Hearth & Home Old Companion

(2.55)
A blend to bring back great memories. A traditional American mixture of Pressed Burley and steam-toasted Red Virginia which has a nutty/toasty flavor and a nice cool burn. Reminiscent of many of the old foil-pouch blends that Grandpa and his friends used to smoke. This is one for the whole day, everyday.

Details

Brand Hearth & Home
Series Signature Series
Blended By Russ Ouellette
Manufactured By Pipes & Cigars
Blend Type Burley Based
Contents Burley, Virginia
Flavoring
Cut Ribbon
Packaging 1.5oz Tin, 8oz Tin, Bulk
Country United States
Production Currently available

Profile

Strength
Mild to Medium
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Extremely Mild -> Overwhelming
Flavoring
None Detected
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
None Detected -> Extra Strong
Room Note
Pleasant to Tolerable
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Unnoticeable -> Overwhelming
Taste
Mild to Medium
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Extremely Mild (Flat) -> Overwhelming

Average Rating

2.55 / 4
8

6

12

5

Reviews

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Displaying 1 - 11 of 31 Reviews
Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Jan 19, 2015 Medium None Detected Medium to Full Very Pleasant
I am a fan of many of Russ's blends but for the most part they always taste a little green to me so I always age them for six months prior to smoking them. This one was no different. It comes in a large tin size for the quantity of the tobacco as it is very loose and does come in the perfect moisture content to smoke right out of the tin. It is stated on the tin that it is an old fashioned style blend reminding us of the foil pouches tobaccos of times past. While I am of an age to have smoked many of those blends, I can't say it reminded me of any of them, but it is a good straight forward non aromatic blend that I did enjoy.

The tin note upon opening is slightly musty but fresh and sweet. It is very loose and loads easily into the pipe. The colors of the rough ribbon cut tobaccos run the full range of browns from light to dark. It lights very easily and produces a very pleasant, sweet favorable smoke that is great in a cob as well as a briar. It smokes down evenly with maybe a relight or two, and produces a steely grey ash and very little moisture or dottle in the bottom of the pipe. The room note does take me back to the aromas of pipes of my youth, and it is full enough because of the burly base to smoke slowly and sweet enough because of the Virginias to satisfy the palette. I enjoyed this blend a lot and am glad I bought several tins of it. If smoked too fast it does have a touch of tongue bite, but more than a lot of the old OTC blends did.

Overall, this is a very nice blend by Russ O and one I will visit often. I do recommend trying.
Pipe Used: briar, cob, meershaum
PurchasedFrom: pipesandcigars.com
Age When Smoked: 6 months
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
May 16, 2013 Mild to Medium None Detected Mild to Medium Pleasant
This is my favorite from Pipes and Cigars. It is a tasty burley/virginia mix that I always go back to after experimenting with something else. It is not fancy and is not likely to impress your friends, but sometimes you are not trying to impress anyone and just want a great smoke.

It has some sweet from the Virginia and the nutty burley in a very satisfying and balanced blend. There is no topping that I can discern, and there is enough flavor that I don't puff too fast. It is always a slow, cool smoke for me that doesn't require a lot of attention. My wife likes the room note enough to mention it.

Edit: I was looking trough some of my reviews to see if I needed to adjust any of them. I am puzzled by some of the bad reviews of Old Companion, but I guess we all have different taste buds. This is hands down my "goto" smoke, and I have gone though a lot of it. I checked my P&C order history, and I have smoked 15+ lbs of OC. If it were possible to rate this higher than 4, I would do it.

Edit 8/18/18: It seems this is NLA. I really enjoyed this, but the price point moved up, and there was no longer the advantage in buying bulk-vs-tin. I have some 8 oz tins left, but I have found myself smoking the Low Country VaBur and Pegasus when I would have been smoking Old Companion before.
12 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Dec 15, 2012 Mild None Detected Mild to Medium Pleasant
The nutty, lightly molasses and cocoa sweet burleys lead the slightly tangy, dark fruit red Virginia, which also sports an earth note. The Virginia is a supporting player at best. It can burn slightly warm if you don't sip it, but it doesn't bite or get harsh. Has a mild nic-hit. Burns a little fast unless hydrated, which I recommend. Has a clean, consistent flavor, but it does lack some depth. Leaves little dampness in the bowl and requires few relights. It sports a pleasant after taste and room note. An all day, easy going smoke. Two and a half stars.

-JimInks
4 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Feb 17, 2006 Mild None Detected Mild Very Pleasant
Comforting. It reminds me of smells from my grandfather and uncles. The flavors are subtle yet pervasive. This and a favorite book or a few hours in my shop make for a wonderful afternoon. The Va's sweet smoothed-out perfectly by the nutty burly that builds nicely throughout the bowl is just right. I like that it is a bit dry, keeps me humble, like this blend. Something I do not plan to smoke every day, nor do I plan to do without. Namaste' Robert
3 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Jul 13, 2013 Medium None Detected Mild to Medium Pleasant to Tolerable
Picked this up in a trade and was intrigued. The first thing I noticed is the size of the tin - very large for a 50 gram tin. I expected a "fluffy" tobacco and that's what I got. That always makes for an interesting load! And interestingly, my first snoot of the tin note presented a McClellands-like silage tang and I thought "Oh goodness, the McClellands Ketchup Brigade is going to have a field day with this one!". However, this smell went away literally seconds after the air hit it. I'm now not sure it was ever there. As it turns out, I got a tin of McC's Sophisticate in the same trade and I may have subconsciously thought I was going to open that one instead. This gives me some insight into how the old "ketchup" thing has perpetuated! 🙂

The taste was a source of consternation. For the first few bowls, it took almost 2/3 before I got much flavor of any kind except an initial Granger-like plasticity. Unless cardboard is a flavor. The bottom 1/3 produced some nutty and mildly sweet tones. I tried hydrating it a little which was even more disastrous so I dried it out a little more. This helped the flavor develop somewhat but it never got terribly interesting. And there was a tongue singe just waiting to happen that I had to constantly fight off by puffing overly slowly. Then again, slow is the ticket if you want any flavor from this one. Slow and dry but not too dry. It does have an "old timey" taste and may have nailed the profile of some of those old, long gone OTC's. It did taste a bit like Carter Hall but didn't have CH's odd casing.

Not a bad blend but not something I'll likely smoke again. Try it as a sidebar to blends like GLP Cumberland or C&D's Burley Straight. Interesting but a bit perplexing.
2 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Sep 26, 2006 Medium None Detected Mild to Medium Pleasant
SopwithCamel nailed my thoughts exactly. Ready to smoke right out of the pouch. A nice smoke, sip it and enjoy the cruise. This blend leaves the palate clean & ready for any follow up or a repeat bowl. Another for the cellar.
2 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Jul 18, 2006 Mild to Medium None Detected Mild to Medium Very Pleasant
I love Burley/Virginia blends, and this is about as nice as they get. This arrived at the perfect moisture level. The short ribbons and granulated flakes pack like a dream. I can usually light this with one match. The flavor of this is sweet, almost maple sweet, but never cloying. There may be a bit of licorice as well.

The low humidity and fine cut make it *essential* to sip this blend gently to get the most out of it. It can burn hot, but sipped deliberately and gently, this is a very satisfying smoke. The tobacco used is top quality. It leaves a clean, sweet taste on my palette. The blend turns sweeter at the bottom of the bowl, and the pipe heel is clean and dry. The room note is pure pipe tobacco goodness. This would make a great blending tobac, and is excellent on its own.

This blend has enough Virginia in it, where if you don't smoke gently and slowly, you will pay for your impatience. You just can't pull on this like you are smoking black Cavendish! However, it is this same Virginia that gives you the exquisite, roasted, toasted, non -syrupy sweetness of the blend. You can't rush this one.
2 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Jul 14, 2005 Medium to Strong None Detected Very Full Pleasant to Tolerable
There are a lot of good burley blends on the market, which makes for a lot of choices for a burley lover like me. Old Companion has two characteristics that I find very appealing. It has a wonderful toasted nutty taste that delights my palate and it burns very cool. Even with over-enthusiastic puffing, it's hard to overheat the pipe. O/C has a good burn that needs a minimum of relights and burns down to a light gray ash. This one will leave you craving another bowl and would make a good all day smoke. One other good point is its' price; credit should go to pipes and cigars for keeping it at a reasonable level. Great flavor, cool burn, and good pricing all add up to four stars. Good job, Russ!
2 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Mar 03, 2017 Medium None Detected Medium Very Pleasant
Old Companion was a monster hit with the majority of my fellow pipe club members when we had H&H night at the tobacco bar. This one does indeed bring back memories of days gone by. Nice quality Burly provided the backbone of straight forward tobacco flavor with some punch, and the ripe red Virginia added the flavor that red leaf is famous for. I compare this one favorably to the old original Half & Half, except where Half & Half wore blue jeans and a plaid shirt, Old Companion shows up in a tuxedo.
1 person found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Jul 10, 2015 Mild None Detected Mild Pleasant to Tolerable
Pretty mild in flavor, but has a decent balance between the two components. The Burley is a little more dominant in a cob as opposed to a briar. The bad news is that it can be a bit harsh even when puffing carefully. There are much better VaBurs out there that are more worthy of your time and money and for that reason I can't recommend this one.
Pipe Used: Savinelli bulldog, MM Country Gentleman
PurchasedFrom: pipesandcigars.com
Age When Smoked: fresh
1 person found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Apr 05, 2008 Mild to Medium None Detected Medium Tolerable
Now here is an American smoke. There is much debate about classification. Is an English that which has Latakia, but less oriental. Or is an English simply an 'unflavored' smoke? (My favorite English flakes have a casing, no doubt.)

Must an American blend be sopped in cherry? Ha! I tell you, here is a fine American blend. It is not exactly my kind of smoke, but that's ok. I'm not my kind of smoke either.

The Virginias here, of which I am the world's expert, are nice. They are very much, as the blurb says, toasty. Not toasted in a McClelland tangly sort of way, but just just enough to get the unsweetened bitters out. Very much a C&D flavor profile here, but with the legendary Mr Ouellette's skills at work. ( C&D is also of deserved legend.)

But, I progress; I do believe I am a child of the steam cooked, slightly (or more) sweetened, and stronger flavored English products. By this I mean not "English" with Buttloads of Latakia, but tobacco as the English people like them-

Nothing wrong with this American blend, I just proffer different.
1 person found this review helpful.
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