Tewksbury & Company Hobbit's Weed

Along with my previous review of Nosferatu, Hobbit's Weed did not live up to its hype. Yes, it is a very nice smelling aromatic, smoked cool and without gurgle or goopy residue. It was probably the better of the cherry-based aromatic I have ever had in over 35 years of pipe smoking. No discernible PG was a big plus. I did pick up on the "dash of Vanilla," but I feel it could have used more. Too mild of a blend for my everyday tastes (read body/tobacco flavor), but one that I would certainly revisit more frequently than just "on rare occasion." If you favor cherry-based aromatics, Hobbit's Weed is one of the better blends out there. By the way, the folks at Tewsbury are top notch with great customer service. Hobbit's Weed is a solid recommended with 3 stars..

Novice pipe smokers will enjoy this one just because of the name and the fact that it's sweet. Tewksbury may be gone l, but the blend is still around. A simple mixture of the following. 8 ounces of Lane BCA 4 ounces of Lane Very Cherry 4 ounces of Sutliff M-1 Vanilla (Other vanilla tobaccos such as Lane HS-3 or Sutliff Vanilla Custard can be substituted for the M-1 to suit your taste.)

**Note, this review is based on the recipe Tewksbury provided after shutting down production (50% Lane BCA, 25% Lane Very Cherry, and 25% Sutliff 1M).**

I have previously smoked and enjoyed all the ingredients separately and was curious to dive into all the hype. I blended up a pouch and was eager to find out what this cherry/vanilla mixture could do. It smells like heaven, even if the chocolate from the BCA was getting lost in the flavor cloud.

For being as moist as it was, it immediately took to the match and required few relights. My tongue first encountered the cherry, than some vanilla sweetness joined the party for what is a very lip licking candy smoke. I appreciated having the cherry toned down as other Aromatic cherries lean too heavily on it (I may even consider adding less than 25% next time). The concoction is very mild, helping along the mythos of a woodland creature puffing all day within their Hobbit Hole (or wherever they live in the book).

The next day a friend of mine fired up a bowl, and I can safely say this is one of the most pleasant room notes I have ever soaked up.

The stuff is great and easily deserves it's cult status, though part of it is likely driven by the fun name that has hooked Tolkien fans as well. For being incredibly cheap to make, it is a good bang for your buck, but one issue that arose was when I revisited an older batch I had cellared, the product started to smell and taste cheap, so perhaps the spell had broken? It will go without saying, but non Aromatic or nicotine fans won't be impressed.

Probably the best cherry blend I've smoked. It is definitely on the sweeter side but not over the top. Unlike most sticky aromatics, the topping doesn't burn off after the first 1/4 of the smoke, but rather builds as you get deeper into the bowl. There is a nice play between vanilla and cherry despite being regarded as a cherry bomb.

I enjoyed this most in my cobs mostly as it really tends to ghost a briar.

Jar note of vanilla and fruity sweet. Tobacco is dark brown, light brown and black course cut. Moisture content is good. Though some may want to dry it out a bit. Burns slow with a few extra relights. The strength is mild and nic is mild. Flavoring is medium, with notes of Cherry and Vanilla. Cherry doesn't last as long as the Vanilla. Taste is mild to medium and mostly consistent, with notes of marshmallow, orange peel, toasted bread, wood, spices, nuts, molasses, dry, mildly floral, savory, tart and tangy, mild cocoa, mildly acidic, mildly bitter, a brown sugar background note, and a mildly peppery retro. Cavendish is leading with Burley and Flavoring supporting. Room note is pleasant, and aftertaste is good.

As a smoker of mainly English blends this was a rare dabble into aromatics form me having tried a few in the past and been rather a hit & miss affair. Hobbits weed definately goes into the hit category. Tin and room note are both very pleasant..A cherry Cigarillo flavour/aroma. This is a good quality tobacco, no stems or stalks and the cut uniformed throughout the packet, beneath the casing the tobacco flavour is good, the right amount of burley giving your palate the right amount of body to the smoke, lights & stays lit perfectly all the way to the bottom of the bowl and is accompanied throughout with that cherry / vanilla flavour.

Pairing it with a sweet tea seems to bring out the best, As I found with coffee it took on a slightly bitter taste. Another plus as described in other reviews if found it neither too sticky nor sickly sweet which other aromatics can often be guilty of.

Six months down the line and jarring has done very little to this blend, tasting a little bitter now the casing has flashed off so buy it smoke it don't sit on it!

So my dear saint of a wife was in Denver last week and she picked me up some Hobbit's Weed from Tewksbury. I have heard all about it, both good and bad, and was excited to give it a try. Upon opening the bag, I smelled what other reviewers have stated. The sickly sweet, medicinal cherry cough syrup smell. Oh no! I don't do cherry tobaccos, I despise cherry tobaccos. Well I put some HW out and let it dry for about an hour, and grabbed a cob. First light...blueberries...tamp.....light....not bad. Guess what? It was good, it was downright enjoyable, and it held its flavor throughout the bowl. I normally do more aros in the summer and I think this would be a great summer blend. I'm sure it will ghost the hell out of a pipe so keep it in a cob.

I mixed this with cube cut burley, as I often do with aros. I found it quite pleasing. Many cherry/vanilla blends lose there flavor quickly, burn hot, or taste nasty. Not this one. I may be one of the best cherry/vanilla blends I ave tried. UK tobacco stores seem to also have excellent cherry/vanilla blends.

I was happy to receive a good sample of this from a forum friend who surprised with a new cob and about an ounce sample of this. This is a good aromatic as aromatics go. To explain what I mean by that is more complicated.

There are two types of aromatic smokers. Those, like myself, that enjoy a tobacco taste with a little something different due to light use of a topping. Then there are the aromatic smokers who like topping and could care less about underlying tobacco taste.

Hobbit's Weed is, without a doubt, for the latter category of aromatic smoker. It is heavily topped with a cherry liquer type of topping. This is not a cough syrup or fruity cherry topping, but the cherry is present. It is tasty, but not really to my liking, because as I stated I am of the other camp.

How I rate a tobacco like this is how the topping fares throughout the smoking experience. If a tobacco is all topping, to me the topping should remain from beginning to end or else you are left with hot air once it departs. Hobbit's Weed passes this test as well. The topping will last to the end. To me, this gets it three stars in its own right.

The final test for me on this is whether I like the topping and is where my objective test varies from my own subjective experience. In this case, I would say that I would rather have a bowl of Gawith Hoggarth's Top Black Cherry than a bowl of Hobbit's Weed. So this leaves Hobbit's weed at three stars for me, but this could easily be a four star blend to you. It will come down to how the topping strikes your fancy. I will say that It is unlike any other topping I have tried and it certainly was not offensive in the least to my tastes.