Ashton Smooth Sailing

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.

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.

I love the water, I always have. From getting swim in the Mediterranean Sea as a child, to living in Michigan surrounded by the great lakes for most of my life. The feeling of getting on the water in any sized boat, and floating as the waves gently jostle the boat is addictive to me.

The tin is attractive, with a nice picture of a sailboat. Opening up I found a nice multi-colored ribbon, with a few stems. The cut was mostly even. The tin note smells of chocolate, and coconut with a tiny bit of the Maple shining through. It reminds me of chocolate covered coconut clusters. It came a little wet so some dry time did help.

It lights pretty well, and I can taste the chocolate and coconut right off of the bat. The taste is very creamy with a little of the Burley nuttiness coming through. I don't really get the Maple unless I puff extraordinarily slow. This does want to burn hot, so don't try and put this in a stubby if you want to keep your tongue and tastebuds whole and intact. On a random note the pipe I'm smoking today I last used for Pirate Cake, which gives my experience a slight Latakia Ghost which makes this blend even more interesting.

The taste is a mild , nothing here is going to overpower you. Like it's name implies, it is a smooth sailing blend. The strength is likewise a mild. Lady N is not interested in going out today. The room note is spectacular and you might get a few compliments. This is a nice, mild aro for when the occasion demands.

In terms of aromatics this really is not a bad blend. When I review aromatics I always compare them to other tobaccos of the same ilk. To compare this to nightcap is just plain apples to oranges.

As far as aromatics go this is a pretty nice blend. The tobacco is not extremely sodden, there really is not a lot of relights needed, there is no cess pool in the heel of your pipe on the completion, and it seems to be quality leaf.

The flavor is what you would expect of most aromatic tobaccos, it is OK but nowhere near the beautiful and inviting smells the leaf teases your senses with. Its sweet but Ill be damned if I can pick up the "coconut" that the tin advertises. Could be my inferior palate.

At the end of the day you could do a lot worse by an aromatic, and there is something very noble about this blend, as if it is in a different league than the soggy bulk blends sitting on most strip mall tobacconists shelf's. Worth a shot but not a smoke that will cause me to crave more.

A pleasure to submit the first review of this little gem. It is a lovely high quality aromatic without a hint of soapyness or cheap casing. It burns HOT, at first I thought it was going to be a problem but then I viewed it as a chance to perfect my technique and it really paid off. So long as you can smoke this at the slowest possible rate (like slow enough to win the world's slowest smoker competition) then you will be rewarded with the mysterious and rich layers of velvety notes as suggested on the tin. The cavendish seems to work well with everything, the flake is a pleasing cut and as with many similar tobaccos, it probably benefits from a little drying out to get the best performance. Smooth Sailing burns surprisingly well, it's possible to finish the pipe from one or two lights and it doesn't smoke as wet as you might imagine. I'll certainly keep this one on the A list.

Tin note of maple, coconut, and sweet. Tobacco is light brown and black ribbon cut with a little dark brown mixed in. Moisture content is a little high, drying may be preferred. Burns slow with few relights. The strength is mild and nic is mild. Flavoring is mild to medium, with notes of Coconut, Cocoa and Maple. Maple lingers in the background, Cocoa dissipates about midway, and the Coconut dissipates in the first 1/4th. Taste is mild to medium and mostly consistent, with notes of toast, spices, marshmallow, sweet grass, dry wood, spicy/acidic, nuts, floral, orange peel, a brown sugar background note, and a peppery retro. Cavendish is leading with Flavoring, Burley and Virginia supporting. Room note is pleasant, and aftertaste is ok.

This blend seems to be very divise, people either love it or hate it and I think I know why.

This, to me, is truly "aromatic" in the dictionary sense of the word; meaning it's all in the aroma.

However I do not mean the flavors only exist in the tin note or room note. I experience most of the described flavor notes throughout the entire bowl as I smoke but not so much as a taste in my mouth but rather an ethereal olfactory sense experience. I continue to smell and "taste" the flavors in my nose through the entire smoke but the actual taste in my mouth is extremely, exceptionally mild... like an incredibly smooth ocean breeze.

It's an all together entirely different tobacco smoking experience for me. I've never had another blend where I continue to get the tin/room note myself while I'm smoking it. It's pretty common that pipe smokers can't really smell their own pipe, but you can with this. Yet, at the same time, the taste on the tongue/ in the mouth is so light and airy there is almost 0 aftertaste and when you're finished it might even seem like you haven't smoked anything. Even the tobacco flavor itself is extremely light and mild.

So the Smooth Sailing experience is almost the reverse of what most would expect from a tobacco, especially one with such a strong wonderful tin note. And for this reason I think this is why it has received such high and such low reviews.

However, once you settle into the experience that is Smooth Sailing, it is very very enjoyable. Light and airy, would not overpower any beverage you might be drinking at the time, and it was very well behaved throughout the bowl. It's about as smooth and refreshing as I think a bowl of tobacco can be. If you're looking for big, loud, flavors and sweet, deep taste then this probably isn't going to do it for you. But if you want ultra-easy, smooth and light with some wonderful scents and olfactory experiences then dive right in.

I smoke cigars for 14 years, but I'm a beginner with pipes. I found the tobacco extremely aromatic, smoke sweet and soft. The beginning was very simple, pure tobacco, but it evolved, revealing very good flavors. Positives: Aroma and room note excellent. Negative points: It takes time to evolve and show off some flavors.