Seattle Pipe Club Potlatch

Smoked in Missouri Meerschaum. Outside on the patio on a cool Florida afternoon. Very pleasing, Surprisingly complex and rich. Looking forward to smoking in a briar. To me this is a great all day with plenty to explore.

Tin note is Smokey Latakia and strong sweet spice. Kind of a chunky ribbon cut. The first few puffs are truly musky in flavor quite strong. It smooths out quickly after a few puffs. This is a Balkan blend that has just a slight sweetness. Very traditional tasting I think of a milder version of Artison's Blend or Railroad station, with the added addition of the fermented perique and some spiciness. It defiantly gets much better as you progress through the bowl. smoother and less musky, more spice. Nic hit is mild to medium. Not an all day smoke but a nice change. Three stars

Certainly interesting to come across a tobacco named after the information bulletin of the Lettrist International, made up of a combination of tobaccos that illustrates the concept of "surplus value"...so I will try to do a Debordian central critique of this smoke... I'm joking a bit there, I realize both the magazine and this tobacco have the same source for their name...

Opening the tin, you are greeted with some tangy and tart Oriental and Virginia aromas, with that musky Perique note in the background. The Latakia is applied with a very light hand, and the cut of the tobaccos is a sizable ribbon.

In the pipe, the Cavendish is basically unnoticeable, and just contributes to the cool burning quality. You get some of that good, nutty, burnt toast bitterness from a quality burley, and the musty Perique peeks in and out throughout the smoke. It is a medium flavored smoke all the way through, and to me, mild on the nicotine; but keep in mind I am liable to smoke a small pipe of pure Perique on occasion, so my opinion on nicotine levels may not match yours. Required a couple of relights at the bottom of the bowl, and I enjoyed the second half more than I enjoyed the first.

The only thing that keeps me from rating this higher is it just doesn't hit my preferred flavor profile. I would give it two and a half stars personally, but if it's more your style, you would likely rate it higher. Definitely a quality blend, and I would get it out of that cardboard tin and into a glass or ceramic container pretty quickly. It's got an ideal, ready to smoke moisture upon first opening, but left in the can overnight, it seems like it wants to dry right out. The Virginias are a quality addition, and seem well aged, as I never get the harsh "cigarette-y" quality I can pick up from cheaper or less well-aged Virginias. Despite the number of tobacco varieties included here, it holds together as a straightforward medium blend. If you are Latakia-phobic, feel free to dive in as it seems to have just enough of that leaf to be synergistic with the Orientals.

I see it listed as a Balkan, and I know all these terms are pretty much in the eye (or palate) of the beholder, but I certainly wouldn't call it a Balkan, more like a VaPerBur....Worth a try, as it is certainly a quality blend, but I don't see myself picking up another tin of it, as it just doesn't really fit my tastes. I prefer Ten Russians to Plum Pudding, but I'd like to sample some of the other Seattle Pipe Club blends, because this certainly is well put together.

This is a pleasant and easy to smoke pipe tobacco. I don’t normally get into the nuances of tin notes because I primarily enjoy my tobacco when smoked.

That said, this blend seems smoke ready in every tin I’ve opened. I have let it set out a little, but it doesn’t do much to change the burn and/or flavor for me. This is a good blend to smoke any time of day, but I seem to find the most enjoyment mid-day as I don’t find it heavy/full enough for an evening smoke.

I find its sweet, floral and light smoky flavor to be hard to resist. The retro gives me a little taste of what I would consider to be a bit like bourbon after taking a drink and exhaling through the nose - most specific to Woodford Reserve. Needless to say I like to pair this with that on occasion.

Nothing in this blend seems to be a standout to me as a true front runner as the tobaccos all play well together to create a somewhat complex yet familiar flavor profile.

To me, this seems like it could be a good introduction to what people call an English blend. I will always have some Potlatch available to smoke, but not ready to call it an every day smoke, although it could easily be.

Seattle Pipe Club's Potlatch. I recently became an instant fan of their Plum Pudding, and it made me want to try some more of their blends. Potlatch contains, from the label: black cavendish with luxury burley, Cyprian latakia, bright Virginias, Turkish, Orientals and Acadian perique.

I get a taste of the burley with maybe even a little cocoa. The Perique is there but you have to kind of search it out; it's not as pronounced as in Plum Pudding. There's a smokiness and maybe even a barbecue-like taste from the Latakia--maybe helped along with the black cavendish.

The tin I received looks to be a couple of years old, as it has no obnoxious warning label on it. There are at times some rough spots but overall a very enjoyable smoke. I've already ordered more.

Truly a unique blend that I wouldn’t have considered until I received a coupon for an 8 OZ can. I’m more of an aromatic smoker by preference, yet I also like to enjoy a variety of different tobaccos. The notes seem to change as the bowl burns down. Though it has a burly note to it, there’s no tongue bite, and it doesn’t gunk up my pipe with too much residual moisture. It’s not my go to, but I will store it in mason jars to keep it fresher. Great one to share for my next potlatch.

I’d mostly agree with Jiminks’ 2017 TR review that Seattle Pipe Club’s Potlatch is a very complex blend that veers toward being called a Balkan because of the strong presence of Oriental leaf. The main player here is the burley with support from the Orientals but the VA lends sone sweetness. The Perique is lost. I’d wish for a stronger Latakia presence but I adore the nuanced use of the burley. And I love the use of the spicy, creamy oriental that is clearly present. This is a moderate strength blend in the same vein as Odyssey, Sunset Harbor and Tashkent and even the Bourbon version of Plum Pudding. It has more going for it than Plum Pudding Special Reserve. Potlatch is an impressive achievement. I’d give it 3.5 out if 4 stars rounded up.

Potlatch, the tobacco that is, scales a complex recipe of virtually every smokeable resource in existence. In leveraging the best of the Balkan spirit, Lankford ingratiates us with an impressive amalgamation of mixed varietals that spans commanding Oriental, featured luxury Burley, complementing Perique, guarded Latakia, residual Virginians, and the solidifying dose of sugared Black Cavendish. Showing a visage that abridges a lovely palette of colorful autumn-toned splendor, this well-crafted blend brings a generously proportioned ribbon-cut mane of cultured richness.

As the remarkable tinned air of Potlatch evolves, the foregathered essence fills with a boldness cinched with an exceptionally tart-sour bite much like the effects of balsamic fig and aged vinegar. This powerful sharpness is predominantly top-level as the supportive aromas of the native fragrance release from within. Seething streams of acute spicing bear evidence for the presence of fertile floral spice, rested smoky creosote, progressed fermentation, deeply earthen nutwood, and primal pungency. There is a touch of tickling sweetness that attempts to make itself known but is quickly suppressed by the austere mood of a characteristic foreboding darkness.

Truthfully this tobacco proved to be somewhat of a temperamental contrarian. Namely, upon reviewing the subject recipe, one would expect a considerably enlivened registration, a blended dynamo if you will, that was hotly sparked with a surge of stirring intricacy. As such, my framed perceptions had me anticipating the distinct colorful boldness and virility of a classic Balkan experience, ala the famed Plum Pudding mystique. Instead, what I actually discovered was a substantially calm and abnormally flattened revision of the same.

Being somewhat deluded by my successive findings, and in the perils of chasing the sought ends of known Balkan machismo, at first my true objectivity was a bit confounded. After a series of disappointing trials that only revealed a so-so rendering, experiential wisdom finally hit me smartly upon the noggin. Immediately I defaulted to my ever-faithful Savinelli Bruyere briar, and with that “should have been obvious” decision, suddenly this blend gloriously came to life as expected.

It is certainly true that to optimally capture Potlatch’s unique character, one must enlist the aid of a solid briar that is scaled with a wide, deeply contoured bowl, there is no question. Describing the essential character that follows, the medium Potlatch largely endows an underlying spicy, smoked sweetness, some consistently featured bright floral, heedful earthen sourwood, and a degree of mixed-leaf mildly common pungency.

Conferring the nominally tamed demeanor, what one encounters is a conventional Oriental forward profile that is primarily interposed with what are perhaps the strongest secondary influences, those being the settled Burley and the spiraling Perique. All the same, as a Balkan construction that is afforded sophistication by way of its supporting recipe, the tobacco manifests a degree of the associated denseness and depth that one should normally encounter within the genre. It is, however, noticeably more conservative in comparative magnitude, making the charge of felt impressions decidedly softer.

Honorably assigning credit where credit is due, Potlatch’s physical design and finished blending quality are fundamentally commendable. As a result, the achievement is a well-rounded offering that bestows a median amount of differentiating complexity. Nonetheless, reflecting upon a minor side note, at times the confluence of streams model too much equality which results in the confusable separation of succinct flavor. And although the respectful nuances and accenting are a bit grander than average, Lankford’s creation facilitates an exchange of modest but entertaining animation. The occurring dominant stream moves in ebbs and flows, the election of which is perfectly affixed upon the principal Oriental-Burley-Perique interchange.

Subsequently, even allowing for the experienced relative charisma, the sheer weightiness of all the other variables enabled this tobacco to attain a higher scoring on genre trueness. What is more, the general flavor properties encounter as uplifting given the accessible standards, but again a tad frailer. In specific the middling nature of the intensity, the outwardly relaxed presence, and the slightly faltering push from the registerable base note, effectively serve to marginalize the potential bigness of the Balkan performance overall. Still, no misunderstanding here, Potlatch is genuinely a worthy specimen to the prescribed class.

In getting to the tasted specifics, I must say that if you delight in the savors of the Oriental leaf then Potlatch definitely has its merits towards these ends. Remarkably, the sweet-sour lead note is exceptionally bright and consistent with a pleasantly green tartish floral constitution. What kept coming to my mind was the essence of a commonly nourished yew, trickled with a musty camphor-like spicing. Further tinting this main thread was a subtle highlight that reveled in the feel of tasty black tea. In sum, the eminent Oriental influence clearly stands as the blend’s most endearing facet.

Upon reading the marketing blurb that describes Potlatch’s inventive internals there is one interesting comment expressing the inclusion of “luxury” Burley. What that statement exactly signifies is open to interpretation. It may be that the words speak to the most pristine grouping of leaf variety available, as defined by the NTA’s Harmonized Grading system. Whatever it alludes to, I will attest to the fact that the quality of the residing Burley embellishment within this mixture is authentically flavorsome.

The middle band standardly defines a Burley character that is multi-pronged in context. Generally, a clear and often wonderfully warm node of pecan nuttiness fills the weight of the envelope. This notation rings comfortably with flashes of faint buttery molasses. Additionally, moving in a wave like pattern, toasty dark resonant woody zest subsidizes the balance of the registration. This deeper ambience previews a distant innuendo of weaker earthen sour, and more determinately an herbal accent that is reminiscent of a sweet basil-stevia variant.

As recorded, the third element of importance charted as the Acadian Perique. This spicy condiment magnifies the sweet nature of Potlatch, as the impressions of neatly stewed prunes form its base character. Besides this fruity casting, the Perique injects a compacted pepperiness in addition to a stronger piquant must and searing meaty umami undertone. At times this stimulating Louisiana strain bonds with the less impactful Latakia further expanding the Cyprian’s sweeter nature. But for itself, the darker natured Latakia varietal emerges to be a mere secondary complement riding on the rear middle tier. It moves forward indeterminately with some general smokiness, sooty char, and burnt pungent tartness that hinges on a real tar-like essence.

In reference to the subject Virginian content, it is all but controlled by the overarching magnanimousness of the three aforementioned strains. You do just catch what I would deem as a widowed contribution of tangy diluted sweetgrass and a seasoned ambience of regulated Red fruitwood at best. These contained elements further supplement the overall softening effects of the total profile. And finally, the trailing underbelly of flavor is populated with the soft sugary zeal of the absorbed Black Cavendish which essentially serves to coalesce and harmonize the rounded completeness of Potlatch’s tasteful meld.

In a demonstration of solid base mechanicals, with the combustion, medium nicotine Potlatch yields handsome full-bodied clouds of substantive gray smoke. Presumably tolerable at best, the tobacco’s odor replays a convincing echo of its essential ingredients. Precisely, dense, and heavy smoky airs expand with a bigness of presence leaving the toasty impressions of seasoned char, burnt wood, tart floral, softer buttery pungency, and a curtailing general sweetness offset by waning zest. Finally, the ensuing burn is regulated at a comforting pace showing exceptional dryness and a nicely cool demeanor.

You know one of the best gifts that we can give to others is a simple thank you. So, thank you to Mr. Lankford for ultimately sharing his passion. And speaking for many a piper, this gifted blend, like all Seattle Pipe Club offerings, stands as a testament to the true generosity of his Potlatch spirit.

Objective Scoring: (based on flavor, standard genre attributes and mechanicals): 206/253 ? 2.63 WAVG.
Subjective Rating: (factored for likeability and cost): 3.2 Pipes.

Tin note of smoky, pungent sour fruit and chocolate. Tobacco is a ribbon cut of black and brown with a little dark brown and tan mixed in. Moisture content is good. Some pipe smokers will want to dry it a bit. Burns slow with a few relights. The strength is medium and nic is mild to medium. No flavoring detected despite tin note. Taste is medium to full and mostly consistent, with complex notes of peaty vegetation, floral, dry, herbal spices, tangy sweet dark fruit, smoky incense, fermented sour, slightly spicy, woody, sugar, zesty citrus, toast, leather, bitter orange peel, a nuts and lemon grass background note, and a peppery retro. Burley is leading with Cavendish, Latakia, Oriental/Turkish, Perique, Virginia supporting. Room note is pleasant to tolerable, and aftertaste is great.