Hill & Hill Tobacconists Haymarket
(2.67)
Notes: This is the marquee blend put out by this small blender who runs an old time B & M located in one of the more affluent areas of metropolitan Detroit. It is essentially a vanilla aromatic with some other flavorings as well.
Details
| Brand | Hill & Hill Tobacconists |
| Blended By | Jim Simon |
| Manufactured By | |
| Blend Type | Aromatic |
| Contents | Burley, Cavendish, Virginia |
| Flavoring | Vanilla, Whisky |
| Cut | Ribbon |
| Packaging | Bulk |
| Country | United States |
| Production |
Profile
Strength
Mild
Extremely Mild -> Overwhelming
Flavoring
Mild to Medium
None Detected -> Extra Strong
Room Note
Pleasant
Unnoticeable -> Overwhelming
Taste
Mild to Medium
Extremely Mild (Flat) -> Overwhelming
Reviews
Please login to post a review.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 Reviews
| Reviewed By | Date | Rating | Strength | Flavoring | Taste | Room Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 24, 2014 | Mild | Strong | Mild | Pleasant |
Edit 9/9/2016
So it was shortly after I finished the quantity that led to the review below when my neighbor, bless his heart, thought he would surprise me to thank me for letting his family use my lake house. He works close to Grosse Pointe and strayed in to buy some pipe tobacco for me. He talked to the owner who unsurprisingly recommended Haymarket. So I was gifted another few ounces of this to smoke as well as a few more of his Hill and Hill's aromatics that I will be adding after I finish them.
There is not much more I can add to what I stated below about the blend itself. The aroma that this blend releases is great. If this is your aim with an aromatic, it could easily garner 4 stars, but still a 2 star blend to my tastes.
I will add, however, to what I stated about the store and, in particular, its tobacco offerings. One thing about Hill & Hill is that it is a great place to have a pipe on a cold day as it has some cozy couches and a TV to watch. A forum friend was in town from VIrginia and staying close to the shop. SO I visited him and was surprised to see that Jim had added two blends to his bulk offerings and both were non aromatics. One is a latakia blend simply called Balkan blend and the other is a Virginia called Danish slices that is technically an aromatic, but more in the European variety like PS Aromatic dutch slices. Hell, that might even be what it is.
He also has started selling tins. He had Dunhill and Peterson tins. Overpriced, even by B&M standards in Michigan, but he had a good variety.
Original Review 4/24/2014
I added this one and am curious to see if anyone else adds a review to it. This is an aromatic that is primarily Vanilla, but with something else. To my tastes there is some whiskey in there as well. I would say the base is primarily a Virginia, but there is some Cavendish in there as well.
I guess it is only appropriate to give some background with this review. I live in Metropolitan Detroit and this tobacconist is located in Grosse Pointe, which is one of the most affluent areas in Metropolitan Detroit. Hill and Hill has been around forever and the store is evidence of that fact. The furnishings, pipes and history will make any pipe smoker giddy. The tobacco selection, not so much.
I visited there about a year ago, where I was entertained by the owner, Jim Simon, who can amaze you with his knowledge as easily as he can annoy you with his condescension. Regardless, of how much you know about pipes, Jim will be sure to make you feel like you are an amateur. If you are quick tempered or easily angered, he may not be your cup of tea, but if you hang in there, he will start pulling out his pipes and you will be drooling all over his counter.
Back to his tobacco, with all of the pipes, pipestands, the smoking lounge, and the collection of aged claypipes on a board bearing the names of local Detroit celebs dating back from the 60s and 70s, his tobacco collection will impress you less than your local B & M. He only carries bulks that he blends and of that, there are only about 6 blends. Since I took some of his time, I felt obliged to buy something.
He suggested the Haymarket, as his most popular blend and stated that he shipped it all over the world to clients. He told me the key to enjoying this was to dedicate a pipe to it and not smoke anything else and eventually I would love it. Hmmmm? I did not follow his advice and rather treated this like any other tobacco I would smoke. As an aromatic it found a lot of time in my Altinok Canadian.
I will say the smell or aroma of the tobacco was heavenly. I suppose this is the point of an aromatic. So if you are only after the aroma, this rates high. As for taste, I did not really like it. It has a lot of humectants in it. So much, that I never transferred it to a jar from the Ziploc and it never lost a hint of moisture.
I tasted it heavily on the leaf, but I did catch some hints of Virginia leaf as well. I would say that if you are into Captain Black or that variety of aromatic you will likely enjoy this blend. I would probably put this above CBW, but I would rather smoke CB royal to this one. That is just my tastes.
So I am two star recommending this, but would highly recommend a trip to the store if you are in the area and like looking at expensive and rare pipes.
So it was shortly after I finished the quantity that led to the review below when my neighbor, bless his heart, thought he would surprise me to thank me for letting his family use my lake house. He works close to Grosse Pointe and strayed in to buy some pipe tobacco for me. He talked to the owner who unsurprisingly recommended Haymarket. So I was gifted another few ounces of this to smoke as well as a few more of his Hill and Hill's aromatics that I will be adding after I finish them.
There is not much more I can add to what I stated below about the blend itself. The aroma that this blend releases is great. If this is your aim with an aromatic, it could easily garner 4 stars, but still a 2 star blend to my tastes.
I will add, however, to what I stated about the store and, in particular, its tobacco offerings. One thing about Hill & Hill is that it is a great place to have a pipe on a cold day as it has some cozy couches and a TV to watch. A forum friend was in town from VIrginia and staying close to the shop. SO I visited him and was surprised to see that Jim had added two blends to his bulk offerings and both were non aromatics. One is a latakia blend simply called Balkan blend and the other is a Virginia called Danish slices that is technically an aromatic, but more in the European variety like PS Aromatic dutch slices. Hell, that might even be what it is.
He also has started selling tins. He had Dunhill and Peterson tins. Overpriced, even by B&M standards in Michigan, but he had a good variety.
Original Review 4/24/2014
I added this one and am curious to see if anyone else adds a review to it. This is an aromatic that is primarily Vanilla, but with something else. To my tastes there is some whiskey in there as well. I would say the base is primarily a Virginia, but there is some Cavendish in there as well.
I guess it is only appropriate to give some background with this review. I live in Metropolitan Detroit and this tobacconist is located in Grosse Pointe, which is one of the most affluent areas in Metropolitan Detroit. Hill and Hill has been around forever and the store is evidence of that fact. The furnishings, pipes and history will make any pipe smoker giddy. The tobacco selection, not so much.
I visited there about a year ago, where I was entertained by the owner, Jim Simon, who can amaze you with his knowledge as easily as he can annoy you with his condescension. Regardless, of how much you know about pipes, Jim will be sure to make you feel like you are an amateur. If you are quick tempered or easily angered, he may not be your cup of tea, but if you hang in there, he will start pulling out his pipes and you will be drooling all over his counter.
Back to his tobacco, with all of the pipes, pipestands, the smoking lounge, and the collection of aged claypipes on a board bearing the names of local Detroit celebs dating back from the 60s and 70s, his tobacco collection will impress you less than your local B & M. He only carries bulks that he blends and of that, there are only about 6 blends. Since I took some of his time, I felt obliged to buy something.
He suggested the Haymarket, as his most popular blend and stated that he shipped it all over the world to clients. He told me the key to enjoying this was to dedicate a pipe to it and not smoke anything else and eventually I would love it. Hmmmm? I did not follow his advice and rather treated this like any other tobacco I would smoke. As an aromatic it found a lot of time in my Altinok Canadian.
I will say the smell or aroma of the tobacco was heavenly. I suppose this is the point of an aromatic. So if you are only after the aroma, this rates high. As for taste, I did not really like it. It has a lot of humectants in it. So much, that I never transferred it to a jar from the Ziploc and it never lost a hint of moisture.
I tasted it heavily on the leaf, but I did catch some hints of Virginia leaf as well. I would say that if you are into Captain Black or that variety of aromatic you will likely enjoy this blend. I would probably put this above CBW, but I would rather smoke CB royal to this one. That is just my tastes.
So I am two star recommending this, but would highly recommend a trip to the store if you are in the area and like looking at expensive and rare pipes.
Pipe Used:
Mostly Meerschaum
PurchasedFrom:
Hill & Hill Tobacconists
| Reviewed By | Date | Rating | Strength | Flavoring | Taste | Room Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 31, 2014 | Mild | Very Strong | Medium | Very Strong |
Hill & Hill Tobacconists is a brick-and-mortar tobacco shop located in Grosse Pointe Woods, Michigan (Detroit area). Hill & Hill in known for its remarkable array of fine pipe tobaccos, exquisite cigars and rare and high-end pipes. Haymarket is Hill & Hill Tobacconists hallmark blend. Haymarket was the first tobacco blend I smoked and it is this blend that lured me into pipe smoking. It's a wonderful aromatic - primarily procuring a vanilla essence. Of all the aromatics I smoked in my early years, Haymarket superseded them all. In those early years of mine, I would have undoubtedly given Haymarket 4 stars.
As my pipe smoking career progressed, I moved away from aromatics and began to explore tobacco blends without added flavorings. When I realized that added essences masked the true taste of the tobaccos within a blend, I gave up aromatics completely.
Recently, I revisited Haymarket on a whim, and, much to my dismay, my 4 star rating of Haymarket no longer held. There was an incredible amount of humectant that I could not stomach. It was very bitter tasting. Moreover, the tongue bite was fierce regardless of my puffing cadence. Towards the second half of the bowl, a slurpy mess evolved (from the humectant and flavoring additives) which caused bubbling noises upon drawing. By the time I was two-thirds into the bowl, the harshness, bitterness, and the tongue bite of the gloppy mess forced me to empty my pipe. Although I found the room note to be very pleasant, smoking the tobacco was an unpalatable experience.
With many years of pipe smoking under my belt, my opinion of Haymarket has changed drastically. I can no longer rate it 4 stars. From my latest experience of Haymarket, I would give it only 1 star. It does have a fantastic room note for an aromatic blend. So on behalf of all the aromatic pipe smokers out there, I will be a little more objective and rate it 2 stars.
It's too bad because this blend has much potential. Removing the humectant and lowering the tongue bite would raise my rating to 3 stars.
As my pipe smoking career progressed, I moved away from aromatics and began to explore tobacco blends without added flavorings. When I realized that added essences masked the true taste of the tobaccos within a blend, I gave up aromatics completely.
Recently, I revisited Haymarket on a whim, and, much to my dismay, my 4 star rating of Haymarket no longer held. There was an incredible amount of humectant that I could not stomach. It was very bitter tasting. Moreover, the tongue bite was fierce regardless of my puffing cadence. Towards the second half of the bowl, a slurpy mess evolved (from the humectant and flavoring additives) which caused bubbling noises upon drawing. By the time I was two-thirds into the bowl, the harshness, bitterness, and the tongue bite of the gloppy mess forced me to empty my pipe. Although I found the room note to be very pleasant, smoking the tobacco was an unpalatable experience.
With many years of pipe smoking under my belt, my opinion of Haymarket has changed drastically. I can no longer rate it 4 stars. From my latest experience of Haymarket, I would give it only 1 star. It does have a fantastic room note for an aromatic blend. So on behalf of all the aromatic pipe smokers out there, I will be a little more objective and rate it 2 stars.
It's too bad because this blend has much potential. Removing the humectant and lowering the tongue bite would raise my rating to 3 stars.
Pipe Used:
Savinelli Billiard
PurchasedFrom:
Hill & Hill Tobacconist
target="_blank"
