Hearth & Home Louisiana Red

I had to play with this one awhile before giving my review and it's a good thing I did as this stuff has been growing on me. For being a bulk tobacco it has an amazing complexity of shifting flavors/aromas. In the pouch the smell is hay and composting grass with a bit of raisin/plum but take out a pinch and spread it on a piece of paper and the smell instantly changes to full bodied Red Va odor (read ketchup although I despise that term) with a full perique dried fruit basenote.

Most of the H&H tobaccos I have tried are cut in such a way as to remind of me leaves after I roll over them with my lawn mower. Not here, with this tobacco we find a nice ribbon cut that loads easily. It takes a light reasonably well although it could stand a bit of drying.

As you smoke the flavour is perfectly va with the perique staying in the background and playing condiment. The flavours meld together very well although the Red Va here lacks the depth of flavour that I find in C&D Interlude.

Overall I'm giving it 5 stars because it is a truly stellar blend at an even more stellar price. Excellent job Russ O.

This is one great tobacco blend. It is absolutely my favorite Va-Per. Burns even and cool and delivers a satisfying burst of flavor. This one is a winner and a keeper and a permanent part of my rotation.

Looking for an all day VaPer? This could very well be it. This is one good tasting blend that is not overwhelming or complicated but tastes good and smokes mild enough and tastes good enough to easily become an all day blend. This is like McClellands 5100 with perique added. In the pouch, this is a reddish brown rough ribbon cut tobacco with some darker flakes mixed in, obviously the perique. It has a pouch aroma that just calls your name, musty, sweet and spicy. It is at a good moisture content and loads quite easily into the pipe. It lights on first light but I did find that I can never keep this one lit. In my smoking it, I have had to relight it often and this is in several different pipes and methods of packing it. But the nice, spicy, sweet, pungent smoke from it, is wonderful on the palette and worth the relights. It justs bursts with flavor, I savor every puff and with strong black tea, it is just a real pleasure. Itg burns down the pipe to a gray ash and has no issues with moisture leaving your pipe clean and ready to load up again. No tongue bite with this one, it is smooth as can be but the perique is a main player and will give it a spiciness that you never lose all the way down. I would imagine with age on this blend it would be wonderful. Simply put, this one I highly recommend as it won't disappoint you. My only complaint about it is the having to relight so often.

I received some of this when I bought a pipe from the company and finally got around to trying this va/per a few weeks later. This is my first experience with a virginia perique blend and I found it pleasant enough. The sweetness of the blend is occasionally unpleasant but tolerable...a good smoke if I'm in the mood for a sweeter blend. A bit of a bite at times but otherwise a very mild, smooth smoke.

I did not enjoy this blend at all. I try to give every blend a clean slate when I try it...but...I didn't enjoy this at all. It was hard to pack and light. I found the only reason that I found it tolerable was that upon relights...it was great for about 5 seconds. This gave me some wicked tounge bite. This will be at the absolute bottom of my rotation. Sorry, it was terrible.

Ordered a small sample of this looking for a good Va/Per blend after hearing great things about the Russ O. blends. The blend packed nice, and lit very well. It was just a bit rough. I can't put my finger on it, but just no what I expected. A good friend of mine, sent me some of his hybrid blend using this and Lane 1-Q. Mixed about 50/50, this turns into a great blend. It's one of my favorite blends now (mixed with the 1-Q). Louisiana Red by itself I would not continue to smoke, however blended with 1-Q, it's golden, a definate "go to" blend for me. Thanks Hoop!

***update**** after a couple months in a bail top jar this has tamed down some and is much more enjoyable

First let me say that I love VAper blends. Which is why I decided to try this blend. With that being said I will try to highlight some pro's and cons of my exerience.

Pro's - After smoking a few OZ's the things that I liked were the burnablitly and quality tobacco used. The room note was pleasant and the value is also pretty good.

Con's - I love Perique but I dont know if I got a bad batch or what but it wasn't like the Perique I have grown to love in other blends. This was a little blah....I could hardly notice the Peppery taste at all untill the end of the bowl. The stuff showed up pretty dry too.

Summary - This was an ok smoke but not much depth. But I do love VAper's to start so it kinda grew on me and with the value factor, for me this was a two star blend.

Perhaps I was expecting more based on the reviews here, but I actually found this blend to be a bit flat. It was enjoyable to smoke, but it is far from a vibrant smoking experience. I do smell a faint catsup sent in the bag, but when I compare it to McClelland's 2015, or Ashton's Pebble Cut, I think this blend comes up lacking a bit. I'll certainly smoke the rest of the bag, but it is no more than a 2-star tobacco in my book.

Yes, this is a fine blend of Virginias and Perique, no doubt about it. Am I smitten by it? Not really, which is not to say that this blend does not have its strengths. My initial impressions were along lines akin to one of my all time favorites: Rattray's Hal 'O the Wynd. This seemingly apparent perception proved false. The strength and character are simply not the same - Rattie's having already established itself with me as the blend of polymorphic presence, the Lousiana Red finished second. I know the logic is circular and maybe the comparison is not fair but in final analysis, all things pertaining to preferences are wholly subjective. That being said, I do not wish to discourage others from seeking their own experience with this high quality tobacco. With me, if I'm going to the trouble to accomidate to tobac that must be smoked very slowly, then it might as well be Rattie's.

Meerschaum Man Smoking a Gezer Flying Dragon