Tinder Box Philosopher Blend

Not that my tastes are more refined or discerning than any other smoker here, this blend did not come through for me. While pleasant to a degree it had no body, no real flavor. Let me say it was for me rather thin or weak. Burleys (Mexican?) are too heavy, Latakia non-existent (it doesn't purport to have any, really.) And where are the Orientals? Maybe this is what called an American-English? It is cheap enough, however. After effects in my mouth: pasty gumminess, perhaps from humicant. If I were shipwrecked on a desert isle with my pipe and a supply of this alone, I would not give up smoking; hence it gets two stars.

I tried this blend with some reluctance particularly considering the other reviews but I have to say Philosopher isn't bad. It's not great mind you but it is tolerable.

I am accustomed to smoking Squadron Leader for the most part and as I ran low, I went and picked this up to fill the down time until a new tin of the former arrived. Philosopher cannot, in my opinion, come close to being comprable with Squadron Leader but it beats the other heavily-cased PG-laden blends that are found at my local Tinderbox store.

Burns cool and with minimal bite although it is a little too moist and i had to relight more than once.

I just smoked a bowl of this in an old Kaywoodie Bulldog. The sample I had was straight from the jar from Tinderbox, and as all the jars were full to the top, I presume this is as freash as it gets. I did not dry my sample at all, and I must say it does remind me of Frog Morton On The Town, although it seems to have a more pronounced Virginia component than Frog Morton. It starts out with a pronounced cavendish smoothness, then the Virginias come into play in the middle of the bowl. The Orientals are in the passenger seat all along. I normally shy away from cavendish, as I prefer quite full bodied smokes, but this stuff is pretty good. I think if one likes the Frog Morton series, this would please. I will smoke this on occasion, but I lean toward the likes of Nightcap and 965 when I hunger for a smoke in this class. Still, all in all a pretty nice smoke. There was a good bit of unburned dottle at the end, but again I did not dry it out at all. I think this is worthy of a try, and I just might learn to appreciate cavendish a little more. Yeah, recommended. Update: Boy, I hate to edit my original review so soon, but.... this stuff is just soaked in propelyne glycol(SP?). I think anyone who smokes Latakia or Orientals is probably an experienced smoker, and would be far better off to purchase Dunhill 965 or Nightcap. I can understand the need to keep tobacco fresh in the bulk business, but better packaging sure beats PG anytime. If one is out of quality tobacco, this will fill the bill untill top shelf stuffin's can be had, but don't bother with this if you have better options.

No Virginia leaf I can detect, and Latakia is the Oriental component. This is lightly sweet, but more than say Early Morning Pipe (which is VA based and uncased) and less than Frog Morton, probably due to the cased cavendish base.

This is a moderately interesting blend for distracted consumption that burns nicely (despite tactile moisture) and leaves some fairly substantial dottle in the bottom of the bowl. Low lying forage as an occasional change for pure aromatic or traditional English blend smokers.

The one thing I like about Philosopher over other bulk Americanized English blends is that it does not have a sooty or machine oil aftertaste.

I think the reason UncleGar's impressions of Philosopher did not match up with the stated descriptive is because this present day version is not even close to what Philosopher once was in the 1970s. There is an esteemed reviewer in our group (OSR) who worked for the Tinderbox chain for many years who no doubt can give a better history lesson regarding this blend than I can.

I recently received a tin of Philosopher as well as another called Lamplighter. I am told both tins are 1970's Tinderbox originals. Philosopher does indeed have a somewhat cased "English" type taste. The very broken flake was dark and easy to light. It certainly provided an unusual flavor presentation that was almost sour. I am wondering if the casing caused this because I have noticed that cased blends with 20 or so years of aging actually cause the blend to head south over time.

After reading UncleGar's review, I think I'll take a pass on the new stuff.

A very thoughtful (non pipe smoking) friend gifted this to me a few years ago, knowing that I liked English tobaccos. Very kind gesture to be sure, I was and remained touched with the thought.

I tried a bowl worth when I received it, and being big into Balkans at that time I found this unappealing. Some latakia, but a very notable quantity of sweetened cavendish. From there, it remained in the bag for roughly 3 years untouched. I recently came across it again and wanted to compare it to some Stokkebye bulk English blends I picked up (reviews coming soon, need some more "mileage" with them to give them the fair assessment they deserve). Sure enough after 3 years in a non-airtight-bag it was almost as moist as when I first got it. Humectant aplenty.

There is Latakia, the orientals show up, to be sure there's elements that are familiar to English smokers. I guess it's the pronounced sweetness that it's aromatic cousins share that makes Philosopher bland. It does not develop throughout the bowl in any notable way: You get sweetened cavendish at the start and you get sweetened cavendish at the end. Certain latakia blends can incorporate cavendish to good effect, although they are usually brown and / or unsweetened, a la Dunhill MM965. This one does not work with the same effect.

In defense of Tinder Box English tobaccos though, I do believe one of their English blends started me down the path of more noble blends when I first started pipe smoking in the late 90's. From a blend similar to this (can't remember specifically which one), I've gone on to enjoy a huge range of amazing smokes after learning that there was more to pipe tobacco than vanilla, fruit, and tongue bite. For the reason of being a "gateway blend", and for having received this as a gift from a thoughtful friend, I'll remain friendly to the Tinder Box English blends and thank them for making blends like this available.

I picked up a complimentary ounce of this blend after buying a VERY nice black, rusticated Savinelli Trevi pipe from my local Tinder Box pipe store. In explaining to the manager what type of blends I preferred, it didn't take long for him to reach for Philospher. I packed a bowl when I got home (not in my new Savinelli though) and can say that I was not impressed. This is a completely harmless tobacco for anyone who thought this was an end of day robust smoke. It's very bland, not much taste and definitely no aroma whatsoever. In the baggie it came in, I could only detect the slightest hint of a sweet somewhat pungent aroma. However, that's it. It's borderline English aromatic if there's such a thing. On the plus side, I didn't get any tongue bite that I usually get from blends with unnatural casing. It doesn't smoke hot and I smoked it pretty hard. Lights easy, no relights and burns to a white/gray ash. I can't recommend even for those seeking to switch from aromatics to Balkan blends because there's gotta be something out there better than this. Two stars, would not buy again nor can I or recommend.

I got an ounce form my loal TB. The smell out of the can is different. the flavor is pretty good, but I cna't get overr the AFTERTASTE!!! After smoking a bowl of this, It left a waxy aftertaste in my mouth for a couple of hours.

This isn't something you would smoke while on a date. The aroma is a bit uuhmm....reminds me of a woodsy, camp fire smell. Notbad, but nothing I would make into a car air freshener.

Back when I got my first pipe or two, this was my first foray into anything English. I remember liking the fact that it didn't give me as much tongue bite as the aromatics that I'd started with. But, as time goes on, and you get introduced to the real quality English blends, this is just revealed for what it is - a light, monochromatic English blend. Oriental means a dash of latakia, and the Virginias are okay, but not stellar. It is what it is, folks, a reasonable English bulk product. There is a noticable, albeit mild, casing, and like most Lane bulk tobaccos, too much PG. The best I can do for this one is to somewhat recommend it. If money is a real issue, then this might be good for you. But frankly, if that were my situation, I'd smoke a lot less, and make it count, with one of the Frogs, Odyssey, or even Penzance.