Chonowitsch T 17

Now where did this come from? I think it should be a tobacco with worldwide acclaim as it is one of the finest Scottish blends I've ever smoked. Bold Latakia mixed with velvety soft and sweet Orientals and a little backbone provided from some outstanding Virginia. As cool a smoke as you could hope for with palate filling delicious taste with no heaviness. Marvelous stuff!

T17 is another feather in renowned pipe maker, Jess Chonowitsch’s cap, suitable for any pipe and any and every pipe smoker who fancies English blends. A note on the tin actually refers to T17 as a “Scottish” blend. I guess “Scottish” here means chunky English, because this is an archetypal “English” blend, composed of chunky, short ribbons and well broken pieces of flakes. Initial tin note is fine Latakia well over everything else, but, like many Lat blends, the smoky scent drops back with rest and some airing before smoking. T17 lights well enough, better after it’s dried some, and it smokes down with regular attention. This blend is very well balanced, indeed, and it features the full gamut of VAs. There is some dark fruit from stoved red, earth and tang from air cured red, some mustiness and significant sugar from air cured brown, while air cured orange and flue cured lemon add some zest. Savory Macedonian is woody, sour, and gamy like pheasant or quail. First quality, Old School, Cyprian Latakia gives a fragrant, wood-fired aspect to the other tobaccos, and it also sours like peat down the bowl. The lot is sweet, savory, sour, salty and smoky at once, like a dream barbecue, with Middle Eastern kabob spices and exotic, deep, woody resins, so mellow it belies the medium tastes. Despite the significant sourness, there is enough sweetness from the VAs to balance this off through the smoke. It is consistent and consistently excellent, top to bottom. Strength is mild. Room note is quite pleasant to me, but I’ll temper that out of deference to bystanders, due to significant Macedonian leaf. Aftertaste is the best of the smoke, and it gets sweeter and sweeter as it trails off. If there’s a negative, it seems T17 is addictive!

Here is a definitive answer to the oft-asked question, Do we need another medium English? Well, if it’s T17, then, yes, we do! 4 stars (and I have no idea why it took me so long to find it). Also, no question, this is absolutely one for the cellar!

Remarkable blend!!!.....tasty,well balanced,without taste changes due to smoking till the end of the bowl.....every smoker must try...and after that must have

I've just started to smoke this blend & find it remarkable. The blend description, Double broadcut light and dark Virginias, Old Belt plug, Macedonia and Latakia. Cool and slow burning Scottish mixture with full flavor, got my attention but really didn't prepare me for the sublime presence & smoke of this fine Tobak. The tin note is muted scents of Autumn, and the tobaccos are just as colorful. It lights easily and burns with little effort. You can almost dare it to bite, but instead find subtle note of the blend components step forward in gentle harmony, that still allows for the occasional center stage presentation of each, owing to the wild cut. Smooth as Blues slide guitar, it weaves a tapestry of flavors that are mellow but not timid. Be glad that this one's still around.

This was the first latakia blend I tried, when I had no idea how it tasted. Now, with some blends under my belt, most of them english, I'm here to review and recommend this blend to every pipe smoker!

Smell is strong and smoky. smoky smoky smoky. At first I though "bacon" but then a friend offered a better term: "BBQ sauce". And he was damn right. Best thing? it's wonderful. Taste is full and complicated. There is smething that reminds me of an old, dusty coat, then some vinegar-ish tops, then bacon (the smoky part of it). Almost every time I smoked this blend I would just discover a new taste hanging around there, waiting for you to look for it. There are large pieces of not well cut tobacco. I didnt feel any difference when smoking them whole or torn. Smokes reasonably cool, not much need for relights, can usually be smoked till the end of the bowl and if you don't abuse your pipe (ie, smoke 3 bowls of this without rest) it leaves it remarcably smell-less.

I don't know about you, I'm sure as hell stocking this one.