Butera Sweet Cavendish

The lightly grassy, toasty, citrusy Virginias can be tasted some, and have a whiff of the “vinegar” that doesn’t last. There’s some dark fruitiness from them and a touch of earth, too. The black cavendish has some sugar and vanilla and perhaps a touch of cocoa. I’m not sure where the latter note comes from. I taste some caramel in the topping as well as another sweet flavor I can’t identify. Has a very mild nic-hit. Needs some dry time, burns a bit wet and will leave moisture in the bowl, as well as some dottle if you are a wet smoker. The flavor is consistent to the finish, and it has a nice after taste and room note. Won’t bite. Two and a half stars.

-JimInks

If you are a non-aromatic smoker, and especially if you dislike aromatics, do not bet on this being something tolerable. It is moist, sticky, and sweet. Though certainly of superior quality to the drugstore aromatics, it is an aromatic all the same. It does have a hint of the charactaristic McClelland ketchup, which actually makes for a weird aromatic. I got this as a sample from a local B&M, the gentleman there exclaiming that it really wasn't like a typical aromatic; that even he, who hated aromatics, was enjoying it. I'm not sure if this was all a practical joke, or if he has gone completely off his nut, but this is a very typical aromatic. If you like aromatics, it will provide a little more contrast than you are used to, as it does taste more like tobacco than candy. If you detest aromatics, as I do, then you would do well to steer clear of this stuff.

First of all, I enjoy many aromatics. A well done, high-quality blend can be tasty when not overwhelmed by the casing. This particular aromatic, however, is not of the type I generally enjoy. It may very well be based on high-quality tobacco; I don’t know. But if you can’t taste it through the casing, why bother using the good stuff as a base? I'm somewhat surprised, on opening the tin, to note that the aroma is not very strong; I'm used to C&D-style aromatics that you can smell through two concrete walls. Though subdued, I can smell a sweet flavor, perhaps vanilla-like(?), certainly not fruity. I don't notice any tobacco aroma. The tobacco itself appeared very damp, almost translucent in the light, and is somewhat sticky, much more so than Frog Morton. It is a roughly equal mix of black and brown leaf in a medium cut. It does light fairly easily, accompanied by more snapping and sizzling than a bowl of rice crispies. I chose a 1/2 bent Edwards billiard that I often use for aromatics, and that usually smokes on the dry side. For the first 1/3 of the bowl, that flavor is sweet and mild, with little actual tobacco apparent. I also found, from the first puff, that I'd have to be careful with this one: there is some bite if I'm not careful. There's a "sharp" feeling on the tongue, not at all like the bite from Virginias, combined with a burnt-caramel flavor and odor. It also smokes fairly hot at first, and seems to require a larger then average number of relights. Into the second third of the bowl, the burnt-caramel sweetness is still going strong. I don't really notice much tobacco flavor, though the hints that I do catch through the casing are very mild. I believe that some of the sweetness is coming from the Virginias in the blend. The smoke tickles the nose when exhaling through it, though it's not an unpleasant sensation. Moving on to the last third, that biting, burnt taste on the tongue is still there, though minimized by careful puffing. The sweet caramel is still going strong, and shows no signs of burning off. There is a little additional complexity at the very bottom. Surprisingly, at the bottom there is very little moisture; I would have expected to find a puddle. The dampness in the tobacco seems to burn off in smoking. This is not a bad smoke, and the room aroma is pleasant. However, the dull, mild sweetness would get boring very quickly, and it's almost not worth the effort to avoid the bite. Overall, too mild and one-dimensional for me to use regularly, even if there was no bite problem. I would not recommend this blend to new smokers, due to the care required to smoke it. It’s OK, I suppose, as a once-in-a-while change of pace.

This is a perfectly pleasant mostly black cavendish aromatic blend, in the same family as Captain Cool, or Lane's BCA. If you likely strongly cased aromatic blends you'll appreciate it. If not, not. When choosing among American style aromatics of this family I'd say price will be your deciding factor.