Bentley The Oriental Spice

The earthy, lightly tangy dark fruity Virginia forms the base of the blend. The spicy, mildly floral, woody, earthy, lightly buttery sweet Oriental is a supporting player. The smoky, woody sweet Cyprian latakia is a very minor component, and mostly acts to provide a hint of its attributes to the mix as it is barely noticeable. The tangy orange topping has some depth, and does sublimate the tobaccos a little, making this a semi-aromatic. The strength level is just past the center mild to medium, while the taste falls a step or so short of medium. Both aspects increase a tad after the half way point. The nic-hit is mild. Won’t get harsh, and has no dull moments, but fast puffing can cause your tongue to tingle or possibly bite. I suggest sipping it. Burns clean and slightly slow with a very consistent flavor. Leaves little moisture in the bowl, and needs a few relights. Has a very pleasant, lightly lingering after taste. Can be an all day smoke. Two and a half stars rounded down to two because of the bite potential.

-JimInks

Bentley-Orange Oriental/The Oriental Spice.

I would class this as more of a broken flake than a ready rubbed blend. The label 'ready rubbed' conjures up images of St Bruno or Condor ready rubbed mixtures but this is much coarser than those.

The aroma from the pouch is fairly simple, it smells pretty much like a straight Virginia.

Even though the pieces of tobacco are quite robust they don't seem to have held back too much moisture. But take into consideration that this was purchased in loose form as a sample so some water may have abated in the baggy. It could differ from a sealed tin.

It takes to the flame with ease and stays lit well delivering an even burn. This consistency lasts the duration of the smoke.

The flavour's quite good but a lot mellower than the new name Oriental Spice implies. I would expect some Perique like 'zing' from that name but instead it's a lot calmer. Not at all bad, just more relaxed.

It says there's Latakia in it. Really? I struggle to believe this. I don't even get a slight woodsy note from it let alone a whack of smokiness.

This has a good amount of nicotine. It's just above medium so would satisfy nicotine folks.

If I really suck the smoke with force it still refuses to bite me. It's my kind of blend!

After a few bowls I can't identify any extra flavourings in the smoke. It seems quite a straight Oriental/Virginia flavour.

Although the taste is basic I enjoy it. It's not worthy of four stars but I feel it earns three!

Recommended.

My local pipe shop (Peter Heinrichs) has sample-jars of all the Bentley blends. After dipping my nose into each one, I'm quite disappointed about them. All of them smell very sweet and even the mixtures with Latakia have a noticeable flavouring of sweetness. I was expeting Dunhill-style english blends - noble name..."noble" prices... but no, this is your average DTM blend.

Oriental Spice appealed most to me and I stuffed a pipeful of it. It's an O.K. blend, but really nothing worth raving about. The taste is rather sweetish, with a minor Latakia undertone and some ethereal, woodsy, spicy Oriental. The Virginias shine most in this blend, this is a "slightly English blend" to me. I just see that this is supposed to have an range flavouring, which I didn't get at all, but only a honey-ish sweet flavouring of some sort.

A typical DTM product...why do they put flavourings on every blend? Even on the english ones.... really?. So far DTM blends aren't my cup of tea, besides Ascanian No. 2.

2-star rating, this might appeal to English beginners or pipe smokers coming from Aromatics that gravitate towards more natural tobaccos. It's not heavily flavoured or sickening sweet, but - to me at least - too sweet for being an enjoyable English Blend. The price isn't justified at all imho, for this price you get quality Dunhill English's and I recomend you doing that if you're looking for an english blend

The one which I smoked was in a rectangular black and elegant tin. It may be the newer version of tin.

When I read the tin info and saw this elegant tin I wanted to smoke it. However the Orientals and virginias of this blend are not as "finest" as described. You will find the latakia in this blend as described, a little pinch of it. The spiceness of the orientals are mixed with an orange flavor. In my opinion it results a false bitter and a little acrid taste. This taste may be interesting for aromatic lovers and may be also a different smoke for others. While smoking this tobacco I've tasted the spicy orientals a very little sweet virginia and some latakia coolness. All of them not really all together but giving their turn to each other in repeating moments.

Not a satisfying tobacco for me and it was just a time loose. It worths trying if you are looking for an interesting and unusual taste.

Again, as with all of the Bentley's tobacco offerings, this is clearly a high quality blend. The constituent tobaccos meld well and produce a consistent flavour throughout, but I find it a little bitey no matter how carefully it is smoked. An orange tang predominates and is never a simple, contemplative bowl on account of the care required to protect your tongue.

The burn is easy and requires only the minimum of relighting, while the remaining dottle is dry and with very little waste. Definitely a broken flake but not difficult to pack. Not a tobacco to smoke outdoors because of the rapid burn, and sipping is essential.

This is my least favourite of the Bentley stable (garage?), but if citrus and slight acidity is your thing, it is possibly ok. The latakia is presented as noticeable according to some reviews, but not strong enough to balance the negatives.

This was a surprising treat that came in yesterday's mail with a bunch of other samples from a good friend. This was the only one in the package of which I had never heard of. I had never even heard of the blender. The sample was just big enough for one large bowl. I chose my Ascorti New Dear KS Calabash and was almost able to fill the bowl (probably about a group 6) for my trip to work this morning.

The bowl took a light fantastic and never needed to be relit. The orange topping was immediately apparent yet not overwhelming, the base tobaccos were more subdued, but the orientals were apparent adding a bit of spice and citrus that really played well with the topping. I really enjoyed the taste of this blend as it was a unique flavor. I don't think I have ever tried a blend with orange as the primary (topping) flavoring.

As aros go, this is almost perfect to my tastes, but there is that one thing that is alluded to in some of the other reviews that follow. There is a tingling that happens on the tongue when this is smoked. It is there the beginning and does carry through to the end. This one can bite, so I would not recommend it to a noob or anyone else who may puff hard. I chose to have this for my morning drive as it is one of my more relaxing smokes I have. I would not smoke this if my mind was on other things.

I am leaving this one with three stars, because I enjoyed the flavor so much.