Admiral's Choice Black & Gold Cavendish

A newbie to pipe smoking this what I started with. It's readily available at CVS drug stores, which is where I bought my corn cob pipe. Had a good enough time puffing away on my first few tries, but have since "graduated" to the Captain Black brand which I now wish I had started with instead. Live and learn, right?

Folks complimented me on the room note, but on trying Captain Black's White I can tell you that the difference is night and day when it comes to taste. Admiral's Choice came in an 8 oz bag and I now have 6 oz left which I doubt I'll ever smoke again, so if you want to try some let me know (wink). If you never smoked anything before it might be a way to start, but you don't get as much bang for your buck as you might with Captain Black, and the taste is harsher (to me). No doubt I will graduate from the Captain Black selections I'm currently enjoying to better quality blends in the future, but for now they're a-ok. I'll go into those in another review.

As far as Admiral's Choice goes, however, I would venture a guess that you could do worse, but probably a lot better. If it's the only thing available (and it's usually not) you might get a bag and split it with some buddies if you are all trying out pipes for the first time. Corn cobs are cheap enough and work very well; I now have four which I rotate during the week. If you find you don't like smoking you aren't out a lot of dough. If you are satisfied with Admiral's Choice after your first few go-rounds, just know there's better (and equally available) tobac that won't break your budget. Again, this is the review of a newbie meant for newbies. I probably won't buy my first briar for three or six months until I'm sure I'm packing correctly, more familiar with various tobac types, etc.

Thanks for reading.

I try to be very forgiving of budget tobacco's in general since I was once a broke college kid that could only afford cheap pouches and do remember what it was like to have to smoke the entire pouch until I could get my next paycheck, that said I really do not like the Admiral Choice line. I feel that the toppings used are too mild and the tobacco used is very cheap. I ordered all of the flavors just to give them all a fair shot and I really couldn't force myself to smoke more than three or four bowls of each. After my fourth bowl this week of B&G I couldn't take anymore and went right back to Lane 1Q, spend a little extra and order 1Q or if you cannot mail order, buy a pouch of Captain Black Royal. At the very least CB Royal has a rich Vanilla aroma and taste whereas the Admirals Choice blends are truly underwhelming...

This blend comes soaking wet in a ziplock bag, pouch note is that of table syrup. Difficult to light or keep lit due to its moisture level and is quite oily to the touch. Almost not tobacco taste or any nicotine hit and cloyingly sweet, it will ghost the pipe and your fingertips. I tried drying it out for a week and nothing changed, this stuff is permanently wet. Id avoid it at all costs, the price is almost too good to resist (i know i fell for the trap too) Probably one of the worst blends going

Dreamcastle is owned by Altadis, and this line is marketed in CVS pharmacies across the country.

This is your typical steam cased aromatic. It is on a par with the likes of Lane's 1-Q. It is sweet,smells nice, and smokes fairly wet. It is best in a cob, clay, or meer, as this helps mitigate the moisture. Because these blends sit in the store for so long, there is a goodly porton of PG in them. This is just the nature of the beast.

If you like Captain Black, but don't care to pay $25-30 for the large tin, this is a much more economical option. It runs about $8 for 8oz where I live. I can't identify the flavoring of this one, but it seems "maple-like", and as mentioned, sweet. It can nip if you push it, so go slowly. The tobacco flavor is almost imperceptible to me, and the finish is a bit ashy.

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