Robert McConnell Glen Piper

GP is exactly what the label describes: a (very) light aromatic, in the English way (but not in the Lakeland?s soapy fashion). As Tantric wrote: polite and discreet ? with nice room aroma. Frankly, I don?t detect dried fruits or figs. I taste a winey and flowery (think to Sauvignon blanc) mild smoke, not much ?substantial? (in the sense of big volume) and slightly peppery, but nothing to do with Perique. Black Cavendish has the main role, counterbalanced by the the herbal bright Va?s. While smoking my mind runs to both Black and Gold? and Scottish Blend, seems they do share the same Black Cavendish. Leaves a pleasantly sweet watered mouth, and doesn?t ?wax? the palate nor bites unless you run. It?s quite moist in the tin ? like all the RmC?s (say it better: K&K), that?s it again: excess water paid for tobacco - but better not smoking it dried out.I have left a pipeful drying a couple of hour, that was a wrong choice, it?s going to bite me, and develops an unpleasant bitter note. (Somewhat) Recommended as a change of pace. That?s why I?m reviewing GP upon ending the first tin, instead of the second, as I usually do. I'm not running to buy a second one.

As others have noted, there isn't a lot of flavor with this blend. The leaf is good and it is a well-behaved smoke but I don't taste any trace of the rum/cocoa/chocolate/fruit. It smells like fermented fruit in the tin but it is simply flat when it is in the pipe. It isn't a bad blend but it doesn't measure up to other aromatics.

A strange one. I did not detect much chocolate, as others have said, however you are presented with the smell of raisins or plums with a dash of spirit (brandy... rum?) out of the tin. It needs a little bit of drying time, but not a lot. The taste is very mellow I found, the tobaccos blend very well together, giving a mild grassy taste. The topping is certainly mild, and presents the taste of a fruit based pudding (or 'desert' for the American pipe smokers here!). It really isn't a bad blend at all, but it isn't anything particularly special. It burns evenly and easily, leaving a nice grey ash , and is very unlikely to bite you unless you puff like a steam train. I somewhat recommend this blend to aromatic smokers, but it may still appeal to us English blend smokers as well due to the mildness of the toppings here.

This is a flavoured mixture. There is casing and there is top dressing and I’m sure there are natural ingredients but also artificial substances. Three essential flavoring: perique, fruit and chocolate. Without any doubt, PERIQUE is present and you can taste it but it is not leading. From the side of the taste, FRUIT is evanescent, really vanishing and after opening the tin you can taste it only in the first and second smoke (maybe even in the third, but not later). For this reason fruit flavoring is only a topping and not a casing element. On the other hand CHOCOLATE is a component of the casing. On smoking, it is difficult to taste it, but you can smell the scent very well and it is always present. I don’t know if this is a black cavendish result but chocolate is certainly a flavoring ingredient. Finally not a bad mixture and not a great mixture. So, in my personal system rating (from 1 to 10) my score is 7 and two stars.

The German blender K&K has done a another nice job with this blend. The rubbed out mix of light VAs and black cavendish have a delightful, sweet tin aroma that it also present in the taste, aftertaste and receives rave reviews with respect to room aroma. It smokes cool without any hint of bite. However, I found that any VA tobacco taste was overshadowed by the casing. Since I normally don't choose strong aromatics for this reason, I really can't criticize the blend since it is clearly marked as an aromatic on the tin. If you prefer these types of blends, give it a try. Although one of the better of the limited number of aromatics that I've tried, I'll probably only revisit this blend for situations where the room aroma is more important than my ultimate, personal pleasure.

Glen Piper is a fine aromatic tobacco with a pleasant top note and a little bit of natural tobacco taste.. Pretty light in the strength department.. and although it burns slow enough it had a tendency to bite a bit. The cocoa/booze or whatever it is seems to be the main attraction and it is applied tastefully enough.. the toasty cavendish somewhat overwhelms the virginia.. while the Kentucky and perique though barely detectable do leave a trace in the retrohale.. the first part of each bowl was pretty pleasant for me.. almost evoking a rum raisin effect and something old fashioned in a pleasant way.. as the bowl continues, it loses my interest to an extent.. and doesn't agree very well with the tongue even when sipped.. the flavors are pleasant but subdued.. but if you like a light smoke with pleasant flavor, and you don't mind cavendish taking the drivers seat I would recommend trying this.

The cavendish addition in this blend is somewhat high for my taste. Strength of it is just not enough for me. Packs and lights easily, and offers a light and sweet smoke. The aromatic lovers can smoke this all day. The VA lovers like me would look elsewhere for a true tobacco taste.

My experience with this one mirrors that of Arkie: it’s a strange kind of Aromatic, the tin smell seems that of raisins soacked in Brandy rather than Rum. The smoke is smooth and biteless but the taste is really elusive: Rum, Perique, chocolate, fruits.... Totally missed! What I’ve got is an indistinct taste of Va/Cav where, unusually, the Cavendish attenuates the sweetness instead of increasing it. I detected just a hint of Kentucky here and there, but maybe just a suggestion. The room note is slightly boozy, not heavy but not so pleasant either.

I recently had the pleasure of trying McConnell's Code Relax and was impressed enough to seek out more of their Aromatic mixtures. Glen Piper apparently delivers both chocolate and rum, so I was eager to open up the tin... only to find the sour raisen, earthy hay, smell I associate with most Virginias. So this was going to be a natural affair, and not what I would consider an Aromatic.

This rubbed out flake had chunky tendrils that felt great and smoldered in the bowl for a good duration. While I can't say what makes a Virginia "dark", either that or the Cavendish/Perique elevated things into what I'll call a 'thicker' smoke. It wasn't exactly richer in depth, but was certainly a notch meatier than your average nutty all Virginia blend, which was interesting as it's strength wasn't all that powerful. Alas, there was no chocolate or rum for me, so I'm calling false advertising on this one.

In the end it was a good quality product for the Virginia enthusiast wanting something with a tad more heft.