Hearth & Home Louisiana Red

This is a blend which is not a flavor bomb. It does not have the citrus of Orlick Golden Sliced, and it is not as sweet or have as much perique as Luxury Bullseye Flake. It is a soft and subtle combination of flavors and is slightly sweet and slightly spicy to my palate. It is well balanced and an easy smoke. It smokes very cool in my pipes.

I will admit I wanted more when I first tried it, and it has grown on me. It has worked well and consistently in more than one pipe, and I could see a steady diet of this with some Bullseye Flake or Orlick GS (or Escudo, etc.) every now and then to kick things up a notch. There are plenty of tobaccos in this niche, and most of them are good.

If you would like to try a mild and well-balanced VaPer, I would recommend this. It is one of those solid blends that does not knock your socks off, but it delivers. I could smoke this all day.

Edit 9/16/13 I have revised my rating on this to four stars from three. It has continued to grow on me. My last order was 1.5 lbs, and this needs to be reflected in the rating. To me anyway, it is "that" good.

Another very nice Vaper from Russ Ouellette. Hopefully my analogy of 3 of Russ' vapers to 3 different types of women won't offend anyone, but here goes.

Anniversary Kake is the vaper that you take out on the town to show off, is very elegant and refined and that you enjoy very much. AJ's Vaper is the one that doesn't dress up so well but that you prefer because she is so exciting and fun to be around. She takes chances that Anni Kake doesn't. Louisiana Red is the one that is dependable and would make the best wife. She's there when you need her, always looking out for you, but she's neither as exciting as AJ's nor as stunning as Anni Kake.

This is a tasty but subtle take on the old Vaper recipe. I really like the cut of this. I had no trouble keeping it lit nor smoking it to the bottom of the bowl. As I said, it's dependable.

Me? At least with pipe tobacco, I'm a playboy. I prefer the AJ's Vaper. It takes me places I just can't get to with the other two and leaves me always wanting more. I may fantasize over the Anni Kake and be contented with the LA Red, but my heart is always with AJ. Your mileage may vary.

Louisiana Red is a straight forward rich and sweet Red Virginia mixed with a good amount of Perique. The presentation is a little sweeter than most VaPer's. It is somewhat unusual to find no Bright in VaPer but Leave it to Mr. O. to find a way to make this combination work. If you like sweetness and spice in a natural, no sweeteners smoke, this would be a good choice.

Louisiana Red is AJ's VaPer's brasher brother. While AJ's black cavendish mellows out the virginias and the perique, LR comes out full-force from the touch of the first match. Spicy with the sweetness of the virginia in the background, LR is a great VaPer but not as great as AJ's VaPer. I could not smoke Louisiana Red all day. AJ's is a different matter. LR gets sweeter with age as do many virginia compounds.

Russ Ouellette does a wonderful job with his VaPer blends. Most of these blends have a clean, tasty character, especially when compared to those from Cornell & Diehl (which tend to be somewhat harsh and a bit overbearing, imho).

Recommended.

(I am a newer and irregular pipe smoker. My reviews are subject to my preferences and tastes and pipe smoking habits) This was the first VaPer I have ever smoked and I was sold right away. There will be some bias in this. I liked my aromatics and had trouble with most English or Virginia based blends, but this was the first one I smoked that introduced to the flavours of natural tobacco leaf. The tin was a mix of orange and rusty brown/red tobacco ribbons with little strips of jet black throughout. The tin note was dark fruit and some how familiar, then it struck me... this smelled (fresh) almost exactly like Fig Newtons! From first charring light to the bottom of the bowl, it was sweet and sour and tangy. Very smooth flavours. Occasionally the flavour of something in the 'dark fruit' range would pop up. And the smoke just feels... juicy?... on your palate, which was a nice surprise for me. Nice mild to medium amount of black pepper tingle during the smoke and I think the room note is great. Also, as I am not a big fan of Vitamin N, the mild dose of nicotine was just right. This is the blend I find myself usually reaching for when I decide to pick up the pipe. If you are looking for a trusty introduction to VaPer, Give It A Try!

Hearth & Home - Louisiana Red (Signature Series).

Having finished my final tin of Dunhill Elizabethan Mixture I needed another VaPer on the go. Although I have many of my usual's in my stash I was drawn to this.

The ribbons are a little above medium in build, brown and light brown in colour, they have a fruity yet musty aroma, and as mine was from bulk the hydration's good.

The smoke's good. The fruity, but slightly sharp, Virginias take up a touch more room than the Perique. I get more spice/muskiness from the Perique than I do plum. The Perique has a lot of asperity to it! The smoke feels cool, and I haven't been bitten once. Because of the moisture it burns evenly, and because of the slightly coarse build it goes quite slow.

Nicotine: medium. Room-note: quite potent!

Louisiana red? A good smoke. Highly recommended:

Four stars.

Reviewing a sample sent by a fellow Swiss pipe smoker. Unfortunately, I did not have the tin in front of me to smell it, but from what I could make some sweetness. Unfortunately That's pretty much.

In the bowl, the smoke is spicy, peppery, extremely pleasant and non like any other VA/Per I've tried before. The only hint of sweetness I detect is when I exhale the smoke out of the nose. Maybe it has more perique? Maybe it's the red virginias? I just know it's a lovely blend and is highly recommended.

Really nice Red Virginia blend. Can't complain about this one. Starts off a little blandish, but really picks up flavor as it progresses. Not a lot of perique to my taste, but probably enough to tame the Virginia so as not to burn to hot or bite. It seems a simple blend, but rather joyous in the vein of a straight Red Virginia dominant taste. I hope they stay stocked on this one, but I've got close to a pound in the cellar. Easily scratches the 5100 itch I was afraid of having with that one gone.

To me the tin note smells like raisins. At first you get the pepper taste of the perique then the coying sweetness of the Virginias. If you puff too hard for too long you get the taste of ash so. Be careful. However, I really enjoyed this blend and will include it in my rotation.