Lane Limited Captain Black Gold

I was up north ice fishing and lost my day pouch of VA flake so while I was in the local market buying supplies I picked up a pouch of CB Gold. I thought to myself Grandpa used to smoke it so it can't be all bad. I forgot Grandpa used to consider A&C Grenediers fine cigars.

This truly is not what I would consider horrible tobacco though I would never consider adding it to my rotation. It packs nicely and lights evenly. CB has very little true tobacco flavor and way too much vanilla topping flavor for my taste. Unless you allow it to dry out for a while it will burn very wet and require frequent relights.

I can only give this blend 1 of 4. I would only consider smoking Lane Limited Captain Black if I couldn't find any A&C Grenediers.

This is a decent drugstore blend to have with your morning coffee. It has a light vanilla flavor and can be smoked easily without going out due to the thin cut.

It needs to dry out about 24 hours before puffing though (it’s way too wet out of the pouch).

It won’t wow you but it doesn’t have any offense aspects either. And when was the last time a straight Cavendish amazed anyone no matter who made it?

Also good for use as a blending component for leaf that is too strong in my experience.

This is my favorite of the CB blends. To me it has the least chemical taste and the most tobacco taste while still having the pleasant room note of an aromatic. One of the few gas station tobaccos I will be happy to smoke in a pinch. If CB and Borkum Riff are all that's available to you, try this one for sure.

Captain Black Gold reminds me an uncle of mine in the village i spent part of my childhood - he was smoking his pipe and I was sitting next to him keeping in my hand a plastic spoon with deep bowl filled with tobacco and pretending I was also smoking with him (I was less than 10 years old and spent time with uncle many summers). He was not talking, just looking at me with a smile, like he had a friend to smoke together their pipes. CBG is the first tobacco I smoked when started pipe smoking - and did smoke many-many pouches in many different pipes. Even though currently I am in English/Va/Vapers, occasionally i will fire a bowl with CBG to bring back these sweet and relaxing, innocent memories. The tobacco has a very fine ribbon cut and light goldish-to-brownish color. It welcomes you with a mild sweet aroma. It’s creamy and mildly sweet and very consistent through the bowl, for each bowl you smoke. The toppings are there, but not completely overwhelming and you can get the flavor of the tobacco at the same time. A nice parenthesis from my routine with (majorly) some English blends, virginia-based flakes and different new tobaccos I experience here and there. A solid 3-star blend for me, on the side of light tobaccos, light aromatics.

I will normally leave the tobacco to sit in the air for 10 minutes max for little drying. Then, I will fill in medium density a bowl, no need to compact it too dense, no need to make it very loose. In this way, and given that I will sit back and smoke slowly, it will burn at moderate pace - it generally needs a few relights, but due to its cut and good moisture level, it keeps well lit compared to other aromatics/blends. And it burns very, very cool I can say, as long as you don’t puff like train - the bowl can keep completely at room temperature, but needs to slow down and enjoy it slowly. Chance of bite? I never experience any single bite with CBG and we talk about non-filter pipes. What it does is that it leaves in my mouth and lips some little pleasant spiciness, which always makes me feel like the tobacco has some small dose of perique, though i have not found in any comments of folks to describe perique presence (but it does give me such an impression).

Yes, a corn cob, e.g. country gentleman, is one of the best options. I did smoke CBG in the past with a non-filter Rattray’s harpoon (Canadian type) which I use now for English blends and it really outperformed I can say.

Mild, sweet and tangy. Burns hot and requires slow cadence or a narrow pipe. Given the price and availability, its a consistent and safe bet. Leaves no foul room note at all. An all day smoke.

Another exceptional Captain Black tobacco. I really enjoy “golden” cavendish, using Virginia tobacco instead of burley as a base. Smoking slowly reveals some of the VA sweetness and hay underneath the always present but not overwhelming vanilla topping. The aroma is very pleasant and leaves the room smelling like a bakery. The cut of the tobacco is odd, comprised of excessively long ribbons as well as more granulated tobacco. I recommend drying the tobacco for a bit and packing the bowl loosely. This is a great unique addition to the captain Black line.

This is One of the most popular of the cheaper tobaccos I've bought. Totally OK for it's price. When smoked in a briar pipe it may give an unpleasant bitter aftertaste. Now when I smoke it in a corncob pipe it smokes like a charm. No bitterness, no bite. Try it in a Missouri meerschaum and you'll be surprised.

Reading some of the reviews makes me question my memory some. Seems to me the original C.B always had more flavor than Gold. At least that is how I recall it. Gold was toned down a couple notches on the flavorings, with a emphasis on the Virginia I suppose. I may need to re-smoke the series, to establish at my current age which one I like more. The last time I did, I preferred the original hands down. The gold was always well received on room note. I also remember it being a tastebud scalder, although that could've been me I suppose. Flavor as mentioned was mild as I recollect, but tasty. I believe only honey or vanilla was used. All I tasted anyways.

Edit: Bought a pouch at my grocery store on sale for $6.62 with tax out the door. My original observation was correct. This is just a sweet, vaguely distant creamish flavor. 2 or 3 steps down in flavor and room note than CBW. After a couple of small briars, this to me mainly tastes like very mild honey, and my tongue was already beginning to warn me. S.V. Plain Cavendish has a similar sweet honey flavor that'll do what this does for my tastes for less than $1 an oz. This CBG was over $4 an oz, and NOT a bargain even on sale. I'll put the rest in a jar for future inspection, but this'll definitely be the last pouch I buy of C.Black Gold forever. Honestly I've had a good bit of all the CB's and the White is still the best to me.

This is by far the best standard tobacco. If you smoked a lot and you don't know what to buy, and even if you smoked this before, buy it. Cheap tobacco and standard quality. Gets me every time. It is not the greatedt of all but nice quick choice.