Lane Limited LEO

A Virginia forward English. The strongest nuance is the sweetness followed by smokiness from the Lat and a little tanginess from the Oriental. The Virginias seem to be of the bright variety and my personal preference would have been for some reds. The brights in this blend don't bite, but they make my lips tingle slightly. I seem to always have that reaction to them. Regardless, I found myself enjoying this blend. It's a very good smoke. There did seem to be a very mild added sweet touch. 3+.

I haven't smoked the other two competitors in the John Cotton throwdown, but this one strikes me as very similar to the original. In the old days I smoked #1, #2 and #'s 1&2. I never cared for #1 as it was way too light for my tastes, but I loved #2 and smoked it until it was taken out of production. This left the 1&2 blend and I smoked it off and on until it also disappeared. It was never my first choice among englishes although I thought it was quite good. I always seemed to prefer blends with a little more backbone, like Dunhill 965 or Balkan Sobranie 759.

Moving forward to the present, we have the throwdown blends. I knew that Leo Wortzel of Lane Ltd. had been successful in his Leo blend as soon as I opened my first tin. Leo looks quite similar to the original, has a tin aroma very similar to the original and smokes quite like the original. Therein lies the issue - as the original blend was good but not my first choice, so its the same with Leo. The current blend is a little too light blond, a little too light on the latakia and smokes with a very high register. Today I would prefer something like Hearth & Home's Ambassador's Blend or McClelland's Wilderness - more complex mixtures with a higher latakia content and something toasty and brown in the middle range.

There is nothing wrong with the Leo blend. It just lacks complexity. But I like it and have put tins away to see how it will age. I'm smoking a tin right now and am beginning to use it in microblending - recommended with three stars.

I'm sorry, but I don't remember the John Cotton blend this was suppose to replicate, that said, this is a good but not a great blend . It is a Virginia forward blend with slight Oriental support( not "Traditional English" as advertised). When you first open the tin you get an "Olive Brine" scent tin note, very similar to Mac Baren's HH Mature Virginia's tin note. The blend is mild and has a sweetness from the Virginias and without bite, however, the blend tends to get ashy and hot as you reach the half bowl and the smoke never develops into anything interesting. Overall not bad, but just boring, why buy again?

3/12/14 Updated- I just revisited this blend after about 3 weeks and have found a few changes. The tin note is gone, which is fine with me , but when tried in a tall cob, the smoke is sweet , like a honey topping, isn't ashy or hot and no bite. It really only shows the Virginias with minor Latakia support. I really enjoyed this as a mild sweet smoke. However , when tried outside in a calm breeze and in an Ozark Maple the smoke was flavorless hot and ashy. My recommendation would be smoke this in a cob and stay out of the breeze . I'm moving this up to three stars, a little more body and it would be 4 star

PS I just noticed "King Weed" following me again !!!! Uncanny , liked your review and agree. I also think reviewer "DK" nailed the review.

Having never had the John Cotton blends, i have nothing to base my memories on which to me means i am reviewing LEO based on its own merits.. I knew just as soon as i opened the tin that LEO would be a very light English blend. Standard easy to loans ribbon of Virginia, Latakia Orientals. The Virginia leads the way most of the bowl but the condiments do show up around mid bowl. I prefer a much more stout bowl so mixed in some Elizabethan Mixture that added the perfect amount of Perique, There is a niche for a mild English type blend like this and as i have stated before i applaud Leonard Wortzel VP of Marketing & Product Development for Lane for being so involved in our hobby (his business) and recommend LEO for a refreshing light yet tasty English,

This blend added immensely to my understanding of both English blend balancing as it pertains to the proportions of Vas, as well as in bright Virginia versus red Virginias. While there is a base tin note involving latakia, such as Nightcap, its visibly loaded with primarily tans and blonds.

Packs very well, perfect slightly tacky moisture, uniformly ribbon...albeit one inch long twig (bordering on a branch really). This blend smokes cool, burns slow and easy. Its relatively mild, I noticed no real nic hit at anytime in my experience with Leo.

Taste-wise Leo is Va forward sweet. Some interplay b/t lats and orientals, changing throughout bowls. All in all worthy of attention, I would think it would be attractive to both english and Va lovers.

I intend to cellar a few tins soon, as the Va content should lend this blend well to aging.

A nicely balanced, 'inoffensive' latakia blend tolerated by friends and family. Perfect for those times when one simply wants to relax and contemplate one's navel, and not have to deal with a heavy-on-the latakia concoction. A pleasant mild and mellow dose of Latakia ably supported by fragrant Orientals.

I just smoke my first bowl of it while I write the review. I'm somewhere at the middle of the pipe, but I got enough impression in order to write a few words. This is more of a Virginia than Latakia blend. Latakia stays hidden and if you don't pay attention, you might think you smoke a pure straight forward VA. And the bright "grassy" one too. The exact grassy note that is present in the new Germain's Balkan Sobranie. But here it's much more present and makes the main course. There are also Orientals, one can almost detect them, and Latakia of course, but in all the smoke is somewhat Virginyish all the way.

Not bad, but if you like the Oriental spiciness and Latakia smokiness, and expect to find them here, you're gonna have a bad time.

I'm gonna give this 3 stars, just because I've smoked only one bowl, I might get to like it in the future.

Edit: I'm halfway through the tin, and have smoked nothing but that for the past days. It really is a good smoke, and I'm tempting to give it 4 stars. I just finished a cob with it, and didn't even wait to cool down, packed another bowl immediately. Moreover I even started to like that virginia note that bothered me in the new Balkan Sobranie. Good smoke, really good smoke.