House of Windsor Briggs

Having quite a bit of success with HOW blends in the past (Union Leader, Mapleton, Revelation, Country Doctor), I was pleased to find a 2 oz tin of this and eager to get into it. The best laid plans....

Very flat and anemic tasting blend of golden virginia and burley. This possessed a very musty odor in the tin that perfectly translated to the taste, and the blend fared miserably as a result. The flavor was mostly of old rubber mixed with uncooked lima beans. The good news is that the flavor was extremely mild, bordering on simple hot air. I managed to smoke 3 bowls of this before giving it away. The good news with this one is the exceptional room note. Very clean, not too sweet and refreshing. I certainly wouldn't mind being around someone who smoked this one, as long as I didn't have to smoke it myself.

One star blend, but as it's not nearly as foul as other one star blends, such as Mixture #79. In the realm of my one star blends, this is a 1.3 and #79 is a solid 0.6... just to provide a frame of reference. This one is best left in the halls of memory.

I bought a 2oz tin of this stuff a couple years ago. I really wanted to like this blend as its been around a long time. after opening I was disapointed with the aroma. It smelled like dried saliva/spit (**sorry thats the only way to describe it**) It was extreemly dry. It almost reminded me of clumpy GrapeNuts cereal. I loaded up a very old Dr.Grabow and began my very boring smoke. I had a hard time detecting any flavor at all, other than a weak flat flavor of...um...smoke. It did burn well, a little on the quick side. Tongue bite shouldnt be a problem either, if smoked at a reasonable pace. I know that one star seems harsh, and Im well aware that many many people love this blend,but there just isnt anything here. I will stick this away in the closet, and try again someday...perhaps that will help. its not as if it could get any drier.

When a "Feller" has friends like this, who needs enemies?!! Seriously this stuff was retired for a reason. It is a very boring tobacco with little taste that makes the room smell like stale cigarettes. HOW has done a marvelous job of reintroducing the old classics, but I'm afraid this sucker should have been left in its grave.

Eh. I know we are not supposed to make comments about other reviews, but Pipestud got it right when he said cardboard. I wanted to like Briggs (sort of a nostaligia kind of thing), but it was pretty marginal. Not "bad" . . . just too plain. Cubed Burley with a very light topping. Not enough there for me.

Being light as air can have its own flair;

Possessing finesse, a grace, "there" but in no particular place.

Coming to flavor and taste, and Briggs is such a case,

Briggs might be too ethereal to fling far enough from your lair.

There's nothing special about or wrong with Briggs and if complete mildness is what you seek you will definately find it here. While it burns cool, it simply has no flavor, body or taste.

This blend came to me as part of an 8-tin sampler of HOW re-creations. This was described on their web site as a "full-bodied,full strength cube-cut burley with Virginia white flake". I take exception, it isn't full bodied at all. The physical appearance has already been aptly described, the burn is cool and steady, but with so little taste that I would have to say "why bother?" (Or, maybe it's just my burnt out taste buds failing to respond after all those years of balkan-type blends) Overall, there's nothing wrong with Briggs, if mildness of everything is your measure. But ask yourself, if you already like one of the old drugstore burley brands, would you be willing to pay twice the price for Briggs?

Bought a can of this stuff just for the slogan. It definately has some rum taste to it. I found it to be nothing special.

If you have read the preceding reviews, you need little more information from me. Briggs smokes quite cooly for a blend that burns so fast, has a light natural taste, and leaves me with that burn in the back of my throat I get from some Burleys. In the same line, I much prefer Union Leader and Barking Dog. Union Leader is terrific, by the way.