Dan Tobacco Da Vinci

This is the least favorite of my dealings with Dan's Tobacco. While it does smell good from the tin and the taste is somewhat acceptable, it just does not turn me on. Still, the tobak is of high quality leaves so I cannot give it less than two stars.

To Kylepoet: If you enjoy tobak's that smell good and does not set your tounge on fire or your g/f running for the fire extinguisher, you might want to sample Trout Stream from Pipes and Cigars. My g/f loves the smell and I have received no complaints from anyone else either. She also likes Dan's Tobacco Blue Note. But then I have my taste preferences and others have theirs.

This is one of the first tins of tobacco I ever smoked. It was actually a lot of fun. I smoked this everywhere-- I was even rude or bold enough to walk into the grocery store with the bowl still smoldering-- and if ever a pipe tobacco could be called a chick magnet. . . well, anyway, it was a pleasure. Up until I bought my third tin. Then I don?t know what happened but I just felt like I needed something a little more substantial. Is that fair? Substantial, or something more notably tobacco than noticeably aromatic. Nevertheless, a fine smoke on its own merits, a fine beginner?s blend.

This tobacco has a lovely aroma in the tin, kind of sugar-cookie-esque and sweet. As far as aromatics go, I've got others in which I would invest, but this is satisfying and tasteful for what it is. When I smoke aromatics I tend to lean towards vanilla- or peach-type flavor, and this is different. I got a good deal on a couple tins ($10 for both) and I'm glad I bought them. If you like to experiment, try a tin. If you already know what you like, stay there.

Tuscan red wine? Where? Only at the Olive Garden...

REVISITED: Later Impressions (basically a restatement of what I already said, but I felt it was incomplete):

This burns a little hot and smokey if allowed, but when in the mood for an aromatic "not in normal rotation", I am not disappointed. The room note truly is pleasant as the description says; though it is not specific, at least to our noses, and is vaguely sweet and confection-like. I was busy on the porch while burning and I believe my normal puffing style allowed it to get hot. Halfway through the bowl it turned briefly bitter and cigar like. Cooling and a pipe cleaner later, it was ok, though again smokey and bitter on relight. This lessened towards the end of the bowl.

My review maintains two stars and I doubt I will buy this again, simply because the negatives can be avoided while achieving the same positive smoke with another blend.

I'm not going to lie to you. This tobacco is what got me hooked on the pipe. As my tastes matured, though, i found myself pushing this tin further and further to the back of my desk drawer. I hadn't smoked this blend in a while, so i decided to give it one more try before i threw it away. The bottom line is. Too much flavoring. I mostly smoke virginias these days, and to come back to this was, how do i say it, not a pleasent experience. If you like aromatics, i might recomend it to you. Not for me anymore, i've moved on to much more beautiful things.

If you like heavily-cased aromatics, then this is for you. There's very little tobacco flavor left in the background! Burns rather hotly, too; leaves too much residue. I'm a pipe-newcomer and I don't care for this stuff.

This stuff just doesn't do it for me. It has way too much sweetness for this boy. While I don't mind a bowl of blue note once in a great while, this was just too aromatic for me. I think that this should mightily appeal to the aromatic smoker however, as the tobacco is of high quality and the flavor and room note are wonderful, however lacking any natural tobacco essence whatsoever.

Tin note: bright cherry, cream, vanilla, alcohol

Taste same as tin note, but vanilla more pronounced. Aromatic taste is very light however. Underlying tobacco sweet, nutty and woody. Nice room note. No relights, burns well. Prone to tongue bite and tends to be harsh even when smoked slowly - that's why the low rating. Aroma is lost in the second half leaving only tobacco taste. Tobacco taste wise similar to Bagpipers Dream.

This seems to be one of those love it or hate blends, with lots of 4-star or 1-star reviews. The tin note was very nice, suggesting figs and dates (some say raisin), and a faint tickle on the nostrils which suggest some volatile acidity from the wine. My own experience in using either wine or coffee for flavorings is that once the sugars combust you are left with bitter dregs. That’s why coffee flavoring is so difficult to achieve in pipe tobacco. As for wine, I find that something more concentrated like ruby port gives a better end result than wine. I mention all of this because there is a tartness present which some seem to like - “Pleasantly sour’ as one reviewer put it - while others are put off by it. I find it subtle enough that it doesn’t really bother me that much. My main criticism is that the only real flavor I get is when there seems to be a concentrated flavor burst from a clump of black Cavendish, tasting of vanilla and caramelized sugars, while most of the time the light golden Virginias are rather boring and nearly tasteless. One reviewer described the blend as “flavored hay” which is kind of what I think, too!

For whatever reason this blend does put out a high volume of smoke for an aromatic. The first time I had a bowl I looked around the deck worried that maybe an ember had set fire to some dried leaves! In the end, I only smoked seven bowls of this over the course of a few months, then went on to tweak the rest with a reduction of tawny port and couple drops of walnut oil which I then baked onto the tobacco at 145 degrees for about an hour. That turned out nicely, but nothing I’d want to bother with again.

Even if cost is no object and you can afford to buy one of everything on the market to try, there is still the question of your precious pipe time. I’d say the risk is too high with this one that you will be disappointed as I was, and even though I’m giving two stars for my own lackluster level of enjoyment, I can’t really recommend this one. Read the other reviews carefully before you decide!

I tried this as it came in a sample group- it is a good everyday type smoke and one that is enhanced by a moderate consumption of your favorite red wine. I smoke this in a churchwarden type pipe and enjoy the cooler flavored taste in a more traditional way. Decent room note.