Robert McConnell Ripe Honeydew

I received this blend as part of a trade in the fall of 2013. It came to me in a ziplock bag and was very dry; since it was already opened and not in its tin I don't know if this is the "norm" for this blend or not. I jarred it the day I got it and waited a few weeks to try it. I don't remember the exact weight I received (the volume easily filled an 8 oz. Mason jar without packing it too tightly) but have smoked it on and off since receiving it up to this writing, which I have about 12 grams now remaining, keeping it jarred the entire time.  I didn't really detect any honey topping in the tin (jar) note, nor in the subsequent smoke. It did have a pleasant, grassy note, with a sweetness that may have been the topping but wasn't coming through as honey to me; it smelled very much like I would expect a Virginia to smell.  The smoking experience with this blend was very consistent over time and from pipe to pipe, which I'll describe in a moment. I would add here that another reviewer commented that the "honeydew" in the name doesn't refer to the flavoring but to the old term for a sweet, simple Virginia tobacco and I affirm his statement, both by experience and researching the comment. Being very dry, it was easy to pack; it was in a ribbon like state, I don't know if that is how it is packaged or if it had been rubbed out before I received it. It took a flame very easily and produced a nice bloom on the false light. The true light, which alway came on the second try for me, again produced a nice, but slightly lesser, bloom and it smoked with little more than the occasional tamp: no fuss, no muss kind of blend, which I liked.  The flavor was pure Virginia goodness in my opinion; I didn't taste the honey topping at any point that I recall. The blend did require sipping to avoid it getting too hot and, perhaps because it was so dry, burned fast: similar to a shag cut I'm that respect.  I have smoked the tobacco in a variety of pipes (materials and sizes) and found it to smoke/taste consistent in all of them: burning well, tasting sweet and grassy, and not wet smoking unless puffed hard.  As I mentioned in the first few sentences, I have a small amount remaining and have commenced and experiment with it. Since I found the blend, or at least the batch I have, to be rather one dimensional and fast burning I added about 10% Perique and 5% Latakia to it, in hopes of a,ping up the flavor and slowing the burn. After a good mixing and a few days "marrying" in the jar, today I tried out the "amped Honeydew" in a Falcon. The results were very good: the blend burned much slower and cooler and was given an extra zing and a tad bit of depth from the added tobaccos.  While this is a pleasant enough smoke on its own and may be better if I had gotten it straight from a sealed tin, it is unlikely that I will purchase this blend in the future. I would consider it on a trade Or if I got a VERY good deal on it since I think it would be a good blending Virginia.