Manifatture Sigaro Toscano Forte

Hello all, well i am italian and i smoked cigars (Old and extra old toscano as well); i'd say i prefer cigars even if the leaf type in this tobacco is the same. Best quality of this tobacco is that it's really cheap, but i am not looking for this quality. There are much better Kentuckies if you are looking for something really good. This one can be smoked just to say "well i tried it" and maybe you can add this one to others tobaccos (as said in a past review) but i am not going to buy a new pack. Cheers.

The best thing about this tobacco is its price! While smoked, it can give satisfaction to people who like plain kentucky: I'm not in that number. It gives its best when smoked in a corncob or meerschaum, maybe even in a clay, to smooth it out a little its sharpness. I know about people who find it great to mix it 50/50 with Clan: a rare case in which by blending two disgusting tobaccos together you can come across something smokable!

Forte is one of the most natural pipe tobacco in world, that's sure till to the point to being one of world's rougher tobaccos: pouch aroma is fusty, taste and flavors are very woodsy and earthy, room note is musty, almost redolent of humus… Not the right choice for a refined gourmand but good if you look for a walk in the wild side.

This is one of the cheapest tobaccos sold in Italy: for its price, it actually can't be despised! It's not a subtle or elegant tobacco, but it delivers a stout, sturdy natural taste that will appeal to lovers of Toscano cigars (the kind of leaf in the same).

Forte can be smoked even carelessly: you can stuff it in a corncob, and you only have to take care not to rush it. Being very finely cut (it can be used for RYO too) and dry, it can turn hot and quite bitter.

Anyway, a tobacco that has many decades of history on its shoulders: plain robust old stuff, with lots of taste, a pleasant nuttiness and cigar overtones.

Many old smokers in Italy (but also some young ones) swear by this tobacco, as it is cheap, completely natural and without frills.

I bet that blending with some Virginias and some more delicate Kentuckys can lead to interesting experiments. I know some people who also add it to EMs to "spice them up".

Quite frankly I am writing this mostly out of memory, with the aid of some old notes I have found in my cellar journal - I am in the habit of inventorying my cellar with pen and paper, and take notes on occasion. This was years before I, personally, stepped in an Italian tobacco shop. By the time I got to be haunting brick and mortars in Italy I lost all interest for this blend, as it was not quite my suit. Originally I was looking for the pipe version of the Toscano cigars, but I have found hardly the sort. It does have a distant resemblance to the Toscanellos - the classic fresh ones I mean, as on this subject matter there is quite a bit of variety, with your Garibaldis and you Mazzinis, your aged and Antica Rezerva, etc. In all plainness though, this is less of a blend but more of a straight tobacco varietal, a straight Kentucky, smashingly strong and peppery, that doesn't smoke like a toscanello - obviously since this is looser smoked (regardless how tight you may be tempted to pack) than the dry fermented cigars. It is quality tobacco, although I ended up giving it away or using it as a mixture component in other experiments. If you will, the Forte is the single level cured bulrey more like Rober McConnel's single varietal tobacco tins (Straight Latakia, Straight Perique, etc. - ever try to smoke straight latakia and felt like having a heart attack? yeah something of the sort). I love my Toscanos and I will stick to them, leaving this to the more astute pipe smokers, lovers of burley.