Just For Him Old Toby

Having had (and loved) both Shortcut to Mushrooms and Ruins of Isengard, I had high expectations for Old Toby. I initially smoked this blend in a MM Corncob. While the tobacco tasted pretty good, it was nowhere close to the fullness and body of STM and ROI. In all honesty, I think I tasted the Perique once in the first half of the bowl. Once I got to the bottom, the stoved tobacco tasted more like Perique; in fact, the tobacco tasted quite, quite good at the bottom of the bowl.

So, I gave this tobacco another shot, and changed pipes. I chose one of my wood stem churchwarden from FloggleWerks, and it made the tobacco come alive a bit. It could have been the longer stem, or an added wooden accent from the bowl, but the tobacco opened up. The whole bowl was sweet and peppery. Still not as wonderful as STM or ROI, but darned good.

I've smoked four more bowls of Old Toby in my churchwarden since then to great enjoyment. Out of curiosity, I smoked this blend in another one of my Bent Briar pipes (a Ropp), and the taste just wasn't the same. Something about this blend really comes alive in my Churchwarden.

I recently received the Middle Earth series of pipe tobacco from Just for Him (a gift from a fellow reviewer who wanted me to try them). I started with Old Toby and if this tobacco is any indication of the others, I'm not going to be quick to load up.

I really tried to like this tobacco but it is to mild, to tasteless and to boring to enjoy.

On the positive side, it did burn well.

I purchased the Middle Earth tester pack and Old Toby is the second one I've tried. It doesn't smell as sweet as Longbottom Leaf, which was the first I smoked. I found it to load easily, light quickly, and smoked to the bottom with ease.

Old Toby is smooth, slightly sweet, but not overly so, smokey, earthy, and a little nutty. It was a joy to smoke, and the flavor lasted from first light to ash with no fade. It even left a pleasant aftertaste when the bowl was done.

I was a little sad when this bowl was finished, and I definitely plan to purchase next month in bulk for the cellar. I like it enough to dedicate a pipe to it.

May 2011: I guess everyone has different tastes, but I do not understand the one star reviews on this blend. I still enjoy it and have added 1/2 lb to my cellar. I'm smoking it now in a Wiley w/a large conical bowl. Mmmm

This is nice... It has an alcoholic smell to it, a little bit like sherry. The perique comes through perfectly and I found it a pleasant smoke. The only downside is that it bit a little, I'll perhaps dry it out a bit and try again later.

Ahhh Old Toby..... It is a simple and relaxing blend. I think if you go into looking for something as complex as "shortcut to mushrooms" you will be disappointed. It is slightly sweet and has a subtle peppery kick to it that makes this a wonderful everyday smoke. I tried it in several different pipes, but found that my larger diameter bowls seem to help this blend come out of its shell. I usually smoke smaller bowl'd pipes like a bing's fav or one of my canadians, but for this blend I tend to go for larger bowls like this of my Comoy's pipes. It really allows the flavors to shine bright and the virginia's can really stove nicely towards the bottom of the bowl. After about half way you get a really pleasant sweet tang that leaves you satisfied. These guys at JFH will let you buy tiny little samplers.... GO GET ONE!!! You owe it to yourself to try out Old Toby and the other middle earth blends, they are all pretty good.

This is the fourth in the MEB series I tried. Being a fan of Perique I was already looking forward to this blend. It definately tastes of Burley with the hint of Perique building towards the end, first a little peppery then near the last quarter or so it really is just right. The Virginia is overshadowed quite a bit by the Burley and Perique. It is very smooth, no tongue bite. It stayed lit after the first light/tamp/relight as the other Middle Earth blands did. Definately a good to high end choice of ingredients. Plenty of rich sweet smoke the whole time. Could be a go to blend if you like Burley with a hint of Perique.

As a new pipe smoker (2012), this was my first taste of Perique, and I have to say it was very enjoyable. This blend burned cool with no bite, and got more flavorful as the bowl progressed. Earthy savouriness with a hint of sweet spiciness is how I'd describe it.

Update (2022): This one aged so nicely! A real pleasure to smoke after almost a decade in my cellar! Very tasty to the bottom of the bowl.

Going throughout the Middle Earth Sampler I left this for last because of all the low reviews. Except for STM I did not find anything in the series that really struck me. Surprise! I loved Old Toby. It was mellow with a good amount of smoke. It lit and burned easier than the rest of series and left the usual fine white ash. It was mild in taste but the perique did poke its nose in every so often. Altogether an enjoyable smoke.

Easy to pack and light. Stays lit no problem. Very bland. I taste some artificial sweetness, then some stale musty flavor, reminded me of my grandparent's house. Perique is very mild here, which i don't mind. My rating: Meh.

I have tried a few of the Lord of the Ring series tobacs from Just for Him, and this was just okay. i was hoping for some perique but did not experience any, nice nic hit. This does display the characteristic JfH smoothness and creamy thick smoke they are good at making. It was fairly bland to my palette, but never terrible. This was easy smoking and often i would catch a hint of something but not enough, the Ruins of Isengard is such an outstanding blend this misses the mark in comparison, but OldToby is still better than many drug store bores. I really wanted to like it and saved my review after i finished the packet from the sample, alas- it wasn't my favorite.