Hearth & Home House of Lords

This blend is lightly darker than the Admiralty, but still much lighter in colour than Armada or Ten to Midnight. It's another classic English mixture, a little less balanced and smooth than the Admiralty but still belonging to the tradition; the Virginias here are darker and the latakia is more present, giving the blend a fuller spicy flavour. A great afternoon blend.

A relatively mild English style smoke. Very tasty. I generally prefer somewhat stronger English styles, such as Dunhill's 965 and Perfection. My tin came slightly on the dry side, ready to smoke, but probably needs to be humidified shortly. When I'm looking for a milder English, this is a good one. I give 965 and Perfection 4's, and House of Lords gets a 3.

This is another good medium English blend by Russ. It is not as well balanced as Daybreak, which is my favorite of his blends - so far. This one is a little darker in color than Daybreak, has a smokier flavor due to the larger amount of Latakia, and tastes similar to smoked jerky or pemmican. It goes well with tea, beer, coffee, scotch, etc. If you are a Latakia fan, this should please your palate! It burns slow, produces some thick, rich clouds of smoke, and smokes great in any pipe. If you are just beginning to sample English blends, this is a good introduction to them; not as good as Daybreak, but still good!

I Was Recently Given About 4 Ounces On This Tobacco From A Fellow Pipe Smoker (Who Found It Too Mild For His Taste), And Here Are My Opinions:

Overall, A Very Mild Tobacco, But Something Seemed To Be Lacking.

It Seemed A Little Flat In The "Middle"...Something Just Didn't Feel Right.

As An Experiment, I Proceded To Take 2 Ounces Of The Tobacco, And I Added 1/2 An Ounce Of Perique, Just To See If It Would Round It Out Better.

After Some Trials By Myself And Other Pipe Smokers (Including The Gentleman Who Gifted Me The Tobacco In The First Place), We Decided That The Perique Cooled The Smoke, And Filled The "Missing" Parts Quite Nicely.

Yet another solid choice from Russ Oulette. Like most pipesandcigars.com blends, House of Lords comes dry and ready to smoke - no preparatory drying like some boutique brands(GLP). The Virginias are bright, clean, zesty, and spicy, but can be a bit nippy if allowed to get too hot. I particularly like the Oriental leaf in House of Lords, as it has a really nice taste in the nose. Typical of Oulette blends, House of Lords has good burning qualities that are so important to me. A solid three star, medium English and a great value.

House of Lords is a very nice tobacco. It burns well, it tastes good and it doesn't bite. I can certainly see it being an experienced pipe smoker's all day smoke or even desert island blend. It is a wonderful example of a traditional medium-strength English blend.

Having said those things, however, it must also be said that, as has been noted, there is a lot of competition in this arena, and what it comes down to is a matter of taste.

My own personal favorite in this competition is Dunhill's London Mixture. Others have mentioned Squadron Leader, and I'm sure that Penzance has its adherents as well.

Though I enjoy this blend, House of Lords just doesn't distinguish itself enough to warrent my switching away from London Mixture.

I've been smoking House of Lords to the exclusion of the other blends in my cabinet for almost two weeks now, and I've developed quite a liking for it. It's an inviting mixture on presentation with its bright-gold-and black colors in the forefront and a latakia aroma that's more suggestive of hardwood smoke, as opposed to the more tarry aroma of some blends. The turkish, virginia, and latakia tastes are well balanced and smooth, not too rich. House of Lords goes well anytime of day.

My impression overall is that while there isn't anything that makes House of Lords stand out in the crowd, there isn't anything it does badly either. It's just a good, steady everyday non-aromatic, a fine interpretation of a classic English formula. Definitely recommended.

Similar to Squadron Leader in strength with less Turkish component. Caution: If you don't like occasional blasts of Latakia, break up the bigger chunks before loading your pipe. A fine medium English but there is a lot of competition in this class.