Ashton Smooth Sailing

I absolutely love the taste of Maple or Caramel in the aromatic blends I smoke. One of my favorites is Peterson's Sweet Killarney, which has Caramel, but I can barely taste it. The Maple flavoring in Ashton's Smooth Sailing came through like a champ. In fact, it was a little over the top for me. I almost reached for a pancake instead of my tamper on a couple of occasions while smoking this one. If you puff very slowly and let the smoke out of your sniffer, you can even taste a hint of chocolate. Overall, it was not my favorite in the Ashton aromatic line, but my wife did say she liked the room note and the lingering smell on my mustache. I may just go to bed tonight after slathering some Maple Syrup on my mustache!

Pipestud

Ashton - Smooth Sailing.

This gives a good un-lit aroma: very sweet with a nice coconut addition. The first negative for this blend is the ribbon cut, it's not what I would say is even in its sizing of pieces! The mix contains a decent amount of large/chunky Virginia ribbons, that isn't a problem, I just see it as giving aesthetic quality but the problem for me lies with the large twigs in there, a fair few of them so it requires me to spend time picking them out prior to smoking which I find a little inconvenient as if I want to spend time with prep' then I would smoke a flake or plug, I partly pick a mixture for the ease of it! On to problem two: the water content. FAR too moist, it's really imperative to allow some time to let this air, I can feel the dampness with my finger tips!

After a decent airing period I fill up my Meer' and begin. Straight away I ascertain that this is a mild aro'. It says that there are a lot of additives in it but from start to finish the coconut takes the No 1 slot. The next in line is the maple addition: a pleasing sweetness that doesn't dissipate any as the bowl burns down. Inhalation is easy and the nicotine level is the consummate "medium" amount so if you like Lady N then a few inhaled puffs will slake your desire. It doesn't leave a massive ghost, more of a "slight apparition" so if I had taken to this (which I haven't) I would dedicate a pipe to it. I can't say this tastes horrible because it doesn't but tobacco tastes are subjective and the only word I can use to describe my feelings toward this blend is Indifferent.

Two stars.

This tobacco is made with very light, lemon Virginia, Golden Virginia and Cavendish. I noted in this tobacco, only the Black Chocolate and Maple, but not the Coconut flavour. It have some Maple flavour in the tin, but their smoke have much more taste than flavour. Is a good and impressive tobacco, but too charged in Nicotine for an Aromatic.

Ah, Smooth Sailing. My favourite of the Ashton aromatics.

Comes out of the tin at near perfect moisture, being only ever-so-slightly on the moist side of things. The tin note is lovely and inviting, with plenty of chocolate and coconut.

Once in the bowl, it takes a light with no issue, and after a bit, it'll unleash it's flavours on you. It's a very nice, chocolate-y and nutty sort of flavour. Provided you smoke slowly and with enough care, you also get a nice background flavour of coconut, with something akin to vanilla (Cavendish?) supporting it, as well. Though those flavours are quickly lost if you get carried away.

Speaking of which, you'll want to sip this one carefully. It can get hot, and while it doesn't get harsh as such, it does lose flavour quite quickly if smoked too fast. Not to mention that it'll punish you with tongue bite as well.

Overall though, this is one of the better aromatics out there. If you're looking for tobacco flavour, this barely has any, but the rather nice topping carries it. Bonus points for the fact that it doesn't taste artificial like some.

Better get your asbestos tongue condom out. Don't worry, there's not much flavor to taste here anyway.

Well, at least it does smell nice. It seems to be good quality leaf and it didn't gunk up my pipe.

This blend would be totally forgettable if it hadn't caused me to spend a day or two nursing my poor tongue back to form every time I smoked it. I can't recommend it to anyone.

Not a bad tobacco at all. But it has first seemed very common to me. So common that I have put the tin in a drawer for some months after having smoked only a few pipes of it.

However, when I reopened the tin, this tobacco surprised me (in a good sense) with its discrete chocolate flavour. I have then spent some nice moments smoking it.

Nevertheless, this animal bites the tongue whenever you try to puff too quickly. This is why I would recommend it for long and lonely smokes, when nothing urges.

Smoked this as a beginning smoker in an English briar Estate. Thought the fire company was going to have to be called to put out a mouth fire. I could not detect the flavors others have mentioned, all I could get was heat. The only good thing I can say is the aroma was OK. I was lucky someone just let me try a bowl and I didn't have to buy a tin. Will leave this for the more hard-core smokers, can't recommend this one.

EDIT - 17 July. I'm just totally retracting my original review in disgust, because I've now had altogether too much experience with this blend. Bear in mind now that this is coming from a guy who likes aromatics.

You see, I cannot get this stuff to not bite. Doesn't matter what size bowl, how careful I am with cadence or draw, packing it, lighting it, or drying it. The worst part is that it slow-roasts me to where I don't even realize just how bad it lit me up until the next morning. No matter how good it tastes or smells, this just ain't worth it. Not only will I never touch Smooth Sailing again, but anything Ashton is now totally off the table for me. What do you think of that, Ashton? Not recommended unless you have a masochistic bent.

This was one of the first Aromatics, in fact first tobaccos that I ever tried, it still remains one of my favorite aros. This blend smells wonderful out of the tin, with aromas of chocolate, vanilla and raisins. It has a pleasant taste, for some reason I was able to taste this one fairly well even after I moved on from aromatics to mostly smoking english and later virginias. The room note of this blend is also nice although not quite as great as you would expect from the tin aroma. This one is a solid american style aromatic, yet not to wet or goopy as others tend to be at times. I enjoyed this one enough to smoke through two tins which as one who mostly enjoys variety is more than I can say for most blends that I've smoked!

This tobacco has the best tin aroma I've ever come across - a complex blend of sweetened nuts, buttery maple and chocolate, with a modest coconut undertone. It really is something special; complemented by a visually arresting, colourful mix of lighter and darker tobaccos. The presentation is extremely nice, too, what with the inner paper being made to concertina itself around the tobacco, akin to a quality French cheese.

Here in the UK, it's price is upwards of £10, which puts it firmly into the pricier bracket for pre-packed weed. With their fancifully wrapped and golden, embossed tinned produce, Ashton-Taylor would appear to want to be seen as a serious choice for the discerning pipesman, and my first impressions were exceedingly appreciative of their efforts. Moreover, I don't actually find this an incredibly heavily cased tobacco, compared with many stock Cavendishes. The casing, whilst evident upon the fingers, isn't so rich as to destroy the natural flavour and the tobacco feels and looks light and generally airy - somewhat like a Dutch ribbon.

The first puff was a little anticlimactic and flat, and it undoubtedly burns quickly - and with a ferocious heat. It can quite easily become a devil in disguise, and if not tamed, you'll get a walloping dose of tongue bite. One would be best to take heed of those wise men on here who insist on smoking it S-L-O-W-L-Y and patiently. If this is done, then what could easily be cast off as a rough and insipid tobacco becomes deliciously mellow. Indeed, now you'll stand to appreciate the depth of flavour and that chocolatey maple caramel that you were initially promised on the tin. Likewise, the room note is light and sweet. I lit up in the presence of my mother and she immediately bee-lined for the tin, because she liked it's smell. The general consensus from the women of the house was chocolate.

All said and done, this is a really well made aromatic that will unfold its secrets with a little time, patience, and the art of subtlety.