East India Trading Co. Officer's Club

I already had smoked EITC Cellar Reserve and found it to be both good and good in micro blending. The two blends are somewhat similar but have their differences. Both were very wet upon opening, though, OC was slightly less than CR and dried out a little quicker. Both have a reddish brown and black appearance but, then, begin to diverge. OC has less black leaf and increased reddish brown leaf; that is to say, less black Cavendish and more red Virginia. As a result, OC smoked less soft than CR and is a stouter blend - quite stout for an aromatic. OC smokes with a higher register than CR and is somewhat spicier. When freshly opened you get the spice aroma strongly, but it was the first thing to fade in the air out. One could also detect a citrus-like aroma and this did not fade significantly in airing out. So, you are left with the rum/vanilla aroma plus the citrus. I found this combo of aromas to be just OK in smoking straight out of the tin and the citrus does not work as well for me in micro blending. Still, all in all, not a bad smoke and I recommend it to you for a somewhat unusual smoking experience - three stars.

This warrants three stars when fresh, but don’t let it sit in the jar too long! Because of the high moisture content and PG the flavors begin to stew into a muddled mess. So this review considers a fresh tin up to about a year in jar while it is still good.

The first tin I bought when this was first released in 2015, and finished within a few months. I liked it enough that I bought another tin in 2019 along with the other two in the series: Cellar Reserve and Royal Challenge. Both times this arrived really quite wet and messy. It takes several attempts to get a steady burn, but even sitting on a paper plate for two hours didn’t help much. Still sticky. Why so much PG? Probably anti-fungals as well, to prevent mold. But at least I couldn’t taste any off chemical flavors.

When fresh this is a true hedonist’s delight. I get a tin/jar note of butter rum muffins, crème Brule, and brown sugar coated pound cake. Good thing the calories are going up in smoke! If you set the pipe down mid-bowl and return later, this has allowed for additional drying in the bowl, and now I get a less confectionary flavor that is more like baked Mandelbrot (a sort of almond gingerbread). Winning room note obviously.

Don’t do as I did and forget about this at the back of the cupboard. Now, after four years it is a muddled mess of unctuous sugar-coated wilted vegetation and mushy overcooked spinach. Yeah, one star territory I’m afraid. Carpe Diem, enjoy it in its youthful exuberance!

great smoke, a little wet opening tin, let it dry a little. the aroma , taste are both great,. will buy this one again for sure. aromatic smokers rejoice