4noggins Prairie Wind

A generous sample from an order some time ago. Thank You Rich. Pouch aroma is a tangy, pleasantly acidic pure Virginia with some grassy notes. Given the name, I was expecting something that came from the southern end of north bound bovine, but this stuff smells great! A bit of drying time, into a trusty Rhodesian and off we went for a wonderful late summer afternoon smoke. Very refreshing with its bright flavors, but with some very good foundation flavors. The Perique was just perfect. A good nose tickle and some peppery flavors dancing about, but not so much as others of the genre. I'm a Perique junkie, so I could have enjoyed more Louisianna leaf, but I sure didn't miss it. Very nice.

For me this gets 3+ stars as a pleasant and relaxing break from the bolder Balkan and Burley blends I tend to prefer. It’s not a wow blend but I kept reaching for it and smoked through my two ounces in about a month, which is unusual for me since I have so many open tobaccos to choose from. I’ll be ordering another eight ounces or more, some for now, and some to put in a jar to see how it develops with age.

However, what I received is certainly not the same blend that most of the reviews here are talking about. As often happens, somebody was talking up this blend on one of the forums, and showed a picture of the tobacco that looks so appetizing. I needed to fill out an order with Noggins and added a couple ounces of this. So I never actually read any of the reviews here. But in preparation for this review, to see what the overall rating was, I happened to see Jim Inks review (from ten years ago) sitting at the top of the list, and I was just floored at how utterly unlike his review is from what I received. So, I then read all 31 reviews on this site, and another 17 on 4Noggins site, and in all of that, I found only one recent review (from Bushido in 2021) that sounds like what I received.

One thing is for sure, this tastes nothing like Hal O’ the Wynd, of which several reviews here compared it to. I dutifully got out my 4 year old HOTW and they are nothing alike. From what I can gather, some changes have occurred since the majority of the reviews here were posted, many now well over ten years old. Remember McClellands? It seems that they supplied at least one of the three Virginias and the Perique. So we know that once supply of those ran out some substitutions had to be made, probably to Sutliff 515. Then there was the transition between Rich and the new owner/blender, Jeff. Dare I suggest there have been variable applications in top dressing, or different tolerances in blending percentages?

Here’s what you can expect if you are ordering Prairie Wind in 2023: This is a mild, but intriguingly nuanced Va-Per, with a subtle flavoring that almost suggests a semi-aromatic character, but without undue sweetness. The primary impression I get from this mirrors most of what Bushido described as “an almost malty vanilla undertone” with the perique nuances being “more of a light spice than a peppery flavor.” Deep nosing of jar did reveal a slight wheat bran note like HOTW, but at about 10% intensity level, and this never showed up as a flavor. I found that different types of pipes, meer, cob, briar, somewhat altered the flavor balance, but the distinctive creamy vanilla custard was present in all pipes. The differences were that the meer brought out more pepper, the cob more tarragon and alfalfa, and the briar more custard, some lemon grass, and some blanched almond. But these are all subtle distinctions compared to the huge difference between this and HOTW. In all pipes the Perique was generally a little more prominent at the end of the bowl, but is more like a delicate dusting of white pepper than of coarse black pepper.

Verdict: If what you are after is a Va-Per with deeper, darker Virginias, pinch of Kentucky, and lots of dark fruit/raisin from the Perique (like HOTW), this will probably be too light for you. If you like traditional Va-Pers like well-aged Escudo or Rouxgaroux, then you will certainly find the vanilla undertone here an abomination. However, if you are like me and find that you don’t very often crave that classic Va-Per profile, then this may just be the ticket for you. The new Prairie Wind fills a needed niche in my rotation, so for me it’s a keeper.

Prairie Wind is a good, if not great, Va/Per. My benchmark (to aid in your contextualization) is McClelland?s St. James Woods, which has all the intoxicating joys of the best virginias plus that sweet/sour virginia/perique thing going for it. PW benefits by some time on your drying pan?I?ve left it from 30 min to close on an hour. Lights easily, burns smoothly, and is a good companion. Not scintillating company, perhaps, but makes you glad you?re a smoaker. Hats off to Rich at 4noggins for another good entry.

A good amount of Red Virginia in this well-balanced blend gives you a pleasant, smooth tasteful smoke with some creamy background feeling. Right moisture level, easy to pack and to lite. A good choice for a Natural Virginia blends lover who was tired from SG "Lakeland sauce". A one-week delivery from US looks absolutely incredible. Thanks Rich!