4noggins Alamosa

This reminds me of Hal o The Wynd in appearance and flavour. It's a kind of malty virginia, not tangy or bitey in any way, but also not really that sweet either. I don't feel any of the perique personally, and Alamosa stands up well to the delayed gratification technique. Burns well all the way down with a rounded flavour. Not as floral as Prairie Wind IMO, which for me is a good thing.

Small sample from 4noggins. Most of mine had turned to close to ribbon but there were still some chunks of broken flake. Chestnut brown in color with a bag aroma of high quality Virginia, the barest of dashes of perique and some type of casing I couldn't identify, either by nose or taste buds. No problems keeping this lit.

The Virginias used tasted just wonderful! Not too grassy or sweet, not an overabundance of citrus... in fact, none of the typical Virginia adjectives really describe this one, or at least, this one doesn't lean in any of those directions. Then again, perhaps an ounce isn't enough to get its full measure. But the Virginia flavor was excellent, indeed. The perique was present in each puff but very much in the background. I taste some sort of topping/casing but can't say what it is. Some say floral or Lakeland, but to my tastebuds, either it's something else or not enough was used for me to distinguish it. It was not a detractor and may have in fact been beneficial. This is recommended for those who want a good tasting Virginia with a very light dose of perique, just enough to pique the interest but not enough to steal the show. I'm not yet sure of this one's place in my rotation but it's worth picking up another 8 oz or so just to see. I have to say this one seems very well done! This one isn't quite a 4 star blend (yet) but it's definitely better than the average 3 star blend. Call it 3.4 stars for now.

I like VaPers and this is a decent one, if I could, I'd give it 2.5 stars but choosing between 2 and 3 I'll take 3.

A red Virginia based blend, I prefer Cool Hand Fluke to this one. There's something about the particular Virginias in this blend that make it a bit edgy -- the perique does help, but I get more mouth fatigue from this blend than from other blends that have more perique.

It does burn well, and the cut is easy to work with.

I too, have detected a floral, almost "Lakeland" aroma in this blend. It is not at all unwelcome or unpleasant though. It tastes like good sweet VA to me, and the amount of Perique is barely detectable. The "tin note" is very similar to McClelland's 5100, and I think those who like the Red Cake may enjoy Alamosa as well. The cut is similar to Mac Baren's broken flakes. I got this in a sample from Rich at 4Noggins, and I'm going to get summore! Recommended.

The red is the most obvious of the matured (red, bright, and a little stoved) Virginias, and they provide a fair amount of tangy ripe dark fruit, earth, wood, bread, sugar, some moderately tart and tangy citrus, grass, floralness, vegetation, mild acidic, sour lemon, stewed fruit, a couple pinches of spice, and a light vinegar essence. The spicy, raisiny, plumy, figgy, date-like, earthy, woody St. James perique is a minor condiment. The strength and nic-hit are a couple of steps past the center of mild to medium. That taste is a notch stronger, but falls short of the medium threshold. No chance or bite or harshness, but they are a few small rough edges. The cut is broken flakes in different widths, and needs a little dry time. Burns cool, clean and slow with a mostly consistent fruity, sugary, mildly floral and tartly sour, spicy flavor that extends to the lingering tart after taste. Leaves a little moisture in the bowl, and requires some relights. Has a pleasant to tolerable room note. Not really an all day smoke because of its floral, sour, acidic quality. Barely gets three stars because of that.

-JimInks

Alamosa came as a sample with an order from 4 Noggins. First impression was a nice broken flake VA. Pouch note was very typical of 4 Noggins' VA blends (several of which I have tried so far) that is, a dried fruit smell of topping or humectant. I let this air and dry as I had the other blends. This dissipated nicely. In my experience smoking these blends straight from the pouch without some dry and air time will cause that dried fruit aroma to come through in the smoke and lead to bite. My first bowl started out nicely but later on seemed to be permeated with a flavor that I found rather unpleasant. It's hard to put a finger on but I would describe it as floral or perfume-y. Frankly, I was a bit disappointed, having really enjoyed other 4N VAs. I gave it several more shots over a period of a couple of months thinking it might improve. It never did. That taste stayed. I can't say it was awful but not what I would expect in a straight VA or Vaper. It is as if were meant to be a mild aromatic. Not my cup of tea. And not something I would purchase. Unfortunately, this is one 4 Noggins blend I can cross off my list. Much more pleased with the likes of Weybridge and Prairie Wind. I think these provide a much more "natural" tobacco flavor. But for those folks who can appreciate an aromatic component Alamosa might be just the ticket.

As mentioned above, there seems to be a slight floral taste. Just the right amount to make this a very enjoyable blend. I'm glad I bought this blend before reading anything about it as the "floral" thing might have put me off of trying it. A very nice blend from 4noggins!

This is a great smoke. It is naturally sweet with a taste that is smooth and easy to smoke. It has a little floral taste that I like and the crumble flake makes it easy to pack and keep lit. It smokes down to a fine white ash with no gunk left in the bottom of the pipe.

4noggins - Alamosa.

Rather than saying this is simply a broken flake, I'd call it more of a mixture; the bag contains many different shapes and sizes. As it's supplied in bulk form the moisture amount's great.

At the beginning of the smoke it tastes a bit 'lazy', it takes about five- ten minutes for me to get into it; there seems to be very little life until a burn has been established, and then it becomes quite a good smoke. It has a fruity sweetness but nothing to imply any form of topping; it's an all natural flavour. The Virginia's sweetness continues to develop as the bowl burns down, and by the last quarter it's beating the Perique by a landslide. I don't find this has that much nicotine to offer, I'd say it only becomes mild to medium at a push. The burn's consistent for a whole pipe, it can be enjoyed without much attention.

If the flavour was like the last quarter for the whole duration I'd highly recommend Alamosa, but the majority of the smoke deserves only three stars.

Recommended.

Roughly rubbed out flake -- almost chunky, it would be ideal as an outdoor smoke. For indoor smoking I need to rub this out more. Great VaPer taste where the Perique is subdued and the Vas remind me of Mac Baren HH Matured, but with the happy addition of a smidgeon of some kind of Lakeland style essence. This topping is very, very restrained, and merely borders on the Lakeland flavor, so don't dismiss this one out of hand.