Smokers' Haven IN-B-TWEEN Mixture

Germain doesn't fool me with this blend. It's Penzance in shag cut form. At least, that's my guess. Very similar flavor (if not identical), with the middle of the road English taste made heavenly by the special Germain preparation of the components listed above. A beauty of a smoke!

In-B-Tween is another great blend from SH! This is a traditional English with high grade Orientals. Virginia’s and Latakia. The tin note is malty and at first your are greeted with Latakia with a VA’s following it up. The smoke is creamy and sweet. Latakia provides sweetness and some smokeiness and not overpowering. The Virgiia’s are earthy, sweet and slightly fruity. There is some toastiness from the Virginia’s as well that works very nicely. The Orientals are dry and woody with a slight spice. I have never had Best Blend but it must be loaded with Latakia if this is a mild version. I find this to be a nice English/Balkan, if it is in between it is a Lat bomb that is the comparator. Great blend similar to Exotique but milder and slightly less complex.

IBTM is the third SH blend that I have sampled and, I must say, it is the best so far. The current version has a mix of narrow ribbon, slightly wider ribbon and shag pieces. It is nicely variegated in its color range; a characteristic of medium English blends and yields a classical English smokey tin aroma that is neither too strong nor too weak - in other words, medium. The smoking aroma is wonderfully rounded and you sense all components working together in harmony. This blend in the current offerings from SH is the closest, so far in my sampling, to what I remember from the past and is, therefore, the most successful of the three blends I have tried: 20th Anniversary mix (least successful), Cognac (pretty good but a little too weak) and IBTM (four stars).

Having lived all of my life in the home of Smoker's Haven, I am partial to all of their imported English blends and am fortunate to have maintained a stock pile of them. In-B-Tween is a light English, perfect for a morning smoke or for a time when less strength and more sweetness is called for. It is cut in a fine ribbon and burns well. It has great balance. I've been smoking from a 2003 8oz. tin and it has enough Virginia in it to age nicely. A fine offering.

Smokers’ Haven IN-B-TWEEN Mixture is a mild English of Latakia, Oriental/Turkish, Virginia, made by none other than J.F. Germain & Son. It’s listed as a ribbon, but when I popped the tin, it reminded me of pencil shavings, the kind you find when emptying a pencil sharpener (albeit somewhat moist pencil shavings). IBT was my first Smokers' Haven blend, and I found it to be a delightful, creamy smoke; I love the spicy/tangy Orientals in this one, along with mildly pleasant citrus just behind the soft-smokey Latakia. Initially, I too had a “meh” reaction to the first bowl (pilot error: not dried sufficiently). I allowed some of this shag to dry enough so that it wasn’t tacky when pressed together between the fingers (I did not allow for enough of on the first bowl – drying some of the moisture away is key to getting the most out of this mix -- at least with moisture level in the tin I received). I was then tilting towards a 3-star recommend by my third bowl (3.5 actually), when it dawned on me that IBT would be the absolute perfect go-to smoke for the front porch in mid-August when it’s 88 degrees outside – whether it be 7:20 in the a.m. or 10:40 at night. (NOTE TO SELF: IN-B-TWEEN is the perfect blend for when it is just too hot outside to smoke anything else). 4-stars.

Just a short review of a fine ribbon cut VA/Oriental/Latakia.

This blend has a sweet VA base, with a healthy dose of an oriental leaf (not sure which one) and sprinkled with latakia. Burns sweet, with a nice creamy sweet spice, followed by a muted, smooth latakia. It's a medium bodied smoke, richer than a straight VA, a little light on the nicotene, but tasty & satisfying. The latakia is strictly a condiment, lightly sprinkled throughout the blend. It burns to a light fluffy ash.

My suggestion, dry it so it doesn't stick together when pinched in a wad as it arrives a bit moist. Best results are achieved during a relaxed draw.

will post more with additional time in the tin

9/15/08. This has been a consistently good smoke, one I now cellar. Long may this fine blend live.

If you've tried Smoker's Haven "Our Best Blend" then you will recognize In-B-Tween immediately; it has both a similar cut and tin aroma. This is correctly described on S-H own web-site as a lighter weight version of OBB and I find it a pleasant all-day smoke. Our Best Blend is one of my favorites but this is a fine smoke all on its own.

The tobacco is a moderately long, string-cut (which I prefer), the strands are mostly dark. The mixture is mostly VA with Syrian Latakia next in quantity and the Turkish filling out the blend. The flavor is mild and enjoyable, the aroma is slightly smoky and sweet and there is a bit of that Balkan tang which I love. I think I've found the perfect summer blend. 8-1/2 out of 10 stars.

Nothing bad at all with this blend. Ordered it once when Smoker's Haven was out of 'Our Best Blend" and was pleasantly surprised. I find it to be more friendly than OBB and consider it a great standby. No longer use OBB but will continue to buy this as long as it is available.

Recommend for newbies.

This blend is very comforting. There is a good harmony in this blend between the Virginia, Oriental, and Latakia. The aroma is mild and unassuming, but it smells very much like how it tastes (although the taste is relatively stronger).