Blender's Gold Rich Vanilla

I smoke aromatics exclusively, and don't often get tongue bite. This bites like a threatened pit bull !! No nicotine, wasn't expecting any. Wonder if Walgreens is discontinuing pouches, or this blend. I bought 2 pouches on sale for $1.39 each, regularly $5.59 I taste vanilla, but no sweetness. Just slightly damp, so I let it air out on a plate for 24 hours. Now it is much better at staying lit.

UPDATE April 13, 2024:
I was gifted a 3.5 ounce can of this 2 years ago , vintage unknown. I recently cracked it open. The moisture level is ideal. Minimal relights. Tastes similar to Lane 1Q. I was very pleasantly surprised. There is a minor bite, however.

I bought this on a lark, was in the store buying some antibiotics after having a root canal today, and having never bought a Blenders Gold Blend before, had a sweet tooth and thought "what the heck". It was just over $12.00 for a large bag and I really thought it would be a cloying aromatic and thought I would try it and if it was bad just throw it away. but I was reallt surprised! It was actually very good. It was a ribbon cut, mostly burley blend with a vanilla topping. but it was very mild with no bite and a rich vanilla flavor. What really surprised me the most was it was not too wet, burned very well and left no goop in the bottom of my pipe. It burned all the way down without relights and had a great room note and a very good taste. Sometimes we are surprised. I am normally not a vanilla smoker but this was one of the best I have had in this gender. A great blend when among non smokers and one I will keep around for when I get a sweet tooth. Try it, it will surprise you. At least it did me.

An uncomplicated, super-light aromatic, BG Rich Vanilla is a Sutliff product with a Cavendish base and vanilla topping. The strips vary in shape and color, so I'm trusting the maker's description on which tobaccos are in here. Package humidity is a bit higher than average but definitely not excessive. The vanilla is clearly there without being overpowering, much like LL 1-Q. I poured the blend into a clear container and let it sit out under the sun and a cold breeze for about four hours before lighting it up.

It's easy to pack into the bowl. The pre-draw is neutral with mild hints of vanilla and nothing else. It burns readily and well, requiring few relights. Umami is low. The room note is quite pleasant. I experienced no bite whatsoever. The vanilla flavor is fine but, absent a Virginia, the typical sweetness is missed. Retrohales bring the vanilla up a few notches. Hay notes come later in the bowl. No other flavors come to mind.

I actually enjoyed this inexpensive Sutliff blend. It's lighter and burns better than, say, a CB Original, and it's gentle enough as a readily-available daily blend.

Just now rediscovering the wonderful world of Blenders Gold pipe blends. This was due to my loyalty to Velvet and making room in my cellar, but I digress. BG Rich Vanilla is a mixture that I often pass over in favor of BG's Burley&Black. Found the flavors in this one to be subtle, nutty. Kind of monochromatic with a malty, peppery note. Hint of cherry (from the Burley perhaps?). Reminds one of Carter Hall or H&H's Country Lane. It took slightly longer to dry out. However, once these blends are aired out, broken down and gravity fed into your pipe you are in for a real treat. This brings out all the nuances and shows Blender's Gold to be on par with its more expensive kinfolk. The room note was cigar like but warm and inviting. Not a fan of vanilla tobacco overall, but this was a nice change of pace.

Update 12-28-21 Been playing around with this blend and gotta say it is quite versatile. However, by itself as I'm finding out, it can be sublime. As mentioned before, the leaf should be dried and crushed down before smoking. When I gave it a false light, smoked it for about a minute then came back to it later it had me awestruck. Smooth, creamy and graham cracker like. It went out just near the heel. Returned to it later and this is where the fun begins. It was akin to cracking open a nut. Hints of coffee, red wine, vanilla, perhaps chocolate hazelnut and floral. It seemed like the tobacco was playing a game with me, Requiring a firm tamper every now and then. compressing deeper into the heel. Once done, I came away with a new respect for this blend.

Definitely a good tobacco to smoke when accompanied by people who are not too fond of tobacco. The taste is mild but it's there, almost zero bite, a good morning and afternoon blend all in all. Also it would make a perfect begginer tobacco. There are definitely better tobaccos, but for the price it's a really good tobacco. May need a little drying the first few times.

Like they said. Right out of the bag, it is too wet and sticky to smoke. I expected that when I grabbed it at the Walgreens. I mean, come on. It costs barely over a dollar an ounce with tax, and it sells in drug stores. What did you expect?

It is ribbon cut. Not bad at all. I have found no stems. There was some powdered tobacco in the bag, but not excessive.

It does not look like it has been Cavendish processed, but I do detect a hint of Cavendish taste occasionally when I smoke it straight. (But I did toast it first. See below.) It is rather sweet, as one would expect. Does not bite.

The internet tells me that propylene glycol has a flash point of 232F. So... I spread it out on a cookie sheet and baked it at 275F for three minutes five times, after each time tossing it until it quit steaming. It is still a tad wet, but good enough. It will light and burn.

My intention was and remains not to smoke it straight, but to use it with other stuff to add just a little vanilla. A mixture of 4 parts Carter Hall, 1 part Blender's Gold Vanilla, 1 small part perique was not bad on first try.

Recommended with reservations.

This tobacco turned out to be considerably better than I had expected. It was too moist, as others have said, but a couple of days in an open coffee can (giving it a shake whenever I passed) took care of that. It also filled the room with a very nice vanilla aroma. The vanilla flavor is natural, not overwhelming as I had feared. Also, it's not particularly sweet, another factor in its favor. The taste of tobacco is predominant with the vanilla still present. And the tobacco does taste good, a pleasant burley.

Oddly I did note a bit of astringency at the top of the bowl, something I've noticed in my own home-cased blends. (Not sure where that comes from but in my own blends it tapers off when cellared for a while.) That bite goes away after the first few puffs however, and then I can settle in to a long enjoyable smoke. The vanilla flavor predominates early in the bowl, gradually fading to the taste of burley alone. After the first few puffs it doesn't bite, but I do taste the burley for a few hours afterward (not necessarily a bad thing). The pipe does need cleaning afterward, but it has not left a ghost.

If you don't like vanilla you won't like this. But then you won't like anything else vanilla either. If you do like vanilla and you also like burleys, then you may find this to your liking as well.

Well, I thought that at $13 and change for a big ol' bag, it just might be worth trying. I had reviewed some of the bulk-bag cheapo 'baccies, including this one, and came to the conclusion that some people like 'em, and some people don't. I also determined that of those cheapies, Blender's Gold was the least expensive, and possibly the least artificial.

Upon opening the bag, I was greeted with a much more natural-smelling weed than I anticipated. It was decidedly spiked with vanilla, but didn't smell especially artificial, and wasn't overwhelming: it still smelled like tobacco, not just a big bag of Easter Grass coated in fake vanilla sauce. It felt good, at about the right moisture level, and I was rather excited. Nothing about it said "expensive," but nothing screamed "fake!" either.

Still a bit skeptical, I loaded it into a cob. I mean, how good can it be for $1.10 an ounce? The char light, then a light tamp and a relight yielded an ember that stayed well. It was at the perfect moisture level to stay lit without puffing like a steam engine, and I found that indeed, this 'baccy is not a biter. The taste is not strongly of tobacco, but it's there, and the vanilla is very mellow, and dare I say it....rich! It isn't particularly artificial, either.

Overall, I'd have to say that people who like Captain Black (white) would probably like this, and I think it's actually a little better (less artificial), and for 1/3 of the price! Furthermore, I think that the humectants used (if any) are not overdone like some. I look forward to trying some of the other Blender's Gold blends. Golden Burley is next, as I very much like Burley.

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UPDATE

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I still haven't finished the bag. My wife and landlord won't let me smoke in the house, so I haven't have time to burn through this giant bag. I even gave a bunch to someone else who was more broke than I am and liked it a lot!

A few further thoughts: I love the flavor, but something in this can leave a burning sensation in my mouth when smoked in my cob. That pipe smokes very hot. I'll have to see what this does in a "real" pipe when I can find a chance. (I won't carry a nice briar in my pocket because I don't want to destroy it.) This isn't especially goopy, in my cob. A briar might be revealing, though...... But hey, this stuff make AWESOME roll-your-own cigarettes! That's actually what I gave some to someone else for. And those don't burn my mouth, either, which is why I'm inclined to blame that cob for the burn.....it does it with other baccies, too.

I'm no expert, but I think this is a burley-based blend, which is unusual, as most vanilla blends are black cavendish-based. I like that about it. It gives this blend a bit more tobacco character than, say, Captain Black White. Not that I hate the Cap'n, he's just not my style.

I see that any time someone writes a nice review of this stuff, (or any other discount tobacco, for that matter,) someone immediately feels the need to write a "terrible" review. Hey, it's cheap. If you only like designer blends, then don't buy cheap ones! Don't dump on those of us who appreciate a $1 hamburger as well as a $50 steak. No one would claim that this is a designer blend, or anything in the least bit fancy, or even great. It's just simple, cheap, no-nonsense tobacco for those who can appreciate it that way.

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ANOTHER UPDATE

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I STILL haven't finished the bag, for many of the same reasons, but I still like it. I have created a blend with this and Milan Tobacconist's "Black Forest" that is really good. Vanilla + Caramel = something very yummy that's too sweet to smoke all the time but very nice on occasion.

I did dry my bag out some by propping it open with a broken plastic spoon for awhile, and that definitely made it a nicer smoke. I look forward to trying out some of the other flavors in the line. "Golden Burley" is next.......

I use this blend as a topper. Mix 2 parts Black Cavendish to 1 part Golden Cavendish. After mix marrys, I mix 4 parts with 1 part Blenders Gold Rich Vanilla. Very pleasant smoke. Many comment on pleasant aroma.