Lane Limited Captain Black Original (Regular)

This tobacco is probably responsible for attracting more new pipe smokers in the last 50 years than any other blend. The aroma of this stuff is legendary and I , like many others started with this blend because those around you ( especially the ladies ) just loved it. It’s a nothing to write home about aromatic, which you’ll soon tire of, wanting a more complex and tasty smoke, but I refuse to beat-up on the old Captain. It’s a simple aromatic that I recommend to the newer smoker if he has nothing else on the shelves, or to someone that wants to impress the people around them with the room note. If your lucky enough to have a fellow piper with some years on the briar, you probably get steered into something more meaningful. I smoked this drugstore blend for 20 years till I was fortunate to meet the late Joe Harb, the noted reviewer who helped guide me into the world of English blends. So for the next 20 I learned to appreciate both the worlds of Aromatic and English. Room-note Hall of Fame candidate.

From what i can tell through searching many blends in tobaccoreviews, this has to be one of the most conrovertial. As a natural outcome, many will disagree with my opinion, mind though, its just an opinion.

Tin note is indeed chemical. No way to identify the origins of the smell. Glucose is all i can relate it with. Burns hot like the devil itself. Tongue bite is unavoidable even through sipping. Its an one way to hell for your tongue if you are inexperienced. The taste is mild. Nothing fancy, nothing overpowering. Only plus is that it is unique. Many say it tastes like vanilla but i disagree. Its a sweet taste like marshmellows or frosting or whatever, i cant put my finger on it, all i can say for sure is that it is sweet. Since it is a cavedish based blend, not much tobaccoiness going on here. All i can taste is the sweet artificial frosting. This tastes nothing like pipe tobacco.

Room note is its biggest advandage. The wife is in love with this blend, so use this in times of arguments and you will end up cuddling in bed like nothing ever happened. It is also an interesting way to approach the female sex, cause trust me, they cannot resist the sweet smell of this daredevil.

Overall i would not recommend it to begginers. This is not a tobacco that represents the pipe tobacco category. I would not recommend it even to an experienced smoker. Its an artificial blend which should only be used once in a while, to satisfy your wife, but definetely not your palate.

I give this one and a half stars. The half star is a courtesy of my wife.

I have a soft spot for Captain Black. To be honest there’s really nothing special with it. It has a wonderful room note, but other than that it kind of just tastes like puffing on hot air with a mild sweetness to it. The thing about CB is that it’s everywhere. You can go to any drug store that sells tobacco and hidden away under the counter is a pouch of this stuff.

There have been times I’ve been out of town or on vacation, and I get a craving for my pipe that I didn’t bring with me, and what do I do? I go to Walgreen’s and get a new Grabow and some CB, and absolutely enjoy it.

If I’m at home would I go out of my way to have this? Probably not, but it’s like when you go in a road trip and get truck stop food. In reality it’s never anything special, but when you’re starving on the road for something to eat, it’s the best stuff you’ve ever had. That’s what this is. It’s available everywhere and is great if you don’t have anything else.

I’ve tried extremely hard to love this. The room note is excellent. I absolutely love the room note as much as I probably have any room note. However, this thing bites me unlike anything else. I’ve tried to smoke it every possible, right way that you can. And it still just destroys my mouth. Maybe I’m sensitive to their topping. I don’t know. It also has a chemical taste. I’ve tried to rationalize what it is that I’m smoking to have that kind of taste, but there’s no way around it. It just taste chemically. Burns well. Lights very easy. And it stays lit. Again, to me, the room note is unmatched in many ways. But it destroys my mouth. I’m going to celebrate for hopefully a year to see if that helps mellow it out in anyway. We’ll see.

Captain Black Original is a real institution. It has always existed. Pouch tobacco sold all over the world, OTC blend, we could define it as an all day smoke, aromatic smoke. About the composition Lane states: “Rich Black Cavendish and mellow tasting Burleys delightfully aromatic”, but there is not only Burley and Black Cavendish; the presence of Virginia is evident. The flavoring is not declared, but the use of vanilla, sugar and some aromas is more than likely. On the palate a wine flavor is perceived and it is evident the presence of chemical additives and artificial flavorings. We could say that Captain Black is the prototype of American aromatic tobacco, a medium aromatic without excesses, which pleases and does not tire. Opening the pouch the scent is sweet, with alcoholic (rum?) and chocolate notes. Mild strength and smooth taste, at times delicate at times marked. The aromatic side is leading, but it does not overwhelm and does not completely cover tobacco taste. In other words, it does not compromise the balance of the blend. Excellent room note. Good for aromatic tobacco lovers. Not recommended to everyone else. In my personal rating system (from 1 to 10) my score is 5 and two stars.

A fairly basic vanilla'ed aromatic.

First opening of the pouch gives the blend away immediately; this is an aromatic with a rather heavy vanilla casing. The consistency is mostly tan virginia, with some darker browns from the burley and black cavendish.

Smoking this easy-lighting, easy-burning blend it's immediately clear that the dry grassy virginia, along with it's vanilla casing, is the main player here and the other two just supporting actors. The smoke itself isn't particularly special in any way except one; if drawn on too hard, it does bite much more than a blend like this has any right to, so needs to be rather calmly sipped. Without this it would be a stronger 2, perhaps even a 3.

All in all a vanilla aromatic that doesn't really stand up in the huge crowd of vanilla aromatics; not bad, but unlikely to intentionally buy again.

Writing as I smoke from a Missouri Meerschaum.

Good, classic, aromatic tobacco that every pipe smoker should try at least once. Smells slightly of raisin and vanilla. Taste is mild. Something you could smoke all day and be fine with it. Not a lot of flavor just very mild and sweet, smoke it slow to avoid some tongue bite. If you’re new to pipe smoking it’s a great place to start. If you like it move up to Lane’s RLP or 1Q. Some people say it’s the exactly same with less PG in it. I don’t think so.

The room note alone may convert people to pipe smoking. It’s the only saving quality of this. If I could burn it as incense I would. For that 2 stars.

With so many other fine choices out there, I am confused why anyone would choose this as their favorite unless they began smoking pipes before the internet and had a poorly stocked tobacconist. It's got a strange taste to it and it bites me. It is readily available so maybe that's why it's so popular. Good in a "Pinch".

Captain Black: A Decent But Not Exceptional Vanilla Aromatic

I will preface this review with the consideration that I do like aromatic pipe tobacco—especially maple and chocolate/Vanilla topped blends.

The casing/topping is the star of this show. It is very, very sweet with quite a bit of Vanilla and some chocolate, which I find to my liking. The tobacco seems to be made up of sweet black Cavendish which produces large steamy clouds of hot air. Next in line, seems to be the Virginia tobacco, which is only sometimes noticeable with some crisp grassy undertones. The little burley present fades into obscurity behind the casing and tongue-bite.

I prefer Cult aromatic blends when I want to taste both the tobacco and a pleasant chocolate/vanilla topping.