Tom Eltang Mixture

Another sample from our wonderful friends at smokingpipes.com. In the bag it was somewhat sweet yet slightly musty, little hints of maybe caramel and cocoa. It packs well, lights easily, burns to a nice white ash. The initial taste is a wheat like, nutty taste I'm assuming it is the burley with the Virginias. Then that spicy note comes through. It is nice for a bit, but it overpowers the smoke. It gets a bit sour as it combines with the acidity of the Virginias. I like the coolness of the smoke, but I dislike the spicy sour taste. I really would have liked to see more sweetness from the Virginias. It's not bad but it could have been a bit more smoother and sweeter.

Tin Appearance: Looks almost like straight burley/dark burley mix. Very consistent dark tan to light brown coloring, very consistent breaking of the flakes. Tin Aroma: Very interesting. In fact, very good. Lots of plum from the perique, with some hay and just a tiny bit of cocoa I think I smelled, but with a hint of fermentation putting a kind of slight sour note on it all. Taste: Very pleasant. On a slow smoke and exhale I get light sweet Virginia with a touch of hay and just a hint of natural cocoa flavor from the burley here and there, perique definitely present but not in the forefront except on the retrohale. However, the burley tends to take over the taste a great deal. It’s good burley, but it’s too evident. Smoking: Very little drying time required. When packed light, burns evenly and well without the need to relight. No noticeable bite, and I’m a quick puffer. Thoughts: It’s a pleasant va/bur with, to my taste, too little perique and too much burley. The burley works beautifully to cool the smoke, it’s not a hot smoke, but it came to the forefront too often for me. Not enough to overpower the blend, but enough for me to wish for more Virginia flavor as well. Recommend to: Va/bur lovers, those who like light amounts of perique. Suspect it will improve a great deal with age. Summary: A good blend that will most likely improve with age, and is definitely one to buy 2 tins of and cellar the extra. Could use less burley and more perique in my opinion. Most would probably say more Virginia and less burley. Tin note is excellent.

During the earlier stages of my tin of Mixture, I found it to be my favorite of the C&D’s Tom Eltang series of blends. But, having the tin in my pipe room for nearly a year, I find myself struggling to finish it. The Burley dominates Mixture and the Perique is barely noticeable. The red Virginia offers a bit of tang and a very small amount of sweetness and easier to notice than the bright Virginia. The flavor is fairly stout and consists mainly of the earthy, somewhat nutty Burley. I have found the Eltang blends to be a bit of a disappointment and while I enjoy Mixture more than the others, there are simply better blends in the genre. I think that it is that “rough” quality to C&D tobaccos that some love and other don’t and I generally am in the “don’t” group. Possibly some age would help to bring out the Virginia's a little more and better balance out the blend. I think that Mixture is better than a two star blend for me personally, but falls short of a three star tobacco and not one that I would buy again.

Small sample only, so my opinion might not be indicative.

Mid brown ready rubbed flake. There are small amounts of light leaf, and no dark leaf at all, so I (literally) can't see how perique could be part of the mix.

This is a full on VaBur, with Burley very much in the forefront. It is strong and one dimensional. Burns well, produces a lot of smoke, and is rather acrid.

Too strong for an all day smoke and lacking in sufficient complexity or interest for a contemplative smoke. It has no obvious flaws and seems to be made from reasonable quality tobacco and might have a market amongst hipsters looking for something retro in a hairy chested sort of way. I can't get the phrase 'prison tobacco' out of my mind when this is in the bowl.

Would be one star, but it is well enough made and probably does have a market that will love it, that I am giving it two.

This one didn't do it for me.

I received this in a sample bag with an order from smokingpipes.com and decided to give it a try. I smoked a full bowl and a few days later decided to give it another try. About halfway down my second bowl I emptied it and decided not to spend anymore time on it. It has (at least to my taster) a stale, musty taste that is very off-putting to me. Sours as you progress down the bowl. Just wasn't my cup-of-tea.

Others might enjoy it but not this guy.