Straus Tobacco Sleepy Hollow

Wow... What an aromatic this is! I was really upset last year when I realized I was too late to get in on the wait list for this seasonal blend around this time last year and I was damned if I was going to miss out again this year. Long story short, I was able to secure 8 ounces of this much talked about blend (I was really into watching the Dagner's Youtube channel at the time). It arrived on 09/01/2016 and I couldn't wait to load up a pipe and give er a whirl. The weather was starting to cool and the season was turning, so it couldn't have arrived at a better time, fall is here! Or so I thought. I was really disappointed with it upon introduction but one thing I've learned after many years of smoking a pipe is to never judge a tobacco from first bowl (give every blend a 2 ounce go before making up your mind). Of course I couldn't help but come up with all sorts of negative impressions and my mantra for the entire bowl was, "what was I thinking, this is just another crappy aromatic... a fart in the wind." I was pretty upset that I bought an 8 ounce bag of the stuff. By the second bowl, I had become a believer! This smells and tastes like fall in a pipe! I can discern the pumpkin, the cinnamon and the vanilla. It tastes like these pumpkin spice pancakes I get around this time of year from a local diner. It's delicious and it has a beautiful room note as well. Yes, it's a little on the moist side and it's far from a natural tasting tobacco but it really hits the spot this time of year. Unfortunately, the fall weather that was developing turned out to be just a cruel tease and the heat came back with a bang. It looks like we have more summer to endure here in Central Texas. I can't wait till the cooler weather hits and the families start to gather cause you can bet your last dollar that I'll be smoking this lovely aromatic when I'm feeling festive. My only regret is that I didn't buy more of it cause this is it folks! This is the last year you'll see this blend on the market. You can thank the F. (freakin') D.A. for that along with all the other hundreds of wonderful blends our friends will be regulating out of the industry.

*Edit (9-10-17) Yeah, I just can't deal with this type of aromatic anymore. There is absolutely no taste of tobacco to be found here and the flavorings just seem artificial and worst of all there is hardly any nicotine. I do find that if you mix some Bogie with it that it makes it more enjoyable but on it's own I just can't recommend it any longer. Sorry for my bipolar review, I just can’t tolerate heavy aromatics like this one anymore. However, it is a top quality aro and I really appreciate the theme of it.