Lane Limited Captain Black Royal

The Campbell's Soup of pipe tobacco: it ain't particularly great, but it also ain't bad, and it's useful to have some in the cupboard.

I bought a pouch of this and some Borkum Riff Cherry Cavendish from a sad and lonely tobacconist in a near-empty shop. I bought it just to buy something. The Borkum Riff was hideous, but this is a pleasant enough smoke. The pouch aromas are all chocolate and vanilla and the tobacco itself is passable--moist, shaggy, black and gold Cavendish. It burns outrageously hot, as expected, but also produces copious amounts of sweet-smelling smoke. The latter stages of the bowl find the Captain getting a little angry and bitter and so I put him out of my misery about two thirds of the way in.

Measured against all of the other quality aromatics out there, this is at best a modest quality smoke and deserves a guarded 2-star recommendation. But I think that if we bring price into the equation, then this merits greater consideration. If the economy continues to slide, I might have to invoke the "Quit or Go Captain" compromise.

So: 2-stars when the bulls are running through the streets; 4-stars when the bear is rummaging through the dumpster.

For all my fellow recent converts to the art and joy of tobacco smoking, know this:

Captain Black tastes like it smells for about 3-5 puffs, and then the taste of chemicals kicks in. If you end up sticking with and liking this blend, more power to you. The point of smoking is to enjoy. But if you have never tried anything else (this was my first pipe tobacco) you owe it to yourself to try some good non-aromatics, whether American or English.

Oh yeah, the tongue bite is brutal.

Same basic thing as Capt.White with less. Less taste and less sweet and less satisfying. This is another that was better 30 years ago. What Happened? A good blend gone bad.

This stuff is simply horrible. A drugstore version of 1-Q, the predominant flavor is plastic. I attribute this to poor quality leaf and a lot of humectant.

Truly one of the worst smoking experiences I've had the displeasure of having.

I've purchased pouches Royal off and on for years and always been satisfied with the quality and flavor. The aromatic character of this blend is less intense that others of the captain black brand. I almost suspect some kind of liquor additive to dissolve and deliver the flavorings. Spice, incense, nougat and liqueur perhaps?? Anyway it's a solid dependable winner every time.

The aroma is that which draws so many of us to be pipe smokers in the first place, and non-smokers passing by can't help but be pleased and curious.

There is true tobacco taste and flavor here, the top noting compliments and does not mask the genuine tobacco character. Any fan of Captain Black and aromatics in general will enjoy giving this blend a try. I'll always come back for more...

Good Draw to you,,, Cheers!!

Glorfindel

Captain Black Royal (CBR) is a little better than CB Regular/White in my opinion. They are both good examples of an OTC aromatic tobaccos. I just seem to like CBR more than CBW, it has a better taste & more flavor. It's a readily available good tasting smoke that you can get almost anywhere, though you'll find CBW or CB Gold more than CBR at most stores.

Upon opening the pouch or tub you get a rich aroma of vanilla, chocolate & caramel, with a some PG chemical overtone like CBW, but like I said in that review, not as bad as some others. It's a very flavorful smoke & the room note kinda smells like brownies or cookies baking in the oven.

The key to a good smoke with both CB's I've tried so far is letting what you are going to smoke sit out for a bit before loading up your pipe. It helps to cut down on relighting a bunch. CBR is best kept to a slow sip or you're not going to get much flavor, probably get some ashy taste, some bite & won't enjoy the smoking experience much. I use a filtered pipe to cut down on the moisture, which helps to make a cooler smoke.

CBR in my opinion is a little better overall in flavor than CBW. I enjoy it's flavor & tend to smoke it a little more than CBW. They are both good OTC aromatic tobaccos & worth a try, you might even enjoy them.

Sweet like all Captain Black products. It was not as overpowering as CBW and I swear there was a tinge of fruit... Like candied fruit. Smoked like other CB products: wet, goopy, hot, yummy. Something still draws my attention to these pouches at CVS. Whether it be the price or reminiscence of my first tobacco experiences, every once in a while I enjoy a pouch of the Captain. Recommend for beginners, and recommended for the occasional flashback.

As a new pipe smoker I went to a generic tobacco store to try to find something which to try and this is what the owner/clerk recommended. Mind you this is a shop that mainly caters to cigarette smokers. With my limited knowledge and experience I took his word and bought a pouch of this. Got home and loaded a bowl (without any knowledge of the 'proper' techniques) and had a smoke. Subliminally I kept trying to tell myself that this is great and no wonder people love pipe smoking but in reality I was hard-pressed to find much enjoyment in it. While smoking it was OK however the aftertaste was terrible and very chemical in nature. I chocked it up to being a newbie and over the next few days I smoked on several more occasions but was left disappointed, underwhelmed, and wondering if I had wasted my time and money and if I should even consider taking up pipe smoking. After this I decided to look to see if there were a pipe/cigar shop nearby and I found one. I picked up a tin of some GL Pease Virginia (Laurel Heights) and immediately knew that the captain black royal had just been a horrible recommendation and choice. While it's probably not the worst if you're new to pipe smoking you can cut your teeth on this but I recommend picking up some quality tobacco or seeing a tobacconist to discuss and get something worth-while that won't turn you off.

Like the tin says, it consists of black and gold cavendish of reasonable quality (considering the price). The aroma from the tin is mostly sweet almost like fruit cake with a displeasing sour, chemical undertone. It packs and burns fairly easy, requiring some tamping. The taste is quite bland and chemical leaving behind a sour after taste and the chemical / sulphurous / soapy smell becomes overpowering. It leaves a nasty residue that needs to be scraped off, so don't smoke this in your favourite pipe. Fortunately the tobacconist here got some new Davidoff stock, which at three times the price is far more appealing and fulfilling. I'll not smoke this again even if it means running out of Davidoff for a month or so...