Lane Limited Crown Achievement

This was almost as highly regarded by me as some of the Dunhills up until my last few purchases of 2 ounces at a time. It seems the most recent batches across our great nation have not been aged long enough. There are times when I taste a fine tobacco fusion, but overall, I get the burnt cardboard effect. This was once a 3-star for me, but has declined due to inconsistency. The tobaccos just do not seem to be married well together in this new age version of C.A. LL A-100 has taken the old Crown Achievement spot in my Lane's English pecking order. That's pretty sad, considering A-100 is more of a beginners English. Not to mention, any Lane English is really just there to satisfy a quick fix when a premium is not available.

I received a little bag with a sample of this (enough for 6-7 bowls) by Maurizio Tombari when I bought one of his extremely fine Le Nuvole pipes. It's a nice English Mixture, medium in strength and flavor. The balancing between the various tobaccos is fine, and the Latakia is not overpowering. The smell of the unburnt tobacco is very good and tasty, and the smoke exhibits a great softness and roundness. I usually prefer stronger, tastier stuff, but this could be a very fine all-day smoke. Appearance: long fine shreds, like in some of Dunhill's blends. Burns rather nice, not wet.

I actually liked this blend,so here goes:

This comes in bulk only these days, so there is no tin to open. I didn't smell any flavoring, but there is definitely a humectant in this.

Appearance: Medium ribbon cut, black, brown, mohagany, and yellow leaf abounds.

Moisture: Actually, not too moist, considering the humectant that is present.

Lighting: Easily, with two lights typical.

Flavor: To me, this is a refinement of 965. Just the right amount of cavendish, not cloyingly sweet like 965. A nice interplay of leaf with the Dubec giving a nice counterpoint to the cavendish. The latakia is there mainly as a condiment. The VA is there only for support. Mid-bowl flavor is smooth, round, and enjoyable. Bottom third gets a little more intense with a little Perique making its prescence known. Ash is mottled and dry, the only moisture was in the shank and a pipecleaner took care of that. When you smell the pipe-cleaner, then you really can smell the humectant.

Overall: this is a good replacement for 965 IMO. It has less nicotine, a smoother flavor and is cheaper.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 Points. Enjoy.

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.