Tsuge Premium Pipe Tobacco Raijin - The Thunder God

Purchased a sampler of all 4 of the God series recently...

The St. James kicks in and doesn't let go here... Strong and spicy notes abound... Definitely a sipper here... I will be smoking this late in the day or at night as this one seems a bit rough for all day puffing... Hints of the burley here and there but the parish tobacco is the dominating factor here...

Beautiful tobacco from the 'bag'. I was lucky enough to be given a sample of this tobacco from a friend who got his hands on it. Good mixture of light and dark tobaccos. The smell reminds me of hay and/or perhaps the zoo?! Perhaps that sounds strange, but it was the first thing that came to mind. Smells like a very fresh and not highly processed tobacco. There were hints of smokiness from the bag as well.

Packs and lights well and remains lit throughout the smoke. Ash ends up a nice white-gray. It's smoke is interesting. Light accents of latakia come from time to time, but are very rare and subdued. It seems that the Kentucky takes center stage. The flavor is smokey, earthy, and salty. Not much if any sweetness detected throughout the bowl from top to bottom. A good N-kick and leaves throat a bit scratchy at times, but almost no tongue bite. It has to be one of the most interesting tobaccos I have ever smoked, not like any other English blend I've sampled before. It is a good fresh, almost dare I say Organic, tobacco. With that being said, probably not one I would smoke often, but that is just my taste. It's worth a try for something unique.

Because the spice content is so high, it’s hard to pick out which varietal gives the most kick in this blend. I tend to believe it’s the very spicy, raisiny, plumy, figgy, earthy, woody St. James perique. The perique’s non-spice aspects are continually noticeable. The spicy, earthy, woody, vegetative, herbal, floral, very sour Orientals (Izmir is one of them) are a second lead that occasionally takes the top spot. The earthy, woody, floral, lightly nutty, dryly sour, slightly sweet and overly spicy dark fired Kentucky sits in the third position. The earthy, woody, rather nutty, lightly spicy, dry toasted sweetness of the double toasted burley is just above being a condiment. The golden Virginias provide some tart and tangy citrus, grass, floralness, bread, light sugar, and a few pitches of spice in a condimental role. The strength and nic-hit are in the center of medium to strong. The taste is a step past that mark. Even though it can be a little tongue tingly, it won’t bite, but fast puffing may result in a harsh note. Has some rough edges. Burns a tad warm, quickly and very clean with an inconsistent, complex, very spicy, savory, sour and mildly sweet, punchy, rich flavor that extends to the pleasantly lingering after taste. The room note is bit more potent. Barely leaves any dampness the bowl, and requires few relights. Not an all day smoke, but the veteran smoker will find it more repeatable than the lesser experienced one. It’s obviously a Mark Ryan production.

-JimInks

Tasting Notes: Tsuge Raijin

Component Tobaccos: Uhh.. This depends on who you ask. Smokingpipes has Orientals and Virginias, while P&C has Burley, Cavendish, Perique and Virginia. Tobacco reviews has Kentucky, Latakia, Oriental/Turkish and Virginia. There seems to be no consensus as to what's in it.

Cut: Coarse ribbon.

Tin Note: Tangy, like the elephant enclosure at the zoo. There's an underlying hay or grass mustiness. Interesting, complex and a bit off-putting.

Body: 9/10

Strength: 8/10

Nic: 7/10

Mechanics: Have trouble keeping it lit. Has a tendency towards harshness upon lighting it up. Overall a cool, dry smoke

Taste:

1st half At first light you get a hit of oriental tanginess. A bit of spiciness from either the Kentucky or perique but I don't get any flavor from them. Definitively some Cavendish, it raises it's sweet head from time to time. I think I get hits of Latakia but I can't be sure. The star of this show are the superb orientals. They are deliciously tangy and help give the blend a nice full body.

2nd half As I get down past half-way in my bowl I am becoming more confidant that this is Kentucky leaf and not perique but there is a note of fig, so I could be wrong. It may very well have both. At this point the orientals are starting lighten up and the smoke becomes more mellow through to the bottom of the bowl. Nearing the bottom the smoky nature of the Kentucky really starts to come out. The Cavendish is definitively there, but not in abundance. It makes a few puffs through a bowl sweet.

Thoughts: I first picked this up a couple of years ago when I first started pipe smoking and the complexity of this blend was lost on me. As I revisit today man I realize how great this tobacco is. They are really asking you to search this blend and pick out the component tobaccos. There is oriental tang, a bit of sweetness, some smokiness, some earthiness, a bit of fruit and undertoned with a musk that I can't place. It leaves a spice in your mouth, a smile on your face and you longing for another bowl.

Overall: 8/10

I found a jar of this while doing some cleaning during the famous lock-down of 2020 (COVID-19)

I remember buying these for their tin-art (still some of the best ever) and jarring what I didn't smoke at the time.

I'll base the review on my impressions now, as I don't remember much about it originally. The moisture content was still good and it was easy to pack and light being a ribbon cut.

The taste is peppery and spicy with a woody background. The orientals pick up in the 2nd half of the bowl. It's a balanced smoke with a medium/full body and a moderate nic hit to my tolerance.