House of Windsor Country Doctor

Right now I?m alternating between G&H?s Bob?s Chocolate Flake and HW?s Country Doctor. Basically, I?m using Country Doctor (CD) as my all day choice and treating myself to Bob?s Chocolate Flake (BCF) once a day.

CD is one of those old fashioned American blends that reminds me of Grandpa puttering in the garage on Saturday mornings back in the 50?s and 60?s. It is frequently called a drugstore blend, but in my neck of the woods (Westchester county, NY, about 50 miles north of Manhattan) the only pipe tobaccos one ever sees in drug stores are stale pouches of Captain Black, Half & Half, Prince Albert, and Borkum Riff along with those store brand bulk pouches of God-knows-what. So it took some time to find CD on the internet and receive a 4 oz. tin in the mail.

The aroma and texture upon opening the tin is rough but pleasant. The tobacco is cube cut and dryish, and the casing is fruity in an old-lady-coffee-table-candy kind of way. One does not get the impression of highest quality tobaccos here. But the over-all impression is positive. Thank goodness it?s not vanilla Cavendish!

CD packs in the bowl like a dream; just right every time, even if you plunge the pipe into the tin and scoop the tobacco into the bowl with your index finger (like Grandpa did). It?s dry and separate, but not dry as in brittle and stale. Lighting is a snap. One match will do it, but I always use two just to make sure.

The smoke is even and smooth, strong yet not overpowering. There is just enough latakia and perique to be barely noticeable, and the casing does not get in the way of the tobacco flavor. This tobacco is good; very good. That being said, it must also be mentioned that it is somewhat rough. But not in a bad sense; rather in the same sense as certain beloved English cask-conditioned ales. Maybe a better word than rough would be ?rustic?. The flavor is strong and consistant down the bowl, getting perhaps a little more piquant toward the bottom. It burns well, seldom needing to be re-lit. There is no juicy gurgling in the bottom of the bowl, and when carefully smoked, the dottle is small and fairly dry.

One negative is that on those occasions when it is necessary to let the pipe go out and cool, on re-lighting later on, the taste is rather acrid like other less expensive tobaccos. A re-light of a cooled bowl brings all the roughness mentioned above to the fore. So if I fear that I may not have time to smoke an entire pipe, I?ll just fill the bowl half way and knock out the leftovers when I?m done.

I am a somewhat brisk smoker, no doubt from long experience with tobaccos that go out if you ignore them for more than a fleeting moment or so. Yet even at a brisk pace CD does not wax hot; it remains cool and does not bite at all. It also stays lit so that relights are seldom necessary. Therefore, it is a good tobacco to help one develop a relaxed, slow smoking speed. It?s also good when engaged in conversation. You can talk for a bit and come back without fear of a dead pipe. All in all, CD is a good every day tobacco that satisfies and leaves room in your heart for special treats like G&H?s Bob?s Chocolate Flake.

This stuff will be perfect for the hot weather months. I seriously can't understand why some blends that are out of this world (such as this) are discontinued , while other horrid blends continue selling for all eternity (half-n-half, boredom stiff, low IQ, take your pick!) I really love the berry topping on this stuff which doesn't happen too often. The perique was an interesting touch as well. This will nip if provoked, but then most of the better blends do. Nice indeed!

(8-9-03) From the very first bowl of this wonderful old tobacco, I was intrigued by something that kept bringing back to smoke another bowl. I recently finished smoking fifteen straight bowls of this with no other tobaccos in between. I am truly hooked on this stuff! I still don't know what it is that intrigues me but the more I smoke this tobaccy, the more I want to smoke it. The aroma upon openning the container is simply yummy. Obviously there is some kind of fruity topping in this blend but it is not too sweet or yucky and it doesn't carry through to the smoking experiance. It is a cube and ribbon cut tobacco, about 50% dark brown with a little black and 50% light brown, tan and a touch of yellows. It packs easily and care should be taken not to pack this stuff to tightly.

Without question the burleys dominate the flavor profile. The virginias, latakia and perique are always there too but never up front. Like I said, the burleys dominate but as each of the others tobaccos take their turn trying to come out, it creates a flavorful and nicely complex smoking experiance. There is a fair amount of nicotine present and this tobaccy does get a little spicier as the bowl smokes down, but plesantly so. It is never bitter! Note: I am an aggressive smoker and so far, I have never been bitten by this tobaccy.

I'm not sure how long this blend has been around and yes, I guess it can be considered a high-end drug store blend but who cares. This tobacco has with-stood the test of time. It's still here and from what I can see, it's making a strong come back against all those overly priced boutique blends that many of us charish and talk about all the time. If you haven't already done so, give this blend a try. No matter if your favor virginias, english, balkans, latakias, etc. you won't be sorry! This is good stuff and a definate all day smoke, if your looking for one!

I favor smoking this blend in a meerschaum pipe! I rate it ***** Flakes out of ***** Flakes!

JohnnyFlake

One of my stops between aromatics and naturals, it falls nicely between the two, a nice cube cut and granulated cut, mosly medium in color. There is some slight aroma, fruity but not too intrusive. The flavor is American drugstore, but pre-Captain Black, in other words, not too goopy. Room aroma is not bad.