!

10/12/2004 - Update. My second tin, purchased from a different etailer and months after the tin my review was based on, was a big disappointment. The second tin was not nealy as good as my first tin of CD. See my review for Barking Dog that may explain this disparity. Something is amiss at HOW.

I received a tin of Country Doctor by House of Windsor with a pipe I purchased as a "complementary" bonus. I put it aside for awhile, but finally got around to opening and trying it. My first pipeful was quite pleasant for the first part of the bowl, but by midway, had turned a bit spicy and harsh. Still, I thought I was onto something good. Later, I tried it in a Calabash Meershaum, to try the full flavor of the tobacco. Again, it started out pleasant, but became overpowering, hitting me with a nicotine overdose that took the entire evening to rid myself of. WOW...what a buzz, and an unpleasant aftertaste that would not go away. I thought, perhaps, I had simply overdone it, and decided on one more try. I chose one of my favorite pipes, a Ser Jacopo Maxima, and again lit up. This time, less than a third of the bowl through, I could no longer take the overpowering strength of the nicotine, and dumped the bowl. I almost had to sanitize the pipe, the aftertaste was so strong! I will NOT be trying this again, and threw the remainder in the trash. Most of my reviews have been quite positive, and I have a eclectic taste in tobaccos, but this does NOT fit into my rotation, from this point on. I cannot recommend this on any basis.

A fine "American English" blend. My sample smokes cleanly with very little nip. Relative smoothness through out. It is bold tasting with peppery, nutty and grassy flavors. There is just a bit of tang from oriental tobacco.

A bit deeper and flatter tasting towards the mid to bottom of the bowl - and a tad bit more harsh - though still pleasant. Near the very bottom the orientals again get a bit citrus like (as is their custom).

For as much as I like English blends, I don't tend to smoke them all day or every day. Though if I were to smoke like that, this could be a regular.

I think I still may personally prefer the C+D English style blends which also use Burley and Perique, but this is a good alternative and close contender.

I smoked this about six months after having smoked Revelation, and could tell very little difference between the two blends. Like Revelation, CD came extremely dry in the tin, and I had to smoke carefully in order to avoid tongue bite as I smoked. I occasionally caught a whiff or a taste of the Latakia in the blend, but it definitely stayed in the background in this VA and Burley-laden blend. I regret that I cannot enjoy the room note of this blend as I smoke, as I suspect it is quite nice and would evoke memories of days gone by, when it was a common occurrence to pass a pipe-smoker on the street and become briefly lost in the wonderful aroma he left in his wake.

While I am definitely grateful to see these classic American mixtures resurrected, I prefer blends that are heavier on the Latakia and thus I don?t think the House of Windsor blends will become a regular part of my rotation, except maybe as an occasional summertime blend. A nice, dry smoke all the way down.

I really wanted to like this blend and was very happy with my first smoke. It was a "yummy" tobacco; there seemed to be a very subtle topping. It is finicky to pack though, and the taste would get more acrid with every relight. When I would go on to a second bowl of the evening, my head would ache and I would start to feel slightly sick to my stomach. At first I just attributed it to my second or third triple martini. But then I read somewhere that Burley has double the nicotine of that found in other tobaccos. So I did an experiment. On several evenings, and completely martini-free, I sampled the good Doctor. It didn't take long before my pulse was pounding--not an encouraging sign. Soon my tongue was bitten, and my head ached (and I still was trying to figure out how to keep it lit). The Doctor was more Kevorkian in nature than healer. I go for taste and overall experience. Mr. Nick O' Teen (as some have referred to it) is not welcome in my piping adventures. As soon as my father-in-law came for a visit I let the good doctor make a house call--out of my house and over to his.

I love the idea of bringing back these old brands.In a tribute to the past I smoked this in a large old Kaywoodie.The artwork on the packaging is pure nostalgia and every pipesmoker should try these blends at least once.Upon opening I found rather dry pleasant smelling cubed burley.It's about as easy to load as a tobacco could be.I see many similarities to Field and Stream in this blend, that being one of them.Those who are fans of F&S would no doubt enjoy this too.Upon lighting; the casing was quite noticeable.It also had that certain after taste which I don't appreciate.It got much better however about a quarter of the way down the bowl.It burns cool and the tatse is'nt bad at all.With that said,if blends like this were the only ones avaiable I'm not sure I would smoke a pipe.It makes me very thankful to be a pipe smoker today instead of in the 40's and 50's when these blends were most popular. With access to great tobaccos like Greg Pease,Dunhill's and McClellands blends this almost seems a little outdated.For a step back in history though,it's just what the doctor ordered. Prep