Hearth & Home Ambassador's Blend

Having as many offerings as Pipes and Cigars it can be easy for a blend to get overlooked. With only seven other reviews here, I think that must be the case with the very good Ambassador. Russ tends too offer his tobaccos on the dry side so this is ready for the pipe without the need to dry it out. Other than they both contain Orientals, I don't taste the same flavors as Dunhill's London Mixture or Skiff as someone else mentioned. I taste an "earthy" English blend with a touch of sweetness. Either way, it is a very tasty blend with a good amount of body and a great flavor throughout the bowl. Great stuff!

Russ' best sleeper blend in my take.

Smoky and woody Latakia which is easy to detect and has something about it that is a little different from others. It has a dry but sweet little tinge to it.

Luxury. This is similar to Davidoff Royalty in that it just smells like luxury from start to finish. Once the wood is warm and the furnace is glowing (which is so easy you wonder why you ever bother with touchy and difficult blends), each component raises its hand in very nice order, and each time you think "wow, those [insert component] are top shelf".

The resulting cocktail is a triumph of how to do the basics well. Its not as exotic as the Marquee Series, but it just says class and refinement from start to finish.

They could easily put this in the Marquee Series and charge a bomb for it, alas, thank heavens they don't and I order 8oz jars every Christmas during the sale for pennies.

In keeping with the narrative in the tin description, this tobacco does remind me, somewhat, of Dunhill blends I have smoked. When I first lit up I thought of Standard Mixture Full - very english and somewhat spicey. I agree with reviewer Kyohan that, if you didn't know better, about halfway down you would swear you were smoking 965. Then, in the bottom half, it began to approach Durbar. A very talented blend, I must say!

The cut is a tad rough compared to my memory of Dunhill blends from the past but nothing to be concerned about. The tin aroma is wonderfully english and hints at the possibility of a mild topping, although I'm not sure that its actually there. It arrives in a somewhat dry but immediately smokeable condition.

Now, let's light this blend up. Somewhat spicey in the top quarter, but this doesn't last long. It settles down to a beautiful medium english smoke that is very gratifying in the middle realm. But, the best comes last in the bottom half of the bowl - warm, creamy, luxurious and friendly. One of the best finishes, if not the best finish, of any english blend I have ever smoked. I highly recommend this blend to all english smokers and invite any smoker to try it. Another outstanding blend by Russ Oulette and a very solid four stars.

This blend can be fairly used as a paradigm of what English mixture does mean.

Out of the pouch, it smells so good that you'll grab immediately one of your more capient pipes (i chose Ardor Maigret to start with).

When you smoke it, all the components play their (right) role throughout the bowl, so that you will experience: earthiness as well as sweetness, smokiness as well as some pepperiness.

I would define it as the "Larry's blend went to Oxford" mixture...

Highly Recommended

LK

This is how I remember Dunhill Standard Mixture Medium of old. Not exactly the same, but the key word here is balance. This blend has just the right amount of smokiness perfecly balanced by some brighter notes. I think this is a "brighter" overall mixture than say, Larry's blend, kind of like turning the tone control knob on an amplifier from the bass end to direct center. You get a bit more sweetness here, as opposed to the buttery creaminess of LB. Great on a quiet afternoon with a nice, hoppy beer! To my palate, this mixture stays together beautifully thoughout the bowl and doesn't start to taste like a used ashtray like some of the newer D mixtures. I'm really starting to develop a great appreciation for Russ' blending skill. I'm not sure cellaring this one would result in any noticible improvement-- seems like a blend to be smoked in the here and now and enjoyed!

First impressions are what tend to make or break you, and all I can say is that Ambassador’s Blend truly impresses me more than most. I almost decided against posting the review as I wanted to keep this a secret so that it would always be available whenever I needed it, but it is so good that it must be shared. I have been smoking this blend from tins and in bulk for a while now, and have really enjoyed each and every smoke. The tin note of the tobacco shows that this is definitely a Latakia forward blend and smells, woodsy, smoky, leathery, and slightly spicy. The tobacco is of high quality and the cut is a fine ribbon of Virginia mixed with smaller or shorter ribbons of the Latakia that does not contain any twiggy or woody bits in it. The moisture level of the tobacco was spot on perfect when I received it and due to the moisture level and cut, the tobacco was easy to pack and took a light with minimal effort. In my opinion, the taste of the tobacco at first light showcased the Latakia. The Latakia lends a thick creaminess to the blend that is there from the start of the smoke to the finish. This is one of the smoothest smoking English blends that I have had. The flavors of each of the tobaccos in the blend meld together seamlessly. The Virginias in this blend, to me at least, were harder to detect amongst the other bold flavors, but is definitely there giving a slightly sweet undertone to the blend. The room note of this blend as should be expected is bold and smoky, although unlike that of cigarette smoke, this one tends to smell like a campfire which is tolerated moderately well by the wife. The tobacco required no relights and burned down to a fine white and gray ash that made for easy cleaning of the pipe when I was finished with the bowl. Overall, I have been quite impressed with this blend From Russ and will keep it in my rotation. I recommend this blend to anyone who enjoys smooth Latakia forward English blends.

This stuff is truly wonderful. I got one of the "Vintage" series tins and waited about half a year before opening it, simply because I had so many other tins open already and wanted to thin the crowd a little. It may have also been because I hadn't been really blown away by any of the H&H blends I tried before so I wasn't really in a hurry. Out of the tin it is pretty much just smoky Latakia and not much else. When I first lit my pipe that was also the flavor I got, but as I continued to smoke it subsided and was joined by a mildly sweet Virginia taste. The Orientals are not terribly pronounced but add a bit of smooth and savory to it. I have never smoked any of the Dunhill blends this alludes to, so any similarities are lost on me. No bite at all and smokes cool and dry. The room note to non-smokers is not prize winning but is not altogether unbearable. After smoking my first bowl in a Legend cob I immediately loaded another bowl (unusual for me) into a larger briar because I liked the blend so much. I will definitely be buying more of this in the future!

I was pleasantly surprised by this blend. I am skeptical of any blend that claims to be "in the same vein as some of the richer Dunhill tobaccos" as every one that I have tried has fallen short. But not this one - if I hadn't packed my pipe myself I would swear that I was smoking 965. Smokey, creamy, wonderful. If you like English tobaccos, you must try this blend.

This is a tobacco that always starts of great but smokes hot and declines as it goes down the bowl. I had a tin of AB a few years ago that reminded me of some of the Murray's Dunhills and I really enjoyed it. This summer I purchased a couple ounces of bulk AB and no matter how I packed it or how slow I puffed it would smoke really hot. I will look to Larry's Blend, White Knight or Magnum Opus instead.

What a great surprise. Not because P&C/H&H has no great blends (too many to name, in fact) but that this one gets no fanfare at all. "Larry's goes to Oxford" as a prior reviewer said. Damn, wish I had written that first! Nice cut, nice note, nice balance, nice burn, yada yada yada. Satisfying in the true sense of the word. I, too, share skepticism of products (not just tobaccos) that state that they are similar to [fill in iconic name here]. After many years of tobacco sampling, however, and given the vast array of products, it is perhaps excusable with pipe tobacco as it is a very good initial guidepost. That said, this is every bit as good as the Dunhill products mentioned. And while I often say price and a review should be separated as we do church and state, thank God this is not an H&H "Marquee" product at a full two times the price. I've recently bought a lot of 8-oz. tins and look forward to Ambassador as a morning, noon and night staple.