Lane Limited Captain Black Gold

The first thing i noticed about this tobacco is that you can find it everywere, so i figured " that means something". The first guy i saw smoking pipe had all the captain black series. So it was my turn to try it... I don't understand what is all about this very "funny" tobacco. It's so mild that i think i eat an ice-cream, the taste is so sweet and over-aromatic that is for me the better way to stop smoking pipe. Not for my taste, i give 2 stars only for the room note. I forgot to say that my pipe had this smell for 2 days.

As an aromatic, this seems to be made with good quality leaf: you can see that by the fact that it smokes pretty cool, not extremely wet (for an aromatic,at least)and you won't need to relight a hundred times. It keeps the flavour throughout the bowl, and that's another good point. A good tobacco, if you like aromatics, and it isn't expensive, which helps too!

I believe the time has come for someone to do a comparison of the Captain Black line of pipe tobaccos from Lane limited. I have decided not to review the Red or Cherry Flavor as it is so different from the others and if you like cherry then you do, if not then only the others are relevant. This leaves:

Royal ( dark blue pouch ), Light ( light blue pouch ), Gold ( golden pouch ) Captain Black or ?Captain Black White? ( white pouch ).

Light ( light blue pouch ) :

The pouch says carefully selected tobaccos. It is a fine ribbon cut of toast colored light tobaccos. The tobacco is the driest to the touch of all the CB and also has the least noticeable pouch aroma ( which is still strong. It is still the same CB smell with an almost yogurt like quality or mildness to it. OK this stuff burns like an oil soaked rag. Produces a decent but short lived smoke and tastes of almost nothing and just kind of dries the pallet. The room note is perhaps the least pleasant of the CB but this is still within the famous pleasant room note of CB barely but not unpleasant. This is so light that it is probably the only one of the CB series that I could actually recommend to the novice as an almost non smoke ( I think one should try something like an English first as it bites less and will develop better skills so I wouldn?t recommend any CB to the novice, but hey whatever ). I personally wont finish the entire pouch or keep this stuff around. Burns to salt and pepper ash and leaves small black dottle in bottom of bowl. Somewhat harsh on the mouth more so than the other CB at least for me. The worst of the CB for me.

Gold ( golden pouch ) :

The pouch says matured golden Cavendish tobaccos. It is a fine golden ribbon cut. Not as dry to the touch as the Light but still somewhat drier than the others. It is however now getting sticky as are the others with exception of the Light. Same CB pouch aroma but stronger than the Light and weaker than the others. It boarders on that mellow yogurt like roundness to the aroma and the more overwhelming aroma of the other CB flavors. This stuff burns like wild fire, smoke is in good quantity but once again dry and short lasting somewhat aggressive on the pallet and hot. Light and I would recommend it over the actual Light as it has some flavor key work is some. Now we get that famous CB room note in a stronger sense. Once again small moist black dottle and a more salt than pepper salt and pepper ash. Better than the Light but worse than all the other CB for me. Won?t finish it or keep it around.



Captain Black or ?Captain Black White? ( white pouch ) :

The Pouch says rich black Cavendish and mellowed burleys. It is a kind of ribbon cut but shot and stubby. This is the stickiest of all the CB. An overwhelming pouch aroma the strongest of the CB. That famous killer room note and also somewhat harsh on the gums. Burns relatively well fore such a wet feel. Decent smoke but not heavy or very thick. I think of all the CB this is the most common and if only drug store brands are available and the Royal is not stocked then this is an acceptable alternative. The old standard is just that an old standard and will be around forever. I say give it a try once. I won?t keep it around but might smoke a few bowls of it since I have the pouch here.

Royal ( dark blue pouch ),

The Pouch says aromatic black and golden Cavendish. A ribbon cut of black and golden Cavendish. Somewhat sticky to the touch but not as much as the white. A good burn and decent smoke but not heavy and doesn?t last. The pouch aroma is strong but not as overwhelming as the white. Good room note with that expected CB smell. I think this is the best of the CB series. An acceptable smoke and the better of the drugstore finds. I wouldn?t pass up some GLPease for it but if nothing else is around I would reach for this over the others on the local hardware store shelves. I guess give it a try and se what happens. Yes watch out for the heat and bite if you are used to better tobaccos especially if you are used to English blends as the fine ribbon cut Cavendish?s laden with topper will burn hot and wet.

This is a better smoke then Captain Black White, at least for my tastes. The cavendish doesn't absorb the flavoring like the burly does in the White, making it less noticeable. While I still prefer a simple burley blend for my grocery store tobacco purchases, this is not bad for a aromatic. The price is a bit high since if I can make it to a pipe store I can select from jars of better aromatics, if I wanted one, for less money.

First of all, I don't care for the regular Captain black White that seems to be so popular. I was bored with what I normally smoke and thought that I would give the Gold a try. I was quite surprised by this tobacco. No tongue bite at all. It takes a little tamping and re-lights to get it going, but once it's going, it smokes well without very many re-lights. My wife likes the pleasant room note which is nice since we are entering into the Autumn and Winter months and the windows are all closed. I like smoking this while listening to classical music and find that it enhances my relaxation. If you like aromatic blends, give this one a try with your favorite music and perhaps a fine cup of coffee, but I do not recomend smoking this while drinking beer or wine as the flavors do not mix well and the beer will make your tongue burn (perhaps from the tobacco casing). I find that straight Burley is good with beer or wine.

I'm sure this is tobacco,it says it is on the package. This AROMATIC pipe "tobacco" smells good enough in the pouch to eat. It is fine ribbon/shag cut packs well,and lights like that charcoal that already has starter fluid in it,and thats only because the tobacco has so much flamable aromatic agent in it. There is no tounge bite but there is no tobacco tatse either.No thanks.

I tried Gold after White and Blue, and I just don't think it stacks up. It has the typical Captain Black cut and feel - that is, lots of PG.

I like the other Captain Black offerings mentioned above, this one just didn't do much for me.

By the way - I have noticed questions about the Captain Black pipes. I bought all three (Yeoman, Sentinel, and Helmsman). They take 6-8 weeks to arrive. All three are what I would consider a good value for the money spent. In fact, since two of them are less than the going rate for a Grabow in the drugstore, I would say pass on the Doctor, and go with the Captain. Even the Helmsman at 25 bucks is a good deal.

I felt left out, as I had never smoked Captain Black before. After smoking and tasting this, I can say it is very similar to 1Q. It is good to know that any local liquor store or drug store that I am near carries this tobbaco and I can fix my Cavendish jones.

The pouch that I purchased was very very dry. That was fine because it burned pleasantly, without a lot of need for relights nor goop at the finish. If it were more moist, I can see how the other reviewers could call it overly sweet.

To be honest, the flavor was quite mild, almost like smoking air. I don't think of myself as a presumptious pipe smoker, nor do I worry about where I purchased the tobacco or the cost. I would smoke this again. The room note was quite pleasant. I am sure this is quite the crowd pleaser.

Haha, I also ordered the pipe from the Captain Black Pipe offer for $21.95.

Update for Scotpipe - I will let you know how the pipe smokes when I receive it, I am not expecting much, but thought it would be fun to have as a collector's item.

This is not a review but a question for "Harley". I will try and delete it later.

I was wondering how his review would be on the pipe he ordered from Captian Black. I have seen the offer on the back flap and thought about ordering one. I was just wondering how you liked it. thanks - scootpipe