Lane Limited 1-Q

If 1-Q was a religion, it would be the sit in your pew, sing quietly and try not to go out of key, and certainly don’t make any waves that might get noticed kinda church . Yah, the congregation’s friendly enough and the priest sure knows how to keep to a 5 minute homily about how we should all be nice folks, oh, and we can dress down here on Sunday mornings too……it’s a nice place to visit, but I wouldn’t wanna do it every day as there’s so much more to the world…. Or maybe a better analogy would be to listen to Glenn Miller over Thelonius Monk because I just can’t understand brilliance over the way music oughta be. That’s my take on Lane Ltd. 1-Q , but I can see why it’s the most popular tobacco on the planet. It is a quality pipe tobacco that never gets hot and burns well with a little to much flavoring for my taste and that’s why I give Half and Half a full star over 1-Q, it just has more character. I recommend this for beginners who have limited expectations of pipe tobacco.

As a newly returned to the hobby smoker (having smoked a pipe moderately between 1983 and 2003), I expected to enjoy this tobacco more. At first, I assumed my problems were due to having to relearn how to smoke slowly and to savor a pipe, or the fact that I had a brand spanking new briar pipe to break in (a Briarworks Bent Bulldog), or some combination of both. I ended up with a case of tongue bite like I never remember having before. So, I went to other pipes, and other mild and moderate Burley Blends. No problem. They burn well. They stay lit. They smoke cool. They seem to have a bigger nic hit which is not necessarily a positive, but otherwise, I feel like a champion pipe smoker with a nice burley blend (be it Founding Fathers, HH Burley Flake, or Butternut Burley). I don't know what it is with 1Q in this particular pipe, but it burns my tongue, it goes out often (and I've tried leaving the bag open for a couple of days), and my tongue is so unhappy by mid bowl, I don't dare try to relight it at the bottom of a bowl. I have a new Peterson 221 that I'm breaking in with burley blends--and it is visibly building cake after 2 bowls. 5 bowls of 1Q in the briarworks pipe and it still looks brand new. So, consider this a status report. I plan to try some burleys in the briarworks pipe. I plan to try 1q in a cobb I have coming and in the peterson. Maybe it's the pipe? I suspect it's the blend though. I'll report back in a couple of weeks. I have yet to scour the 300 plus reviews of this blend on this site to find anyone with a similar experience with this blend. It's so popular I can only assume the problem is with me. But for the tongue bite and what I expect is a bit too much moisture in my bag, I enjoy the taste and aroma of this blend. I just have better luck smoking less/non aromatic burley blends. I tried Nutty Irishman in the same pipe as 1q and had a similar experience. So, this is my first review and take what I say with a hefty grain of salt as I relearn this hobby.

Boring and sweet, it doesn't have a good room note or flavor. It's the most recommended tobacco I've come across, and I bought 7 oz thinking I'd like it for sure. The first jar didn't live up to the hype.

I threw away some to open up a jar for other tobaccos. Now I'm smoking from the second jar. Nothing special, so I keep it in the garage for when I'm crafting something and don't need/want to stop and think about the tobacco I'm smoking

First order of business, an open and honest personal admission. I am not a routine and significant consumer of aromatic tobacco blends. Unlike in the beginnings of my venture into the world of piping, nowadays my personal preferences tend to lean more toward the complex mixtures. Nonetheless, I have smoked just a virtual plethora of different aro products from different blenders over the years. As such, I do bring an experienced and informed opinion for discussion. So, let us get that reference out of the way for now, but do take that initial statement for what it is worth.

At present, nonetheless, I do like to partake in the occasional diversion of enjoyable but a select collection of aromatics blends. When I say select, what I mean is that is the sum result of smoking a wide spectrum of available products and parsing those down to a handful of characters that I would consider my “go-to’s” for the aromatic genre.

Now we come to Lane Limited’s 1Q. In all my past glory I had never tried this mixture. Why, I’m not sure? 1Q it is probably one of the most readily available product offerings at the countess scores of B&M’s and e-retailers in operations today. In deference to Lane’s accomplishment, this mix is in fact, one of the largest selling pipe tobacco blends on the market today.

It is almost predictable when a novice pipe smoker asks for recommendations from the more experienced crowd on which blends to try, they are inundated with a barrage of popular aromatics from the usual suspect blenders. 1Q is ALWAYS one that is mentioned. So, I thought, what the heck and finally purchased an ounce to see what all the buzz was about.

Lane Limited’s 1Q is relatively inexpensive relative to other competing blends, which is a significant plus that I cannot deny. It is a stereo-typical of the genre in summation. A principally Virginia-based recipe combining bright leaf with golden Cavendish (VA) infused with vanilla and more than likely cased in honey based upon the flavoring. The presentation is a genuinely nice ribbon-cut appearance with consistent texture and pillowing. The pouch note of this tobacco is generally a light sweet perfume of decided vanilla-caramelly essence with just trace notes of the native grassy nuisances from the based tobacco. Like most aro’s, 1Q is a characteristically wet straight out of the bag and therefore requires a considerable level of set-up for optimum burning.

Upon lighting, one will experience a very light airy, thin-bodied but smooth textured smoke. 1Q is most definitely a very, very mild and uncomplicated recipe. It is, quite honestly, unimpressive as to body and richness in the plume that it does produce. The ensuing room note is very light, fleeting, but pleasant.

Regarding the taste, the additive casing and topping dominant the experience. What you taste is the full presence of the sweeteners and almost no native tobacco flavors. Regardless, it does offer a pleasant register of rich vanilla/honey and darker caramel notes. There is that standard astringent chemical aftertaste that lingers on your tongue unfortunately. I kind of equate that to the sensation one gets when licking the adhesive on a mailing envelop. You know the sticky, dry, chapped lips feeling. It’s an aromatic which is par for the course.

I felt that 1Q burned a little hotter and is somewhat goopy in the bowl despite that extended drying effort. This is more than likely the affect of the added sugars/steams produced by the burning of the same. I did not, however, receive any tongue bite or blistering which was appealing.

Overall, I see this as a middle of the road for the subject category. It is a nice light mixture that offers an abundance of sweetness; reminds me of the Captain Black family. Personally, I have had livelier, quality-blended aromatics. 1Q did not wow me by any means; too light on native taste/body and overall presence. Having stated all that, this does not detract from the mass appeal of this tobacco to many enthusiasts. If you favor a sweet light airy, unassuming blend then you probably will like 1Q. It is cheaply priced and readily available; two big pluses. A simple pleasing all-day smoke that can be enjoyed by many. Just didn’t float my boat.

As I smoked this blend for the first time I kept trying to remember what flavor I had read it was supposed to have. I finally settled that some people must think this tastes like vanilla. I wouldn't go that far, its a bit like vanilla, little bit creamy as well and definatly sweet. If I had smoked a half bowl I would consistantly give this a three star, the flavor is not my favorite but not at all unpleasant eather. However, a little over halfway a bitterness starts creeping in and the bottome quarter is not worth smoking at all. I tried this in some briar pipes to start but after a bit decided it needed to stay in a cob where it smokes a little dryer and doesn't impact my other pipes and tobaccos. The room note and benefit of being pleasant to those around you is definatley worth noting. The kids actually told me I smelled nice after I came back from a walk with this tobacco. Overall for me its not really something I can see myself coming back to but does fit a niche as something with a nice room note.

This tobacco has a nice scent, but is very mild. Almost like smoking air. The pouch note was good and the moisture was just right, but I was not impressed. It will not bite, and does not require a lot of relights. Burns all the way to the bottom of the bowl at an average speed but just lacks substance.

There are plenty of vanilla aromatics out there, yet this one happens to be the most popular one of choice for tobacco connoisseurs. However, I don't think this is the best vanilla aromatic out there, but this is a blend that I will always recommend to beginners just getting started out in the hobby. It burns well and evenly for an aromatic, and smells great to anyone sitting around you.

UPDATE: Dropping my rating of this blend from 3 to 2. Still a great aromatic - it's just that there's much better ones out there. I recommend Sutliff Vanilla Custard.

I smoked this on a regular basis many years ago, treated as a stand alone vanilla flavoured Virginia, I found it to be a little dull and flat, although the vanilla did just about made itself known. Mixed with an equal part quality black Cavendish, this became an excellent all day aromatic with a very pleasing room note. I have now departed from the aro scene, preceding by far Virginia plug tobacco.

1 1/2 stars as a stand alone and 1 1/2 stars if mixed, which would give it a 3 star rating, but alas, we are reviewing the vanilla / Virginia offering, ergo 2 stars.

A safe blend if your looking to sway a closed one to the dark side. The sweetness is vanilla, caramel, honey, but not overpowering. That said, there is minimal tobacco to be tasted here. The note is very pleasant, matching the taste. Smokes fairly clean without excessive relights/moisture.