House of Calabash For Meershaums Only - Reserve Blend

The For Meerschaum's Only Reserve is a very different style blend. At different times each of the tobacco's come in to play. The aged Burley is ever present and the Orientals play off them very well but I think the star is the aged Turkish tobacco which adds a richness to the smoke. Now and then there is a speck of spice from the Perique. The Virginia has a sweetness now and then, but very much in the back ground. The Latakia is subdued but ever present. This blend is not a Lat Bomb. If that is what you like, this is not for you. But if you like a light to medium American style English, this might be perfect. This blend is very well balanced. You might think with all the different tobaccos that the taste could be muddled. It is not. It's like an ensemble play, each of the tobacco's play a part but don't dominate the stage. It seems a lot of effort went into getting the proportions right. If this blend doesn't make you think about what you are smoking, nothing will. For me this is not a blend for doing chores. It would be wasted under those conditions. This is for smoking and enjoying. Either with an adult beverage or after dinner or maybe with good company (if they smoked). Maybe reading a book or surfing the web. Doing something that would let you pay attention to it. This is not for someone who wants to smoke but doesn't like the taste of tobacco. This is for someone who loves the taste of tobacco!

Generous sample from Flatbush Paul below, whose review is spot on. This came to me much more moist than I usually prefer, but it seemed to work best for me in that state. No problems with gurgle or with lighting. Nice chocolate color with specks of black. Bag aroma was heavenly! Mostly burley with a touch of latakia and some incense-like essence from the Turkish.

In the bowl this blend was very tasty and of excellent temperament. I do tend to push new blends hard at times to see how they behave under extreme puffing. This one flew with barely a whimper - just a hint of bitterness. When puffed normally, this had a nice old-fashioned flavor that reminded me of OTC's gone by. There was a hair of sweetness and the everpresent latakia lent its wisp of smokiness, but the stars were the burley and the turkish. As with the First Pipe blend, this blend did not go overboard on that old burley descriptor of "earthy" but it leaned it that direction. The turkish pulled it back and added the spicy incense... not too much, but just enough to elevate this blend to well beyond the normal. It took me a couple of bowls to get into this, but it was worth both the time and the dollars I'll be investing in this and First Pipe. If you want something that is both old-timey and somewhat radical, this is one to try. Four stars all the way.

Mr. Books has a blending style which is unique in my experience. No one tobacco predominates -- unless it's burley -- and the whole is greater than the sum of the parts. This is NOT a latakia blend, rather, it's a blend which contains latakia. It's definitely in the American English idiom.

These blends burn well, require no drying time, and are generally easy to work with.

That said, I did find this blend a bit spicy, with some mild bite mid bowl.

It's well worth trying his blends, they are unique, and if you find you like one, well, you probably will like more than one, as there are a lot of similarities between the four or so blends I've tried.

Disclaimer: my opinions are based on a relatively small sample, about four bowls, smoked in briars.

After smoking this blend for awhile, I'm finally starting to appreciate it. Elusive at first, in a larger Pipe and with an unhurried frame of mind, it sings softly. A ragtime song of summer long past, it takes me quietly into the evening. Like a sunset, it's at it's best before running into the night leaving a semi-sweet aura to mark it's passing. Not bad..., not bad at all. Sweet Virginias tempered with a small amount of Perique provide support for the aged Burley and Turkish varietals to provide a haunting depth of character. A distant campfire comes to mind as the Latakia provides counterpoint to this melody of reminiscing. As this Fez Meerschaum Figural will attest, it makes your eyes light up to new beginnings with no regrets with the remains of the day. Meerschaum Man smoking a Yanik Fez

What a great tobacco. Steven Books is indeed a master blender in the truest sense, in that he truly knows how to blend tobacco so that each component is in perfect harmony with the others.

FMOR is a cool and even burning tobacco, rich in flavor but mild in strength, creamy and very satisfying. The pouch aroma is wonderful. The aged Burley made my mouth water with anticipation. I loved the aroma so much that I took to sleeping with the pouch under my pillow to induce sweet dreams. (I'm not kidding about this!)

FMOR is a great tobacco as is all of Steven's blends. I will be certain to have a supply of this on hand.

Soli Deo gloria!

This is a very well blended tobacco. I started with it in a good meerschaum, but I find I like it best in a medium sized briar. It arrives nearly ready to smoke and for me, only needs a short dry time. There is a wonderful mix of flavors as there is a lot going on here. Mr. Books does an excellent job of balancing the wide varity of tobacco in this blend with no single tobacco stealing the show. There is also a slight sweetness that complements the blend well. For lack of a better term, there is a bit of an "old school" taste to the blend that I really enjoy. Highly Recommended!

The bag smells fantastic, like a Latakia blend was mixed with a vanilla Cavendish. Strangely, Cavendish isn't listed in the contents and it has no mention of a topping/casing. This is a very mild flavored smoke. The latakia is very subtle but ever present. It reminds me of Frog Morton with Burley. I have two issues with this tobacco. It bites. You have to take your time with this when you smoke or you will get a bit of a bite about mid bowl. For a Balkan blend this is unusual. I'm not sure if there's a component of the blend that is too dry (visually this doesn't appear to be the case) or too sugary (no mention of flavoring). I guess the name should have tipped me off to use a meershaum! It is also really expensive! Other wildly popular blends sell for half the price. At any rate, it has a great flavor and is a wonderful smoke. I would be interested to read a tobacco brake down of the content by other experienced blenders.