CAO Eileen's Dream

Even though this tobacco was ready to smoke directly from the tin I let mine air for about 15 minutes on a paper towel before loading my bowl. After the char the tobacco fired right up for a very pleasing smoke with only one re-light needed to finish the bowl.

The tobacco has a wonderful tin aroma of vanilla and chocolate with a pleasant musty tobacco odor in the background. When smoked the vanilla and chocolate fad to the background with mild tobacco flavors coming to the front. The vanilla and chocolate are always present but they are never full-frontal they stay in the background making each draw on the pipe interesting and tasty.

Unlike with many aromatics I suffered no tongue bite with this tobacco. It was enjoyable from beginning to end.

For me, Eileen's Dream will become my early morning smoke. It's great with coffee and helps start the day on a pleasant note. I highly recommend this tobacco.

I like the idea of aromatic tobaccos. In theory, the concept is great. In practice, they tend to leave me disappointed. That being said, Eileen's Dream is the best aromatic I've smoked. I suspect that this is due in large part to CAO using decent quality tobacco instead of just casing the hell out of the floor sweepings, but I digress.... The flavor is both noticeable and enjoyable, and remains fairly consistent throughout the bowl - provided that you don't puff too hard/fast on it. Better than Lane 1Q and C&D Autumn Evening, which didn't impress me much - and those are both considered to be really good aromatics by the pipe smoking community, from what I've seen. The second half of the bowl tends to produce a thick, creamy smoke, and I typically end up dumping the last 20-25% of the bowl, as there is a dottle buildup that doesn't burn so well at the end.

This isn't really a favorite blend for me, but it is my favorite aromatic. Not an everyday smoke, but it's nice for a changeup from my usuals, and it has a pleasing room note too.

Eileen's Dream is an aromatic tobacco I would find on every pipe smoker's "aromatics to try" list. I ordered this blend along with many others from SmokingPipes.com not knowing what to truly expect. Upon opening the tin notes of cream and chocolate can be detected, but its not very strong. After packing this blend and lighting it, I was blown away by how good this blend actually is, some aromatics go overboard with the flavouring, but Eileen's Dream makes it work with the tobacco, meaning you get a mild Virginia flavour with hints of the chocolate and cream! The cream flavour is more prominent than the "chocolate truffles". Overall I was impressed with this one and recommend it.

After 3 tins of ED, I still feel unable to deliver an unwavering verdict. So I will give the points as they lie. Big points for the topping! They are skillfully and artfully used, and it is only due to the menagerie of flavorings involved that one cannot simply tune into one, a couple, or a desired selection. These are unique flavors in the pipe but also pair exceedingly well with the pipe tobacco class. You will get vanilla, you will find cooa, you will sense Irish creme, nuts, and even fleeting bourbon. Anything negative I may point out has to do with the limited atmospheric factors under which I can enjoy the blend. ED is much more enjoyable and favorable in cool, arid conditions. It will still smoke capably in warmer, more humid conditions. You just won't notice the flavorings to be so pleasant, and likely will take a turn to the boring, nondescript, and mundane. I like to keep a little of this around in a much dryer state to enjoy when the whim strikes.

UPDATE: I'm dropping this one a star. The last tin I opened has been a real challenge, very hot and bitey. And if there's one thing I can't stand it's a hot-smoking aromatic. Flavors are still pretty great, it's a shame it wants to punish me. But maybe as some topping dries off of it the blend will behave a little better.

I had high hopes for this one. Tin aroma is wonderful as is the room note, but totally lacks in taste. Like smoking hot air. No nic hit at all. I'm gonna have to try cutting it with some cube cut Burley or something.

I would place this in the category of a beginner aromatic. A very mild smoke with some and I do mean some flavor. This is just not a real complex smoke and the tobacco flavor is just not there. Tin opening is nice but pretty monochromatic. Mixture was really damp and required a good bit of drying time. Light up was a little difficult and required several relights during smoke. Big burst of flavor at the start that quickly went away. The issue I have with this blend is the underlying tobacco flavor is also missing. This is just not much in the way of an interesting blend. It is not complex nor is it big on taste or flavor. This is just a very bland blend with nothing to want to return for a second smoke.

The only other CAO blend I had tried prior to this was Cherrybomb, which I found to be a hot burning goop fest, so my expectations for this weren't very high to begin with. Tin note is not overpowering, but distinctly white chocolate with a hint of creaminess. Coarse ribbon cut makes for easy packing. A bit moist out of the tin, but not excessively so for an aro. Lights easily and stays lit pretty well. I'm sure if you puffed hard you'd get bit, but I wasn't overly cautious and I had not problems, which is saying something because I usually have to be careful, as I'm naturally prone to tongue bite no matter what I smoke. The flavor was pretty mild, but definitely as advertised. A slow, well paced smoke is necessary to glean the maximum flavor from this blend, but overall, pretty mild. The VA comes through in the background. Overall not too bad. I don't see myself committing to stocking up on this, but I can see myself buying a tin every now and then to shake things up. One of the better aros out there IMHO. Smokes best in a briar. Meer didn't agree with this blend for some reason.

I'm not a big fan of aromatics, nor liqueur-added tobaccos, in general, though a good chocolate or vanilla, or even a high-quality cherry (eg, Peter Stokkebye Chocolate Bon Bon) will hit me right. Eileen's Dream is just damn good. I get more chocolate than Irish Cream in the tin note, but it is delectable. Moisture was just about right and it sang to the match and burned well, with great flavor to the bottom of the bowl.

I have a diabolical chemical sensitivity that makes most aromatics off limits. For example, Prince Albert burns my tongue up. This one did not. It could use a tad more tobacco flavor, but those less addicted to nicotine will find the taste and strength level just fine. I'm not much of a fan of CAO tobaccos in general, but ED shines. If you like a whiff of chocolate now and then, you absolutely have to try it.

A bit on the wet and gloopy side, but overall a good quality tobacco. I enjoyed this one very much. The tin note is incredible, and some of that flavor transpires into the smoke as well, which can't always be said for all aromatics. Overall, a nice after dinner treat.