Hearth & Home Virginia Spice

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.

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.

My 2 oz. sample is at the perfect moisture content. Not really much for bag aroma other then a slight sweetness. The flavors are a semi sweet nuttiness in the first half. Unfortunately the second half is pretty flat with almost all the flavors dying out. Doesn't burn hot or give tongue bite. Its not going to be one i will get again after my sample is gone.

I ordered this blend based on the cut indicated above and there was no detail in this respect @ pipesandcigars.com. What arrived was clearly labeled as this blend and even had pieces of the cigar leaf visible. However, in my view this blend consists of wide ribbon cut yellow to brown VAs with some Perique and cigar leaf added. This difference impacts the burning rate which is much too fast for my habits compared to my normal true flake preferences. Although it smoked dry and without bite I felt that the cigar influence on the taste was greater than I would choose although I didn't detect it in the room aroma.

I found this blend to be pleasant enough, a good flavor and smoke altogether. I will definitely be smoking more of this. I was slightly disappointed with how little I could pick out the cigar leaf in the blend. But then again, maybe I’ll notice it more the more I smoke it and the more it ages.

The VA's definitly lead the way in this blend. They are sweet and tangy. The reds have that dark fruit note that I love and are slightly earthy at times. The brights are a little grassy with citrus notes here and there. The CT cigar leaf is present. It remains a constant in the background throughout the bowl as a mild smokey note. The perique was added with a light hand. It comes in and out and I pick up a plum note and a very mild faint spice that moves in and out. There is a mild fruity topping here as well. It is light and sweet and stays on in the finish for a long while. I think it is a little on the heavy side personally. The nic hit is mild to med. the overall tobacco strength is at the bottom end of med. Nothing really wrong with this blend I enjoyed it initially but I found myself growing bored with it as I progressed throughout this 2 oz. sample. There are just other blends that hold my interested better.