Solani 763: White and Black

Well, you may have noticed several mentions about inconsistency, as did I when I first read the reviews. But the positive reviews convinced me to purchase a tin anyway. And that tin was, let me tell you, heaven. Absolute heaven. It's a very delicate balance for me with English blends that contain cavendish. Some are excellent. Some are awful. There was something about this one that mitigated the bitter flavor that I normally get from cav. or somehow incorporated it differently. But, no matter, the bottom line is that this stuff was sublime. So I decided to go ahead and buy another tin. I thought that all the complaints about inconsistency here were just a few unlucky aberrations. Well, after opening up the second tin, I, too, am convinced there's a major problem with quality control somewhere at Solani.

I say with absolute certainty, that the second tin was not the same tobacco as the first. First off, they looked vastly different. Tin one was mostly all black, tin two had not even a single strand of black tobacco. Secondly, they smelled nothing alike. Tin one smelled like Latakia and Cavendish. Tin two smelled like a nondescript VA based aromatic. "Well," I thought, "Maybe they changed the formula, or I'm remembering it wrong." So, I decided to load up a bowl from the new tin and smoke it. BIG MISTAKE! Where was the Latakia? For that matter, where was the Cavendish? I couldn't taste either of them. What I could taste, I can't really say, but I had to fight just to make it halfway through the bowl. It was, without a doubt, the nastiest tobacco I have ever tried. And to add to it's list of vile qualities, the aftertaste was unbelievably persistent. I tried smoking a bowl of Old Ironsides to get rid of it. Didn't help. Tried brushing my teeth and tongue. Didn't help. Drank a cup of coffee. Didn't help. Drank two glasses of cheap rye whiskey. That helped some, but the rest, I just had to wait out.

So, again, I am absolutely certain that these are not the same tobaccos. Additionally, they were so different that I'm convinced that Solani didn't just alter the formula. Here's what I think happened: after reading the reviews for other tobaccos in the Solani line, I'm 90% certain that I got a tin of Sweet Mystery X with a label for White and Black mistakenly put on the front. So I suppose you should consider my comments above a review for Sweet Mystery X. Forgive the cheap shot, but the Mystery is why anyone would voluntarily smoke it.

I would love to buy another tin of the first stuff. But only if I could be absolutely assured that I would be getting the same thing. From my experiences, and others here, however, I just don't think that's possible. It's a real shame, too. They've really ruined what would otherwise have been a four star blend. I doubt I'll ever buy it again unless the store will let me open up the tin before I pay to make sure I'm getting the tobacco I'm paying for. Yeah, that'll happen.

I was not particularly impressed with this blend. I wouldn't call it an English blend - no discernible Latakia taste or smell despite the claim of Syrian Latakia in the description. I'm not saying it isn't a high quality tobacco, just that it wasn't a tobacco that matches my taste preferences. This smoked more like a Virginia-based blend rather than an English. As such, it probably needs much more aging than the tin I had in order to reach its peak before smoking. I found it bitey - especially straight out of the tin. It definitely needs several hours of drying time due to the moisture of the flakes. But it does produce a nice, thick smokiness.

UPDATE: 1-16-08 It would be nice to have an explanation on what is going on with this blend. I gave this tin 5 months to transmorph back to what it was supposed to be. NOPE it didn't. The trash is the only proper place for this. What ashame and what an unforgivable mistake!



Original review 7/20/07 Unfortunately this blend is inconsistent which is entriely unaccaptable given the premium price. A year ago I smoked two 50gram tins that were absolute heaven. A few weeks ago I bought a 100gram tin. The disappointment of that first bowl is overwhelming. It doesn't taste like the same stuff. Given the comments of others in this forum and my now own matching personal experience I must conclude that there are more than a few "bad" tins floating around. I will not be risking any more money on this blend. What ashame!

I suspect, like Redneck and Mr. Dottle, that I also bought a tin that made it past quality control. I've had perhaps one and half dozen pipefuls of this tobacco and have been disappointed with each smoke. I've tried it in Ardor pipes, a Cavicchi, a Dunhill size 5, a Ser Jacopo with a huge chamber and a Tsuge bent; in each pipe it has been underwhelming. I have tried smoking it right from the pouch, unrubbed and moist, and have tried it rubbed to a fare-the-well and I've tried it after cutting the mixture with scissors and dried almost to the crackling point. In all instances it has been underwhelming. I've puffed it fast, puffed it slow, and tried various loading techniques, including the Frank method with a hefty wad of the tobac acting as a "plug" at the top of the tobacco chamber. Still underwhelming, at times almost tasteless and definitely insipid. Visually and tactiley it is a high-quality tobacco; the pouch aroma is fantastic... it just has not lived up to the expectations intimated by the relatively high price. On the positive side, it burns very well, bite (after a good drying) is nonexistant and I have learned that a lengthy DGT (like maybe twelve hours or more) will improve the taste somewhat. I might stove what is remaining in the tin in the hopes that I can salvage something out of this purchase.

My experience with 763 is exactly the same as smokeemifyougotem except that I was introduced to this mixture at a local pipe show and was so impressed that I purchased three 100g tins of it. Well, those three tins bore no resemblance to the fine product I had sampled.

Save your money.

OK, so I'm an aromatic smoker, but I thought I would try this out because of all the rave reviews. Ooops! It just blew me away. It was a very strange experience smoking this. At first, the flavours were very pleasent - interesting nuances I was not familiar with (Latakia?) But after just a few minutes i found the strength building up to become overwhelming. I ended up light-headed and nauseous. Is that the nicotine? What-ever it was, it made this a once-only experience for me. So, beginners beware! (and I should know, because I've been a beginner for 20 years now)