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Reviews
Seattle Pipe Club - Hogshead Bourbon Barrel Aged 2oz
A great Virginia blend for an old hat and a new smoker!!!
Over a year ago I tasted and reviewed the original Hogshead and found it a very pleasant smoke. This new variation is based on the same blend but with a month spent in a used bourbon barrel so at impart its essence to this already enjoyable blend. Here is an excerpt from my original review as it still applies and after I will attempt to describe the changes that barrel aging imparted. “A great Virginia blend for an old hat and a new smoker!!! If you are an experienced Virginia smoker you will appreciate this blend for what it is, an excellent smoke. The mix of 10 year aged orange and red Virginia due to their obvious initial quality and curing and their age offer a smooth, mature Virginia smoking experience. As if you had bought it fresh 8 or more years ago. I am sure the pressing also plays into the melding and mellowing as it to can mimic age. Its a smooth and tasty blend with some initial muddle of flavor but once the cherry spreads and the bowl warms the flavor starts to expand and the true flavors come through. I get an earthy base, a touch leathery a taste I didn’t expect, some natural sweetness of quality grassy taste, a touch of citrus as well as vinegar. I get some deeper darker fruitiness like prunes, raisins and black cherries along with that sort fermentation taste that comes with age. I also get almost the taste of a nicely toasted marshmallow, a mix of caramel and the sweetness somehow generates it just now and then. It’s sweet and mellow and rich and delicious and any experienced Virginia smoker is likely to enjoy sipping it. For a new to Virginia smoker it’s also a great one as it is not prone to bite or get hot if pushed a bit hard, Virginia’s are best smoked cool and sipped or they can get hot and cause tongue bite as well as just not tasting their best. I learned that lesson the hard way. Also it generates a bit denser smoke and mouth feel than most straight Virginia so you are less likely to huff and puff to get a mouthful of smoke.” All the above still applies with some pleasant changes. The time in the barrel has added a very gentle sweet smokiness from the bourbon, nothing strong or at all offensive as I have found some liquor blends to be. It seems that the slight vinegar taste has been pushed into the background. The bit of a toasted marshmallow caramel and sweetness has been replaced with gentle sweetness of the bourbon. Both blends are very tasty and interesting and are nice variations on a very good theme. The strength and nicotine levels are midstream and the flavor level is a solid step up into medium strong. Prep is easy as instead of the plug of the original they pressed out a crumble cake and sliced it thick from the loose tobacco as it comes from the barrel and actually pulls apart fairly well with a little effort. Moisture is about right but, also it lights well and stays lit nicely with a few relights. Nice after taste and room note. For a Virginia smoker it can easily be an all day smoke.
Seattle Pipe Club - Down Yonder 2oz
Go.
It’s quite funny how divided the reviews are on this blend. You go to one forum you hear one thing, one Facebook group you hear another. Well someone mentioned this reminded them of Sutliff 507s, a stoved virginia bulk that Sutliff makes. (Let’s not forget that Sutliff does all the blending for Seattle Pipe Club blends) I dig out my bag of Pipe force samples and the sample of Down Yonder. After three bowls this very basic stoved virginia really does taste just like Sutliff 507s just pressed into a cake. I even did a side by side and they were very similar.
Cornell & Diehl - Sun Bear Tupelo 2oz
Go.
The 2019 Basma and 2018 Turkish Izmir provide plenty of earth, wood, floralness, some dry sourness, vegetation, herbs, spice, mild tangy buttery sweetness, and light incense and smoke. They take a small lead. The 2019 bright Virginias offer a fair amount tart and tangy citrus, bread, vegetative grass, sugar, mild floralness, sour lemon, spice, and a hint of acidity as close competitors to the Orientals. The 2019 red Virginia produces a complimentary amount of tangy ripe dark fruit earth, wood, bread, some sugar, tart citrus, light floralness, a few blades of grass, and a couple pinches of spice in secondary support. The most prominent topping is the very sweet Tupelo honey, which has some creamy butter and a few floral notes. The lightly fruity, earthy tequila is a condiment at best. Playing at the same level is the tart, grape and berry-like, acidic, floral, herbal, Just as obvious as the tequila is the tart, grape-like, floral, herbal, acidic, sweet elderflower. The strength and taste are a couple of steps past the medium threshold. The nic-hit is medium. Won’t bite or get harsh. The rough edges are minor. The easily broken apart, mildly moist flakes need no dry time. Well balanced with some nuance, it burns cool, clean and slow with a very consistent creamy sweet, fruity, floral, mildly sour, spicy, herbal, zesty flavor that extends to the long lingering, pleasant after taste. The room note is a tad pungent. Leaves little dampness in the bowl, and requires some relights. Not quite an all day smoke, but it is repeatable. It is a tad sweeter with a lightly more Oriental presence than past productions. Four stars.
