East India Trading Co. Royal Challenge

This is your typical middle of the road aromatic. A little bit moist in the tin but still burns OK. The tin and room note on this one are phenomenal. You get smacked with the rum every time you pop the top on this guy. Not just rum but some spice and maybe vanilla/caramel. Its really yummy. But, as with most Cavendish blends the experience leaves you wanting more chemistry. I have a hard time giving aromatics a 4 star lately.

This Nancy is very similar to Officers Club. Upon opening the tin, there is a very pronounced scent of berries. This did not transfer to the smoke however. The vanilla coke theme is prevalent throughout without much spice. Note, this well ghost a pipe as well. The berry flavoring used in the top dressing of this blend well remain in the pipe. I found this rather strange, as said before, the berries do not come through in the smoke. Perhaps they are covered up by the strong vanilla casing. Still, a descent baccy and an excellent American Style Aromatic. Cheers.

Having an itch for rum pipe tobacco, I recently ordered the Rum Punch sampler from pipesandcigars.com. I have to say that this has been an evenly balanced and mellow smoke from light to finish. Upon opening, my girlfriend detected scents of apple, cherry, and vanilla. To me, it has a creme brulee aroma. I should mention that it arrived rather moist and that I had to let it dry for about 15-30 minutes. Cavendish is present throughout. When the gold and red Virginias do come through, they provide a nice balance. Will update in the next couple of weeks for further remarks.

When fresh I enjoyed this and Officer’s Club about equally, but this one has definitely aged better. When I first popped the tin the aroma was like Irish coffee (coffee, Bailey’s Cream, and a shot of rum for good measure). Flavors followed the aroma – coffee, cream, dark rum - with maybe a touch of caramel. I never really noticed any cinnamon or nutmeg, but there’s already enough going on. I found it a bit rich to actually enjoy with my morning coffee, but had no problem with it as an after lunch treat. Moisture content was high, but not ridiculous like Officer’s Club, which was one of the wettest I’ve ever had. Both are obviously loaded with PG, but other than create a little more effort to get the burn rate going, I can’t taste any negative chemical flavors. After that initial flush of discovery, I set the jar aside and explored other blends. At one time I had 504 mason jars of tobacco in my cabinets!

Fast forward to just this week, four year later. In that time Officer’s Club completely fell apart, stewing in its own unctuous flavorings and PG juices. But for some reason Royal Challenge survived, and to my taste, may be slightly better now! Some of the really over-the-top richness has now been moderated. I can now enjoy with morning coffee, since in cold months I tend to add a little creamer anyway. Flavorwise this falls into the same family as my favorite 4-star Rivendell (from Country Squire) but without any natural tobacco coming through. This is a full-blown aromatic, stays quite moist, but tastes ‘clean’ at least, and I’m fairly critical of chemical tastes.

This is a fine effort in this genre by Russ Oullette, and it reminds me a little of another of his that I like: “Chocolate Covered Espresso Beans.”