Chonowitsch T 16

I was expecting the usual charcoal smokeyness of an English when I popped this tin, but was shocked when the smell of prunes and other sour fruits basking in the sun wafted up. It was in no way unpleasant, just unexpected and challenged my idea of what an English is supposed to be. The fruit does settle down considerably after being open iust a day.

The ribbon is cut so thin, it is simply shag in my book. Like other spindly weeds, packing a pipe is like wadding up cotton into a canon (though of course I've never done such a thing), where airflow is a consideration. This tinder fires right up and tends to burn quickly, so it helped to use a tall bowl with a small aperture. Tasted great, with a faint almost sour/bitter earwax hint that let the Virginia and Perique come through. The Latakia and Oriental were very mild. Nicotine is on lt milder side of medium, though I did get a small bite from the dry smoke.

I will certainly be ordering it again, though not for any shocking flavor, rather because it would pair nicely with a good book, and I need to open one of them up soon.

12-04-2004 A beautiful English blend!

Appearance and Tin Aroma: This blend is beautiful to look at! There are reds, yellows, browns, and a few dark smidgins of Syrian Latakia. The tin aroma is musty and pungent like a good English should be.

Packing and Lighting: After letting the tin breath, it packed easily and lit with 2-3 lights.

Initial Flavor: The VA's are dominant but taste delicious. The red VA leaf in this is particularly noticable, a good thing.

Mid-Bowl: This blend is a delicious English, it reminds me of Renn., BlkPnt., Solani Gold, with the exception that the Orientals and Latakia are a little more in the background.

Bottom of Bowl: A nice build up of strength, the smokiness of the Syrian comes out at this point and blends well with the sweetnes of the VA.

Overall: This is a very nice English that is up there in quality and taste with some of the offerings by Pease, Esoterica, Solani, etc.. While not a daily smoke for me, I do thoroughly enjoy it when I do. The VA component is particularly delicious in this blend and for that alone, lends itself to ageing. Don't expect a high Latakia content in this as the Syrian, while detectable, is here for support only.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5 points, enjoy....

About two months ago I was at my local pipe and tobacco store and was talking to one of the guys that works there (really great guy by the way) if he had any recommendations. He spied this one on the shelf and said that this was a really smooth Latakia blend and he had tried it a long time ago. So, I bought it without even looking at it. Went outside to join the club, opened it up, loaded my pipe and started smoking it. Well it did not taste much like a Latakia blend. So, I flipped the tin over and read the back of the label and here it is verbatim. “This extravagant, medium strength mixture of sweet Virginia, full-bodied Black Cavendish and Perique carefully refined with the piquant aroma of cloves.” Now scroll up to the top of the description on the page and you will read the following: “Syrian latakia, Smyrna and several Virginia varieties are blended and long matured for a typically natural English mixture, with full body, classic fragrance, but mild taste.” I was going to say maybe the lids got mismatched at the factory but ‘Gentleman Zombie’ noticed the same thing back in 2017. I was so pissed off after forking over 18 bucks that I could only smoke one bowl that day and have not tried it since. I don’t even know if I care for cloves. The following week at the pipe store I told the tobacconist what I am telling you and he was sort of at a loss for words. I am sure that whenever he had it, it was a Latakia blend but not now. What happened? They ran out of Syrian Latakia and had so many extra tins they did not want to waste them? (Sarcasm). I am going to try it today and review it for what it is and not what it says it is. I will be back. Back, and yes, the tin note is sweet with a faint smell of cloves. Predominantly light brown ribbon cut with what appears to be black cavendish interspersed throughout. This is a smooth, light aromatic Virginia blend that does not appear to be heavily cased. For what it is around 3 stars, for misleading 1 star. I wouldn’t kick it out of bed but there are plenty of other blends around.

The components listed above are clearly wrong. Put me in the Black Cav/Virginia/Perique camp. The flavor profile is mostly Bright Virginia lending sweet hay. The Black Cav is light and lends sweet vanilla. The Perique is even lighter lending hints of dark fruit and a modest spice. Overall it tastes very nice. Can burn a little warm if you don't watch your pace. Has enough strength to easily satisfy.

Medium in body. Mild to medium in taste. Flavoring is very mild. Burn is great.

This is a mildy flavored English Mixture based on Virginias and Orientals, with Latakia on a secondary role. There's a slight dominance of bright over dark Virginias and the Izmir is well noticed throughout the bowl. I'm not sure about the topping, it tastes like nothing I've smoked before, and it's subtle enough to make this mixture more of a unique English than an "American English".

Not an all-day smoke, but certainly something to enjoy every few days.

Chonowitsch - T 16.

Browns and yellows constitute the majority of T 16, but there's a small amount of black pieces: <10%. The ribbons are well rubbed, so there's no chunks or twigs in the blend, and the moisture's good. There seems to be a touch of contention regarding the ingredients, but my tin states Latakia, Smyrna and Virginias.

A Lat-Bomb this is not. The Latakia gives flavour, but doesn't take over. T 16 actually seems to allow each variety to contribute fairly. The Virginia tastes fresh, with a touch of dark fruit, and the Orientals are buttery-sweet. I can't identify any Perique. I suspect an added flavouring's been included, there's a mild creaminess, which doesn't seem natural. Unless some of the black ribbons are vanilla black Cavendish? T 16 can be a bit warm on the draw, but it doesn't bite.

Nicotine: mild to medium. Room-note: not 'bad'.

Chonowitsch T 16? A good blend deserving of three stars:

Recommended.

''??.” suggested this tobacco to me. I don't know why, but I was hesitant with this series of tobacco. Virginia, Oriental and some Latakia in a secondary role form a sweet mixture, easy to smoke, with a very special aroma coming out of a newly opened tin, probably formed by the Smyrna. Something that immediately caught my attention is that it does not light up easily. It takes 3-4 efforts at first, but then it provides you with taste and aroma up until the ¾ of the bowl. It smokes dry right up until the end, but it gets quite heavy and does not maintain its flavor. I would buy it again, as I really liked this odd aroma that arose once I opened the tin. It wasn't the classic Latakia scent

This is a very impressive-tasting English! I am quite taken with it of late, and my tin's now gone. It's a very classy and sophisticed blend, of medium strength with a full body and complicated flavors. More elegant and sophisticated than most, and I suspect that English-loving palletes will almost certainly not fail to appreciate it.

As with anything, it may not be to everybody's taste. Non-smokers tend to dislike the room-note, though to me it smells like "an English".

This blend doesn't make me want to burst into applause, but I think that "classy" sums it up and would recommend it to anyone who likes English-style mixtures.