Newminster No. 403 Superior Round Slices

Really great bold Kentucky flavor sweetened by Virginia. Balanced blend with medium nicotine content and a balanced flavor. Incredible for the price point. Definite recommend. Not an all day

I never did a review of it, but a couple of years ago I purchased a tin of Three Nuns, had about 2 or 3 bowls then gave the rest away. I felt I wasted my money for what it was. But after trying Newminster 403, I find it to be almost exactly the same, but at a much better price point.

My thoughts behind 403 is it does fill a void for me. While it's not a clone by any means, it reminds me alot of Orlik Dark Strong Kentucky. It's more mild then the description leads one. It's not a flavor bomb by no means, but it has a nice brown sugar and hickory flavor profile with marshmallow / vanilla note to it. At times while puffing slowly, I pickup on a dark fruitiness from the virginia's.It burns much better rubbed out then folded. No tongue bite or harshness.

It's not as potent as Orlik DSK but it does have a similar flavor.

This was gifted to me by a friend. When I opened the humidor I found the aroma to be slightly smoky, spicy, earthy and woody. I rubbed out the round slices and let them dry on a paper towel for 30 minutes. It seemed to be about perfect for smoking.

Having rubbed out the round slices I found the bowl to be easy to fill and the tobacco seemed to burn evenly at a medium pace yet warm. This clearly would bite if pushed. The smoke was not thick or billowy.

Lighting this proved to be a chore. I found I had to puff to get it lit and there were plenty of re-lights. The lighting gave a bit of a rough edge to it but after lit it burned pleasantly, and sipping it was smooth and a nice taste of honey combined with a tangy , grassy woody and rich earthy taste. In the background was a spiciness that was pleasant but if pushed would tend to get hot. A slight sour background appeared that was pleasant also. There was a lot going on in this smoke as it left a sweet and nutty aftertaste with a touch of pepper towards the end.

This burned down to a dark ash,left a bit of moisture in the bowl. A pleasant sweet with a touch of pepper aftertaste was in my mouth for about a half hour after smoking.

This was a interesting, complex and pleasant smoke that was hard to light and to keep lit at times and tended to give a rough edge when lighting. The different flavors seemed to at times vie for attention at times which was pleasant yet at other times it was like they battled with one surging forward then retreating and another then doing the same. Yet all in all, this was a pleasant smoke that I rather enjoyed. This smoke would go great while out at a campfire, while lunting out in the woods or as an early early morning smoke to get the day started. Definitely not an all day smoke. Yet a lot of fun to follow the flavors as they vie for your attention. I would definitely buy some and smoke it on certain occasions. a 3.3. out of 4 stars.

--21/5/2020--

Coins de virginias con un núcleo de kentucky.

Yo lo cargo entero, haciendo con varias monedas una carga media. Quema bien, no necesita de ser desmenuzado. Humedad perfecta, aún así si puedo lo dejo airea unos minutos.

Si lo cargas sin desmenuzar, de primero te viene sabores a heno, hierba, suave, nada áspera la fumada, con un fondo dulzón.

A medida que se quema el tabaco, te aparece el característico sabor del kentucky, sabores tostados, terrosos, a madera, pero de fondo sin dominar. Se mezclan sabores.

Es una mezcla suave, de fortaleza media, media baja. Con una carga de nicotina nada abrumadora. Se puede fumar a todas horas.

Considero esta labor muy de batalla, por sus características (amantes de kentucky, pero suave de fumar) y su precio. Muy recomendable si ésto es lo que buscas3 de 5

Bag note of sweet Virginia's and some dark fired. The dark fired is very noticeable and reminds me of BBQ. The bag aroma is great. Coins arrive a tad moist for me so dry time is needed. The coins are small and not uniform shape. Some are broken and some are bigger/smaller. They rub out easy and they also stuff easy. The first flavors are BBQ and sweet Virginia. The spice follows on the retrohale. As the smoke goes on I notice the dark fired less and less and the sweet Virginia's more and more. Totally not what I had expected from this blend but not in a bad way. My only gripe is that I have trouble keeping this lit regardless of pipe or pack method. I dry it out to be nearly crisp but I still struggle. I'll keep experimenting and maybe change my review and rating later.

Edit Dec 22 2019 I have found that keeping the coins intact and wading them into a medium sized pipe with a narrow bowl produces a good smoke. I pack this one very lightly and find that works best. I have changed my rating up to a 3. This is good and I will probably add more to the cellar at some point soon.

Edit March 5 2020. I think I was expecting more dark fired in this blend. The Virginia's are definitely the lead here and the smoky dark fired is the whisper that comes and goes. This is likely my final edit and I will leave my rating at a 3 out of 4 but this is good stuff and i feel good recommending it.

The first thing that struck me was the feel. The slices have an odd waxy finish, akin to buying an apple or vegetable from the grocery store with a protective film you need to wash off. Note: the reason for the mild topping rank. It didn't seem to affect anything, but struck me all the same.

The slices are smaller than previous rounds I've tried (e.g. Escudo Navy De Luxe), likely being cut from a tighter roll. They were certainly more interesting to look at, with dozens of tightly spun tobacco tornadoes just like the swirled burls on the grain pattern of the brier I was using. The aroma was pleasing, reminding me of a sweet wood used to make a keepsake chest with some sap/honey coming through, which was a nice change from the barn/hey smell I expected.

Smoked great and was long lasting, likely from the density of the rubbed out pieces. A bit of a sharp finish while smoking, but otherwise a clean nice smoke that was nicotine mild.

I will admit that my buds were somewhat burned out this week from heavy smoking, so I am willing to bet there are a few missed nuances here for you to discover as well.

This evaluation is based on broken up slices rather than whole stuffed slices.

This blend has taste off the bat. There is no waiting for flavors here. The smoke is mellow with an obvious spice flavor. Being in the mood for the spice or not will swing this up or down 1 star.

You can view my video review of this blend here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wVxE0wLI2cg

Newminster - #403 Superior Round Slices.

These coins aren't bad, but I like both the Stokkebye bullseye coins and Escudo better, although such is not really an apples to apples sort of comparison.

These'll bite some if you push just a little, I'd recommend letting them air dry a bit. The bite factor seems to mellow out some once you're into the bowl.

These taste a bit like they were doused with whiskey. Yep whiskey cavendish, that's what it reminds me of. It seems more or less noticeable depending on the bowl. Beyond that, taste is predominantly of the grass / hay virginia type while kentucky stays in the background. Really I don't taste the kentucky much at all but the mouthfeel and added nicotine power tells me that it's there. Not lousy, not impressive. Two firmly.

Picked this up as a free sample from P&C's. Having smoked DNS I thought this would be a good comparison. From the start, this tobacco came off very harsh. I did notice the Perique in the retrohale however the mouth feel was like I had hot sauce in my mouth. Not tongue bite just hot. I did notice grass hay quality to it. Moisture was perfect. I couldn't really taste much more than the aforementioned qualities. I didn't care much for this tobacco and will not order more.