Nat Sherman 314 City Island Dawn

This is something that I used to smoke in small quantities a decade or so ago alongside various other Nat Sherman products—cigars, cigarettes, cigarettellos. I remember it as a delicate and enjoyable vanilla aromatic. But you can't step in the same river twice, I suppose.

I found a tin of this at my old residence last year and finally got around to dipping into it. It's entirely possible that the 8 or so years between my purchase of this 314 and smoking it over the past few days have been hard on the tobacco, but I'm not sure. What I once perceived as a quiet vanilla aromatic is now practically mute. It's still a mild tobacco, but far too mild to bring any pleasure. The big challenge with this stuff, however, is the serious bitterness that has developed in this weed. It's genuinely unpleasant to smoke and may well be a candidate for the big blue bin.

But back when I was much younger…and perhaps when the tin was fresh…this was a mild, pleasant smoke.

My one and only tin of 314 is somewhere more than five years old, so it dates back to Nat’s own distribution prior to the new maker (Lane??). Here’s the good and the bad. In the good category, the tin note is great! The room note is wonderful too. There is no bite and I didn’t experience the moisture problems that other reviewers mentioned. That could be because I didn’t go right from the tin to the pipe without some dry time. It’s a golden Cavendish and if there is any black in there, I didn’t see it. Now, on the negative side, the vanilla, while tasty and sweet, it is more of the artificial variety. 314 is very similar to many less expensive bulk aromatics in terms of flavor and not worth paying for it to be tinned. It isn’t a premium aromatic like one of the Larsen’s Limited Edition blends or like a Sillems’s Green or Blue. So it’s a two and half star or three star blend at most unless you absolutely require a tin.

Sorry, I meant to post this at the 314 reviews, but inadvertantly posted it at 307. I didn't realize it was called City Island Dawn, as that isn't indicated on the red rosy tin.

In the tin, this stuff smells almost like Senakot, a chocolate laxative. I almost passed on it, but since I used to love Nat?s cigars so much, especially the Union and University, I decided to try a pinch from an open sample tin at Jack?s Tobacco, Milwaukee. I was not disappointed. This is one of the finest, creamiest aromatics you?ll every try. It?s a soft blend of aromatic golden and dark Cavendish. Yes, it?s definitely a heavily cased American aromatic, so stay away if you?re a hardcore English smoker. Unfortunately, the downside is that whatever this stuff is cased with leaves a coating on my tongue that?s soapy and waxy. It also tends to leave some sludgy wet dottle in the bowl. I prefer McClelland aromatics because they don?t fuzz my tongue. But for one who enjoys an occasional ice cream sundae with their tobacco, and likes the pleasing fragrance of nougat and toffee ala McClelland Best of Show, you will enjoy this from time to time.

Two and a half of five stars

I absolutely loved Nat Sherman's 536, so I wondered why it took as long as it did to try out their other products. My expectations for 314 were very high, as I also love a good vanilla aromatic.

To label 314 as vanilla, is an overstatement, it's just so "mellow" that it becomes boring and dull. There was so little going on when I opened the tin, I actually double checked online what the flavor was supposed to be. There was 'some' nondescript sweet topping which I guess made it an aromatic.

The soft bouncy cut packed phenomenally well and had no lighting issues. The torched product still failed to excite my buds however, and even had an odd bite for such a mild product. As it was not offensive to smoke, I did finish the tin, but 2 stars was as high as I could rate this one.

To balance the negatives, lets not overlook that Nat Sherman's tins are 2.0 oz, nearly 20% larger than the standard 1.75 oz tin.

I can't remember ever being happier to finish a tin. This tobacco when right (by right I mean how much you let it dry) offers a not so bad smoke. First off, this is an aromatic in the American tradition. It is Cavendish, it is goopy and you can barely taste any tobacco at all.

I think it was pointed out in another review, but bears repeating. You cannot take this directly from the tin and put it in a briar and smoke it. A gurgle is a guarantee and if you're lucky it may only cost you two pipe cleaners to smoke a small bowl. This also happens with meerschaum. This was a first for me. I have never had an aromatic cause my meers to gurgle. But, out of a cob, I was able to smoke it gurgle free. So if you smoke a cob primarily or exclusively, you will have a much different take on this tobacco than I did.

I did experiment with drying times to see if I could capture what some others describe as a great smoke. I found that it really needed to dry overnight to enjoy out of a briar and about 3 hours to enjoy out of a meer.

This is a huge problem for me. If you serve it up in a tin, it should not have this kind of maintenance associated with it to enjoy. Once it is dried, or from a cob, it is not bad. Vanilla with some chocolate and coffee notes slightly lingering in the back. The problem is it is still not worth it. There are just too many better examples of this type of aromatic at a much better value.

I was going to leave this at one star as I know that I will not recommend it to anyone, but I can see where a cob smoker may enjoy this, so I am adding one star for them.