Just For Him Ruins of Isengard

This tobacco was a bit confusing....couldn't tell if it wanted to be an english or an aromatic. Latakia was present and then the cavendish, that has some type of casing on it, would take center stage. Hints of vanilla with some sweetness from the VAs and some smokiness from the Latakia. Not a bad smoke. By the end of the bowl it actually grows on you a bit. It's pleasant, but I don't think I'll be ordering more. There are other blends that utilize latakia along with aromatic components that are better, IMHO (Momoyama, Fusilers Ration)

I got this as part of the sampler. I'm not sure, but I think the favors all married together bc they packed all the blend packets in one bag. I got samples of three others bc they were out of exhausted rooster at the time. Unfortunately, they were all packed in with the sampler as well. Insofar as a bag note, no clues here. Aromatic. A big mish mash of fruit and vanilla. Maybe berries in there too.

The mixture is pleasant to the eye. Reminds me of any number of house blends. I've noticed people saying that the moisture level was good for them. I retort. Those of us adults who read the books, and those younglings who saw the movie series may agree. If you recall, Isengard was flooded when a river was diverted into it in the battle with the ents. haha. The second half of the bowl was poetically ironic. I was upset, and thought I may have funked my new butcher boy (185$ pipe) when that river hit home.

Enough whining then. Packed very easily. On the charring light two women in the room commented on it smelling nice. That's like the first time that's ever happened to me. I swear I could taste butterscotch. Settling in, it lit deceptively well. Working through the bowl it was delicious. Sweet tasting, good volume of smoke for practicing rings with. Decent Latakia content. Didn't really notice it most of time however. Cool burning. Every once in awhile you get a little lat hit off it. About two thirds down it started to gurgle and hiss on me. I had to unload the pipe before I finished. I will definitely dry this out some next time.

All in all, I like it enough to recommend it to a aromatic smoker. I haven't smoked aros since I was about 15 yrs old, so it was fun to try one again. I may just be out of practice with them. It was very tasty and had a very pleasant room note. Good tobacco for mixed company. Not very strong nicotine wise, so it could be smoked whenever. Interesting mixture. Not really English to me, not really an aromatic either.

This one started off tasting as it smelled in the bag. A mixture of Cavendish. Heavy with vanilla, fruity, and maybe some fig. I smoked it aggressively and it didn't burn too hot. No bite. The best part of this blend is the hint of latakia. You may not notice it the first few puffs, but it will show up if you're looking for it. Clever how it brings the slight smokiness to the blend considering the name. I enjoyed this smoke for the most part. The last third of the bowl, the flavour kind of thickens just enough to cover up the pleasant pinch of latakia providing a boring fourth quarter- This doesn't bug me much as I am usually satisfied by this point and rarely finish the very last bit. This blend is definitely in the realm of an all-day smoke and is good for those who want just a taste of latakia, but prefer smooth sweet cavendish. No relights and left my pipe fairly dry. I'll certainly smoke the rest of this bag and recommend it to any who are interested in trying it. A little less aromatic-vanilla and a bit more latakia would push this blend to 3 stars for me.

I found that I really liked this blend at first, it reminded me of butterscotch and caramel with just a hint of latakia. The thing was that while I really enjoyed it at first it got to be just to sweet for me in the long run. I found that it smoked just a tad to wet and goopy for me and the sweetness hung in my throat and I started getting soar throats after every smoke. With that said, I loved exhaling this one through my nose and it has a wonderful room note! Sometimes I just opened the baggie to smell it and then put it away to smoke something else...

I am fairly certain that ROI is one of my favorites in this sampler, Old Toby being the first.

ROI is a very generous blend. I believe it to be the stronger of the group in terms of flavor and strength.

Very nice smoke for when you just want to be.

I purchased the Middle Earth Sampler and have tried Old Toby, Treebeard, Longbottom Leaf and now Ruins of Isengard. Reading the reviews below goes to show that everyone has different tastes. I guess if you really enjoy Latakia, you will probably like Ruins of Isengard. I found it a decent smoke, but not exactly to my taste like the others I've tried so far.

Ruins of Isengard is yet another blend in the Middle Earth Pipe Weed Series by Just For Him, justforhim.com I would place ROI second to Shortcut to Mushroom if you are going to explore the Middle Earth series, especially if you normally smoke pure English blends and rarely dabble with weed that is cased.

Packing: Frank Method and Three Stage packing all work here even though this stuff is rather moist and can be a little sticky. I never had to dry out, however, and needed no relights after two scorches and initial light.

Smoke: What we have here is a consistent smoke that is mildly sweet, which comes off as either a mild vanilla or a cream. The sweetness does not force itself nor taste artificial probably because of the Cavendish and Black Cavendish tag team. The sweetness comes through on initial puff and trails off into a mild smokiness. It is kind of like having desert before the meal, sweet and salty.

Final: However, the description may sound inviting but ROI is just ok when you consider how many other blends are on the market. Nothing special to see here. Just a change of pace without overdoing casing or artificial sweeteners.

I had high hopes for this when I ordered it because I was excited about the whole LOTR theme etc.

This is in my opinion a very mild Latika blend. If you are wanting to sample a Latika and get away from aromatics etc then I think this may be the blend for you. Personally I prefer something much "smokier"