Hearth & Home Egg Nog

I hear so often complaints that aromatics don't taste like they smell in the pouch. Well, here is a blend that breaks down that complaints as it tastes exactly like the pouch aroma. This blend tastes just like a good eggnog, smells like eggnog and the room note is just like eggnog. In fact, if you do not seal this one up tight, where ever you have it that area will smell like eggnog. It also is not gunky and wet like so many aromatics. Now at this point, if the reader of this review does not like aromatics, then they might as well go on to another review, because from here on out I am going to give a glowing report of a really good aromatic. Russ really knew what he was doing with this one. It is a mix of black and dark brown rough cut ribbon in the pouch and it just emits the eggnog aroma in the pouch. It is not overly moist and can be smoked right out of the bag. It packs well and is very easy to light up. The smoker as well as the bystander will enjoy the aroma of fresh eggnog. The dominant flavor in this reich creamy smoke is that of nutmeg, a touch of vanilla and a little cinnamon. It stays lit while smoking quite well and it has no bite to it at all but it does have a large amount of flavor to it. It is very rich and tasty all the way down to a dry grey ash at the bottom of the pipe. It never loses it's flavor in any way. I love being able to smell the room note while I am smoking it. While I do like aros I am traditionally a burley and Vaper man but this one is a joy to smoke. I highly recommend giving this one a try if for no other reason to dispell all the rumours of aromatics. You might find yourself really liking this one.

This blend was a pretty big disappointment in the fact that it offered so much. So many flavors that are some of my favorite.

I'll start with the good parts. The room note is pretty good. I wouldn't say it smells like Egg Nog, but definitely not a bad smell. The tin smelt like every other Hearth & Homes blend.

The taste was almost not existent and I got quite a lot of tongue bite even while moistened and cautiously smoked. The strength was very low as well, which makes it a light smoke others may enjoy.

Let me start by saying that I am not big on aromatics. However, there are a couple which grab me. This one did, and did so by surprise. I received a sample of it at the Richmond Expo this year and was intrigued. It smelled like the blend an old family friend used to smoke. I figured I would give it a try though I usually smoke VaPers and English.
The tine note is exceptional. Very much like an old fashioned tobacco and a holiday treat rolled into one.
I packed it into a Big Ben church warden and let it dry for a couple of hours before lighting. When I light up I get a wonderful first taste which sort of calms down after a few minutes. Towards the end of the bowel it may get a little ashen tasting. In fact, I have learned to just dump the last bit and sort of "end on a high note."
While I am not normally into aros, and when I do like them, it is usually something fruity, the blend of cinnamon, nutmeg, vanilla and rum in this really works for me. Again, it reminds me of a blend an old family friend used to smoke and the smell of the old tobacco shop, in Cloverleaf Mall, which I used to walk by while a child. The friend, shop and even the mall are gone now so I shall never know what blends I was getting a whiff of back then but this is on track.
I have found the flavor of this best comes out with slow sipping which, for me, makes it an evening time, "sit down and relax" smoke. It is not something I would smoke all the time and, while I am adding it to my regular rotation, I just received a 100 gram tin which I ordered from H&H, it will not be knocking the Frog Mortons of PS LNF out of their places anytime soon. I give it three stars.

I picked up an ounce of Egg Nog on the recommendation of a friend that knows I enjoy the occasional aromatic. I really wanted to like this blend because it is somewhat unique in flavor. It is less moist than most American style aromatics and it burns cleanly without any tongue bite. Egg Nog's room note is fantastic. The added spices, are what make this blend unique, but I think it also makes it a love or hate type blend. I finished the majority of the ounce, but for me, it's not a bell ringer. It's worth a shot for aromatic fans that are looking for something different.

Upon opening my first tin of Hearth and Home Egg Nog, I was greeted by a scent which reminded me so strongly of furniture polish that I was filled with trepidation. Aside from a hint of what might be nutmeg, I could not detect any semblance between the scent of the tobacco and that of actual egg nog.

After some hesitation, I filled a bowl and lit the tobacco. The moisture level in this blend is nearly ideal, and a pinch of the tobacco taken directly from the tin compresses into a springy clump for a short time before gradually flaking apart. Lighting is quick and easy.

As with most aromatic tobaccos, slow and gentle smoking produces the best experience, but with regards to its combustion properties, Egg Nog is a well-behaved blend. I could not make this tobacco smoke wetly even in a Peterson XL315, and taking excessively heavy draughts produced not a single gurgle. Amazingly, this tobacco also burned down to fine, powdery ash that was dry as dust and exceedingly light in color.

Egg Nog is an interesting blend. A sharp and dusky spice is present in the taste of the blend from the charring light onward, with occasional traces of sweetness appearing and quickly dissipating without lingering long enough to become cloying. Frequently, a taste of something not unlike gunpowder muscles its way to the front of the sensory queue and remains there for a time. Perhaps this blend should have been named "Fourth of July".

Egg Nog produces a room note that is very pleasant, and while I was smoking it, I received approving comments and cheerful inquiries from passers-by.

In general, I found this tobacco to be highly enjoyable, but I feel that its present name will cause confusion. Egg Nog is a complex aromatic that tastes exactly the way it smells, but neither its scent or its taste resembles the beverage it is named for.

If you are fortunate enough to live within reach of a good tobacconist who is generous enough to provide a smoking room with a tobacco bar, I would suggest that you sample Egg Nog before buying it in quantity. While I enjoyed it enough to purchase an amount that would last me a few years, the blend bears a name that is sure to give a smoker a false idea of what to expect.

Pipes used for testing: Peterson XL315, Dunhill Shell 0314 Bulldog (1976), Sebastien Beo Paneled Rhodesian, Luciano 222 S* Lovat, Yello-Bole Imperial Lovat

I wanted to like this stuff but it has way too much cinnamon in it. And I love cinnamon!

I think it burns way too hot and the cinnamon makes it ascrid.

Much attention (or patience I guess) is required to keep it cool. This blend can also dish out the nasty type of bite that lingers for a day or so if you really try to smoke it all day or take big pulls or puff too fast.

Maybe it is just me but a few of the hearth and home blends are hot burning to my taste. On the other hand their obsidian and larry's blend are really good. No offense to Russ. I like many of his blends but am not really into this one.

Update 8/09/08 I let this sit for 6 months and tried it once again. Somehow it seems worse now. I am getting rid of this stuff for sure so I don't subject myself to this again by accident. I just don't like it.

In honor of the Winter Solstice and with Christmas rapidly approaching I decided to open this tin to celebrate the season. This is one of around 30 tins gifted to me by a very nice lady whose tins belonged to her uncle who passed away some time ago. I have never been able to make myself taste Egg Nogg, for two reasons, the name and the thought of drinking eggs and milk does not entice me. The tin aroma of this is quite pleasant if I say so myself and there is a sweet spiciness to it that seems to be a menagerie of the rum, vanilla, cinnamon and nutmeg. In other words, I can’t really tell what I am smelling but I am guessing the rum may be the predominate aroma from the tin. Lights up easily and smokes very pleasant and mild with a nice sweetness to the smoke but not over powering. This is described as bite free and there is truth to this advertising as I smoked quite a bit of this with no bite what so ever. I noticed that some of the reviewers say that this one does not taste like Egg Nogg. As stated previously I have never tasted Egg Nogg no I do not think the blender was going for an actual Egg Nogg taste but that of using Egg Nogg spices in a tobacco blend which seems to have been accomplished from what I read goes into an Egg Nogg. I added up the 3 and 4 stars and got 25, the 1 and 2 stars was 27. So, this one seems to be one of a love/hate relationship. For me, I give it 3 stars for being a nice pleasant yule tide spirit aromatic. Would I buy some, no but will enjoy finishing this tin.

As a general rule, I usually don't buy blends named after foods. It's been my experience that most blenders try too hard to make it smell and maybe even taste like the name, but you end up smoking something that smells like a burning tire. I'm an aromatics fan, but don't care for heavily topped or cased blends, fruit flavors and so on. I prefer good vanilla or light spices. So I almost didn't buy this one. Glad I changed my mind!

Really not sure where the egg nog itself comes in, and I'm not getting a holiday vibe from it. But this is an outstanding blend! The rum and vanilla are evident at the tin, with just a hint of nutmeg. I couldn't detect much cinnamon.

At the match, it is nicely aromatic, evenly cased and the toppings are applied with a fairly light hand giving this blend a very pleasant and friendly aroma and flavor with no bite, and no overpowering sweetness. A good all-day smoke that burns to a clean, fine ash. A real winner! Will definitely keep this in my rotation!

I will certainly recommend this blend to the aromatic bretheren. It tasted like tobacco.... And, for the aromatic crowd, they'll get their sweet (and in the case of this blend), spicy fix. I did not taste egg nog or the rum, but I sure did taste the cinnamon. This blend was a recent giveaway at our monthly pipe club meeting. I never would have purchased a blend with a name or description like this, but for a bowl of fun, it floated my boat.

It does burn hot... But, it also burned dry.

It is amusing to me the wild variation in responses to this blend, with recommendations spread nearly equally across the board. Those that love it seem to really praise it, and those that hate it despise it with almost undeserved animosity as if the tobacco itself somehow personally assaulted them. I myself find this blend sort of middle-of-the-road.

Pleasant tin note, as others have mentioned, ripe with vanilla, rum, and some kind of nutmeggy/cinnamonny essence. It doesn't evoke images of eggnog, personally, but it does have a holiday season sort of feel to me. As with most of Russ' aromatics, I am impressed with the flavor balance, as well as lack of excessive PG goopiness. It does have a tendency to burn hot, and I found mild bite to be a problem even when sipped gently. The blend burned evenly wigh no need of relights. Taste is predominantly warm vanilla rum with undertones of cinnamon spice. No chemical atrocities detected by this puffer. A pleasant change of pace - I will not purchase regularly, but I will purchase again, perhaps as a holiday changeup.