Hearth & Home Steamroller

I'm getting some vanilla or other sweet additive in this one. It does have some strength to it but to me its not overwhelming. I guess I was expecting something a lot more natural tasting. I would put this in the category of Strong(er) Aromatic.

Ok Gents now hold onto your support hose when you light this one up. This Blend is simple Burley Latakia Perique Cavendish & Virginia all upfront at the same time Wow. I really like this blend because you can taste all the tobacco dancing in and out. The Burley has its nutty High Nicotine Voltage The Latakia is Punjent The Perique is so Peppery and Curant in Aroma The Virginia is sweet and smokey The Cavendish Softens the cool Blue Smoke. Nicotine Level is good and Strong. This is a FUll BLEND I LOVE IT I almost dont mind paying the ridiculous sales tax on this blend Better then Five Brother and Three collins Blends from years ago.

I definitely will recommend this blend. While it contains a wide assortment of tobaccos, I personally think of it as first and foremost a burley blend. Of course it does not taste like straight burley, but that is the main flavor and driving force behind this tobacco.

There is enough latakia to spice things up and give a deeper flavor. A pinch of perique adds further intrigue and depth without stealing the show.

All in all it is a deep, rich, easy smoking tobacco with enough flavor and strength to really satisfy in most circumstances. Like most of the blends I've tried from Russ, it arrives a touch on the dry side and burns very easily, almost quickly. It also takes very well to rehydration if your tastes lean towards a moister tobacco, but it seems to be completely devoid of PG so expect it to dry out again quickly if you do not keep it in a jar appropriately sized for the amount you have on hand. While it is a blend complex in it's ingredients, I wouldn't suggest expecting a symphony of flavor. Like I said, its flavors are predominantly burley with a small helping of latakia and only a moderately noticeable amount of perique. The other tobaccos present are, of course, necessary to produce the blend as it is, but their individual flavors seem lost in the mix.

Overall this is a great go-to blend. Deep, earthy, and rich, with an agreeable level of nicotine that won't overwhelm this smoker. It's reasonably priced and brings to mind what I can only assume would pass at the top of the line for American smokers in the old days, replete with exotic tobaccos to round out and enhance their beloved burley.

This would likely be a bit strong for those whose tastes tend to gravitate towards very mild smokes, but I don't really think twice about loading a pipe with it. Then again, I'm not averse to smoking Irish Flake, Old Joe Krantz, or Kendal Dark for my first smoke of the day, so take that for what it's worth.

I ought to mention that this is one of the blends I smoke whose flavor is most dependent on the pipe chosen. In a cob, which I normally choose for this blend, it tastes most burley-forward, but in my sole meerschaum pipe the latakia becomes more notable. A briar renders a little more latakia flavor than a cob, but not nearly as much as the meer.

I've been waiting for a more experienced pipester to review this blend, but after checking over the last couple of weeks, I'll dive in and be the first. Steamroller is without a doubt one of the best blends I've tried so far from Russ at H & H, and I've smoked at least a dozen of their blends. I've been looking for a higher nicotine blend with complex notes and depth of character, and, boy, have I found one! Russ not only hit a home run with this one but won the World Series in the bottom of the ninth inning. It's amazingly balanced for a blend with so many different components; I can't find any room for improvement with this one. Forgetting the nic-kick which initially caught my attention, it just tastes great! Leave it to Russ to coax the smoothness and complexity to the forefront with such a robust blend. I usually smoke this tobacco straight, as is, but also use it as a blender for much milder blends like Anniversary Kake and Ambassador's Blend when I want a little more vitamin N later in the day. That's right, it complements both VA and English Blends, at least in my humble opinion. Other reviewers that follow will have to go into more detail on the nuances and comparisons with other tobacco blends, but I will be ordering a large quantity of Steamroller this week just so I can sleep well at night and not worry about running out! To quote James Taylor from the song with the same name: "I'm a Steamroller baby; I'm gonna roll all over you..." It did! Thank you, Russ, and all at H & H, pipesandcigars.com.