Hearth & Home Virginia Spice

I try to avoid "blend inflation" and rarely give four stars.

Russ makes great VAPer blends, and this one, with cigar leaf, is no exception. I think it's my favorite Hearth & Home VAPer, and that's saying a lot!

It has a lot of richness, while being smooth, spicy, and sweet, all at the same time.

Very well behaved in the pipe, too!

From the description of this blend on the Pipesandcigars website, I was expecting a hearty blend that would be in my face because of the added cigar leaf. Boy, was I wrong! This stuff is mild, smooth and creamy right out of the pouch! I did taste the cigar leaf wafting in and out but the main player here is the VaPer base. It does have a spicy flavor and is very Va sweet, but the perique really behaves itself, never burning the back of my throat or nose, but it does give it's wonderful flavor presence to the blend. I have smoked this several times in a tall Caminetti stack, and it never smoked too full or strong, nor lost it's taste. It never bit me one bit and simply tasted delicious.

It is a rough cut semi ribbon cut, is mostly a brown blend but with some darker leaf mixed in. It has a pouch aroma that is tangy and rich and just a little sour smelling. It came to me the perfect moisture content and loaded very easily into my pipe. It stays lit very well and burns down to a dark grey ash and no moisture at the bottom of the bowl. This is the perfect smoke to go with a cold ale or stout beer. The room note to me is dominated by the perique but I do pick up notes of maduro cigar in it but it smells wonderful to me. It does have a slightly stale cigar aroma about a half hour after finishing, so not a wife pleaser really. I only bought a sample of this but I will buy pounds of it to cellar, as I really like it and I highly recommend it.

While listed as a VaPer with some cigar leaf in it I would switch that around and state that it is more a cigar blend with some Virginia and Perique thrown in. It kind of falls in the category of VaPer-like, similar to Haddo's, but there is other stuff thrown in to alter the tastes a bit.

Regardless, this was a great blend to smoke and I would highly recommend it to anyone who may be burnt out on VaPers or someone who just wants to try something a little different.

The taste and aroma for this blend takes you on a rollercoaster ride. One minute it smells and tastes like a VaPer, the next it smells and tastes like your smoking a Macanudo Maduro. All in all, it's a tasty blend, burns well, no bite, and the price is good.

Now this H&H blend hit a home run with me. It is like Redwood a little but with some cigar leaf added, yet better still. The VAs more complex and sweeter, the perique quieter but assertive and piquant, and a deft touch of cigar leaf. Not that much cigar leaf, so there's just enough to add body. Tastes like a rather sweet, light bodied type of cigar leaf, like a Dominican.

Anyway, this is really a unique VA/P at a very nice price. How good this blend really is will have to wait until some aging. I can't say it is any better or worse than Haddos, they're very different. And I don't smoke VA/Ps all that often, mostly Englishes and burley, but I think this is one I'll keep around. I do prefer American VA/P, they are usually more interesting than the European blended ones (Escudo, etc.).

To reiterate what another reviewer said, if there was ever an all day Va/Per, this is it! The addition of cigar leaf has a wonderful smoothing effect on the overall smoke; the sweetness of the Virginias is perfectly balanced with the spice and plum of the perique. A rich, delicious blend. No tongue bite, able to withstand some hearty puffing, yet shines best when sipped; yet another great mixture from one of the master blenders of our day. This is a full flavored, easy going blend that asks only to be enjoyed. Highly recommended .

Another selection from my bombing.

The tin note on this is spicy, almost like cinnamon. I don't detect any of the cigar note listed. I do notice plum from the perique. The cut is nice ribbons and some smaller pieces. Packs and lights well. Did take some re-lights for me. On the relights the cigar leaf starts to shine through. The perique is present throughout if you're accustomed to it. It does have some pepper to it that most likely plays in well with cigar. There is a sweetness that stays with the smoke between the Virginias and the fruitiness of the perique. It's a very well blended mixture.

Overall, I would somewhat recommend this. Newer smokers might not appreciate the interplay between the leaves in this and pass it over as run of the mill. Solid smoke with decent strength and interesting flavor for more experienced pipers.

Some blends by Russ Oulette are clear winners, but unfortunately this is not one that I enjoy. I find this rather straight-forward and bland; nothing really stands out to me. My friend ordered some last year and gave some to me recently. He was rather bored with this blend, and I agree. While the blend appears to be made up of decent leaf, and it is not offensive, it just doesn't do anything for me.

A nice blend. Pleasant and satisfying. Wish it had a touch more Perique.

Just finished another bowl of this great blend. This offering has been one of my primary blends for the last few months. I choose to classify this as a cigar blend, although it could fall into the category of a Virginia/ perique blend as well. I haven't tried a lot of va-pers, as I prefer English blends, but those that I have tried haven't contained cigar leaf as this blend does & I believe that's what really makes this blend stand out. As other reviewers have indicated, the sweetness of the Virginias comes through nicely, with the cigar leaf adding it's own sweetness & fullness to the smoke. The perique comes through nicely in this blend as well which I usually look for in an English. This is one of at least a couple mixtures by Pipes & Cigars that contains cigar leaf with no mention of

that ingredient in the current description as listed on their website, which I thought was odd (Strike Force being another example). This makes the third tobacco I've tried from them, and I've been pleased with all 3. A very solid 4 stars as this would make for a primary blend/all-day smoke.

Update on 6-24-13. Am downgrading this blend to 2 stars. As many of our reviewers may know, in April Pipes & Cigars was acquired by Cigars International & moved from it's home in Albany N.Y. to Bethlehem Pa. I placed an order for more of this blend after the transaction & was quite disappointed. It looks the same, smells the same, but definitely doesn't smoke the same. Given my disappointment with the tobacco order, plus the fact that nearly 2 1/ 2 months since the acquisition they STILL don't have a bottle of pipe sweetener in stock, I think I'll once again be giving my business to Iwan Ries in Chicago. One other item concerning this blend-it is loaded with PG, a fact that up until now I had been willing to overlook. For some time, I have found great gobs of the stuff in every bag I ordered.