4noggins Down by The River

4noggins - Down by The River.

The ribbons appear uniform and finely cut. There's a very subtle sweetness emanating from the pouch, but it's slightly ambiguous as to what it's from. The moisture in Down by The River looks perfect.

It lights easily, giving a consistent and steady burn. That's good, but the temperature and bite aren't: hot and nippy. The tobacco doesn't taste particularly 'bad', but I find it boring. At first the topping seems very light, but by halfway it becomes clearer. Nowhere near 'strong', but it's a more definite added sweetness.

The room-note: nice. The nicotine: medium.

Down by The River? It's alright, but no better than two stars.

Somewhat recommended.

Nice cut and moisture level from the bag. Smells like a sweetened burley, with cocoa and nuts leading the way, with a bit of maple topping. Smells pretty natural. After packing and lighting, you are greeted with a traditional burley profile of nuttiness and a nice sweetness, aided by the maple topping. As the bowl burns down, a bit more cocoa flavors develop. It has a tendency to burn a bit hot, and if pushed, can get very ashy, although it is hard to get to bite. Overall it is a good, simple blend, but does take a bit more conscious effort to truly enjoy than the description would lead you to believe. Good, but not great.

The Burley is nutty and mildly earthy. The maple flavoring is lightly applied and mildly sweet. This Burley's flavor tastes a bit thin to me. Can also burn a bit warm. It's not terrible, but I'd take Carter Hall or Granger over this.

Mild to medium in body and taste. Flavoring is very mild. Burns a little too fast.

Down By The River is a light aromatic... no, check that, it's a very light aromatic; and a good one. It's everything that the above "tin description" claims; and I concur with the previous reviewers' comments. (I use the term "aromatic" somewhat freely. If there's a technical difference from "topping" or "flavoring" then please excuse my ignorance.)

4-stars if you're an aromatics smoker seeking something like a nuttier and sweeter version of Prince Albert.

3-stars if you want a gently sweet, and very nutty change of pace, while avoiding goopy, cloying drug store blends.

2-stars if you are willing to tolerate artificial flavoring on at least an occasional basis.

1-star if you avoid aromatics and top-flavors on principle. (But if you're a Burley smoker, is that totally possible?)

4noggins' DBTR smokes dryly; generates a really pleasant salinity; produces great smoke volume; nice nicotine hit; no bite; burns down completely on two matches; and leaves fine white ash.

My only criticism is that its "finish" exposes the chemical nature of the flavorings -- by which I mean it has a vague but noticeable (polymer?) aftertaste that dissipates in about 10 minutes. (Aromatics smokers will consider this a really minor quibble as well as an artifact of personal mouth chemistry. At any rate, it's not enough to put me off this blend.)

Nice ribbon, perfect moisture. Tin note is toasty, sweet, and nutty with a nice background of cocoa. Taste is the exact same. Burns well. Very nice smoke, BUT it disagrees with my mouth. The description reads "does not require your full attention", well I was dreaming with my eyes wide open and lost what was a very comfortable layer of skin from the roof of my mouth. Whilst swooning over the delicious toast and cocoa, my throat was rusticated with feathers of glass. Worse yet, my tongue packed his bags and is now hitch-hiking to the west coast. If anyone finds a tongue wandering the shores of British Columbia turning over shells and soup cans looking for a new home, rambling about shooting his baby down by the river, tell him we love him and miss him and want him to come home... Alright, it wasn't that bad; just a very stern acidity that creeps up if smoked too fast and lingers for a while after, especially around the back of the throat, so for goodness sake pay attention. It dropped my voice a full octave, now, instead of singing Down By The River by Neil, I'm left croaking Underground by Waits. Regardless of me, though, it has alot going for it. It really does taste good and is quality tobacco. However, I won't be getting up for seconds. Will have to try Harvest Moon or Prarie Wind to get my next confluence of tobacco and Neil Young. 2 stars.

Is a pure Burley. not highly flavoured, burns fast and hot, and because of this may cause tongue bite. The taste, however, is good. Bitter as all the Burleys, but at the same time, sweet. For begginers or not, for all day smoking. Decent Burley, but no much more than this...

This is a relatively well behaved (not goopy) aromatic burley. I am giving it two out of four stars because I prefer OTC like Carter Hall and Prince Albert, but the topping is fairy mild and not all obtrusive. I found it somewhat nippy, however.

Down By The River the fish may not be biting but this blend sure does. I tortured myself for 10 days finishing a four ounce bag as it nipped my tongue from the charring light to two-thirds of the way down the bowl. Oddly, the rest of the way was pretty tasty and smooth. Light, maple burly notes could be savored to the bottom. Not a well behaved blend.