Newminster: No.403 Superior Round Slices Pipe Tobacco

From the very first smoke this has become my all time favorite tobacco. The smell of No. 403 brought back very fond childhood memories of being at my grandparents house in the winter when we would read by the old wood stove. Fantastic blend that I will always enjoy.

It’s a tragedy Mac Baren sold to STG and it’s an even bigger tragedy how many blends they are killing off, this one being in my opinion the best bang for your buck in pipe tobacco, amazing stuff and one of my favorites not just because the price is right, it’s just a great blend. This blend and the Mac Baren spun cut blends are my all time favorites (Dark Twist, Roll Cake, Club Blend) along with their Burleys (Golden Extra, Symphony, Amphora) so unfortunately for me and many others these are very sad times, and this is one I will definitely miss. 5 STARS 🔥...Read More

Somehow Newminster manages to support good price/quality balance for its products. To me it's also a balance between different tobacco blending styles: I find their products as some kind of synthesis of European, British and American approaches, and in a very good way. I got an impression that Newminster experimented with strengthening the advantages and getting rid of the shortcomings of various tobacco making traditions, and thus created something interesting. Besides good quality leave, they also provide nice casing, which aptly amplifies natural flavour of the tobaccos in the blend. I'm quite sensitive to the casings, and here they work just great, at least for me personally.
It's a pity that the brand produces mostly aromatics. I can't say anything about them, cause I don't smoke those. This particular tobacco is their second blend I tried after the Superior Navy Flake, which also gave me a very good impression. I guess there's only these two tobaccos in the Newminster line which are not aromatics, and both of them are just great in all aspects - perfect moisture level, easy rubbing, packing and burning, rich flavor, very satisfying body and strengh, no whims or high dependency on the quality and type of your pipe or smoking style. In my opinions, these can easily compete and even win many of the more expensive brands. Now, while I'm writing this review, the Superior Navy flake is out of stock, which supports my opinion about its quality. So good that I ordered a bit of it prior, and it came together with the Round Slices)
I think I'm going to try a couple of their aromatics now - who knows, maybe their casings magic will work there as well, and will finally be able to enjoy this category of tobacco....Read More

This blend is absolutely amazing although it can bite if smoked even remotely too quick. Gives off a nice cloud of smoke and many like the room note even my wife likes this room note more than alot of other blends I smoke (mainly Englishes). It has a slight raisin taste along with that bready, hay taste. Hate that its leaving but I have over 5lbs so I should be good for a while....Read More

Found it very tasty and the DFK to be very present with Virginia bread not present and want to try after 3-5 years to see if it reduces tendency to bite slightly.

Overall the flavor is very good. Does bite a little but not too bad. Just a slight tingle not unlike the sensation I get when urinating.

Ok, so my initial bowlful of this flake was a real trial. Couldn’t keep it lit, tongue bite deluxe and a stuff and fold in a Oom Paul non filter gone sideways. But the tobacco rounds looked wonderful, were not too moist, and smelt delicious; so I decided to rub out the flakes well, and use a Stanwell 9mm Dublin Freeform. No bite, heavenly flavour grassy, citrus, sweet 6 stars!...Read More

The taste and strength of this is a perfect smoke to calm your mind to enjoy the rest of your day with a flavor that please ant taste palette.

If you enjoy Three Nuns, you will not enjoy this so much. Three Nuns is mellow hay like Virginia with just a tinge of dark fired. This blend is run of the mill Virginia with quite a bit of dark fired. The blend is sharp and has a rough aroma. Every time I’ve tried to enjoy this blend it’s made my throat scratchy....Read More

Hard to keep lit but, when it is lit, it's very nice.