Hearth & Home Fusilier's Ration

I dislike krumble kake. No taste. Go for Bengal Slices instead, although it also has the kake presentation. If you like light crossover blends, you might like this.

Bordering on an 'Aromatic' - which I usually dislike intensely. This is a rare beast in that the predominant sweetness ('topping'?) does not, for once, ruin the smoke overall. It IS sweet, and sweeter than I normally smoke, but it just remains within the bounds, and so can be used as a full and very creamy smoke now and then when you fancy a change. There is a good deal going on in this one apart from sweetness, and you may have fun trying to pick out all the ingredients, which I find work quite well together to give a full and reasonably satisfying smoke. This one is a four-note chord in which you can hear all the notes; something dark, something spicy, something creamy (very) and something Turkish-like - and they are in harmony with each other, for once! For me, it's too sweet for everyday use, but nice once in a while.

This is a 4 out of 4. No brainer... earthy, musty, chocolate mocha, vanilla, mushrooms, briny peat, and sweet.. like a nice silky oyster stout. I'll leave it to JimInks for descriptions of the components as he did it better than I could. Smooth and smoky from the Latakia and spicy enough in the background to stay interesting. This will be in the rotation for years to come.

My bias is towards English/Oriental blends; my prejudice is against toppings. But variety is good, and the reviews of Fusilier's Ration were intriguing. I liked the first tin well enough to order more: good flavor and aroma, but most important the topping did not dominate. My experience with subsequent tins has been uneven. Perhaps the amount of topping varied with batches or I smoked it too much, but I found it beginning to cloy and hide the taste of the tobacco. At these times it helps to put the pipe down and let it (or the taste buds) rest a bit. Certainly it is difficult to isolate the flavors of the component tobaccos as some reviewers are able to do. And whether the topping tastes of plum or vanilla or brandy or... (as different reviewers guess), do you want to taste tobacco or a plum? For me, it is still a "three-star" blend, but one that might best be smoked about once a week.

Well...another outstanding blend from Russ O. My gosh is this good...almost better than golf!! LOL. I am sorry to say I have never had the opportunity to try the original blend that this blend was created to emulate...but I sure wish I was able to. The initial opening is just a wonderful smell of deep, rich Latakia. Just a wonderful aroma. I have several tobacco grinders of different diameter. I used a 2.5" wide teakwood on this. It came just a tad dry in the tin for my liking...no harm no foul. It did break apart easily though so I laid 2 strips side by side in the grinder and gave it a spin. If you prepare it this way you can pack it slightly tighter than you normally would. Puff slow though...it won't burn the tongue but the bowl will get hot. It burns nice and slow. I can't believe how smooth this blend is. I normally don't inhale...but I inhaled this and not a bit...I say again...not a bit of harshness at all... even at the end of the bowl. You get more of a kick if you just exhale thru the nose. And what a flavorful kick it is!! I tend to be a puffer and I still got no bite whatsoever!! This is a masterpiece. I love latakia...and this contains the perfect amount for my taste. The Oriental and Turkish gives it just the right amount of tang and balance. And it becomes sweeter and sweeter as you approach the end of the bowl. I think this is due to the Virginia. And the Cavendish is the perfect binder that holds all of this blend together. I don't taste the Virginia. But I believe that is where the sweetness comes in. I am not a Virginia fan...so I think it was perfectly blended into this blend. That says a lot! I have smoked many English/Balkan blends and so far....this is the BEST. Just a masterpiece of blending skill!! Thanks Russ!!! I think I just found my favorite blend!! I would give this blend 50 stars. But the box will only accept 4. Update: The next day I packed Peterson Dunmore 73 and had the same wonderful experience.

This is another class act from Russ Ouelette. I never smoked the original Bengal Slices, but this is a tasty smoke indeed.

I break it apart / rub out gently and drop two or three of the bigger chunks into the bottom of the bowl to cover the draft hole, then gravity feed the rest and pour the smallest crumbles on top. Packed GENTLY and with a gentle tamp during smoking I get a nice even burn and no need to relight. Don't puff too fast or it can heat up. The blend is slightly sweet, just a touch of spice but not too much, rich with leathery and dusky flavor and nice, dense smoke. To me the topping is only barely discernible and nicely done - just a tinge of fruitiness that adds some dimension and reminds me of the plum ("Pflaume") topping on Peterson University Flake (but without the UF nicotine blast).

The fullness of flavor yet concurrent mellowness of this blend makes it stand out to me as a keeper - will definitely keep some on hand.

My tin came in the traditional 1.76 'pancake' format a la Dunhill. The vacuum seal was impressive. My only complaint is that the paper disk laying directly on the top of tobacco was some kind of glossy black painted or printed material, and the paint (or ink) stuck to the flakes on top. Not wanting to smoke black paint (or varnish or whatever it is) I scraped away and discarded the tobacco that the paint stuck to. Plain paper / parchment would be a better choice for packing here.

All in all an awesome blend and worth keeping stocked. Four stars for sure.

This blend is definitely in my top 5. Which is odd, because I'm a huge fan of black cavendish. However, if you can't sit around a camp fire, then a bowl of this will be a great substitute. It inescapably reminds me of camping, and burns to a fine ash. It comes out of the tin smelling like a legit latakia, but it becomes so much more. I'd recommend it to to anyone even curious about it.

This one is really enjoyable. Arrived via pipesandcigars.com's current 3-for-2 sale on Hearth & Home blends. (They have one on Dunhill blends too!)

Only things I can add to the review by DK, who nailed it imo, are that: (1) I agree with Fr. Tom re the thinner smoke/mouth feel of this compared to other English blends; and (2) if I had to guess, the topping has a generous proportion of anise or licorice, but it's done well, with a gentle hand. Also, I found the nicotine level noticeable but far from overpowering.

I just smoked my first bowl of Fusiliers Ration. I can see this blend garnering a cult following. This was probably the most interesting new blend I have smoked in years.

The sample I had was shaped into little bars and rubbed out very easily. I was weary of the Lakeland tag Lord Noble spoke of but it only had the faintest aroma every so often. What I tasted was balls to the wall Orientals. Back in my young days I smoked Turkish nails blended with the same type of tobaccos used in pipe blends. I imagined myself hip smoking cigs out of a tin. I got this taste along with the Virginia sweetness. Sometimes a taste can take you back many years, this evening this happened. It burned down to a tiny dottle and my only complaint it was a bit hot owing to the VAs.

Russ Ouellette IMHO is on to something with this blend. I have no idea if there is any tinkering being done, but I like it the way I received it. I will be purchasing this when it is available for sale. KUDOS to you Russ!!

This was written by me after a few fellas from pipesmagazine.com received samples not knowing what he was trying to recreate. After I was smoking this blend for a few minutes the tastes and smells took me back years ago to when I smoked Bengal Slices. It was after I smoked it I was told, but as I said I had a good idea.

This blend has that subtle smell and a wonderful taste. Myself and a good friend after both smoking the sample and the tin version where banging are heads trying to figure out the topping. I don't think we will find out as I don't believe Russ is telling.

My only complaint is it's not available in 8oz tins or bulk. I am sure that will be coming in the near future.