Astley's No.99 Royal Tudor Full Latakia Mixture

Call me an insecure and superficial sucker for impressions, marketing or history, but I wanted to try something that was in some way connected to the glory days of English pipe smoking and Jermyn Street, in the heart of St James's, one of London's most historic and fashionable districts. The name "Astley's No.99 Royal Tudor Full Latakia Mixture" just oozes exclusivity and elitist tradition. It seems this tobacco may have be an excellent choice 2005 or earlier but then went downhill from there - unless the reviews from 2005 or earlier on this page aren't to be trusted which is unlikely. Perhaps there is hope for this tobacco with some aging, but as it is out of the tin you are going to smoke tobacco that tastes like smoke. Not smoked lamb, smoked salmon or smoked unicorn but tastes like smoked smoke. The fragrance of this tobacco unsmoked in the tin is outstanding. The tobacco has since moved to a glass jar, but the tin is still saturated with the wonderful fragrance of this tobacco blend. The room-note smoked is nothing like the rich unsmoked fragrance and was closer to the flavor which is (drumroll) smoke. As for the latakia or virginia, I couldn't make out any distinctions and some of that may be due to my inexperience of parsing tobacco leaf types, but even as I sipped the pipe and tried to keep smoke to a minimum, had an urge to quit right there and immediately brush my teeth. Spoiled with so many brands and blends keep looking elsewhere.

Vendor: Pipes and Cigars.com; Time between purchase and opening: 3 months; Storage: glass jar; Pipe: Dr. Plumb bent brandy with Vauen 9mm filter; Environment: Tropical