Lane Limited HGL

Lane Limited
HGL
(bulk)

Blend notes: “Toasted cavendish is laced with mountain Latakia, then blended with white burley and golden Virginia to produce a sweet, fuller-bodied smoke, yet cool and slow burning. The Lat is used as a condiment, not to build a Lat-bomb.
This is Lane's RLP-6 with a touch of Latakia added.”

The Latakia is not pronounced but there is enough to remove HGL from the Land of the Aromatics. It’s not an English. Not a straight burley. Not a straight Virginia. Not a Va/Per. Not a Va/Bur. Not a Va/Per/Bur. Not an oriental. Not a Balkan. Let’s see, where are we?

Oh yes it’s an American. Uh huh. People always want to label things. I guess that’s helpful. We tend to learn by association. I can tell if someone is rude because I have a ‘association box’ for rude.

Overall HGL is … interesting. It is consistent too. A good two and a half stars.

A lot of tobacco is put together in Denmark. Why don’t they get to have a blend called Denmark?

2.5 out of 3 stars rounded down.

I tried this tobacco based on reviews at this site. Luckily, my local tobacco shop had some available. I am in the process of switching over from aromatics with rich toppings to tobacco that will give me a fuller tobacco experience. I enjoyed HGL immensly but alas, it won't be for long. I have found out that Lane is going to discontinue this blend. One of the pipe web sites (sorry, can't remember which one) that the another company will make a match and call it TGL.

Good for the price, and good to have the change of pace.

I MUST HAVE FRIED MY TASTEBUDS. I TASTE ZERO LATAKIA. THE DESCRIPTION SAYS LACED WITH LATAKIA. LACED EVIDENTLY MEANS SOMETHING TOTALLY DIFFERENT TO THE FOLKS AT LANE. AN OK TOBACCO.

As a discount brand, I give this 3 stars. Among all tobaccos, I would give it 2 stars. Lane does a decent job of making this medium-strength baccy with noticeable but not overpowering Latakia flavor, and it has little bite. This tobacco is very different than most Lane brands, in that it is not a heavily-cased aromatic, and is not terribly sweet. It smokes to a rough powder with some larger grains that have turned to coal, but unless you smoke it very, very quickly it does not leave a wet mess at the bottom of your pipe.

As with all Lane blends, it is necessary to air this out prior to smoking for the best effect (at least half an hour), but unlike many of their lines you can smoke this to the bottom of the bowl right out of the bag without drying it as long as you smoke slowly. Smokes best in a smaller bowl.

4/23/08 Update - The last few bowls of the 4 oz I had purchased has been much, much more enjoyable than the rest. It would seem that 'letting it air out' for a while has greatly improved both flavor and moisture. What I'm smoking now is a solid 3-star blend, whereas before I was tempted to rate it 2 stars overall. This is the only Lane blend I've smoked that I really enjoy enough to want to buy more.

A somewhat underwhelming blend, it is just about the last of Lane blends that contain any Latakia (they've discontinued most of the others such as Crown Achievement and BS005 Pure English). They seem to be concentrating on excessively aromatic stuff these days (goodbye Lane!). The Latakia is very restrained and tends to be lost in the sweetness which is a trifle dominant, and the finish is fairly biteless. I don't find anything to make it memorable except for its "baked cake" character.

I tried hard to come up with some passion for this blend, either positively or negatively. Yet I am firmly in the blase zone.

Others have noted the smokey-sweet identity of this blend which may be its singular destinction. If that quality is somethiing you favour, or if you prefer very mild english blends, this may be your cup of tea.

I'm stumped by the cross-over concept. HGL sits in my mind as an english, albeit a very very mild one.

Price point is a plus for those, like myself, who like to try new things. On that count you cannot go wrong.

It is not unpleasant, but invokes no superlative's. I'll happily finish my 2 ounces, and move on with no hard feelings.

****

UPDATE I'll be the first to admit when I'm off base. I've been giving this one more time and I think I'm coming around to it. It's the tobacco version of olives for me: an aquired taste; not in a bad way, it's just a bit different than my usual fair.

I am also coming to see the light on these so called cross-over blends. To myself I have begun to think: 'Hmmm, the best of both worlds?'.

Ok, So I really liked it......Lane seems to be a love it or hate it company, But this stuff was like no other lane.... This is not Cap Black.... Sweet and smokey....Its a pleasure to smoke. I can't take the latakia drip anymore, but I do appreciate its presence as a condoment....and thats what it is here. I highly recomend this as a pleasurable smoke. the only thing I noticed is its better inside or in cooler weather..? Its flavor seems to thin out in the heat......(85-90 in my car in the afternoon vs sitting on my sofa with the air at 72)....Maybe its just me... Love it!

The best Lane Limited blend I've ever tried. Reminds me a bit of the sweet old Tinder Box blends I first tried 30 years ago when I began smoking pipes. A nice, sweet blend for all day, but definitely not sticky, goopy or heavily cased like most Lanes. If you must try one Lane, it's this; likewise, Pipes and Tobaccos' 'Count Pulaski' is Altadis' best blend. It might come under different names depending upon what store you by it from. Many tobaccos are the same and packaged under different pseudonyms. In whatever manifestation you may find this, you're sure to enjoy it.

Three and half of five stars