Seattle Pipe Club Seattle Evening

disclaimer: I am a huge fan of oriental forward blends and I'm very sensitive to virginias.

TIn note: mostly sour orientals with hay in the background

Moisture from tin: goldilocks, requires no dry time and remains soft and supple, packs with just a little spring.

Mouthfeel: slightly past light and moving into creaminess territory

First light the tangy citrus flavor of the virginias come through in the perfect amount for my tastes. The smoke quickly moves into a sweet vanilla with hints of carmel, the smoky latakia is there but it's in the backseat. The next change comes towards the end of the first third and is a sweet smoky hay. At the halfway point there is another change to the majority flavor being sour orientals. Following this it evens out to a smooth woodsy and earthy smoke while still retaining the virginia sweetness. This continues until the very end of the bowl when the smoke becomes reminiscent of a clean evergreen smoke, not overpowering but a nice change of flavor for the finish. Wife described the room note as "interesting and spicy in a good way".

Overall I consider this a unique and underrated smoke. I'm usually a skeptic of SPC blends as I don't find most of them to be anything special. I was particularly skeptical of this blend due to other reviews here. Will be buying more of this to cellar. If you like orientals and subtle complexities rather than in your face changes I would definitely give this a try.

Had high hopes for this out of the can--had the perfect English blend aroma with the Latakia coming on strong. However, this lacked depth when smoked, and the Latakia didn't emerge as much as I'd wished for. I think upping the Latakia in place of some of the oriental might have improved this. As it is, it's a fine, very light smoke if you're looking for a subdued "English" blend to smoke all day. I prefer something a bit stronger and more flavorful.

Edit, 3-6-2022: I've been smoking this off and on for a couple of months now. I still detect very little Latakia. I'd even hesitate to call this an oriental-forward English or a Balkan blend given how little Latakia emerges . . . I'd probably classify it as an oriental blend. It remains a 2- or maybe 2.5-star blend, but I have found a place for it as an apertif smoke. It is light enough that it won't disrupt dinner, and the sourness and slight bit of onion taste give it the quality of the pickled pearl onion at the bottom of a pre-dinner Gibson cocktail. Also not bad with coffee in the morning.

My first review of 2021. As I smoke my last bowl of Seattle Evening, I can close my eyes and almost see the mighty, looming mass of the Mountain in the distance as the red dot blinks in the twilight atop the Space Needle. I digress. My favorite blends have latakia and Seattle Evening is no exception. Puffing away, I am impressed with how smooth it is. This could be an all day smoke. Very nice subtle presence of latakia I rate this as a medium strength latakia blend. The latakia is present throughout but not overpowering. The Orientals definitely add a little spiciness to the flavor that is hard to pin down. And the virginas underneath provide the nice smooth straight tobacco flavor. An excellent blend that I could smoke anytime and will certainly buy again. I bought and started smoking this can of SE in April of 2020 during the pandemic so it was a fresh tin for sure. Smooth, smooth, smooth!!! Enjoy!!!

Seattle Pipe Club - Seattle Evening.

A coarse ribbon with quite an even amount of each leaf. The aroma implies a healthy proportion of Latakia, and the moisture makes it ready to smoke straight away.

The acetous, pungent, Latakia forms the leading flavour; smoky, and odiferous. Although a few rows behind, the Virginia and Orientals still offer enough flavour. The red Va gives an expected ripe fruitiness, and the Orientals lend a butyraceous, silky, creaminess; but, as a bowl burns the Orientals take on more of a floral character. The burn raises no issues: mid-speed, cool, and gives a bite free smoke. The aftertaste isn't always worth a mention, IMO, but I can't deny I noted the aftertaste from this: rank!

Nicotine: easily medium. Room-note: not nice.

Seattle Evening? Although I note a few 'low' points, it still deserves three stars:

Recommended.

This is my first Seattle Pipe Club blend and I'm not at all disappointed. I am a big fan of English blends and this one is quite tasty. I characterize this one as mild to medium. The name says "Evening" but this is my go to morning blend along with my coffee and the morning news. It just seems the right strength to start the day. Not overpowering, but also not too light. The latakia is wonderful and high quality. The orientals and Virginias add their usual and unique notes to the overall smoke. Very satisfying to begin my day. As the day progresses I tend towards the stronger blends and this is a great and flavorful start. I plan on sampling many more of their blends.

A very light English with a firm va base. NOTHING over whelming just good tobacco. 2 1/2 stars. There is nutty flavor and plum flavor. Good crossover for Va/Per smokers

The sweet hay of the Virginias lead with support from the sour wood of the Orientals. At first, the smoky Lat brings up the rear, but becomes more influential as the bowl progresses. There is a touch of added vanilla flavor. It's nothing super special in this very crowded genre, but it is a solid and enjoyable smoke. 3 stars.

Mild to medium in body. Medium in taste. Flavoring is very mild. Burns very well.

I was fortunate enough to get a sample of this one from the fine folks representing SPC at this past year's Chicago Pipe Show and I enjoyed it. This is a pretty standard type of latakia blend with Virginia, Latakia and orientals and would probably fall under the label Balkan as, at least to my tastes, this is an oriental forward blend.

I found this to be among one of the better tasting blends of this type and that is likely due to the way the chosen orientals appeal to my tastes. I am not a fan of the super sour orientals or those that have an odd sweetness to me ala Yenidge. The oriental component in this one was a little sour and a little nutty.

I found the latakia to be light, but there enough to smooth it out some. It was just an easy to smoke lat blend and could probably be enjoyed all day.

My sample of this was not very big, maybe five bowls. I enjoyed them all, but wasn't really blown away. I am leaving this one at three stars and will likely revisit upon ordering more.

I'm sure this is a fine tobacco, carefully and skilfully blended. It's just not my cup of tea. I love Latakia mixtures (Westminster, Maltese Falcon, and Dunhill/Peterson among my top ones), but not this one. I find SE on the mild side of thing. In my palate, it produces a certain abrasiveness akin to tongue bite, plus it stops short from "hitting the spot" flavour wise. On the other hand the Latakia employed in this mixture has an odd under taste: kind of acrid and very pungent, unlike the mineral, almost bitter density I find so attractive in other blends. It leaves me with a sense of being cheated from the Latakia punch I'm used to.