Hearth & Home Cerberus

Cerberus smokes smooth and creamy throughout the bowl. The Latakia is noticeable and the Perique hovers in the background. I love this tobacco. The flavor is sweet with a hint of spiciness in the back of the throat. I've ordered a second tin for the "cellar" and highly recommend this blend.

Bought this a couple days ago, but don’t know the age of it as the tin is not dated, but the ribbon had dried out some so I’m gonna guess that this tin is at least a year old.

With that being said, this is slightly Latakia forward at the beginning of the bowl, but not so much as to be a Latakia bomb, and the sweetness of the other tobaccos play a more prominent role in the 2nd half. The balance of sweet, savory, spicy and slightly exotic make this a very complex English blend. This smokes cool and clean and the Cavendish slows the burn rate so the bowl lasts a while and that’s okay because you might want just one more puff. This is has a pretty good nic-hit so it may not be an all day smoke for most, but I don’t get palate fatigue from the various Oriental components. This is a solid 4 for English lovers.

Hearh and Home Cerberus- Cyprian Latakia forward blend but not a lat bomb . The Orientals are close behind with savory sweet and sour slighty buttery and spice . The Virginias add just enough sweetness. The Kentucky is obvious from first light to the end . I barely taste any perique to be honest . I have been smoking quite a bit of HH Syrian lately and this Cerberus is similiar but not as smooth and refined and rougher around the edges IMO . This is a little heavy on the Latakia and Kentucky for me . I do like it though . Russ does some nice blends but they are TOO DRY out of the tin ! I had to hydrate this as it was unsmokeable out of the tin . Not good for aging either . I like to age my tobaccos and this is not the first time I have encountered this problem with the Hearth and Home blends . I cannot buy any more until I hear this problem is fixed . I will give it 3 stars because it is good .

Not complex, even flat, if not monotonous. Even though dark-fired Kentucky bring more dimensions, it make Cerberus harsher and distracting.

Agree with the Lit a Kia's review: "borders on a cigarette or cigar-like taste and aroma. Suspect the Kentucky, but who knows? Could be the Orientals and/or Perique too. "

Yes, I can tell you just because of Kentucky.

I totally agree with King Weed's review:

"The smoking qualities of this blend are also confined to a rather narrow range at the top of the bell-shaped curve. Compared to HH vintage Syrian it smokes somewhat flatly and never strays very far from that median taste and aroma position already mentioned. I don't find anything overtly wrong with this blend but, on the other hand, I don't find anything that makes it stand out from it's very crowded medium English field."

By the way, I have compared Cerberus with Black House side-by-side: it is much stronger than Black House, which is mellowed by the Black Cavendish.

Pipe Used: churchwarden

Age When Smoked: three months

Purchased From: 2 oz tins from pipesandcigars

This one is a big, Lat-heavy blend, with the spicy and robust Kentucky playing a major supporting role. To me, it's more of an American English and reminiscent of a few Pease offerings.

The Perique adds some body but is eclipsed by both the other dark-leaf varietals. It's dry and savory, but a bit ponderous and not as complex as I was expecting. It's more of a brute force, in-your-face, dark leaf composition. I prefer Blackhouse and Bengal Slices over this from Russ.

I received my tin of Cerberus in the mail with a few other tins. I noticed the Cerberus tin wasn’t concave on the top and bottom like the other tins. So I gave it a slow easy twist, and sure enough the seal was broken. I opened it up and the tobacco was drier than a box of Corn Flakes. I carefully poured it into a mason jar, added a half dozen or so drops of distilled water, sealed it and waited. A few days later I opened it and the moisture was just about where it should be. More fluffy than crunchy.

I immediately taste the smoky Latakia, the sour spiciness of the Orientals, and the musty earthiness of the Perique. The Virginias seem to be of the bright variety, I taste a citrus note which enhances the Orientals. I’m not sure if I taste the Dark-Fired, but I’m sure it’s there complementing and strengthening the Latakia. Russ did an excellent job in creating this delightful blend. Another fine addition to the Marquee series!

I’m not sure how much effect drying it and rehydrating it has on the flavor. Another reviewer, HobgoblinTA96, had the same problem and thought it tasted “brass-like” after rehydration. I suppose the sour spicy Orientals together with the Bright Virginias might be described as brass-like...

The three heads of the Cerberus are the Latakia, Perique, and Dark-Fired Kentucky. The body is the Orientals and Virginia…

This is the first latakia blend that I have liked. It smoked very cool and smooth with now bite, even when pushed fairly hard. Smokes down to ashes with no effort at all. Would be a great latakia blend for a newb to pipes and pipe tobacco.

Tin note of barbecue and dirt. Tobacco is brown, tan and black ribbon cut. Moisture content is ok. Drying may be preferred by some. No prep needed. Burns moderate with few relights. The strength is medium and nic is mild. No flavoring detected. Taste is medium to full and mildly consistent, with complex notes of smoky, peaty, leather, earth, spiced bread, incense, spicy, very woody, floral, herbal, orange peel/zest, quite dry, mildly of sour dark fruit, sweet grass, a mild tangy citrus and buttery nut background note, and a very peppery retro. Latakia is leading with Oriental/Turkish, Virginia and Perique supporting. Kentucky is mostly supporting from afar. Room note is tolerable, and aftertaste is great.

As I begin I have to admit that H&H make two of my favourite English blends: Whiteknight and Blackhouse, with Magnum Opus still growing on me. I love the depth of flavor and the quality blending and I have to say I havent been dissapointed yet. Buying this blend was a case of seeing the tin description online at Smoking Pipes and it simply intrigued me. Plus back in the day someone generously sent me a sample to try. Perique, Kentucky, and Latakia now those are some of my favourite things.

Opening up the tin and taking a deep breath leaves me with nothing short of satisfaction. There's deep, rich, earthy tones matched by a tangy sweetness. The Perique has a notable mustiness. Maybe this is just my Scotch playing tricks on me but I can sense a faint saltiness in the aroma. You can tell this is a Latakia blend and a rich one at that, which is really what I've come to expect from H&H's English offerings. The tobacco itself does come more on the dry side, at least my tin did. It packs just fine, and the humidity level means this had no trouble lighting up.

Even with the dryness this blend smokes pretty cool, and really benefits from slow steady puffs. When you do it right it opens up to some great taste. It's a little peppery, and woody with a typical Latakia creaminess. It's slightly leathery. There is a herbal quality to the smoke from the Turkish leaf but it's not necessarily in every puff and when it does come through though it's a nice change of pace. Even though I'm smoking it in a bigger bowl right now, I think it does better in a smaller bowled pipe and I've been using a Savinelli Dante pot for that purpose.

Strength wise I wouldn't call this a strong blend by any means but it's also not Early Morning Pipe. The taste and feel of this one is a medium full, it fills the mouth and the smoke is creamy and to an extent chewy. It needs a few extra relights but that shouldn't be a problem. All in all I give this blend 5 stars a solid English: rich and nuanced.