Two Friends Valle Crucis

I have to agree with the person who said that ginger belongs in the kitchen and not in tobacco. I tried this and was overwhelmed by the taste of the ginger. I am sorry, perhaps some folks like it and more power to them but this is NOT for me. I cannot get rid of the stench of it from my den and I really hope it did not ghost my Big Ben CW!

YUK! Ginger is for cooking and should have NO place in tobacco blending. While anything produced by Cornell and Diehl is always blended with the finest leaf, which this is no exception, I am still scratching my head. It burns hot and harsh, and the flavor of ginger overshadows the flavor of the tobacco, leaving nothing to be desired for those of us pipesters who want an aromatic and ALSO tobacco flavor, both at the same time. Luckily, I was given a small sample of the tobacco from a friend ( who raved about how great it is ) and did not actually spend money on this. Also, the aftertaste is foul! Burned Ginger anyone? Not Recommended at all, sorry.

My sample was a single ounce in bulk. It had aged at least 6 months sealed in a jar. I found this to taste simply like a mild english, with little discernable ginger flavouring or perique. Tastes a bit like a crossover blend with some evidence of sweetness coming through. I've tried this in a few pipes, yet it still eludes me. Might be worth a try for you, but nothing very memorable for me.

Update 08-05 Having given this a few more rounds, I am upgrading this to *** as I have discovered some of the complexities and subtleties that take a gentle draw to discern. Not an everyday smoke, but certainly one to turn to when you don't want your usual english, aromatic or VA, but have a propensity to enjoy them regularly. The leaf is high quality, but the blend only melds to a unified taste at the 2nd third.

Long after I abondoned most purely aromatic blends for "real tobacco", I still didn't have the proper nose or palate for Latakia blends... they all smelled like, well, old sweat socks, to me... and then I tried Valle Crucis. As this was my first ever enjoyed Latakia blend, it holds a special place in my tobacco smoking heart, despite the ginger casing, which seems to meld nicely with the rest of the blend.

This tobacco is smooth and flavorful, the Latakia appropriately smokey while the VA and Perique combine to level the blend out. The Cavendish adds a nice "toasty" flavor which the oriental and ginger seem to accentuate.

While this isn't your garden variety English/Balkan blend, it is a nice starting off point for those smokers who have generally turned their noses up to most other Latakia blends. It certainly made me a believer while opening up yet another wonderful door to the wold of pipes and tobaccos that I had steered clear of for far too long.

This isn't an awful tobacco, but I have no reason to try it again. It is hard to focus on the underlying tobacco due to the ginger casing. Yes, casing, because it is applied heavily enough that it definitely comes through into the flavor of the smoke.

The ginger flavor is quite interesting, and quite engaging for the first 10 minutes or so. As the bowl continues to burn, however, the somewhat disharmonious flavors of ginger and overweighted Latakia begin to wear tire tracks in your taste buds. There isn't enough going on elsewhere to distract you, and your mouth tires before you hit the half-bowl mark.

If I was a die-hard English fan, I might keep some of this on hand for the occasional niche smoke in a size 1 pipe. I can't imagine anyone using this as a regular go-to blend. I nonetheless commend the blenders for trying something new. Keep up the effort!

This is wonderful blend. It does not overpower, but it is subtle with a distinctive flavor. Among so many unmemorible but good English blends, this one carves out a niche for itself. When I want an English, but light on the latakia, VC is a worthy choice. It is easy to pack, burns very evenly, and smells very nice to those who like the smell of English. To the non English smokers, it is not as offensive as most English blends. So, on a scale of 1 to 10, a solid 8.

My congratulations and appreciation to C&D and GLP for creating this blend. Most English mixtures with aromatic additions fail me as the aromatic overwhelms the blend disguising the taste of the tobaccos. This blend follows its description to the mark. Visually, it looks like a good English mixture. All the pieces, cuts and colors are there. The pouch aroma is also a typical English aroma with an extra whiff of ginger. The ginger adds to the blend rather than disguise it. It simply is an extra ingredient as if it were another tobacco element. Throughout the smoke, it tastes like a good quality medium to strong English mixture of Virginia, Oriental, Latakia, Perique with an addition of ginger just as advertised. The underlying tobacco blend comes through loud and clear. What I refer to as the C&D zing when exhaling through the nose is present. The ginger waifs around the tongue adding a spicy tingle. I can only assume that it adds a pleasing element to the room aroma. I seldom can smell what I am smoking. The end of the bowl was a light grey ash. This blend, in my package, was just a bit on the moist side fresh from the pouch, and it did produce a gurgle about halfway down. One pipe cleaner took care of that. The only negative was that it became a bit too strong at the bottom of the bowl. Most likely, this will cure itself overtime. As with most C&D tobaccos, it probably will improve and mellow after a few months of aging. I definitely recommend Valle Crucis. I do a lot of cooking with fresh ginger, so this blend may be more at home for me than to others.

I am not one for aromatics, but this is simply an amazing blend. The flavoring here is mighty tasty, I reckon it is Cantonese Ginger Wine, but I cannot say for sure. It is noticeable in the pouch aroma, and is a bit sickly sweet there, but settles down nicely in the smoking. On the first puff, I can't tste anytihng but Ginger, but after that, the Latakia and Perique poke thier heads out and make themselves known. I had a hard time discerning any Oriental leaf under the stronger Perique and Latakia, and the flavoring, but no matter, the three 'big' flavors of this blend need no help to provide an enjoyable smoke. The taste intensifies a bit as the bowl winds down, and the last puff is always the same as the first, nothing but Ginger. I don't know if it was designed that way or not, but it is a pretty neat trick if so.

Like anyone else who bought this, I wondered how well does Ginger fare in an Aromatic?

For being such a strong, sharp root which demands attention in any dish it worms into, Valle Crucis began without much tin opening flair... but, after a few bowls and getting the contents stirred up, the Ginger factory started pumping all sorts of wild odors into the air. It does have a Ginger thing going on, however the overall effect is a sour, dare I say, medical cleaning supply montage that is sickly and avoidable, yet drew me in for more each time (kind of like these "skunk" scented stickers I had as a kid).

The ribbons are thin and soft, burned well, and are apparently made from all cuts of leaf, which pulled together on my first bowl into a strong, almost cigar-esque experience (that caught me off guard - I was not a fan). Later attempts also gave off a heavy nicotine wallop (or at the very least, the Ginger added to this effect), so I felt it was stronger than most blends.

So, did I actually smoke something Ginger... well I guess so. Some kind of flavor definitely comes though in the tin, but the lit product isn't as intense (a case of a little goes a long way, so while it may not be heavily topped, the flavoring comes off as at least medium). It was certainly different, and worth a buy for any Aromatic fan.

Heck, I thought about ordering more, so let's call it a win (though English Chocolate is still a better purchase from this blend).