Hearth & Home Capitol Stairs

I found this to be a pleasant and fairly comfortable VaBurPer to smoke when I don't want to fuss and bother too much with the pipe. Nothing to write home about, but a relaxing, occasional go to blend reminiscent of the niche and function of some OtCs of old. Smooth and uncomplicated. Nothing to fall heads over heels about, but nothing to repel me either.

Updated note: My review is about the version of this blend without any deertongue.

I find this to be a very mild smoke that stays rather consistent from beginning to end. There may be a little spiciness towards the end but nothing horrendous or over powering. I can see this making its way into the lineup; perhaps as a back-up player, the DH (designated hitter.) I plan to buy a small amount to jar up; it may even improve with a little age. That is not to say it was not good straight from the mailbox. Indeed – very nice. If you enjoy a mild English smoke (even though they call this American) this is one to consider. As with most non aromatics, this is one that da little women enjoyed its’ aroma.

This is a pleasant, cool, all day smoke. The deertongue adds a nice vanilla flavor, and the blend of bright virginia, burley, and just a dash of perique is easy on the mouth and the nose. The only issue I find with this blend is that it burns quite quickly, however it does so cleanly, burning all the way to ash with no dottle.

Every blend I've had with deertongue has had an unusually acrid note to the smoke, which usually also seems very light and without much body. This blend has the exact same problem. It's relatively inoffensive to the nose, but the smoke being light and acrid isn't terribly pleasant to the eyes. I haven't found a deertongue blend I like (this is my third) and suspect that this is the root of the problem with this blend for me. H&H tend to make great blends, and many of them are well represented in my cellar.

Update April 2011 After revisiting this blend, I'm downgrading to one star, and placing the remainder of the sample in the reject bin. Too harsh on the roof of my mouth, and just not at all pleasant.

This is my first sample of their tobaccos, and I gotta say I am disappointed. I won't even go into depth with this review. The tobacco was dry and harsh; it burned like, and tasted like, cheap cigarettes. There was no 'french toast like' aroma, it simply smelled like cheap burley. I lit slowly, with a match, and sipped carefully. Just an overall terrible experience. If this just happened to be a bad batch, and I have a different experience in the future, then I will come back and edit this. However, after trying a couple other of the samples, and being similarly let down, I doubt that my opinion of any of their blends will rise much higher than this.

At first light the perique lets you know is there followed by the virginias, the deertongue is there also, in the second part o the bowl the perique is nearly gone and the burley comes in at full throttle, he deertongue has mellowed and the virginias is putting up a decent fight, the last part of the bowll deertongue still there burley has mellowed out, virginia is gone, perique like it was never there. The only reason that this blend is getting three stars is because is a good change of pace you can smoke this around none smokers and nobody would be offended but I have a feeling that this could leave a trace in your pipes. Then again if you like aromatics this will immediately will make it into your rotation, if you like vapers is a good alternative to when you're not sure which blend to grab, if you are a english/balkan smoker this might no be at all in your alley.

I haven?t smoked many aromatics in the last few years, the only one I can stand to smoke an entire bowl of has been Karl Erik?s #16, and I only smoke that because I love my wife, mostly, and no one complains. I wanted to try capital stairs because I?ve heard so much about deertongue as a natural flavoring and my main objection to smoking aromatics is the casings, smoking sugar in my fine briars is like throwing American cheese into my revereware and cranking the heat to high. I can?t say I fell in love with capital stairs, but I didn?t hate it, which is saying something. My wife waxed nostalgic, it reminded her summer days laying in the grass, a sweet hay and floral scent with a very mild vanilla. I?ve been smoking Larry?s blend, Reiners Long Golden flake and Solanis aged burly of late and so capital stairs tasted rather dull and a bit like hot air to me, but mainly because I?ve been smoking things with such rich flavor. Compared to other aromatics I?d give this four stars easily, I will smoke more of it, especially when I need to apologize to the wife for something I did or am going to do. For my regular smoking habits and out of respect for the genius of Russ O I?m going to give it a liberal two stars. Not my cup of tea, but not horrible, tolerable which is saying a lot. Too much maybe.

Deertongue ? French toast-like aroma ? What are these people talking about ? I found this blend to be fairly dry and pedestrian. Not offensive, but not really anything. If you want something vanilla like with a French toast-like aroma buy an aromatic, you won't find it here.

Remember the first time you went into a fully stocked tobacco shop? I do vividly. I was 13 or so and the shop was Leaf and Stem Tobacconist in Carbondale, IL. The scent of the tobaccos and the sight of the pipes made me realize this was an adult candy store. Every time I went to Carbondale I visited this shop for I loved the various types of tobacco. Why not just one type? I suppose because everybody has their favorites. I was grateful for this fact for I loved opening ALL the jars and smelling each blend. In a odd way they comforted me which was very strange for no one in my family smoked. The scent of pipe tobacco be it in the pouch or wafting in the room envelopes me and comforts my soul.

Which brings me to Capital Stairs a deertongue enhanced VA, Burley, and dash of Perique blend. This blend looks just like that 45% red virginia, 45% white? burley, 5% perique, 5% big flecks of deertongue. The scent in the pouch is sorta vanillia and yes sorta grassy with a touch of spice. It is a very dry mixture but seemed to moisten with pressing (in my rear pocket 185 to 190 lbs.) over the weekend.

It packs well lights quick and burns thouroughly. The scent is to me wonderful and was even complimented at the laundry by a gentleman who stood down wind of me to enjoy the scent which is much like the pouch. I can not get enough of the scent. I do not know if old blends used this deertongue but for some reason it is so very comforting to me like church on sunday or your favorite meal. The taste of the tobacco is mild to me but tasty and sweet and I keep wanting more. I taste the virginia and the burley but seem to miss the perique over the sweetness of the deertongue which for me is fine. This is a blend I smoke without a need to over analyze which may seem futile to others but I just like smoking bowl after bowl of this and simply enjoying it.

Would I reccomend this blend? That hinges on one simple question. Do you like deertongue? If you tried C&D Trinidad, or Crooner and did not like them well maybe do not bother. It seems like this has more of a deertongue presence then the previous two blends. If you have never tried a deertongue blend this would be a good place to start and if you do not like it end promptly. It is nice that pipesandcigars.com offers this blend and in 1 oz pouches. I love deertongue and because of reasonable price, availability and quick shipment from pipesandcigars.com this is my new everyday tobacco. A special thanks to Russ Ouellette for making me very comfortable indeed.