CAO Eileen's Dream

This was my second dive into Aro's after a decade of neglecting them for my beloved English blends.

Eileen's Dream is definitely a dream. Very creamy, light, smooth, vanilla with some bittersweet chocolate, I get it. I completely forgot I was smoking it one time for a solid 5-10 minutes with it clenched.

If that's what you're looking for, this is it. It'll burn hot, so take it easy with it. I'd also recommend drying each bowl load about 15-20mins before lighting up.

For me, this is a tepid no. When I'm smoking, I like to SMOKE (if that makes any sense). I want it's presence known; I want it talking to me. This one felt more like a whisper. No noticeable vitamin N or heft to it, which is it's intention, so I get it's merits. It's like having a cream latte vs. a cup of black coffee.

I also had difficulty picking up any complexity to this one, even through the retrohale. It was always just smooth cream/chocolate. Not necessarily a negative, but worth mentioning. This could be due to my lack of experience with these, but either way, this one is just 'too quiet' for me.

Eileen's Dream has a very sweet tin note. I can pick out the Irish Mist, vanilla, a note of honey and very creamy. The smoke is very mild. I do get some tobacco which is earthy, nutty, slightly wood with a hint of grass. The topping is the star of the show it is very sweet, creamy, notes of honey and alcohol. The chocolate is there and the vanilla is behind it. The hazelnut and almond notes are subtle and come in in the last half of the bowl on the retro-hale. A nice smoke that stays mild the nic hit is not noticeable for me at all and either is the room note. Others failed to comment on it as well so at least it is unoffensive to those around you. It does smoke a little wet and suffered several relights throughout each bowl. It burned just a little warm and because of this it could not be smoked all day but is repeatable without issues.

I like to think we all have guilty pleasures. Something that you really don't want your pipe smoking friends to find out about? Well, one of mine is Eileen's Dream.

I love Irish Creme and this one to my mind brings it home with a touch of vanilla. The tin note is great and that flavor comes through. The key with this one to me is to smoke it slow, barely smoldering and don't let it get hot. It works great in a cob as it will ghost.

This isn't a blend that I'd smoke all day, or even everyday.. but it's nice for when I want something sweet and I have a Country Gentleman cob which I've named Eileen in it's honor.

Very nice aroma of chocolate, liqueur and some unidentified spice for me. I was really glad to smell cold tobacco. Unfortunately the the aroma remains in the bowl only half of smoking time. Las third of bowl is only pure warm air, with a taste of a bit of Cavendish. Leaving a lot moisture in my pipes, even after drying before smoke. Still remains in my rotation, but most probably will be changed soon.