Lane Limited Crown Achievement

I wonder who recognizes this as the worlds most outstanding smoking mixture as indicated in lanes description? I certainly would disagree with that statement! A friend of mine gave me a tin of this and I was eagerly waiting to try this because of the description. I also figured that if it was somehow corolated with Charatan Crown achievement pipes made in the lane era than this must be special. This just did not stand out with me in its genre. The only thing that stood out to me was the description and the name. Give it to lane for good marketing! While it is not bad it is definately not great. There are many other blends in this genre that I would rather smoke. I will not give this the lowest rating because if it was given to me I may smoke it while working in the garage or something. This is way to average for me to pay for when there are many other blends in this genre that are better.

I had heard much about this blend, and the manufacturer?s description, as well as the name, seemed rather enticing. I ordered 4 Oz. On opening the zip-lock plastic bag I was taken in by quite a strong aroma, rich, darkly sweet and pungent, as of a sediment of unsweetened dark chocolate, and dried plums and figs, in musky earth. Slightly moist, visually it re-minded me of the Balkan Sobranie, with a sweeter note to it.

I though I was in for a Brahams or Bruckner kind of experience. When I lit the pipe my first reaction was one of surprise. This really is not a full strength blend, and it is not entirely an English, at least not in the way I am used to. Not bad, but oddly stuffy. I couldn?t help per-ceiving a faint resemblance both to Dunhill?s 965 (a tobacco I am smoking much of again) and Astley?s 99. But where these two offer an intense and deep diversity of flavors, Crown Achievement seemed stifled. I don?t know if the many elements that go into CA are unable to truly mix, or if the mixture is designed in such a way that one is meant not to perceive them in delicate interplay but as one big blast of a dark, bitter concoction.

To put it mildly: seldom have I been so quickly bored by an allegedly diverse mixture. You get the first big notes, thinking this is going to be a hell of a symphony, only to find that the ensuing music (or taste) is frankly cacophonous. It just keeps on discordantly repeating itself and, IMO, does not take you anywhere. A tobacco of circular taste, this maybe some-thing a less adventurous palate might enjoy. One can think of that statue next to Michelan-gelo?s David at the Piazza della Signoria, in Florence: big, but with no grace or subtlety.

A decent English-type blend. There seems to be a glycerin casing as well as a slight vanilla casing to the cavendish. There is a great variation to the cut as well. The tobacco burns rather wet and can impart a musty after odor to a briar. I enjoyed it in the beginning, however after a few sessions, I would not make this a regular.