E. Hoffman Company Distinguished Gentleman

This reminds me of 4 Noggins, " Bald Headed Teacher" but instead of a strong vanilla it has a strong rum topping, both with Latakia overtones . This is also similar to Boswells "Premium Burley" that has whiskey topping and stronger Burley. In any case, I feel the Burley comes through stronger than I like and the topping tends to have some bite, this might improve with age. I will not buy again.

From the description I really looked forward to trying this blend. Lately I've really enjoyed the blending of Burley, Cavendish and Latakia in a number of tobaccos and in my own experimental blends. After opening the pleasingly nostalgic tin I was greeted with a very pleasant aroma reminiscent of raisins. The cut was very chopped up and fine like what I had found in some generic store brand blends of the past. However with the anticipation of happy puffing I loaded up an old classic Sasieni Lovat and lit up. Immediately as I began to draw on my pipe up some of those finely ground particles found their way into my mouth. Undaunted I expectorated and continued. At first the smoke was smooth, fragrant and pleasant tasting, similar to the Altadis Revelation match. My pleasant piping was abruptly cut short when very soon my pipe stem began to fill with nasty, acrid juice and the flavor now became very harsh in kind of artificial and chemical tasting manner. Now this blend began to remind me of another disappointment, Rattrays Professional Mixture. Both smelt of raisins, started off very nicely and then became too aromatic in an unpleasant manner. Like P.M. my solution in order to enjoy D.G. is to treat it like an aromatic and smoke it in one of my Vauen, Big Ben or Dr. Grabow filter pipes.

12/17/2012: I'm updating my review. As I suspected, this blend should be treated as a "drugstore style" aromatic and smoked in a filter pipe. I'm now puffing away with this stuff loaded up into a Vauen. While still a bit chemical tasting the nastiness has been filtered out and I could recommend this to someone looking to try out a 1970'S style drugstore pipe tobacco. while I won't be smoking it that often I'll move it up to three stars. 12/25/2012: I likely shouldn't spend so much time writing about such a mediocre tobacco but I felt an update was appropriate. I continued to try and enjoy this blend filtered as I smoke other drugstore and aromatic blends. The more you smoke it the less you like it. While supposedly rather mild it even filtered has a very nasty gaseous and chemical aspect that makes it become unpleasant as the smoking proceeds. Back to a very lenient two stars. I'll put this stuff away for a few years and save my palate for better blends. Again only recommended for a time machine drug store tobacco experience.

Tin note of sugary spices, vanilla and musty vegetation. Tobacco is a Coarse cut of yellowish tan, light brown, brown and black. Moisture content is good. Burns moderate with few relights. The strength is mild to medium and nic is mild. Flavoring is listed, but other than smell, I couldn't detect it. Taste is mild to medium and somewhat consistent, with notes of smoky incense, herbal floral, tart and tangy citrus, nuts, spices, sour vegetation, wood, sweet grass, toast, peaty/musty, orange peel, zesty, a mildly lemony background note, and a peppery retro. Virginia and Latakia fighting for the is leading with Burley and Cavendish supporting. Flavoring is supporting from afar. Room note is pleasant to tolerable, and aftertaste is good.

Preparation & Burn: 7/10 Burns pretty well but a bit warmer and sharper than I prefer. Good cut. A bit moist.

Taste: 11/20 Decent light lat blend with sweet and booze topping. Unfortunately lacks tobacco taste.

Mildness: 9/10 My idea of a good smoke is a relaxing, low nicotine session. Therefore, the milder the better. Not much nicotine here.

Total: 27/40

This is the first American blend (whatever that means) I have tried, and I can safely say I'm proud to be an American 'blend' smoker. That is until the tin aired out for a few days.

The cut is certainly rough, but not from twigs or annoying bits, it's just thicker ribbons dried with a coarser feel. The aroma is enticing, not overpowering, yet hard to describe... perhaps the old photo on the cover has bent my imagination, but I can envision a steam train conductor smoking it. Likely motor oil, treated lumber, sweet whiskey, and other guy scents were thrown into this cauldron.

The contents takes a few seconds to light, but smolders nicely once lit. The smoke has a wonderful dark sugar flavor with some weight, yet is not overwhelming on your lungs. The problem I had was when I returned to the tin only a few days later, everything became bland with a cardboard taste. It was a frustrating feeling, since my first few bowls were an easy 3 stars.

As an Aromatic fan I really enjoyed the initial experience, so I'll give this 1.5 star blend a small nod to 2.

Nothing about this blend works for me. It burns hot strong bite and overpowering burley taste. I get no Latakia taste. To many good blends to smoke this

My wife always jokingly refers to this one as “fancy lad.” This blend would seem to have a mid century modern feel with regards to the ingredients and being an American English aromatic. The Latakia is a backseat occupant speaking rarely and quietly. The topping is detectable in both the smoke and the sidestream. I had no issue with ghosting. If one were to freight train one or three bowls of this daily for months on end, I would assume there would indeed be traces of DG left in your pipe for months if not years to come. I can’t quite place what the topping(s) is but it gives the vague impression of vanilla. Easily an all day blend if American style English blends are your bag.