Lane Limited Crown Achievement

Very dry in the tin when I first opened it. Too dry, way too dry. The taste wasn't at all bad, but the dryness of the tobacco led to it biting. Far better blends to be tried.

This is the new blend close if not the original blend. The taste of the individual tobaccos comes through as you smoke the blend with the subtle taste of each tobacco imparting it's flavor on the palate. I find this blend soothing and enjoyable from the first puff to the last and it burns cleanly in the pipe leaving no goo or residue. I would recommend this to anyone that enjoys an mild English tobacco.

When Crown Achievement was dropped by LL several years ago, it wasn't my favorite, but was on my list of fallback tobaccos, when I needed a change from my regulars. As it was dropped, there were several places that put CA bulk on huge discounts, and I picked up a few pounds just to have it around and because it was a deal. Put it up in Mason jars and set it in storage, and pretty much forgot about it.

Fast forward... now six years after tinning, I cracked one last night. Oh. My. God. Delicate, complex flavors that roll over my tongue and seem to dance through my synapses. I smoked a bowl, with frequent gasps and sighs of pleasure. Then to be sure, I tried another in a different pipe. Then another in a diferent... I can't say it's the best tobacco I've ever tasted, but that's only because I can't compare directly with some older ones that are now only long-gone memories. Its burning is less than perfect; I have to relight it several times through a bowl, which is not the norm for me. As complaints go, that's my only one. Well, one other: I can't just smoke and smoke this, day in and day out, since I'd run through all of it too fast. But if you have some you put up years ago and forgot about, like I did, I'd say you have a real treat in store!

My review of this no longer produced blend may be a bit more flattering then some as the stash that I have is well aged, which undoubtedly makes a difference when it comes to English blends.

It's smooth, tastes great and has the perfect latakia content that stays consistent throughout the bowl. if I had to sum it up in one word, I would use the word "tasty".

No tongue bite here, just a good English smoke. It's sad that it has joined the ranks of Dunhill Nightcap bulk and nearly every other English blend distributed by Lane.

It is to my bemusement that I read the review/comment below me for I strongly remember walking out of my tobacconists with 2oz of this blend not more than three weeks ago.

The below reviews should help anyone who is in need of feed back on this blend. The only real point of this comment is to make the above statement.

This is a review that is more of a complaint since this blend has been discontinued. It was one of the last of Lane blends that contain any Latakia (such as Pure English). That's a real pity. They seem to be concentrating on excessively aromatic stuff these days and as a confirmed English blend nut I can only say---goodbye Lane! The package note was great, rich with the Virginia and the Latakia exciting the nose. The smoke was was nicely balanced and spicy, smoky notes predominated towards the end of a bowl. There was occasional bite, and the bowl finished as white ash without goop. Try Old Lodge or Squadron Leader.

I bought a couple of ounces of this at a tobacco shop I go to every now and then. I was just beginning to experiment with Latakia at the time and I found it to be very enjoyable. I remember keeping the bag on my nightstand by the bed and the rich smell of this tobacco making me feel comfortable on a cold night. I can even remember huffing the bag more than once just to take in the smell. Since then I have moved on to many fancy tins and higher priced blends but I must say that I would buy this again. I do remember very hateful comments from my wife when I smoked this in the house , so I smoked it in the van on the way to and from work. But she didn?t mind the bag by the bed. If there were an English potpourri this may just be it. Writing this review is actually making me miss this blend, I may just have to pick a few ounces up next time I go by the cigar store !

After finishing off a 2-ounce sample of Crown Achievement, I find that I like it, but perhaps not as much as I wanted to. CA is sold in bulk at a very reasonable price, and at my tobacconist's, is dispensed from a classy porcelain jar. The jar aroma is amazingly enticing; it smells almost good enough to eat, rich, spicy and smoky. The tobacco seemed dry enough, but the first few bowls I smoked were nearly impossible to light, rather like trying to set fire to a glass of water. Letting the tobacco dry out for a few days helped considerably, though Crown Achievement still required more relights than most mixtures I've tried. While the jar aroma promised a full, rich smoke, CA didn't quite live up to that promise. As noted in other reviews, there is a similarity to Dunhill My Mixture 965, though CA isn't as strong or as full-flavored. Yet, CA doesn't come across as "965 Lite." Its flavor is mild, but complex, a blending of dark chocolate, spices and smoke. The flavor intensifies a bit at mid-bowl, but still lacks the richness of blends like Dunhill Nightcap or Gawith's Squadron Leader. The room note is pleasant, as is the sidestream smoke; while not a traditonal aromatic scent, it's one that less militant non-smokers should be able to tolerate, and tobacco-friendly folks will likely appreciate. On the whole, Crown Acheivement is a pleasant smoke, a good choice when something a bit milder and less potent is called for, not a bad choice for a morning smoke. It's one I'll smoke from time to time, providing it's still available (other reviews have noted that it may be discontinued).

Lane seems to have a ton of critics, and that's understandable. This is mass market tobacco that aims to sell, not satisfy the quirks of picky pipers. It's always a riot reading their blend descriptions. Really, I had no idea "Crown Achievement" was the product of the rarest, most costly strands of tobacco leaf. I'm sorry, Dubac and Mahalla, you say?

All insults aside, this is a pretty decent English mixture for the price. It smokes cool, has a ton of flavor, and can easily stand its own against some of the higher priced English blends. Yeah, I'd buy this again, but the opportunity may well be on a downward slide.

I recently read a snippet that Lane is discontinuing this blend. That comes as a surprise to me, because I would imagine this to be a popular product. I guess they're finally starting to run out of that rarest of rare leaf. Wonder what kind of replacement Lane's brewing up. Lemme think: "Twenty Seven as of yet developed strains of precious Tobaccos grown on the fine plains of the lost Atlantis.." I'm sure we'll find out soon enough.

3.0 of 4.0