Hearth & Home Admiralty

As a unabashed Russ Ouellette fan, I have to bash this tobacco: it has no internal balance, no maturity, and tastes like a rather soapy, tarry knockoff of Dunhill Nightcap done at the nicotine level of My Mixture 965. If you want a decent comparison, it is the difference between "Pride and Prejudice" as originally written and the exaggerated gestures of the Hollywood script for the movie with Kiera Knightley. This is, indeed, "Hollywood English tobacco," with all the extremes turned up to ten and all of the balance and subtlety missing.

I read everything Russ Ouellette writes and have enjoyed many of his other blends, but this one is not his triumph. It is unbalanced, a riot of flavors with no internal coordination. In addition to lacking the subtlety one needs for a lifetime of enjoyment, this drowns out each flavor with the extremities of others. Think jawbreakers, not the execrable Jolly Rancher, when designing blends, blenders! It seems to have some problem with oils or flavorings that char during the smoking process, producing a smell not unlike rancid butter substitute from one of those popcorn packs. I see this blend highly praised, but I also see aromatics and hipster-style oddball boutique blends praised, so I find praise it itself over-rated. The facts are: this blend lacks the maturity, balance, integrity and power of a good English, resulting in an imitation that is the tobacco equivalent of a meal for kids, all vivid flavors in disgusting clash and signifying nothing.