Hearth & Home Egg Nog

Slowly it is dawning within my sludge-filled brain that I am not a huge fan of aromatics. I enjoy them on occasion and will pick one when considering those who shall share space with me while I smoke. That said on to Egg Nog.

Mild aroma hinting at the ingredients; rum, vanilla, nutmeg and wee wisps of cinnamon. Moist enough to clump and hold when pinched together so I left it to dry about 90 minutes. Packs easy when dried and still has most of the aroma remaining.

Lights up, tamps and off to the races. No relights were required, minimum attention while smoking. No bite, no bitterness even when I romped on the bellows, huffing and puffing. Had a hint of the nutmeg on the tongue but I couldn't detect the cinnamon in the tasting. Vanilla was nice, no strange chemical taste in this one.

Burned clean, didn't leave much of anything behind in the bowl or mouth. Pleasant aroma in the room, like some sort of baked pastry.

If you are an aromatic fan, or like an occasional aromatic for change of pace this one is worth trying. Not something that I will be getting more of.

This is a pleasant blend. Although there is a sweetness, it doesn't really taste like egg nog to me. Its a good overall smoke, especially for outdoors. However, if you're looking for a "Christmassy" blend, I think you'd be better served by one of the McClelland's Christmas Cheers.

I'm such a cliche sometimes; I waited 'til t'was the night before Xmas to give this blend a try, expecting great sleigh bells and whiskers. But alas, it was not to be. The room note is extremely pleasant for all those in attendance, (even if someone just happens to wander into your smelly old garage while your smoking). But it does not translate to your own palette. I really wanted to like this one alot, (as I enjoy many of the pipesandcigars.com blends) but it'll just be in my "maybe" pile of occassional smokes.

I want to be a snob and shun this blend for not being sophisticated enough for my palate, but I like it. Not tolerate it, not almost like it, I like the stuff. I live on a diet of latakia, usually the more the better. Most aromatics for me are polite diversions from my normal fare, used to create a room note that is tolerable for family gatherings. This certainly fits the bill, but I find myself turning to it when I don't have a care about the room note I produce. This stuff is that good. Hail Russ.

I received this blend as part of a 6 blend H&H series sampler. Upon receiving & opening my package I was overwhelmed by the wonderful aroma of the blends and was excited to start trying them out. I have reviewed most of the blends individually but all had one thing in common, they all had a very pleasant pouch smell and wonderful room note but lacked taste and most were harsh on the palate. Egg Nog fell right into this category. Wonderful smell both fresh and while burning but little to no taste and burned a little on the hot side. I did sense a minor spiciness but not something you would expect from a pleasant aromatic blend. I ended up trading off the remainder as samples. Understanding that everyone has a different palate and different tastes this might be tasty to some but for myself and many others I have talked with it was a no go. Sorry Russ but something your using in your blends seem to be making them smoke hot & bite. Please take this review as constructive criticism and not personal.

First im going to start off by saying do not get fooled by the name. Wait "Merry Christmas" Ok, now that I got that out of the way, this is not by any means of tasting like or smelling like the ole yule log holiday favorite drink of mine. This burns hot and while it may have a few hints of nutmeg and cinnamon, I think the full flavor fails in the attempt to create a real holiday smoke. Id rather smoke Altidas Buttered Rum around the holidays, but you can check my review on that at a later date. This is ok smoke for me. I thought it would be more then it was, but hey thats the way it is. Sometimes you get a Home Run, sometimes you get hit by a pitch. Im afraid I got hit by the pitch! MZMN 8-24-06

Egg Nog is a dry, cool-smooking aromatic with a spicy and sometimes sweet flavor. It doesn't rock my world, but if you are an aromatic smoker, this may be your ticket.

An excellent aromatic. Burns to a fine ash and is mild without any bite. The spices do come through in both the aroma and taste. I will probably never drink eggnog again for this blend tastes better than the drink and I will enjoy the rum, nutmeg, vanilla, and cinnamon flavors in a bowl of this tobacco instead.

Wow! what a fantastic aromatic!! I am not an aromatic smoker,but wanted to try this having heard great recommendations about Russ Ouellette and his blending skills. And finally!! An aromatic tobacco that is 110% satisfying...cool burning,extremely flavorful,absolutely no bite,and unlike most aromatics..smokes dry all the way down with no gurgle or goo....and everyone in the room loved it...it smells absolutely fantastic! And as stated by the previous reviewer, you can actually smell this while smoking. I am going to continue to keep this on hand and try many of the other "Hearth and Home" series tobaccos...many thanks Mr Ouellette!!!! Highly Recommended!!!!

*****Update 5/22/06***** Sorry, but I must reduce my rating to 2 stars. Upon smoking quite a bit more of this I discovered that while I still like this aromatic, I was wrong about one thing, this can get burn extremely hot and burn the roof of your mouth in short order!..A bit of a drawback,I am going to have to make this an occasional smoke, smoked to please the "anti-smokers" in the room...Sorry Russ!