POUL WINSLOW Poul Winslow No 1

This is the first pipe tobacco I ever tried. When I picked up my first pipes a year ago I bought a tin of this blend as well. My method of picking it was the only way that felt right as a complete stranger to all the different types of tobacco and blends; I asked the helpful clerk at the pipeshop what he would recommend a new pipesmoker who doesn't have a history of smoking cigarettes, and only has enjoyed an occasional cigarr now and then earlier. He recommended a few blends, and judging from the tin note I immediately picked this blend.

The smell of rum is very present, you can't smell this blend and not notice it. There is also a perfumy smell I later recognised as coconut. I happened to be in luck while picking this blend since mr. Winslow himself was in the shop, and he was smoking this (his) blend. I fell in love with the roomnote immediately, so with the good room- and tin note it was a nobrainer for me to choose this blend.

The tobacco is definately an aromatic blend, and I for one can't get enough of its great smell. The smell alone was the thing that kept me taking out the pipe and tobacco again and again since my learningcurve was quite long (due to my lack of previous smoking). This blend initially gave my virgin tongue a real burn for two reasons: it's a very sweet blend probably with addad sugar, and I puffed away like crazy the first times I smoked my new pipe. (The clerk had advised me to take it slow and relight rather then try to get through the whole bowl in 30 minutes, but a year later now I can say I was in too much of a hurry even though I thought I was smoking calmly). I get compliments on the roomnote of this tobacco from my friends, and they don't mind me smoking this in their company (outdoors).

The first time I tried this blend in my new churchwarden I started to notice the taste better. It was the long stem that allowd the smoke to cool down before reaching my tongue that made me realise I had been smoking too fast earlier. "Wow, I can have my clothes and beard smell great WITHOUT burning my tastebuds on my tongue?" Now when I smoke this blend in my shorter pipes I never get tonguebite, so for me it was simply a matter of learning to smoke more calmly to get rid of the bite.

The taste is nowhere near as strong as the smell, but I enjoy it. As time progressed I have started to taste more of the coconut and less of the rum. I call this my "coconutblend", but the coconut is not the dominant taste of this tobacco. I find that the taste is different form bowl to bowl, probably since I mostly smoke pipes with small bowls and the different cuts of the different tobaccos in this blend tend to arrange themselves according to size when I put the tobacco out for a presmokedrying. This means I get different amounts of different tobacco in every bowl, since there are tobaccoleaves of many different sizes and types in this blend. Therefore I wouldn't call this a consistent blend with smallbowled pipes, but for me it only keeps things interesting. When I smoke this tobacco in my poker with a large bowl the taste is very consistant between the different smokes. So far I've never gotten my head spinning from this tobacco, so it's probably quite low on vitamin D. (At least compared to Black Cherry, my head was spinning after 15 minutes and I couldn't finish my first bowl of that blend).

To sum up this review I can only say good things about this blend. For me it was a homerun first time picking up the bat, I have tried different blends (mostly aromatics with vanilla or cherry and different virginias), but I keep craving this tobacco the most when I feel the urge to sit down in peace and enjoy a pipe. The only downside with this tobacco is the tendency to smoke hot if you are in a hurry, but this can ba avoided by smoking it slow. The only drawback with smoking it slow is I usually have to relight the pipe every 10 minutes, since this blend doesn't stay lit as easy as one of my other favourites, Sweet Dublin. But then again, as one who defines my smokinghabit nonregular and mostly as a means to relax and take my mind of things, a relight now and then isn't really a problem.