4noggins Bakerstreet, USA

Last of the samples! This was a one ounce sample directly from 4noggins. Runs the gamut of blond to black in color with a C&D-like choppy mishmash cut. Bag aroma of latakia and little else.

I like the idea behind this, a burley-er latakia blend with the rest of the tobaccos just along for the ride. I'd like it better if 4noggins burleys didn't have this tendency to go bitter on me so quickly. I don't know what the story is there but just as this blend hit a groove with me, I'd get this heavy bitter burley flavor that overlaid the rest of the flavors. To that point the flavors were excellent... deep and nutty with a beautiful latakia blast. Then the bitterness took over and it was all downhill.

Good nicotine level here for those that enjoy that, and this burned cool and not too fast. Perhaps a bit less burley would have done the trick, or a different grade. Hard to recommend this one except the impression is clear that others enjoy this more than I, so it's worth a shot if you like burley and latakia together.

It has taken me quite a while to get through the small amount of Baker Street I have in my cellar. I find my review lining up with most of the other reviews. First off, I too think that there is a bit more than a “touch” of burley in Baker Street. On a percentage basis it may in fact be small but from a flavor standpoint it's out near the front with the Orientals. Secondly, I too find this very similar to Button Bay. I do find it smokes best for me well dried. The smoke is smooth and doesn't bite. I didn't find it to create a lot of moisture. There is nothing wrong with this blend, but from an English standpoint, I find it very ho-hum. Two and a half stars.

As a matter of personal preference, in an American English, I like to see the Burley more up front and the Lat a little further back than it is in this blend. I have the Lat in the lead and it tends to cover up the other three components to a large extent. I also get an occasional note that is a bit unpleasant. Can't tell for sure where it comes from, but my guess is the Orientals. It's sour and metallic. Could possibly be something to do with this particular batch. All in all, I can easily live without this blend in my stash.

Medium in body and taste. Flavoring is extremely mild. Burns very well.

I was given a sample of this over a year ago. I tried a bowl and jarred it as I was deep in samples at the time. I have just recently gotten myself through the seemingly never ending line of samples that find their way to my door and have had a chance to get through those that were jarred out of expediency. This one was a real treat for the four bowls or so I got to have with it recently.

This is definitely in the American English Genre or whatever you choose to refer to a latakia blend that has a lot of nutty sweetness added by burley. These blends tend to make up a lot of what blenders like Sutliff and Cornell & Diehl produce. I am not particularly impressed with several of those made by Sutliff and like several of the ones made by Cornell & Diehl. I would put this one up with the best produced by C&D.

It is an easy smoking blends (all of these type blends should be) that has great sweetness and a fantastic sidestream that will have you sniffing the bowl when you aren't pulling on the stem.

I have not had enough of this one to put four stars on it and I haven't awarded four stars to many of these type blends as I find them hard to really stand out. This one has the potential to my tastes to be a four star blend, but I will hold it at three for now and will likely reorder when I place my next order through four noggins.

Based on a sample sent by 4 Noggins. For me, the strength of this blend is in the Orientals, with the Latakia providing noticable support but secondary to the latakia (which I prefer to the inverse). The N seemed just to reach the medium (as opposed to the mild-to-medium) range, which again, I generally prefer to stronger N. The Latakia is most noticable in the room note, unsurprisingly. A good blend to start or end the day.

The floral, tangy Orientals provide plenty of earth, wood, vegetation, herbs, a moderate amount of sourness and spice, and light buttery sweetness. Often, they take the lead by a small margin, but sometimes the earthy, woody, very nutty burley rises above being a supporting player and steps ahead of the Orientals. The smoky, woody, musty, floral, vegetative, sweet Cyprian Latakia sits in the third position. The grassy, tart and tangy citrusy, acidic, bready, lightly sugary, floral Virginias also have a couple pinches of spice, and light darker fruit, earth and wood. They are a condiment. An extremely mild sweet topping doesn’t have much impact. The strength and nic-hit are a couple of notches above the center of mild to medium. The taste is medium. It may bite a fast puffer, and is tongue tingly no matter what your smoking cadence is. It has some roughness, Burns a tad warm at a reasonable rate with a very inconsistent floral, nutty, spicy, mildly acrid, sweet and rather savory flavor from start to finish. Leaves little moisture in the bowl, and requires an average number of relights. The after taste is not overly pleasant. The room note is a rung below being tolerable. Not really an all day smoke. Two stars due to the aforementioned inconsistencies and distracting sour acidity.

-JimInks

This tobacco is spicy. If you like this type of blend, I'm sure you'll like it too. Be sure to dry it first or it will be overwhelming...

4noggins - Bakerstreet, USA.

The coarse cut mixture isn't too coarse, it's not full of chunks of broken flakes, and huge cubes, it's more of a larger gauge ribbon. There isn't too much to note about the pouch's aroma, it's simply an English one. As it's bulk the moisture amount's good.

The initial taste suggest there's more than just a touch of Burley, it tastes very nutty. After some time the Oriental/Turkish gains weight, it doesn't overtake the Burley, but becomes more noticeable. I don't get much from the Virginia in Bakerstreet, it's probably as it's too soft a flavour to compete with the Oriental, Burley, and Latakia. The Latakia isn't as heady and sharp as it often can be, but it gives the smoke a raw woody quality: flavoursome, not smoky. A bowl of Bakerstreet burns well, albeit a touch fast, so I avoid heavy chugging.

The nicotine's just above medium, and the room-note's okay.

I enjoy Bakerstreet, but don't adore it.

Recommended.

I don't really "get" this blend, at least not so far. I will smoke the rest of my sample and update this review later. From my taste buds, there's more than a hint of burley in here... and I like burley... but what bit of topping this has makes it burn a bit hot, and a bit wet, and I don't like that in my tobacco... even if I like the flavor. This has decent flavor, nothing overwhelming, and nothing masterful, IMHO. Honestly, I prefer Walnut, a vastly underrated burley blend, if I'm looking for something subtle with just a hint of latakia in there.

This blend is similar to Button Bay, but with less Latakia.

It's good stuff, smooth and perfectly blended. High quality leave as you can find in all 4noggins blends. What I miss is something special in flavor and taste as I can get in Button Bay.

If you like Button Bay with less Latakia, give it a try!

3 stars for a good all day smoke.