Smokers' Haven Cognac Mixture

A creamy, mildly sweet and tangy smooth mild to medium English blend. This seems to be Smoker's Haven In-B-Tween with a cognac topping, which is as high quality as the various tobaccos are, and though the flavor is omnipresent, it's not overpowering. The Cyprian latakia gives a nice smokey, woodsy push aided and abetted by the mild Oriental/Turkish spice, wood and light dry note. The Virginia is earthy, citrus sweet, and slightly hay-like. It may be labeled as a cognac blend, but you can taste all the ingredients, which is rare for this kind of mixture. Has a mild nic-hit. Burns well and slowly, especially for a thin ribbon/shag cut, and is best sipped for full effect, though you can puff it fast, and not get tongue bite. Leaves virtually no moisture in the bowl, and needs few relights as it easily burns to ash. Has a very pleasant after taste, and can be an all day smoke. More of a three-and-a-half star blend.

-JimInks

As a Brit, I am both frustrated and envious that American distributors seem to have garnered the best of the blends supplied by the talented tobacconists of Germain's. Happily, courtesy of a buddy in the States, I have been able to sample this lovely mixture, thanks Herb!

This is a simply exquisite English/Balkan blend with all the elements melded in perfect harmony. Easy to pack and light and from the first puff to the last it brings a creamy, dreamy delight to the senses.

The Cognac, for me, is barely there, but perhaps that is what accounts for the slight tingle on the palate? The Latakia is perfectly measured for my liking, with the Turkish just humming along in the background. The tang and sweetness of the Virginia pops through, but never crudely. The whole ensemble burns happily all the way down the bowl, leaving nothing but the lightest of ash and the mellowest of memories. Absolutely sublime stuff, one of the finest examples of the blender's skill I have ever encountered.

Highly recommended.

The Latakia and Oriental components meld with the Virginia nicely in Cognac to produce a mild, mellow smoke with that unusual twist of Cognac dressing. I barely detected the booze, but sure did detect lots of great flavor. I smoked multiple bowls of this over a period of several days in all kinds of pipes and it was a home run every time.

Every so often, I find a alcohol flavored tobacco is a nice change of pace. I have tried many different alcohol flavored blends, but Cognac Mixture is the very best of the best. The big brother to Esoterica's Pembroke, this blend has a much deeper taste and more Cognac than Pembroke (by the same blender). Cognac is a rich with thinly cut ribbons that meld wonderfully in the pipe. Although I prefer smaller bowled pipes, this blend really shines in a nice large bowl. Cognac arrives moist and with the strong tin aroma of Cognac. The taste is that of a typical Esoterica English made with high quality leaf. Cognac packs easily and burns very cleanly, but make no mistake, the cognac flavor dominates the show. As a result, the blend is quite sweet and becomes sweeter as it ages. I'm down to my last eight ounces and after close to two years of Smoker's Haven's inability to obtain more from Germain, it appears that this wonderful smoke (and most of the Smoker's Haven blends are really wonderful) may be gone forever. If you are a fan of rich English blends with a lot of alcohol, this is the holy grail. Those that only enjoy a small amount of spirits in their tobacco or those that don't like any at all should skip this blend. Highly recommended!

Wow! After smoking half of a two once tin of this tobacco I have decided this one is a keeper. The tin note is very heavy of cognac. However the flavoring is very muted while smoking it, barely noticeable even. The orientals are very present and the latakia flavor hides in the background. A very well blended cross-over tobacco. More for the English smoker than for someone looking for a heavily cased smoke. It also burns dry and cool. If you have not tried the Smokers Haven blends, which I believe are made by JF Germain. I highly recommend trying them out.

While I am new to Smoker’s Haven blends, I was lucky enough to acquire Cognac Mixture, In B-tween and Exotique all at once. I am extremely impressed with all. This isn’t much of a surprise as I am a fan of Germain’s Tobacco’s as a rule. It is impossible not to compare this to Pembroke as th two are very similar, but they are not the same. The tin note is an English/Balkan with Cognac. It is quite sweet and the cognac is strong in scent along with the smokey Latakia. The tobacco comes a bit moist and requires some drying time.

The tobacco is a Balkan blend with cognac. The cognac compliments the tobacco and provides sweetness and a tingle on the mouth feel. The sweet and smokey Latakia is in the fore but is balanced with the Turkish/Orientals that are woody and provide a bit of spice. The base of Virginia’s are earthy and sweet and provide a bready quality to the smoke. Pembroke and SH Cognac Mixture are 2 of a slight few tobacco’s that allow you to taste the underlying tobacco and enjoy the topping. SH seems to have more Latakia and Orientals while Pembroke has less Latakia and more of a balance of Virginia and Orientals...and perhaps a bit less Cognac. This has the maltiness that I really like in a Balkan and that is not as present in Pembroke. I really enjoy both, probably equally, but they are different. Burns well, mild in nicotine and leaves very little moisture in bowl, when dried prior to smoking.

Stringy shag cut of various shades with a very strong scent of the cognac topping and a hint of latakia underneath. Just the faintest touch of oriental scent alongside.

I'm writing this review because I smoked most of the tin and I record my thoughts on all the blends I smoke here. But I hope no one takes this review as anything resembling objectivity. My issue with this one is my issue with most flavored tobaccos, especially those with booze flavoring... the flavoring drowns out much of the tobacco taste for me. That's a personal failure on my part and anyone else probably does not possess it, and as such will enjoy this blend. I did not. Too much cognac... and I LIKE cognac! Then again, I like cherries too, but I don't want them in my pipe bowl. The constituent tobacco flavors were there but were blanketed by the cognac flavoring for me. I plodded through about 3/4 of the tin, tried drying it more, tried different packs, but ultimately it just wore me out. But that's not the fault of the tobacco. If you enjoy booze flavoring in your tobacco, this might be the ticket.

I hate when I am about to do a review and I read a review that just sums up everything that I feel about a blend, but is stated better than I would have said it. Such is the case with Jiminks review on this one. He has pretty much nailed my feelings on this one and the rating as well.

The only thing I will add to this has to do with its comparison to Pembroke. I have often seen it said that all the Germain Produced SH blends are just mirror images of an Esoterica blend and I think it is hogwash. IMO. This one is said, by those who make such a claim, to just be Pembroke with a different label.

I can honestly state that this is not the case. Where I agree with Jim that this deserves a little more than 3 stars, but does not rise to the level of 4, I would solidly place Pembroke in the four star region. I find Pembroke to be a more silky smooth smoke, which is perhaps, a bit monotone. Cognac is an edgier ride than Pembroke. I think this is more due to the proportion of Turkish/Oriental to Latakia. Whatever it is, the two, while similar, are also different and If I had to choose between the two, it would be a quick selection of Pembroke.

It is due to that simple comparison that after I finish the tin in the cellar, I will not be repurchasing Cognac, not because it is not a good blend.

My all time favorite blend is Smokers' Haven "Our Best Blend"; this is OBB with a light touch of Cognac. This is similar to Esoterica's Pembroke (which I also like). All of Smokers' Haven and Esoterica's blends are manufactured by the estimable J.F. Germain & Son Company so there should be quite a similarity.

Cognac is to Our Best Blend as Pembroke is to Margate. There are taste differences between the two brands and these two mixtures. One difference between Esoterica and Smokers' Haven is the use of Cyprian (Esoterica's) vs. Syrian (Smokers' Haven) Latakia, another is the moisture content. All of the Esoterica's blends I've tried come a little moist while Smokers' Haven mixtures are perfect right out of the can, this might be attributed to the size of the tins as Esoterica's are the generic 50g round tin and Smokers' Haven comes in a larger pop-top 8oz size, both tins are vacuum sealed but the tobacco is not as compressed in the larger tins.

The tin aroma is nice, mostly English but with a slight Cognac tinge. The Syrian Latakia used here is less sharp and more nuanced in flavor then its Cyprian cousin it is also stronger in Nicotine. The Virginias are sweet and the Turkish is there for depth and fullness. The Cognac doesn't overpower the blend but is mostly in the background. The room note is enjoyed by my wife. 9 out of 10 stars.

This has a dark, almost cavendish look in the tin with a long ribbon cut. The tin note is of virginias, latakia, and a sweet, spicy something extra which is most likely the cognac. The strands are long enough that I prefer to try to pull them in half so that it packs more easily. Otherwise it can be challenging to get a good, consistent pack. Overall this blend works best in somewhat larger bowled pipes due the nature of the cut.

Upon drying the cognac essence fades, and the latakia becomes more pronounced. The turkish is there, but mixed in the background.

Surprisingly this is not one of the easiest burning blends. While it will accept a char and light readily, I find that I have to relight this more frequently than many other blends. This is most likely due to the cognac treatment, which almost gives the tobacco, even when fully dried out, a tacky feel. Nevertheless it does not bite unless smoked far too rapidly, and burns cool and dry.

I find that many alcohol cased tobaccos can have a little bite to them, and this is no exception. It is not tongue bite in the classic sense, but rather a tingle in the mouth that is not present in other English style mixtures. This has that effect to my palate, but the sharpness dissipates as you move down the bowl, and overall I find the second half far more rewarding and enjoyable than the first.

The flavor is rich and mellow after the initial sharpness recedes. It is earthy and pungent from the latakia, and even the virginia's are almost musty, but not in a bad way. Smoker's Haven alleges that this is an exceptionally slow burning blend, but I really have not found that to be the case. It is average in that regard in my experience, and given the propensity from the ribbon cut to take up room in the bowl, can in fact produce a shorter smoke than other blends in the same size bowl. There is no significant nicotine strength to speak of.

This is a fine, tasty latakia mixture. I have mixed emotions about the cognac. I personally enjoy the smoke after the cognac has dissipated. While it lends itself to a wonderful tin aroma, I do not think it does the flavor or smoking characteristics of the blend any favors. I also do not believe that the flavor comes through in a pronounced way while smoking after the first quarter or so of the bowl. While it is a nice change from the average, I am not sure it is a mixture that I would seek to have on hand at all times. For the quality of the tobacco and the well rounded, cohesive flavor as you move through the bowl three stars is a fair assessment.