Lane Limited HGL

It took a while to uncover the fact that "Cricklewood", sold by Florida Smoke & Snuff was indeed Lane's HGL. After trying this blend, I found that as an aromatic fan, this blend offered a hint at the pleasures of an English blend and the delicious tastes of latakia. It actually encouraged trying even more stalwart latakia blends to the point where I now really enjoy them. So I have a fond spot for this blend. At the match the bowl delivers a nice amount of latakia and along with the other components of toasted cavendish, Virginia, and White Burley, never gets to the mouth drying astringency of the heavier latakia blends. I feel it's a proper amount of that velvety smoky flavor in concert with the other leaf which delivers a cool flavorful smoke for quite awhile. Sometimes at relight (which isn't required often), the burley's nuttiness will predominate, but it isn't long before the balance between latakia and other leaf returns. What surprises me is that the blend is a mouth watering blend, rather than the more common drying. Even my wife has sipped the pipe on this blend without any negatives. I'd characterize this blend as nicely balanced between an aromatic and a latakia based blend, a nice transition between the two as it turned out for me. I still smoke the aromatics, but this is a mild, tasteful latakia blend I enjoy. It also has a pleasant room note. Recommendable.

I'll admit up front that I'm a big fan of Lane's blends, and this is one of my favorites. I don't smoke it daily, but it's one I return to regularly as a 'standard'. It is consistently good, whether fresh or aged (some >9 months old). Appearance: Colorful mix ranging from tan thru medium brown to solid black in roughly equal proportions.

Startup: The pouch aroma is mildly sweet, with only a slightly smokey hint of the Latakia present. There isn't much here, and by 'laced', I expect they are being truthful that a dash is all that's needed to contribute the smoothing effect. On lighting, we find that this cruise is Captain Black meets Lieutenant Latakia, with the Captain clearly in charge. The familiar aromatic sweetness of the Lane Cavendish/Burley/VA mix is on top, with just a hint of something else added. The first 1/3 of the bowl is smoother than usual, and the aroma hints that something is a bit different here.

Mid-Bowl: On relight, the stronger, smokey Latakia is first detected, and from there on thru the next 1/3 the flavor is more intense, but still smooth and sweet and burns evenly. The Captain is on a pleasure cruise today, no race to burn the load quickly. At about the 3rd relight, and 30 minutes into the bowl, Lieutenant Latakia takes the wheel, and the steers us into a smokey fog-bank that brings on the smoothness and darker flavor he is known for. Now we're talking flavor! Let's try to keep this heading for a bit and enjoy the ride.

Finish: The sweetness of the cavendish and VAs is still there, mellowed by the burley and Latakia, and together they are holding the flavor and aroma on a good heading. Each relight brings a re-bloom of the smokey Latakia, but never overpowering, and no gurgle, the Lieutenant is keeping the cargo high and dry. (this sample is about 2 months old, kept in a simple zip-lock bag). We're down to the dottle after almost 1 hour of uninterrupted smoking, and still no harshness or bitterness, this crew knows this route well, and has skillfully steered us to our destination, leaving only a bit of white ash in our wake.

Summary: This is a nice bridge (sorry) between the aromatic and the English world. It's clearly not a classic English, but is definitely not the cloying, overly sweetened blends from the drugstore either. There's something here for both camps. Sign on for a trial voyage, and I think you'll book this cruise as a regular. Happy puffing!

I preface all my reviews that I am a new pipe smoker with only 3 months experience. My reviews are simplistic and for new pipe smokers. I do not have the palate nor artistic linguistics as more seasoned pipers.

Prior to this HGL blend my latakia experience is with Early Morning Pipe or Mixture 965. Both of those have orientals, where HGL does not. It packed nicely and remained lit after char lite and tamp. It burned easy but a little fast, but again I am a beginner and I can over cadence.

The smoky sweet Latakia takes lead but is mild and pleasant. The burley and cavendish offer a smooth lightly sweet base. I get a little hay notes in background but not much sweet flavor from the Virginia. The sweetness of burley, cavendish, and Virginia melds for me as I don’t have the palate to decipher them individually.

For a light Latakia blend I still prefer EMP with the orientals, but for the bulk price Lane HGL offers a good introduction Latakia blend for the beginner. Just don’t over cadence or the Virginia can bite.

UPDATE: As my palate improves and after a second bowl I noticed more of the Captain Black original (without Latakia ) flavor which has a medicinal flavor. I think it’s the fake vanilla topping but leaves an aftertaste as if it’s a sugar free fake vanilla. There are much better English available. This is like pouring liquid smoke in a bowl of ice cream. What’s the point.. but to each his own.

This blend is a great mild smoke. Allows for a nice tobacco taste with a little smoothness of an aromatic. This one isn't quite as good as TGL to me, but still a smoke I highly recommend.

If you like a touch of smokiness with some sweetness mixed in. Then Lane’s HGL is for you. This is Captain Black White (minus the polywhatever) with A touch of latakia. A perfect tobacco to try if your unsure about latakia. No bite, perfect crossover blend. The smoker will encounter caramel and vanilla flavorings.

This is not what I would consider an aromatic. This falls into that ‘crossover’ genre in my opinion. Similar to a Frog Morton Cellar. It definitely has a topping, but it’s not the main player. As I broke up the tobacco and set it to dry, my fingers became a bit sticky. That worried me. It dried out properly after about 15 minutes. After loading up the pipe, I had no issues getting it lit. Smoking the first half of the bowl I was pleasantly surprised. Mild Latakia flavor and a mild vanilla/caramel maybe. Not overly sweet though. Second half of the bowl the Latakia became more prominent and really balanced out the sweet. At this point I would say the body was easily at a medium. Does this tobacco have a sweet topping? Yes. It doesn’t overwhelm the natural flavor of the tobacco though. The room note is very pleasant, but heavy. It lingers big time. I smoked a bowl of Old Joe Krantz in the same room hours later and it still smelled like HGL when I was done. This is likely to ghost a briar. Could bite if not dried properly and/or oversmoked. I’m not an aromatic guy, but I enjoyed this and plan on keeping some around to have now and then.

Lane Ltd. HGL

I am basing my 3 star rating on value for price of this lovely American crossover blend. No, the tobacco doesn't appear to be of the highest quality, although again it is very acceptable at the price. The topping/casing is not overly heavy (just what you'll find in Lane's RLP-6), the Latakia is of good quality, if a bit muted and flat.

I don't like Lat-heavy blends at this point in my piping career. Once in awhile, a Dunhill Nightcap will hit the spot, but not as often as this does for me. It's ironic to me that one tobacco, popular for its nicotine level and flavor would be suggested as a nightime smoke, as it dries out one's mouth just prior to going to bed.... but I know lots of smokers really enjoy it.

Don't look for nearly that level of Latakia here; HGL is RLP-6 that has been barely kissed by the Cyprian Latakia used here as a condiment.

The resulting blend is superbly smokable; it is smooth, burns very well, leaves virtually no after-smoke refuse in the pipe, exudes a pleasant room note and leaves the smoker smelling nice. It doesn't rate 4 stars for me, because I find it a bit boring. I think a pinch of Oriental tobacco might tweak this up a notch, but as blended this one just isn't all that interesting.

However, based upon flavor, behavior in the pipe and certainly price point, this is a solid 3 star blend, in my book. I've tried to duplicate this using RLP-6 and adding a bit of my own favorite English blends... The result was far less enjoyable than the HGL. HGL is now part of my regular rotation; the four ounces I initially bought went up in smoke in less than a week's time. This one does not provide a big dose of nicotine and therefore is suitable for me as an all day smoke...until I get bored and need to change up. Recommended.

Another surprise for me as I set the bar pretty low for Lane blends due to its association with the Capt. But low and behold...HGL is pretty good. The tin note was more latakia forward and less sweet that I expected. Also the latakia used in this blend is not a very smoky variety...which in this case is a good thing as it works well. The moisture was perfect and there was no sticky goopy texture to the tobacco at all. It lit right up and there was no bite to be found. As for taste..again not bad for a lat forward aro. You can taste the tobacco and it has smoky and sweet undertones that pretty much last from the top to the bottom of the bowl. Nothing will overpower palette here. The best lat aro in by book Sillems Black but HGL holds its own

I've finally found a latakia blend that I can smoke every day. I'm in agreement with previous reviewers that this is RLP6 with a little Latakia. I detect the RLP6 on the retro-hale. My experience is that it stays lit, not requiring a relight beyond the charring light. It burns cool, with no bite, to a clean, dry, white ash. The bag note is definitely Latakia but the room note is pleasant; I can't imagine anyone being offended by the smell. I would describe the flavor as a Latakia forward, fruit and caramel aromatic.