F & K Bat With A Hat

Tin note of caramel, vanilla and spices. Tobacco is a mix cut of brown and black. Moisture content is goopy. Drying for a day is required. Burns slow with many relights. The strength is mild to medium and nic is mild. Flavoring is medium, with notes of caramel, vanilla. Flavor lessens a bit, but never drop to the background. Taste is medium and somewhat consistent, with notes of caramel, vanilla, floral, spices, sugar, nuts, sweet grass, cocoa, toast, peaty vegetation, wood, earth, zesty orange peel, dry graham cracker, a sour citrus and dark fruit background note, and a peppery retro. Flavoring is leading with Cavendish, Burley, Virginia supporting. Room note is pleasant, and aftertaste is ok.

As aromatics go, this one doesn’t stand out but it’s not horrible either. It does what aromatics are meant to do, smell good to those around you. It does provide flavor to the smoker, which is a plus. Sort of a vanilla, caramel citrusy flavor. Not at all unpleasant but I wouldn’t buy it again.

This particular tobacco is more suited for the novice smoker as it is overly cased and presents no qualities indicative of tobacco being an ingredient. That being said, if you are into such products, you'll probably enjoy it as the flavoring is very confectionary and very pronounced. However, being a more seasoned pipe smoker, I find the casing to be very cloying and unworthy of a second bowl.

Bat with a Hat is a delicious, caramel/vanilla Aromatic that, as one reviewer suggested, is a deeper version of Lane's deservedly famous 1-Q. That said, Bat's feel is of greater burley but with good natural sugars from the Black Cavendish and the Virginias. It is one of the ten or so best Aromatic blends I smoke regularly -- not as good as, say, Evening Stroll from Milan, Autumn Evening from C&D, or Connoisseur's Choice from Peterson, but certainly on a par with 1-Q as mentioned, and either 7 Seas Black or Gold from MacBaren.