We all know the drill now: I pick a tobacco, I choose a few victims volunteers and we get their impressions of a particular blend or leaf without prejudice. Well, in theory at least. As you'll see, sometimes there's just no disguising certain "real McCoys".

Josh:

“The appearance of this tobacco is unusual. The majority of the tobacco is a deep brown, almost black, rough cut that looks a bit like a rubbed out flake or coin, but there are a few golden ribbons here and there. The pouch note is subdued and natural, with hints of spice, charred meat, and what we euphemistically refer to as “barnyard” in wine tastings. The charred meat notes that were discernible in the pouch predominate upon the first lighting. As the bowl progresses, this flavor settles down a bit into a richer, more well-balanced smoke. By mid bowl, the tobacco has taken on added intensity and complexity with notes of spice (black pepper in particular), cedar, leather, and tar with a very subtle sweetness.

This blend is a big, full-bodied tobacco that produces copious amounts of pungent smoke. The flavor profile suggests that this is primarily a Virginia tobacco that has been dark fired. I’d wager that it’s one of the Kendal twists, although I’m a bit puzzled by the presence of the thin, golden ribbons. (Maybe this is some of Eric’s chicanery.) While this tobacco is interesting and definitely packs a nicotine punch, I can’t imagine smoking it unless I were impressed into hard labor onboard a 19th-century whaling vessel, where its pungency would mask the smell of death and despair, or attempting to understand Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s Kubla Khan, where the very generous nicotine dose would help me share in a vision of Xanadu.“

 

Jeremy:

“Upon opening the zip-lock bag ambiguously marked "3/18/14" I noted a very subdued but deep aroma similar to must and smoke. Big chunks of black tobacco and thin ribbons of gold spread lightly throughout, Virginia Ribbon perhaps. Inhaling more deeply, the smell of this blend comes across with subtle spiciness, oil, hints of clove, but no sweetness. Packs easily and takes flame slowly. The flavor is unmistakably that of Black XX Rope or Black Irish X, both of which I smoke regularly. It looks as though a small amount of Kendall Gold has been blended into this, but the majority seems to be a chopped black rope. The taste is a strange amalgam comprised of meat, motor oil, sage, chipotle, creosote, graphite and occasionally BBQ sauce. Not for the faint of heart (or lung) where the pouch note was subtle and subdued, the strength and body and room-note are potent. Not acrid or tinny at all, much more earthy, musty, muddy, boggy. Let me be clear, since I realize that the descriptors I have used may sound off-putting to many; I like this blend. A lot. File this under "Acquired Taste" alongside Islay Single Malt Scotch, Chocolate Covered Bacon, Dirty Oysters, Bone Marrow, Calf's Brains, etc...“

[Ed. – He’s being serious here. In Jeremy’s company I’ve taken part in the tasting of everything from tinned seal to lambs’ livers.]

Well, I tried. Tried and failed, that is. What I tried was disguise the blend I’d chosen this time around. Why I failed was the same reason I tried: the stuff was just too distinctive. Even after cutting it, rubbing it, shredding it, drying it for 24 hours, and mixing in a tiny pinch of Kendal Gold to add some different color, Jeremy, Josh, and Ted (the lattermost just by being nearby) all at one point or another brought up in conversation the very blend I’d picked – Black Irish X. There is, simply, no mistaking these extra-dark Irish ropes; not if you’ve smoked them before, and not even if you’ve just been in the same building as someone smoking them.