Tsuge Premium Pipe Tobacco Ryujin - The Dragon God

Black Acadian you say? Sounds dangerous, pass that over here please. I'm not sure where the medium to full comes in as I want to rank this well seated in the full realm. The main performer here is the Acadian Black which towers over any VaPer I've had in the past. Spice by the truckload here and behind it, the most cigar tasting pipe blend I've had to date (even the wife noticed the cigar like aroma and said she liked it). By mid-bowl I had that nice lump feeling in my throat and chest only achieved from blends dripping with the lovely Lady N. Moisture from the jar was just right and I was able to make it through a bowl in my churchwarden without paying mind to the ember or relighting. Thick voluminous smoke and that spice. This is definitely not a early morning blend for me but fits well into the after-meal category when a stronger English doesn't fit what I'm looking for. I'm curious what a little resting time will do to the brightness and spice. While they are very "in your face" they work well and I'm not sure muting them would make this blend stand out among others with the same components. All in all enjoyable. I recommend this to lovers of Perique as well as for those that like cigar leaf in their mixtures.

I was at the pipe club last week and our El Presidente had this tin dated February, 2016 and offered me some. The tin art was so nice, (not warning crap on the front covering half the tin) that I said when you are done and if you don’t keep the tin, I would like to have it. Low and behold he gave me the tin and the contents. This was unexpected I might add. Before I begin, first classroom. According to Russ Ouellette, “Acadian Black is made by smoking Virginia similar to dark fired Kentucky, pressed in barrels and fermented like Perique. The different flavor is due to the high sugar content of the Virginia”. The tin note at first reminded me of warm dirt, must the be Perique and or Acadian Black. The contents of this blend are listed Latakia, Perique, and Virginia. Hmm, no Orientals listed. The mixture of this blend consists of wide and course ribbons and brown torn leaf chunks, not sure which cut belongs to which. There is a real smoky sweetness to this one starting up, I checked the description and flavoring is listed as none but one reviewer suggested there may be some light topping and or casing on this. I cannot say one way or the other as even after all of these years smoking a pipe my expertise is not that great at breaking down the components of a blend regarding makeup and taste. Halfway down the bowl the sweetness at times dissipates but I have smoked other bowls of this and it has remained throughout. Probably depends on what tobacco out of the tin is loaded. I like this but to me it tastes more like a cross between an English and Dark fired blend. I get full flavor and some sweetness but not your typical English blend taste and that is probably due to the Acadian Black. I do not grade much on nicotine as that is not why I smoke a pipe but I did not find the nicotine strength very strong. Or I just have built up a tolerance for it. Probably the latter. Also, though the site says it is available I can’t find any of these Tsuge blends offered for sell. I am on the fence as whether to grade 2 or 3 stars but since I can’t find much fault in it, I will go with the 3. I was surprised that there was no JImInks review on this on either. In closing if you can find a tin, the artwork of this series really is nice and sort of makes me wish I had bought them all but we all know the deal, there is just too much out there to get them all.

This is one of the few VaPer blends that agrees with me. Most of the VaPers I’ve tried have given me massive tongue bite, taste awful, and eventually give me a headache or make me nauseous, or both. This blend, Ryujin, is quite strong. I found that out the hard way smoking it on an empty stomach and driving a long way home. I guess it has plenty of nicotine. But it has no real bite. This, combined with a very mild aroma means I kept taking in voluminous puffs. Don’t do that. Sip it, and it can be a nice experience. I’m going to recommend it because it seems to agree with me and the smoke does smell nice.