Low Country Pipe & Cigar Cooper

Low Country Pipe & Cigar is owned/operated (I think), by the same folks who run smokingpipes.com. I was gifted some Cooper which arrived with a recent purchase from their webstore.

The descriptive for this blend at the top of the page is right on. Cooper is a flake made up of Latakia, sweet orientals, Virginia and a dash of Perique. It rubs out easily and packs and burns exceptionally well.

Cooper, simply stated, is outstanding. Smoked slowly, one tastes top-shelf leaf of ever component attached to this blend. Although there is no topping added, there is a subtle, natural sweetness that comes through with every puff. The orientals and Virginias dominate (which prevents me from agreeing that this is a true English), but whisps of Latakia and Perique do come through just enough to compliment the overall presentation.

This is one of the best put together new tobacco blends that I've tried in a long, long time.

The bright Virginia is lightly citrusy and a little grassy. The red Virginia is a little earthy with some tangy dark fruit sweetness, though it’s mainly a often player, and has a subtle effect on the blend for that reason. However, there are times it perks up and lets you know it’s there. The Oriental/Turkish is very smoky, very woody, with some sourness, a little spice and a pinch of salt. They tend to be more prominent than the other components at times during the first half of the smoke, but never overwhelms the other tobaccos. The Cyprian latakia is smoky, woody sweet, though maybe a little less sweet than you may expect from that varietal. It, too, is a minor player, though you feel its presence in nearly every puff. Burns slow, cool and clean with no bite, no harsh or dull spots and very little moisture at the finish. Needs a few relights. The flavor holds its own the very last, though it seems to get a little sweeter after the half way point. Won't bite. Should age well. Three and a half stars.

-JimInks

Flavor by the ton. "Choice Orientals" is putting it mildly. They're delicious and mouth watering. This blend is at the top of my list.

A moist thinly sliced, predominantly dark brown flake veined and mottled with lighter streaks of brown, chestnut, and dark tan. The tin nose offers a rounded, quintessentially 'English' aroma which is musty and slightly sweet. Quite moist in the tin, it packs and burns well, being a mixture whose smoking characteristics can, as an added bonus, be manipulated through various styles of preparation. This reviewer prefers it moderately rubbed out.

Described on the tin label as a medium English flake, Cooper offers a flavorful combination of sweet, mild Virginias coupled with musty Oriental and just enough smoky Latakia to bring it all into focus. Flavor notes run as one would expect from such a mixture, although the sweetness of the Virginias has a tendency to play a dominant, although not altogether unpleasant, role. For its part, the Oriental adds appreciable notes of spice and earthy, pungent sourness whereas the Cyprian Latakia contributes an persistent yet subtle undercurrent of pine, camphor, and wood smoke. While used sparingly overall, the Latakia component does tend to grow in intensity towards the end of the bowl but is never heavy or cloying. Medium to full bodied, Cooper has a flavorful, slightly tart and smoky finish which tends to leave a bit of sweetness on the tongue.

Overall, Cooper is a nice middle-of-the-road English mixture which should fare very well in the tin for some time to come. Produced by Cornell & Diehl for the good folks at Low Country Pipe and Cigar, it is a fine example of contemporary American pipe tobacco blending and is certainly worth a try by fans of the genre.

I believe that I read that this line was produced by Smoking Pipes in conjunction with C&D. The appearance of a vertically presented row of flakes in a round tin with "C&D" paper certainly supports that. In any event, it's not important and should come as no surprise that, given the breadth of its business compared to the few tins of this that are sold annually, Smoking Pipes wouldn't put its mark on anything but a stellar product. While I enjoy most types of tobaccos other than heavy aromatics, if tobacco were a drink I'd order a glass of 12-year-old virginia with a large splash of oriental and a light latakia topper. Cooper fits the bill. Comparisons would be to Skiff, Squadron Leader, EMP, Chelsea Morning, etc. Love them all, but Cooper goes one step further -- even moreso than Plum Pudding, Royalty and Mississippi River, it is the roundest, fattiest, most edible and unctuous smoke ever to enter my system. As I noted, the manufacturing is beautiful, the burn qualities are perfect upon opening and seem to stay that way for the 2 weeks or so that a tin lasts in my rotation, the Virginia is a mix of sweet and fresh farm flavors, the oriental is as good as it gets and, for once, as tasty as it smells, and the latakia is like a shroud of perfect seasoning. I've got a few tins of Waccamaw, their Virginia/Perique/Oriental flake that has garnered equal praise, and look forward to those as well. In closing, when you settle down with a bowl of this you can't help but to think (or even say aloud) "God, I really love smoking a pipe". That's as ringing an endorsement as my limited creative skills can muster.

Great stuff. I'm building a stock of this in the cellar and I recommended you do the same. It smokes wonderfully, dried properly of course. This puts much emphasis on the orientals which are given some body by the latakia. These two sit squarely on a foundation of wonderful Virginia's. This is what Presbyterian Mixture would taste like if it had any backbone. Low Country Cooper soundly knocked Presby out of rotation, off the shelf and slowly out of the cellar. Get it and get it now.

This is a fantastic blend. The mix of sweet Virginia, orientals and a restrained dose of Latakia is perfectly blended to keep everything in balance. Unlike some other blends, this one never goes flat and smokes well from start to finish. I prefer to simply fold these flakes, rather than rub them out. Some drying is prudent, but no more than 30 minutes is required.

This is a solid medium power blend with mountains of creamy smoke. The retro- hale yields a solid cocoa flavor reminiscent of a good cigar. I will certainly order more of this.

WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN ALL MY LIFE?

I am so glad for this website - without it, I would never have found this wonderful blend! I was looking for a Lat / VA blend and my preferred format is flake. Poking through the search results I saw Cooper with high marks but relatively few reviews. I already buy from Smokingpipes.com once in a while so I put a couple of tins of Cooper on my next order.

Wow, am I glad I did! Solid Latakia presence partnered with sweet/sour of mature VAs and all in balance with just the right touch of orientals to tie things together. The orientals provide interest but do not detract from the main course. The whole package together has a certain malty, nutty roundness / softness to it reminiscent of Penzance. Nicotine level is medium - just right for me - pleasant but it doesn't make my head spin. Rubbed out gently and aired for a bit Cooper packs and burns great. Gobs and gobs of delicious, creamy smoke, and no bite to speak of. A keeper for sure!

This is very nice tobacco, and possibly worthy of one more star. I found the virginia a little snappy.

In the tin, dark, wet flakes that need a bit of air. It smells really strongly of Cyprian. Tin note is similar to some really dark blends like Old Ironsides and Commonwealth. A much denser, darker presentation than most "medium english".

Jam a flake in and light it up. There is an initial bite or tanginess from the virginias, but it settles quite quicky, balanced by the latakia. Reminds me of commonwealth in the bowl, but with the orientals at play, it's a bit more interesting. There is a similar 2 flavor interplay though. Drifts toward Pelican, but stays dirtier the whole time. Yum!

Smokey, woodsy, and calming. Very well behaved tobacco. I should think that a bit of age will really improve this one, yielding an even sweeter and more friendly smoke.

I find this much more like the latakia-bombs of yore than I do a regular "medium english". I don't find it delicate, I don't detect traces of nuts, or flowers, or any particular essence. Good, solid, heavy Balkan.

WOW! Fantastic leaf

Just had another bowl of this stuff today (why did I wait so long to have this again.....makes me want to add a pnd of it to the cellar...man as I said before if you like med-English blend....FANTASTIC leaf!

Update 4/22/11 After about 1-month of an open tin, and just the plastic-cap replaced on it...WOW-WOW-WOW this stuff smokes so flavor...got nice Southern BBQ flavors out of mine which I enjoyed very much, suggest you pop a tin and let it sit for a month or two with platic-cap on...man the experience is even better then a freshly opened tin with only a few hours of dry time...putting this strat into effect with this blend...grin'in,knowing how much I have in the cellar today...STOCK UP on this one for sure Brothers of Briar!