Two Friends Redwood

Redwood is beautiful to look at, a pleasure to pack into a pipe, and easy to light. The bag aroma is Virginia and yes, something sweet - almost like chocolate, But forget all that - light up!

The smoke starts off with a burst of Va flavor that will make you want to order more, right now. Just as you start to settle in with the sweet Va flavor, the Cavendish kicks in with a backdrop of dry, spicy flavor. About halfway down the bowl, the Perique subtly joins in, but even between the two of them, they still don't outshine the Va at all.

If you love Virginias with a dash of Perique, you owe it to yourself to try this one. If you aren't a fan of Va/P, you just might change your mind.

A cool, smooth, and very flavorful smoke that I highly recommend.

Alert!!! Desert Island Smoke!!!! the Red Virginias are impecable. The perique is at such a balance that it keeps the figgy stewed fruit flavor, with a slight spice. The spice is off set by the cav- Its a perfect balance for a VaPer. It's funny, I dedicated a bent bulldog to Kajun Kake, and this seems to smoke best for me in my other one. I have some stocked and will continue to keep this in rotation. I'd have to throw Mr. Echo a beating if he was after my Redwood. Try it and you won't regret it.....

I bought this blend because it was in the bargain bin at my tobacconist for something like $14 for 8 oz. It just kept staring at me every time I went in to get a tin of GLP, so I figured, "What the heck!" What a deal - this blend is great!

Its a bite-free Virgina, at JUST the right moisture level IMHO. No drying needed - smoke straight from the bag. It looks a little like Redwood bark - the name is well-chosen. Its a sweet and spicy VA (seems like there is just a touch of Perique) and it has the slightest HINT of being a aromatic but without any outright sugary-ness. Although it does not taste like it, the balance of VA and spice and Cavandish reminds me of another favorite of mine - Peterson's Irish Oak.

Contrary to most reviews here I did not find the nicotine overwhelming at all - and I am a someone who thinks that Dunhill Nightcap and 1792 are overwhelming. Strong and stout but no worse than the hit expected with a good cigar.

Worth a try!

The ?dream team? of Craig Tarler and Greg Pease combined efforts for the ?Two Friends? label. Of these Redwood in my favorite Redwood reminds me of that deep temperate rain forest experience, rich and peaty with a very satisfying room note.

Appearance: A very attractive presentation of a rough ribbon cut in multiple hues yellows, tans, reds, browns and black.

Aroma: An amazing and complex aroma of rich hay, stewed fruits and cocoa and spice. Initially, it reminds me of stirring up last years pile of leaves which have broken down slightly over the long winter, but there is so much more here. There are deep forest notes of freshly cut hardwoods, a rich almost mossy or peaty smell, and finally beneath the chocolate there is carob. Next to Haddo's Delight, this may be one of the most complex mixtures I've ever smelled. I detect no flavoring of any kind, other than is naturally imparted by the stoving of VA's and allowing these wonderful selections to marry over time.

If anything, this tobacco arrives dry, although when flame is applied it rapidly re-hydrates to a perfect moisture content. I often employ the ?Frank method? or the ?palm method? of packing this one. It seems to benefit from a tight crown, and progressively looser pack toward the heal of the bowl. This allows a more even burn and slight compression from tamping over the course of the bowl.

For this review, I?ve chosen an older Jobey Stromboli Canadian (probably from the late 1960's) which is quite faithful in presenting complex Virginia tobacco mixtures. I've pre-smoked several bowls over the course of a week of Redwood in this pipe in preparation for this review. This bowl employed the ?palm method? of cupping tobacco loosely in the palm with the pipe inverted over the tobacco. Slowly turned in a circle, the tobacco slowly ?corkscrews? into the bowl.

A one match light is brings billows of rich white smoke, followed with a brief visit of the tamper. The deep stoved VA is immediately there and while a bit tangy at first becomes a nice compliment to the fine quality leaf underneath. Flavors of cocoa and Red Virginia are dominant throughout, Perique chimes in with rich fig like and cigarish notes the Black Cavendish rounding out the edges and corners so to speak.

Mid Bowl: Approaching mid-bowl, the fullness tends to building layer upon layer of complexity. The tones of forest deepen steadily as this mixture gains strength. There is a slow building of fruitiness as well, almost as in mincemeat pies or very thick fruitcake. The Red Virginias build in depth and character there is also a very subtle sweetness just in the back ground. There seems to be a high sugar content to this blend, but it does not come off candy sweet as so many others do. The Black Cavendish seems to play a role in keeping this mixture tame in heat Slowly building a rich cigar like quality also builds steadily and I find myself relaxing ever more deeply into my stuffed chair, smiles widening across my face.

Home Stretch: As end of the bowl approaches, I find that it becomes more intense though never overpoweringly so. The palate is very complex, very rich, strong and satisfying. The tangy symphony of Red and Stoved VA's, Perique and Black Cavendish with cocoa and cigar like notes seem to keep expanding until suddenly tamping and repeated application of flame no longer yield any more. I am consistently surprised to find that I'm done! If rushed, the delicate balance can be disturbed, bringing on a bitterness and nearly unmanageable doses of nicotine. If smoked with patience and proper technique (nothing unusual for a Virginia mixture) the reward is rich and heady. The deep primal rain forest experience awaits you.

Supplemental Notes: This is a regular part of my rotation as something reached for when mature adult pleasures are craved. It is NOT however a blend for a novice smoker **** 4 full stars

This is not a typical va / per.

A couple of weeks before I opened the Redwood tin, I was smoking Warped: The Red Hunt (Cornell & Diehl), which surprised me by its originality in aromas and taste, comparing it to my previous experience with other tobaccos. Well, when two weeks later I opened the Redwood tin and brought my nose close to the tobacco, I was curious by the chance that both gave off a very unique aroma, similar to that which can be perceived after opening a box of chocolates, although more soft in the case of Redwood and also with some nuances reminiscent of some type of cookie.

In the tin that I had, the cut is a thin ribbon and the degree of humidity is perfect, making its handling very pleasant and that after lighting it burns perfectly well. In the pipe it appears as a high quality tobacco, requiring very few re-ignitions, remaining totally free of bites and with very tolerable nicotine levels. In this sense, it can be smoked nonchalantly and I think it makes it very accessible for those who are starting to smoke a pipe because it does not require great care while smoking in order to produce a smooth and tasty tobacco. Those notes of chocolate and biscuit that were captured when smelling the tobacco in its tin, are reproduced later in the flavor, making this mixture seem different to any other va / per that I have tried to date, except for the one already mentioned The Red Hunt.

I liked it and will try to get some more tin for the future.

Redwood is my every day smoke and the one that gets my vote as the ultimate American blend. The intoxicating pouch aroma of cocoa, nuts and carob is unique in my experience and serves notice that there is true artistry behind this blend. The consistency of the blend from batch to batch also indicates a high quality set of ingredients. The smoker?s touch must be light, from packing to puffing, as it must be with any Virginia blend. The first third of the bowl is dominated by spiciness that settles quickly on the back of the tongue and throat, and tasty Virginias with moderate smoke output. Into the second third of the bowl, just when the spiciness could become a bit much, a fruitiness sets in and the spiciness on the back of the palate is now just a component in both the flavor of the smoke and the sensation of smoking. The fruitiness builds and then diminishes through the second third of the bowl and a nutty character slowly becomes more dominant until by the final third of the bowl the fruity quality has taken on a subtle sourness and a nuttiness similar in character, not flavor, to chocolate fills the mouth and the smoke is more dense and satisfying. The spicy element of this blend is the real star. Briefly dominant, it fills the natural role of a spice and wonderfully enhances each ingredient and remains present, able to cut through strong tea or brandy without being obnoxious, but this blend?s character is perfected by a dense, smoky red wine.

A great smoke. opened up today, after sitting from last Christmas, I was really pleased, Im on my second bowl today, Great Smoke.

The thing I remember most about this blend, the texture of the leaf. I have had Virginia blends that I have had to rub out and flakes of all sorts. This is red and light and fluffy if I can use that term. It packs very well and burns great. It has a wonderful flavor and burns nicely. I smoked eight ounces of this and re-ordered it when I ran out. It?s a great summertime blend , I remember smoking countless bowls of this on my boat at the lake. Highly recommended.

With this blend I have a love hate relationship. The taste is wonderful and complex and unique to most virginia perique blends i've tried. The biggest downfall of this blend is that it usualy wallops me pretty hard with nicotine. I say this in light of the fact that I am a regular smoker of haddos delight and cairo. I dont know if it is just me or the batch I recieved but this stuff made my friend who smokes a pack of cigarettes a day in addition to his pipes nearly naucious from the nicotine content. Everyone who has had a bowl of this from the batch I recieved comments on this as well. Therefore I smoke what I have every once in a while but will probably not purchase more when this runs out. If any one I know buys some of this I will try it again to compare it to the batch that I have. I will still recomend this to those who love virginias and love a good punch of nicotine. This blend has realy grown on me! I must re rate and give it 4 stars! It is now in my regular rotation and have several tins of it. The original batch that I tried must have been unique in the nicotine dept.