Seattle Pipe Club Seattle Evening

The lead varietal in Seattle Evening is Cyprian latakia, which offers a mildly smoky, musty, woody sweetness. The lightly tangy dark fruity, earthy red Virginias also sport a few grass and citrus notes as they form the base of the blend. The Turkish/Orientals are woody, dry and lightly buttery sweet with a touch of spice and a hint of savoriness in a secondary role. It's mild on the nicotine. The strength level is in the center of mild to medium, while the taste falls just short of the medium threshold. No chance of bite or harshness present. It burns at a moderate pace; cool and clean with a well balanced, consistent flavor from top to bottom. It leaves little moisture in the bowl, and requires few relights. You will experience a pleasant after taste, and the room note lacks the pungency usually associated with latakia forward products. An all day smoke that is designed for those who want an English mixture with a lighter touch than others in the SPC series. It also serves well as an entry level blend to the genre.

-JimInks

My Seattle Evening tin was several years old with the old style label, so, the delicious Virginia employed was really nicely settled. The Latakia comes on strong in this blend and the Orientals provided less spice than what I am used to in Joe Lankford made blends... and that was a good thing with Seattle Evening because it gives the other components the opportunity to shine. If you are a regular fan of "English" style blends, here's one that hits a home run.

Pipestud

I've tried all 3 Seattle Pipe Club blends and this is my second favorite of the bunch. The cut is a short ribbon of mostly dark tobacco and smells quite nice in the tin. I find the flavor similar to two of my favorite blends, Smokers' Haven "Our Best Blend" and GL Pease's "Odyssey". The blend is VA forward with the Latakia next and then the Orientals, in my mind a classic medium English and one to stock up on. 8 of 10 stars.

“sunset casts long shadows over the ferry boats of Puget Sound. A cup of good coffee and a fine pipe make this unhurried scene a memory”

The above description must be about a different Seattle Pipe Club Blend because that’s not where it transports me. Sitting outside on a late afternoon in May, I light a bowl of Seattle Evening and it takes me back to winter evenings in a semi-desolate area of Washington State coastline. There were several small resort type bars in Moclips and Pacific Beach, Wa. where back in 1974 one could sit was a cup of coffee, shot of Drambuie and a pipe and prop your feet up before the fire. Or, if the weather wasn’t too wet, windy and cold outside, then it would be a small fire on the beach with a group of friends and bottles of wine stuck in the sand. That is where Seattle Evening takes me when I smoke it.

I find the tin note to be rich with a sweet smokiness that hints at vanilla caramel and fruit. Or maybe, there is just a hint of well-worn leather and chocolate that comes from the tobacco in the tin. For some reason, I keep asking myself, “Where I have smelled this before?” It’s like a nagging half memory that won’t go away. It’s a pleasant memory though and I can imagine just sitting with an open tin and taking a deep inhale of the aroma time and time again and be satisfied without ever packing a bowl. But I pack a MM Shire Cobbit and set the match to it. It lights easy and only requires a second match to produce a cloud of sweet smoke with just a hint of grass and spice mixed with a good campfire.

The smokiness of the Latakia is what reminds me of the smokiness of those warm fires mixed with the salty tang of a Pacific breeze. The Virginias are there but I find the grassy notes to be well tamed by the Latakia and whatever Orientals are used. There are Orientals in there, but I couldn’t tell you what kind if I had to. This bowl lasted a little more than an hour which attests to how slow the tobacco burns and left nothing but ash. It was cool and smooth and I felt no trace of a bite but a little spiciness in the retro-hale or snork.

To me it has mild strength, mild to medium tasting and a tolerable room note. Was it a great English blend packed with flavor nuances and strength? Not on the first 5 bowls I smoked. But it was a good smoke in my opinion it could be smoked all day while hiking, camping, fishing or doing yard work.

I like Latakia and forthright English blends. I also have an immense amount of respect for the Seattle Pipe Club and will gladly shout out Hosannahs for their Plum Pudding. But, Seattle Evening? Nah. My sample was a "Meh." It was lighter than light - too thin on the Lat and top heavy on the Orientals - nowhere near the "perfect" English smoke suggested. It'll be fine for many smokers,but not for me.

Described as an ‘English/Oriental Tobacco' comprised of a “beguiling blend of Latakia, Exotic Orientals, BTR, and Red Virginias” with an “exotic twist added by a McClelland Tobacco secret ingredient”, Seattle Evening is presents itself as a mixture of thin dark brown, black, and chestnut ribbons. By the way ‘BTR' apparently refers to “Blended Turkish Ribbon”, so no that is probably not the ‘secret ingredient'.

The tin nose is sweet and a bit smoky with a hint of pungent spice and a subtle vanilla-like aroma which does dissipate a bit once the tin has been allowed to air. Given the cut, the mixture packs well and takes to the flame with ease, immediately revealing the same subtle vanilla-like note present in the tin nose. This note dogs the bowl from beginning to end. While reminiscent of Deer tongue, this mysterious note is a bit darker and earthier than one would expect from the use of that particular herb in other blends (light aromatics, all), either in cut form or as an essence applied as a wet topping. While this reviewer cannot put his finger on it exactly, it ruins what might otherwise be a pleasant medium English. This aside, the mixture offers a reasonable balance of pungent, slightly spicy, Oriental notes, rounded sweet Virginias, and a subdued Latakia smokiness. On the thin side of medium bodied, the finish is a bit astringent.

Overall, Seattle Evening is best passed by for the myriad of other mixtures of the same type which do not possess so many problems.

Opening aroma: Plum and raisin. Moisture content just right for an immediate bowl, easy light, easy to maintain. Plenty of color contrast among the different leaves, short cut medium-thick ribbon.

Flavor is well balanced. The Virginias, latakia and other orientals play nice with each other, and none overwhelms the others.

Oddly enough, following the evening theme, I had just finished a bowl of And So To Bed. Seattle Evening holds up very well after the pungency of ASTB. I am not comparing the two, however.

This is mild enough to smoke all day, with pleasant aroma and taste. I recommend this for all except those who want a big latakia component.

Kudos to Seattle Pipe Club and to McLelland for the (hopefully infectious) spirit of sharing in evidence with this new line of tobacco.

Seattle Evening is the first of the batch I've dipped into and it's a thoroughly enjoyable example of a mild English which is lifted by the high quality of the sweet Virginias. It's a pretty subtle smoke and it probably won't win any immediate fans from those who need a WOW factor at first light. Like most Virginia-dominated blends, the pleasure grows as the ash thickens and the sweetness of the leaf develops. The blend has excellent balance, packs great and smokes cool.

Ultimately, however, I find that this has all the qualities of a good middle manager in an age of corporate belt-tightening--fine, nice to have on hand, unnecessary, deserving of a nice letter of reference.

For me this blend is like the ambient music of tobacco; it's beautiful and nuanced when you choose to really pay attention to it but it also works well as something you don't HAVE to think about and can just let it be an enjoyable part of whatever else you're doing.

It packs well, smokes well, and is pretty well behaved. All the flavors are very well balanced and mild with nothing being too aggressive yet nothing going unnoticed. I particularly enjoy the interplay of the sour and earthy/musty notes that come in and out of focus.

First off i need to admit to liking sweet light english blends but this one misses on the sweet . More toasty from the Virginia. A decent blend . My tin was fairly moist but it still had dry taste to it which i assume is the latakia . I couldn’t detect the orientals much . On a side note this tin had the most stems i have ever seen in a 8oz tin of tobacco ! Not a biggie to pick them out though . I guess i will stick to the rattrays 7 reserve . Sorry Joe .

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>update 7/28/19.

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>I think the first couple of time I smoked it it was in the heat of the day down here in the south .It is really a early morning or evening smoke as the name is correct .It seems much better to smoke at night . Still a little heavy on latakia for my taste but good quality . Bumping it up to 3 stars . I should smoke a least 2 or 3 ounces of weed until I do a review in future .

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