Hearth & Home Louisiana Red

Tin note of pungent sour plums and spices. Tobacco is reddish brown and dark brown Ribbon cut. Moisture content is a little high, drying may be preferred. No other prep needed. Burns slow with few relights. The strength is mild to medium and nic is mild. No flavoring listed, but there is a sweetness that I can't contribute to the tobacco that lingers in the background. Taste is medium and somewhat consistent, with notes of rich sweet tangy savory, spices, tart lemon grass, very spicy, bready, floral vegetation, dry bitter, very wood, acidic, buttery, orange peel/zest, a mildly sweet citrusy background note, and a very peppery retro. Virginia is leading with Perique supporting. Room note is pleasant, and aftertaste is great.

Pretty good stuff, I been smoking Louisiana Red for the better part of two years now, it is a regular in my rotation. There was a time when it was my everyday smoke, even now there's times when I absolutely crave this blend, especially when the weather is warm.

Something seems to have changed about this blend though since I started smoking it, the last two or three tins I've gotten haven't had quite the same flavor,, maybe one or the other constituent tobaccos has changed slightly or maybe I'm just imagining ?? Not sure.

At any rate, this is my favorite of Russ' blends that I've tried so far. I think it is a well-balanced blend and the flavor reminds me a bit of Cajun food. Spicy and slightly sweet, smooth, and good price point.

Hearth & Home have some fantastic VAPers. This one is quite good. I think I prefer both AJ's VAPer and Anniversary Kake to this one, but that's still pretty high praise.

It seems very similar to McClelland 2015 but perhaps with the addition or substitution of either stoved red VA or possibly matured red VA. It has a rich, mellow, full taste, while still being rather zesty.

Good stuff!

if your a fan of virginias and perique This is another home run!

Warning... variation through personal blending. My ratings are for MY modified version of this blend.

OK I bought a pound of Louisiana Red a while back at the same time I ordered several blends from P&C. I am a perique fanatic and smoke many different blends that contain it, so I was sure I'd like this one. Well in truth, it was pretty ho hum. A course taste that really didn't grab me. So it sat around in it's little pyrex bowl (I use many 2 and 3-cup pyrex bowls with snap on caps for storage simply for the benefit of easy opening, stacking and a wide mouth that allows easy pipe loading) until guilt finally forced a pipeload.

One day I said, what the heck, I'll cut it 50/50 with 1Q! What a find!!!! The pyrex container allows me to mix blends easily by shaking thoroughly and then I let it simply meld for a few days before trying it. The cut of the two blends is identical, so it is quite congruent.

But the truth is in the smoking... both blends jumped together to form a find that I'll bet you'll love too! I don't say go out and buy a pound of 1Q and a pound of Louisiana Red to try it, but if you have some of each lying around being neglected (simply because the LA is a little rough around the edges and you've read that 1Q is for the newbie or the unmanly)...give this a try! I find myself reaching for the "Louisiana Queue" many times each day now and have yet to find a pipe that didn't just love it.

From Utopia TX... havagoodun!

La. Red is an attractive tobacco in the pouch, with ribbons of medium and darker red tobacco, along with a bit of dark perique. It's aroma is a vinegary sweetness typical of red virginia leaf. LR packs and lights pretty easily, with an average amount of relights.

The first thing I notice when lighting the bowl is the pepperiness of the perique, followed by the tangy sweetness of the VAs. This theme continues through the first half of the bowl, then the VAs begin to dominate. The taste loses some of its' sweetness in the bottom third of the bowl, something I wish would remain.

LR is a very good tobacco, but there are other VA/Pers that I enjoy more, including some in the Hearth and Home series. I do keep a half pound here on hand as I like to smoke a variety of blends.

Scores for La. Red: taste- 15 of 20; lighting and burn- 7 of 10; value- 8 of 10. 30 pts. gives LR a *** rating. Recommended.

Revised review: after my original review, I put up a qt. mason jar of LA Red in the closet and let it set for about 3 years. Talk about a transformation! The VAs were sweeter, the Perique was more complimentary to the VAs instead of dominating them at times and it burned much better. I have to revise my scores: taste-18 of 20; lighting and burn- 8 of 10; and value- 9 of 10. 35 points equals a high **** score for Virginia Spice. Well done, Russ!

I have to agree with prison chaplain. When I first tried this blend last year I smoked one bowl and then put it away in a sealed Mason jar, hoping it would become a little tamer.

I decided to open the jar today, and was nicely surprised. It had become civilized and very pleasant. I don't notice anything predominating in this blend, but then I generally don't, tending to look at the overall presentation. Room note is nicely fragrant without anything artificial. Burned cool and mild to the bottom of the bowl. Certainly worth trying if you're a Va/Per fan.

Slightly sweet, and a little spicy as the description states. I amazed at the softness of this blend. There is no bite, as if the tobacco is aged already. The room note is very nice, and it's not too strong. The perique just cools the smoke and adds that fruit like sweetness. It doesn't overpower as in Haddo's. This blend is balanced! Highly recommended to anyone who likes a natural, clean and easy-smoking tobacco.

I really like this tobacco! The virginas provide a naturally sweet taste, and then you get that strong black pepper taste/feel on the tongue from the perique. I have had some trouble keeping it lit as mentioned by prisonchaplin, so I tried cutting it up a little as another reviewer suggested; this helped considerably with the burn. It has a nice room note as well, considering it has that Cajun spice taste to it. If you like boiled crawfish (as I do), you will definitely like this tobacco! I give it a 4-star rating.