Benjamin Hartwell Evening Stroll

An imitation of Topic Town and Autumn Evening, as it happens with most Altadis tobaccos.

It definitely has a very nice aroma when you open the box, and absolutely gives off a very nice scent in the room when you smoke it. I believe though it cannot live up to the smoking performance of the other similar two; plus it leaves a bitterness in the mouth, which in my opinion is caused by the extra or bad Burley it contains. It provokes a lot of coughing.

Ok, I bought it because my friend Erinmoreathens suggested it. Nothing else.

I picked this up on sale at my local shop having seen it on the shelf for over a year gathering dust. If I had read the can more carefully, I probably would have left it there. The leaf in this blend has been hidden. Hidden behind all sorts of artificial flavors, humectants, and aromatic compounds. I have a soft spot for aromatics, but not so much this one.

Allow me to back up a bit.....I opened the tin to be greeted by short, dark, vanilla scented shreds of tobacco...and an alcoholic smell as well. Not totally off putting, but not what I had hoped for. It packed with reasonable ease,but had a gunky feel that is commonly found on cheaper grade aromatic blends. It lit easily and didn't require much attention once puffing away. It was also fairly flavorful, but something was off. The topping came through really well and lost some of its chemical nature, the aroma was nice and kind of old fashioned in the "grand-pa" way. But as I got to the bottom third of the bowl in my cob I discovered teh flavor of pencil shavings. Yup, pencil shavings. I had tasted this before. I grabbed the can, spun it around to see the back side of the label.....and there it was.....ALTADIS. That explains it. Don't get me wrong, there are some pretty good value blends from Altadis and Fox & Hound is a go-to pouch for me when I want to have a care free easy going smoke, but this had much the same character as some of their lower grade blends like Almondine, Maple, and the like. Maybe I just got it too hot in the bowl, but it was a bit of a let down.

Don't get me wrong, this is a perfectly acceptable blend, and certainly a step up from a lot of "drugstore" and bulk blends that get sold as store brands, but it is only average at best.

The only reason I bought a sample of this tobacco was because of the catchy name and tin description (I know, what a sellout right). Anyways, upon receiving my 2oz baggy from CupoJoes.com, i opened the bag to the most heavenly aroma of buttery, creamy, tobacco. I really couldn't get enough of the smell, i've actually probably dried it out some just from sniffing it so much. So i was pretty darn excited to start smoking this stuff.

The first bowl of it i smoked was in order to break in a new pipe (so the first bowl a pipe has seen, dunno if that's what i'm supposed to start w/ but oh well). The scent of rich cream poured through my nose w/ a euphoric aroma. It is by far the best smelling tobacco I have on hand (so what, like 8 blends?).

Now, on to the taste. What can i say? I wish it would taste as good as it smelled but all i can say is that there is a very mild taste to it. It's not bad and don't let my 2 stars fool you... i've always just been on the lookout for a tobacco that really "hits" me (not nicotine, but flavor). This is the blend I turn to when smoking in public settings because it has the most amazing room note in my opinion. But as far as taste goes, it's just a bit too mild for me and lacking of flavor. My first bowl smoked all the way to the bottom w/ no re-lights, since then i've been have a little trouble but nothing to complain about as i'm still a fairly new smoker (2 years). Will definitely finish the sample, but might not buy again... not because i hated it, just because i'm a taste whore right now and want to sample as many different tobaccos as possible.

If you're looking for a good, relaxing, sweet and very mild smoke... i would point you in the direction of Evening Stroll. If not for the room note alone, i would keep this on hand.

Thank you Mr. Hartwell! I have smoked tin after tin of this great blend and have been satisfied and impressed with each. The burn is great and the room note is very pleasant. My lovely bride remarks every time that I smoke this blend that it smells like vanilla and cookies baking in the oven. The taste is very pleasant and the smoke is cool. I suggest medium bowled pipes for this smoke. The taste is not to sweet or goopy with a hint of vanilla and maybe honey. My friend Mr. Dean Maglavine and I, enjoy this blend after a nice meal from our favorite Italian restaurant Uncle Chucks. Very smooth and satisfying. This blend is in my rotation at all times!

Pretty good for an aromatic. Spicy vanilla is my idea of how this tastes. I might order a small tin for the holidays this fall. Smoke it slow though or it will goop.

Rather than debate the qualities and deficiencies of aromatics versus virginias and English blends, I prefer to simply comment on what's in front of me at the time. As a matter of course, I smoke aromatics about a third of the time, and am particular about which ones I smoke. Evening Stroll makes the cut because, in my opinion, it is what an aromatic is supposed to be: flavorful, pleasant to smell, and relatively fuss-free.

This blend, as per most aromatics, is moist. However, it stays lit better than many non-aromatics, and certainly better than most others of its category. The thick smoke will impart the flavor of this blend on anything it touches, and that, if you like the way it smells, is a good thing.

I best like to smoke this blend around the holidays. It's the kind of pipe tobacco I imagine being ideal for enjoying after a large, home-cooked Thanksgiving or Christmas meal, surrounded by family and memories in the making. I'm always told by my in-laws how great it smells as wisps of smoke waft through the crisp air.

Don't make the mistake of buying a tin and thinking it's going to be the reincarnation of your favorite blend. It's really nothing special when compared to other blends. In fact, as many others have said, Evening Stroll is not much more than a superior version of Captain Black in the white label. Take it for what it is, and you won't be disappointed.

Initially, I intended to give this blend three stars. However, my sentimentality and fondness for the holidays and this blend's special role in enjoying them has persuaded me to squeeze in that barely-deserved fourth star.

****/****

I picked this tin up along with quite a few samples from the Altidis table at the 2007 Chicago Pipe show. For me, this blend is just a glorified drug store tobacco.

I can't say anything bad about the burning qualities other than it tended to get a bit goopy in my bowl. But what I liked least about this tobacco blend is the fact that it is to heavily cased and moist. It feels somewhat sticky to the touch.

This is not my kind of tobacco blend. Maybe I'm just not an aromatic fan, but I do like my tobacco drier.

It does have fairly pleasant room note, and I have to admit that it is flavorable. And it does stay lit.

But that's about the most I can say for this blend.

The problem with Altidis aromatic blends is they seem very similar in taste more or less. Of course I could sy the sam thing for many C & D blends as well.

But my point is that Altidis tobacco blends all seem to have that same drug store quality taste. Something aking to Half & Half which also is not my cup of tea.

I suppose that is why I grabbed so many Altidis samples from the table at the show this year.

I'm looking for something from them that is different. Well, I still have a big bagful of unopened blends from them still to smoke.

Perhaps, I'll find what I am looking for in that bag!

This is truly an example of what I would point to as an aromatic. As I opened the bag up, I received a waft of vanilla/caramel. Right out of the bag this blend was pretty moist, however that is just fine with me, as in my experience I get a better taste when an aromatic is still somewhat moist. The beautiful thing was that even though the tobacco was moist it still burned very easily.

On the downside it did create a fair amount of gurgling in my pipe, but that was fairly easily correctable. Taste wise this blend again really typifies aromatics which is a blessing and curse. I could see smoking this blend as a wandering around all day smoke, but I don?t ever really see myself going out of my way to pick it up as it?s a lot like many other blends I could get (other then the fact that it burns better then many of those). All in all If it was readily available, this would make a good "go to" blend.

Update 11-2-06: To better enjoy the flavor of this blend, don't let it air out too much before you smoke it. I usually like my tobacco to be drier than this comes in the tin, but drying it out makes for a VERY mild flavor. Smoking it right out of the tin provides a more flavorful smoke. However it can gurgle on occasion.

I have been smoking a pipe for about three years now, and I'm starting to prefer VA flakes. But I still enjoy an aromatic blend now and again. I kept reading really nice things about Evening Stroll on this site, so I finally decided to invest in a tin of my own.

The tin aroma is indeed very nice. Smells sweet and creamy. My tin was very moist and needed to dry for a while before I lit it up. This stuff lights easy and stays lit. And it smokes cool. I can't get it to bite. It burns to a nice fine ash. It smells great while you're smoking it.

I only have one complaint about Evening Stroll. The taste. Where is it? I can't taste anything when I smoke this stuff. There are no particular casing or tobacco flavors. The main reason I turn to an aromatic is for a tasty treat. Evening Stroll just lacks too much in the flavor department for me. If I want a good aromatic tobacco I can just get a bag of one of the fine house blends from my local pipe shop. They taste and smell great, plus they're a lot cheaper.