Hearth & Home Ten to Midnight

When I smoked this it was what I always thought of as ?Balkan? in my head. Though I prefer Larry?s blend for my every day smoke, this is something I come to from time to time for a wonderful smoke that is much brighter and when I want to have a smoke with the varitiels more ?present? early in the smoke, not just in the high note. I love this in a larger pipe after dinner with a Guinness or a big glass of ice water. It is very dark and beautiful, flavorful(full), smoky and (to me) comforting. If Balkans are among what you like you cannot go wrong here, the price is right, their service is wonderful, they ship overseas, no reason not to. Namaste?

Russ Ouellette at pipesandcigars did a great job with this one! You can see direcly from the bulk that it's loaded with a fair amount of latakia (very positive indeed...) but when you open it all your potential doubts are thrown away by that wonderful smell! Tons of latakia! The packing is easy and the smoke proceeds cool and even till the end, no need to relight. The taste is full, wonderfully full; to me, a little more strenght would have been the perfection, but it's a marvelous smoke the same! Try that!

This blend consists of broad cut golden and red Virginias, with a touch of rubbed out flake, Orientals (mostly Xanthia) and three kinds of Latakia. My eyes, nose and palate detect the Latakia content to be heavy, probably 50% or more. Because of that, it's not likely suitable for the inexperienced or beggining pipe smoker

This blend is easy to pack and light. It burns slow, cool and dry all the way to the bottom of the bowl. A pleasent amount of smoke is produced from puffing slowly and the flavor is splendid. Full bodied and yet layers of subtle complexity with no astringency or harshness.

At first light I detected buttery notes from the orientals that quickly developed into a fragrant bouquet of flavors. Truly complex this. The aftertaste is very pleasent and stays with the palatte for a while in a very pleasent way.

The room note was surprisingly light and not as "offensive" as heavy Latakia blends tend to be. Overall, a very complex and tasty blend that affords a rewarding experience. Ten to Midnight only comes in bulk form and is part of the "Hearth and Home Series" blended by Russ Ouellette for pipesandcigars.com

4 Very solid stars!

Excellent, robust blend. The Latakia and orientals steal the show here shine here, but the other tobaccos are definitely there and help to provide a little balance and round out the flavors. For me, it is a belting smoke to light up outside on a cold night. My pet peeve is when a blend doesn’t taste like it smells, but this blend truly does. It also has a full body to it - none of that hot air that you get with lighter or aromatic blends. Highly recommend this underrated blend.

Ten to Midnight has been my favorite tobacco for about seven years now.

Ten to Midnight is a light bodied Balkan, but certainly not light on flavor. Light bodied meaning a lighter and brighter variety of tobaccos used to enhance the Latakian centerpiece of this blend. I believe I read an article by Russ Ouellette somewhere mentioning bright Virginias and Macedonian Orientals for this blend. For my taste the citrusy Virginias and aromatic Orientals certainly brighten up the incense-like flavor of the Latakia.

Ten to Midnight is a rather dry krumble kake which takes a little more effort to prepare, but I'm use to it and have gotten pretty good at it.

I use two hands and break the kake up into smaller pieces. And then just using one hand, I take the longer pieces and kind of bend them between my fore finger and thumb to break them up into yet smaller bits and pieces to about an 1/8 of an inch or perhaps just a tad bigger in size.

I place the bits and pieces in my pipe, tamp them very lightly, or maybe not even at all, and keep everything pretty loose.

Light it and smoke it as you would any other blend. Keep everything pretty loose all the way down to the final ash. I find this method burns very well with minimal moisture and excellent flavor.

You should never rub this kake out because the pieces get too small and the Latakia turns to dust.

If the bits and pieces are too big, then you'll have draw issues.

So yes, it's a little finicky but if you do it often enough, like anything else, you'll get it figured out and become accustomed to it... Honest, it'll be a piece of cake!... Lol, yes the pun is intended.

Been smoking this the last couple of days. It’s a very enjoyable blend. Nice smoky flavor with creamy smoke. The nicotine hit isn’t quite enough for me but a pleasant aroma and taste without any linger to speak of. I’ll have to work on preparation before I pack it in the bowl because I’ve had to relight a few too many times for my liking. The Latakia and Orientals are well balanced with the Virginia that’s present. Anyone who enjoys English tobacco should really like this one. It burns down to a light ash doesn’t moisten up your bowl, which makes it possible to reload and smoke another one right off. I would not say this is a “distinctive“ tobacco, but it is very pleasant and easy.

Very floral. Plenty of smokiness. Some salt. Some spice. A full Latakia but we'll balanced with the Virginia's and orientals. I would not call this a lat bomb but a well balanced blend with dominant Latakia characteristics. Smooth, meaty and just an excellent blend!

I loved this blend.

This blend is just like every other good English blend, only more so. It has a richness and a fullness that is just not present in other Englishes that I have in my cellar.

The latakia makes itself very present, without turning this blend into a "Lat Bomb". It's woody, smoky, spicy, and infinitely complex. This is a contemplative blend, perfect for a long quiet session with your pipe. I've only just gotten into this blend, but so far I think it will have a home in my cellar for as long as H&H lets me buy it.