F & K Bat With A Hat

F & K - Bat With a Hat.

I bought this without reading any of the information, barring the name; it cracked me up!

It's quite a rugged cut, and even though the tin's fairly roomy, allowing breathing space, the blend's still moist. There's less black Cavendish in comparison to the others, and the tin-note's sublime; my first thought was "if it tastes as good as it smells, it's a winner!".

At first light it tastes like quite a simple caramel, vanilla, aromatic, there's no alcohol. It takes until about halfway through for the alcohol/liqueur to strengthen. When it does I'm still unsure as to what sort it is, but the alcoholic piquancy's notable. The casing stops some of the tobaccos getting through, and, given the larger quantity, the tobacco that gets the most of the stage is the Burley.

There isn't much nicotine in B.W.A.H, and the room-note's very pleasant.

I got this because of the funny name, but it's a good smoke. Recommended.

Four stars.

Opening the tin reveals a warm, mild aroma of caramel and sugar cookie. The casing is mild with the tobacco being just a bit on the moist side but nothing that 20 minutes sitting out won’t cure. The ribbon cuts pack very easily and lights and burns well. There’s very little bite with this cool burning tobacco.

To be honest I’m not a fan of aromatic tobaccos for all the reasons you might expect. With that being said this blend serves as a nice change of pace from my usual Virginia Perique and occasional Latakia blends.

Bat in a hat has a lovely tin and room note along with plenty of flavor to be enjoyed by the smoker. The green river comes through in spades without any one flavor being over powered.

The cut is perfect making it easy to pack in any size bowl. Moisture level is also spot on. It will not leave the bottom of your bowl soaking wet like so many aromatic tobaccos tend to do.

If your looking for a good aromatic I think this is worth a try even if your not a fan of Sutliff blends.

F&K’s Bat With A Hat is sure to please aro smokers looking for something smooth, light, and deliciously fragrant. In the tin are damp, thin ribbons, red-ish to dark brown, with some black chunks, and I suppose these reflect VAs, Burley, Cavendish and Perique. Tin note smells to me like coconut, vanilla, and a whiff of light cocoa. It handles, packs, lights and burns down fine. Lit aroma is similar to the tin note, with some light orange and slightly earthy, fragrant grasses, and nuts and caramel are added to all that in the tastes. I’m guessing the VAs are flue cured lemon and air cured orange, along with some toasted Burley, and very little Perique. In any case, the tobaccos manage to compliment and carry the prominent toppings. It pretty much stays the same top to bottom, except it gets just a little sharper down the bowl. Strength is mild. Tastes are a tick or two over mild. Room note is terrific. Aftertaste is a letdown from the smoke, IMO, being slightly acrid and metallic, otherwise flat.

Bottom line? A light, truly fragrant aro worth 4 stars apart from its aftertaste. As is, it’s an easy 3 stars.

Bat With A Hat is cool burning amped up version of the 1Q style (vanilla, caramel, confectionery treat) of tobaccos much like L.J. Peretti Blend #432 is like 1Q on anabolic steroids. Bat With A Hat is a pleasurable aromatic and a wonderful reprieve from my typical VaPer and English consumption.