Dan Tobacco London Blend No. 1000

This was a weird experience for me. I loved the initial taste and loved the smell. Rich, dark, smokey and just a little sweet. Easy to pack and easy to keep lit. At first I thought I had found another favorite.

Then it hit me. This tobacco left an off/unpleasant aftertaste in my mouth. In some ways, it was like I had just smoked a bowl of some goopy sugar-coated drug store tobacco. You know . . . the kind that no longer looks like natural tobacco but some semi-translucent perma-moist stuff that will last forever. In all seriousness, it's almost as if the tobacco was cased. Strange because the tobacco smoke is not really sweet like it was cased, it's just that after I finished the bowl, it sure seemed like it was. Very odd and I can't explain it.

But for the aftertaste, I would keep this around.

This blend was recommended to me in Prague by a tobacco shop vendor. While the appearance, presentation and smell off the tin is nice, it all goes down hill after the first few minutes of smoking it.

My biggest complain is the very sweet topping/casing that distracts me from enjoying the Latakia and the other tobaccos. As with all cased/topped Latakia mixures, the aftertaste is horrible for me. Latakia smokers who like Frog Morton and other mixtures of the genre will love London Blend. Fortunately my friend likes all Latakia iterations so I was happy to give the tin to him, I hate to waste tobacco by throwing it in the thrash can.

Virginia lover

Compared to other German attempts at English mixtures this is certainly a good one. It has it all: a decent deepness, some nicotine punch, it is nicely balanced towards the latakia and oriental components, a perfect cut and a fine burning... So, where's the problem? The problem is that this blend is heavily cased, though not flavoured in a strict sense. You can clearly detect an alcoholic background note and I tasted a strong plastic note, probably due to the excess of casing agents.

This blend was a bit of a disapointment for me, a lesson in not buildig up expectations. It has all the right stuff on paper, but the execution is a dud. The casing is the let down, in my opinion, masking the natural flavors of the tobaccos in the blend. this could be a nice mild oriental instead of a failed aromatic.

This is a very unusual tobacco. The flavors I pulled out of it were light latakia, marijuana and rose water. Don't fret, for like Bill Clinton, I never inhaled. At first I didn't like or understand this mixture, but as you get down the bowl, it's an intriguing blend, and it leaves a pleasant aroma in the room. I don't think I'd want this all the time, but every once in awhile, when I'm in one of my blue light and psychedelic be-in moods, this might work. If you've ever eaten east Indian food, it's almost like putting a drop of latakia inside of a rose milk lassi. Yeah, I know: weird!

Two of five stars

This is another "english" type blend among the legion. Upon opening the tin(which is too pricey IMO) you are greeted with short broad ribbons of the light, medium, and dark colors typical of this type of blend. This one seems to have a topping of some sort, I can't seem to put my finger on it, but it sure reminds me of "liquid smoke" flavoring you can put on your steaks(perish the thought!). Anyway, on to the flame. Packing is easy, lighting is fairly easy. Initial flavor is of a typical smooth english. Nothing fancy, but good for an all day smoke. Because it is so smooth, you can finish the tin very quickly, at least I did. Flavor is consistent all the way down the bowl. Ash is grey and dry, no dottle detected. This blend seems to be in the flavor category of "Old Dog", "Frog Morton", "Latakia #1", etc... Overall, this is a good intro to "English" blends, no tongue-bite, but due to its price, there are others that I would recommend first. Rating 3 out of 5 points. Enjoy...

I'm enjoying this mellow latakia-heavy blend which tastes as if it sourced from Syria. It canjoles, not rakes and it has an aura around the latakia taste that runs deeper than most, albeit it is still non-raping.

This is like an orientally upped pirate cake with subdued latakia.

Recommended.

Images evoked include an amputated elf using a proesthetic burnt log to run the Elves with Disabilities olympics.