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All New Pipes
Zack E.
Reviews
Warped - Kings Stride 2oz
A dessert codger blend?
On my journey to try all of the non-aromatic cigar leaf blends on smokingpipes, this one slipped out of my radar as it doesn't filter in with the other cigar leaf component blends. However, per the description, it does use cigar leaf Cavendish. Which I'll just come out and say is wonderfully used in this blend. Per the description, this blend is fruity and chocolately. It is quite moist in cake form, but rubbing it out and letting it dry a bit does wonders. This blend straight up reminds me of a cosmic brownie, with fruity notes from the Virginia and Perique scattered in. Smoking it alongside a dark espresso brings out all the subtleties. While darker in profile, I'd say the nic hit is about medium to medium+, but I'm tolerant of nic so take that with a grain of salt. Some might qualify this as a Va/Per blend, but I see this more as a codger blend as the burley/cigar are leading, while the perique adds a condiment role. And though I've smoked for awhile, codger blends never grew on me as many to me are too one-dimensional for me, though this brings sweetness most of those blends are lacking. For the pure Virginia smokers, this blend is antithetically darker to what you're used to, though if you wanted to try a codger-esque blend with more going on, I'd give this a shot. For the pure codger smokers, this blend might come off as a hipster blend with the perique and cigar leaf Cavendish, though I think it takes the traditional codger recipe and turns it into a dessert codger blend. An English smoker might find the darker notes and lack of latakia boring, though the sweetness makes up for it. Lastly, for the cigar smokers such as myself, the cigar leaf Cavendish is not the main driver but the notes you get out of this blend overlap with the darker, earthy and cocoa/espresso notes you'd get out of a nice Maduro cigar. While this is maybe not something Id have in my weekly rotation, I'll definitely pick up a few more tins to age and bring out for a after dinner, "dessert smoke", with coffee. 4.5/5
HU - Khartoum 100g
A Smoky Rocky Road Experience
On my journey through trying every cigar leaf non-aromatic blend on smokingpipes, I was excited when Khartoum was next on my list. The blend components interested me, and from a name other than STG, C&D, GL Pease, etc. Upon my initial light-up and first couple puffs, I was spacing out and looking at the leaf types in the blend on the cover. That's when it hit me, this blend is similar to H&H Blackhouse in ingredients. Now not completely in flavor obviously. Swap the orientals in Blackhouse for creamy, earthy cigar leaf and you get a 80% similar blend that goes in a different direction. It took me a couple bowls to nail the profile, as it's fairly complex. But the best way to describe this is a earthy, smoky rocky road ice cream. You get a dark, earthy nutty note that is reminiscent to me as almond skins. There's a creamy-cocoa undertone that blends in, along with smoky Latakia and a slightly leathery Kentucky leaf. While the cigar leaf isnt necessarily the star of the show, it brings those earthy, creamy and nutty notes into the mix. A very flavorful and complex English blend that is perfect for the outdoors. One of my favorite blends that uses cigar leaf. I'm a bit experienced with nicotine, so this doesn't bother me, though I'd guess I'd say it's a little, "medium+". For pure Virginia smokers, this wouldn't interest you. For the codgers, it might be a bit too complex depending on your tolerance for lat. This blend is really perfect for English and cigar smokers. As stated above, this isn't Blackhouse, but it'll help you cope with it's discontinuation. 4.8/5 stars.