Tabac Manil Réserve du Patron

Dry (and I mean dry), almost brittle, dark-brown Burley leaf. Like other offerings in the region (Scaferlati Caporal comes to mind, though the latter is or was produced in France and Semois in Belgium) this is a sun-cured leaf with no casings, added flavours or humectants. None the less you can smoke it as it is. It won't bite nor will it taste sour or produce an abrasive effect on the palate. More than smoking a cigar my impression is that of smoking the Spanish cigarrillos Jaén or Ducados Rubios. It's has a strong (but not overwhelmingly so), sharp, very natural tobacco taste. One might say "manly" and vigorous. It goes, as it were, straight to the point. This is not a contemplative tobacco (in the sense a Latakia mixture is), nor does it have the languid allure of Virginias, and it definitely lacks the piquant sweet-sour malice of Pèrique. One could say this is a farmer's tobacco, to be smoked (and indeed enjoyed) whilst working in the fields, under the sun, in a dry, hot summer. Pure, strong and straightforward natural tobacco flavour. In my view, a must.

This is a great staight forward no frills tobacco. Out of the package the tobacco is bone dry. However it packs and smokes like a dream. It presents with the best of what a straight burley can offer. With a sweet, earthy, nutty, and herbal profile exsentuated by a sharp pepper spice through the nose. This is hands down one of the best tobaccos on the market. If not the best.

Basically, it's the same tobacco than "La Brumeuse" from the same producer (Vincent Manil). The only difference is the cut : "La Réserve du Patron" have a smaller cut than "La Brumeuse". The shortness makes this tobacco less strong. So, the taste is rather the same but not overwhelming. That's why I prefer this one. It's rather strong and sweet in the same time. I know it's personnal, so maybe it's not the opinion of everyone. I recommend this tobacco for whom like strong tobaccos but not too much either.

This is the review of Reserve du Patron 3.5oz - the medium cut version (Le Petit Robin is the thin-cut version and the La Brumeuse is the thick cut version. )

moisture: extremely dry

cut: beautiful ribbon cut and easily packed

burning: if you do not pack it tightly or sip it carefully, it will smoke very fast

tin note: very woody and earthy

when smoking: pure, clean taste; cigar-like; unique, straightforward; deep but not complex; smooth with hidden lightly floral sweetness.

strength: mild, if not medium

my rating: Enjoy + Buy it on sales → Three Stars Rating: it may not be my favorite but still be a nice change occasionally. But consider its uniqueness and others' Burley preference, I give it three and a half stars.

best smoke time: after dinner

pairing: rye whiskey

Most pipe tobaccos on the contemporary market tend to lose their complexity if you let them completely dry out to a brittle state. This is not the case with Vincent Manil's offerings. Something about this varietal and the cool climate it is grown in, makes it one of the deepest and most naturally mysterious smokes I've ever found. You will open the foil brick to find a dry solid cake that smells like an old musty barn full of timothy, clover, fescue, and alfalfa... aka HAY. There is almost a bit of mealy/earthy funk, like you'd smell off a cuban cigar wrapper. The thick cut of the Patron will load and light seamlessly in the pipe, don't be afraid to pack tightly for a stronger creamier smoke. I will not go into detail about the flavor journey you will experience when you smoke it. Like anything, try it in a few different pipes before you knock it, start small. Be careful, extremely high nicotine content that will put hair on your chest (if it's not already there.) Something tells me that this cut was intended to make it a cigarette tobacco; (for a little extra surprise, shove this stuff in your tube injector, -rolls an excellent cigarette)

I must say first off that there is a noticeable difference in this blend (or cut) than the La Petite Robin (thin or shag cut). I find them both to be very unique in ways that I have not tasted in ANY other blend of Pipe tobacco. Putting the focus on this cut Reserve du Patron as this is the review for it-I find this one to be a bit bolder in taste, has more of the cigar notes that others are speaking of than the La Petite Robin. It has a very earthy profile and I must say that Jiminks hit the nail on the head by saying the taste is almost muddy in spots when speaking of the nuances of woodiness and earth you will find in the blend. There is a subtle sweetness and also a steady spicy undertone. There is a big overall nuttiness that stays consistent throughout, with nuances of bread that I find align more with the taste of day-old bread rather than baked bread if you will. There is hay, a bit of grass and subtle floral notes and mineral notes. The blend comes dry-very dry, but fear not because somehow it has the right moisture content to be smoked right to the bottom of the bowl leaving the tiniest bit of moisture with fine white ash, notwithstanding the blends dryness. This is a one of kind smoke because the taste varies in my opinion significantly from the thinner shag cut. Unless you are a huge burley fan, this is not an all-day smoke, and if you are looking to give this brand a try, I found the La Petite Robin to be a more mellow, toned down version of this blend. Nevertheless, this blend is something that you should try as a pipe smoker if you are looking for something way off the beaten path. If you are a fan of burley, the blend is a must. Lastly, I find the nicotine in this blend to be on the higher side. I am giving this blend 4 stars because of the quality and uniqueness, and also because of its outstanding taste profile, despite it lacking the complexity of other blends. However, I don't think the purpose was to create a blend with a flavor profile that was all that complex but it certainly performs well for a straight-up burley blend. For those reasons, I feel the blend deserves four stars.

Reserve du Patron, Pure Semois came very dry in the brick. It appears that this is standard practice for all Tabak Manil blends... at least that was the way with the Le Petite Robin I sampled. Le Petite Robin had a slight, floral, tea-like aroma & provided a semi-sweet floral flavor whereas Reserve du Patron's brick aroma was cigarish but doesn't burn so much with a cigar-like flavor in the bowl... It possesses a relatively strong, earthy, Burley flavor that is obviously different than a Kentucky/Burley grown in specific regions of the US. After about a third had burned down, the strength became akin to a medium to strong cigar with mainly a cool, earthy flavor/taste. This is not a blend but rather a solid brick of pure Belgian Burley with a unique flavor.

Strength is almost as strong as Five Brothers but not as strong as Picayune. On my first trial run, I smoked it completely dry as packaged & later hydrated it as I would any tobacco that's too dry. A couple of weeks later it had almost reached the 69% humidity level that I prefer. I was too anxious to give it a try prior to reaching that threshold which provided a fast burning rate even when sipped through my "quality" Country Gent cob. On my second trial run in my Missouri Meerschaum I stoked another bowl. It had absolutely zero bite and delivered a quick Vitamin N blast with a tastier flavor than that of a cigar-like experience. I'll just say it's a different kind of packaged Burley with a flavor that's rather unique & enjoyable that will make your head spin if smoked too fast & furious & strength increases as the smoke session progresses. It doesn't leave a bad taste on the palate & didn't cause me to have to immediately go brush my tooth.

It's a quick preparation to stoke & smoke & is relatively clean without many stem pieces (more like little chunks) to be removed, if desired... an easy preparation, as it were, right out of the brick. Taste is rather only "slightly" floral with minor cigar notes & smokes cool with a flavor of nothing more than that of the tasty Belgian Burley that is unlike anything grown in our country. I liked it for it's strength, unique flavor, ease of packing, preparation & burning characteristic. There's a lot of tobacco crammed into one of these bricks once hydrated to a proper smoking humidity. However, smoked in its natural dry state is still a treat that is enjoyable & subsequent bowls might be too much to endure. I'll see!

I have been a devotee of semois tobacco since a good friend of mine from Amsterdam used to send me Joseph Martin Semois Lux No. 3 many years ago. We were both DJs, and I used to send him records (that should date that pretty well right there) and in gratitude he would send me a block of semois, as his family lived in the Ardennes valley. This was a local tobacco, usually smoked by the older relatives, and apparently inexpensive, the Belgian version of 5 Brothers or some other OTC variety. At the time I was also a cigar smoker and I very much used to enjoy these blocks of very dry, very distinctive Belgian tobacco. I believe some of the Joseph Martin tobaccos had been imported to the US a few years back, but now Vincent Manil seems to have cornered the American market for this varietal. There are currently three straight semois varieties easily available here in the US from Manil, and also a blend that contains a high proportion of quality Virginia as well as the semois (my guess is it's Virginia, as Vincent Manil keeps the makeup of that one a closely guarded secret)

The Reserve is the finest cut of the pure semois, and may be my favorite. I keep all three straight varieties on hand here, and what's remarkable is the difference in flavor according to the type of cut. Due to the dryness of the tobacco, they all require very firm packing, more firm than any other variety of tobacco I can think of. Once correctly packed, they all burn well, and maybe a bit quickly compared to other tobaccos. No chance of tongue bite and certainly nothing left but fine Ash in the bowl. I generally use Semois (along with Five Brothers) to break in all new pipes, and keep a sizable Nording reserved strictly for semois.

Semois has really a remarkable, distinctive flavor, on first lighting it is somehow like a cigar, but not cigar like, if that makes any sense, and the taste evolves during the course of the bowl. By the last half of the bowl, it has a sweet, almost vegetal quality. Throughout the smoke, it gives you a very rural, agricultural sort of flavor, which seems about right as the tobacco is basically grown, air dried, and then processed into each cut, without casings, flavorings or humectants. It is in some ways a simple tobacco, but the way it evolves through the smoke, is utterly distinctive. The middle cut, La Bremeuse, may be the one to try first, as it gives the most representative demonstration of the tobacco's charms. My preference for the finer cut is simply because I sometimes like to have a quick smoke in a smaller bowl, and I think the finest cut works well in a variety of pipes. The newest variety is a very coarse cut, called La Volute, and it verges on almost being too powerful in the initial lighting, in first third of the bowl. Not harsh, but like a cask strength single malt, it may not be to everyone's taste. Semois itself doesn't seem to be to everyone's taste either, the only thing close to it I can think of is Five Brothers, which I have seen described as American Semois. Five Brothers packs more of a nicotine punch then the Belgian tobacco, but be aware, the Belgian tobacco does have a moderate kick...

I've been thinking with the new La Volute cut, there may be some potential here for making an interesting new blend, using it in a blend like we would use Burley, which was the ancestor of Semois, Burley seeds having been sent over to Belgium early in the 19th century. Interestingly, the Ardennes valley, cut by the Semois river (hence the name) , would not seem to be the most propitious tobacco growing area; however, tobacco has been grown there for almost 200 years.

When I used to travel internationally, I would occasionally come across Scaferlati, which was the classic French pipe tobacco. If you've ever had Galouise or Gitane cigarettes, you would have some idea of what French rural or working class pipe tobacco is all about. Semois is the Belgian analog of that tobacco, but with a far milder and sweeter flavor profile. Any of the Manil tobaccos are worth a try for the adventurous pipe smoker. I almost feel like I'm writing a promotional brochure here for the Semois area, but since it's such a distinctive tobacco, all natural and unprocessed, with a fairly long history quite apart from the mass produced tobacco we mostly have today, I don't mind coming across as a cheerleader for this tobacco varietal.

Presentation: Unique packaging. It comes in a foil wrapped brick wrapped again with the paper label. I like the art on it too. Only available in 3.5oz size though.

Cut: Comes in a standard sized ribbon cut. However this tobacco is bone dry -- crunchy leaves dry. But don't let this fool you, the dryness does not subtract from the smoking experience in the slightest.

Tin note: Sweet, earthy, nutty.

Tasting notes: Mainly nutty, woody and a cigar-like earthiness. Though at times you will get a tinge of spice or sweetness. Sometimes a bit bitter (a sign to slow down!).

Mechanics: This blend packs and lights SO easily. Because it is so dry, it does burn well; but remember, this means you will need to tamp more often than normal to smoothly continue its burn. This blend is more forgiving than wetter blends if you pack it tighly.

Extra Remarks: Some say this blend is strong in nicotine, be weary if you are a lightweight with that. Full of flavor and burns from top to bottom, never forcing you to waste tobacco at the bottom of the bowl. This blend taught me that dry tobacco is not necessarily a bad thing. This is a simple, beautiful blend -- everyone should try this blend. 4 stars!