Lane Limited Captain Black Original (Regular)

Hey it's not a 4 star tobacco but for a drugstore blend, it's a good old fashion cavendish. How can ya disagree? Not an everyday smoke but when I feel like a classic cavendish, i reach for Capt Black.

This stuff was all right. One dimensional with not a whole lot to experience. On the other hand this stuff is really good if your smoking it for what its worth. Never bites and its fairly sweet. Its a blend that you just put it in and smoke. no concentration required so its great if your driving or mowing the lawn or doing something while your smoking. It may end up being a regular for me but only for those times when I want to smoke and don't want to think about it at all.

Every so often I catch my wife in the kitchen in the middle of the night, eating one of my signature chocolate creations in the dark. I can't say squat, because she occasionally catches me with a bowl of CBW, whereupon she gives me one of those "if-this-gets-out-you'll-be-ruined" looks.

Laugh if you will, but the good Cap'n has probably started more poor souls down the path of destruction than any single blend. For that alone, it's worth a casual retry, just as I'll occasionally visit the old neighborhood to check out my old haunts, only to discover that.....

you can't go home again.

For a Lane aromatic, Captain Black White is a decent tobacco. I purchased it in a 1.5 oz. pouch for $5 and think that one can get higher quality tobacco for less money, but it is not a complete waste of cash. It is less goopy than I imagined it would be, though that PG quality to the tobacco is definitely there. The aromatic aspect is also surpringly subdued at the beginning of the smoke but crescendoes towards mid-bowl and quickly decrescendoes at the last quarter bowl. This aspect is creamy sweet with a slightly floral edge--perhaps like a good irish cream. I have had no problems keeping it lit or smoking it to the bottom of the bowl. It burns to an even gray ash and leaves only a little residual taste in the pipe that will be pretty much eliminated in one or two bowls of another tobacco. Probably its biggest plus, the room note is very good and even non-smokers tend to like it. The casing is ever-present and defines the character of the smoke, but it is not unpleasant or overwhelming. I prefer to temper its sweetness in a clay, but a small meer or briar can work as well.

Like many pipe smokers, this is the first brand of pipe tobacco I ever had. People call it a drugstore blend, which I suppose it is, but the quality level is above that (though still below tins). The taste is pretty strong vanilla.

Like everyone in here says, the aroma is awesome. The smoke has a sweet, vanilla-esque aroma that is really something. I can definetely see how people would want to smoke this in front of company that might be traditionally hostile with pipe smoke. To my surprise, I had at least a few people comment on how good the aroma was.

Despite what everyone else in here says, I had a difficult time keeping this stuff lit, even when I gave it time to dry (and it -never- dries).

Overall not a bad blend, though maybe not the best beginner one (it's too harsh and doesn't stay lit very well).

Edit: Meh, I reduced the positiveness of the review. The thing is, this tobacco is quite harsh. I don't know what it is (added chemicals? burley?). The biggest blow to this tobak for me is the fact that it isn't actually cheap. They sell a 1.5oz pouch for $4.79 around here, and the truth is that it's actually cheaper to get more or less the same thing out of a jar, minus the bizarre chemicals and probably with higher quality leaf. Plus, the same "lady killer" aroma comes out in pretty much every vanilla aromatic. And hey, it'll keep the pipe snobs from ruining your mystique to women by complaining about a drugstore blend.