Pipe Forum - Blind Review #2

[IHT]

i NEED to update this review sheet... really, i do.



Place & Date = 3Dec07 (my garage)
Tobacco = blind review #2
Tobacco Cut = little curlies
Cut Width = thin/fine (shag when rubbed out)
Cut Length = long (like old Three Nuns)
Ingredients = VAs, from all over, including those fire cured kind from Africa.

Evaluated Aspects scale of 0-6 (by twos - 0-2-4-6):
Appearance (tobacco): 6 - deep dark brown, little curlies and stringy thin ribbon cut, shag-like.
Condition (humidity level): 4 - needs a little air time.
Smell: 6 - if you love strong in your face fire cured leaf, definite pungeant aroma, can ghost a pipe quick.
Packing (easy to difficult): 6 - when fully rubbed out, very fine shag cut, easy to pack, also easy to OVER pack.
Lighting (easy to difficult): 6 - easy when dried out enough. can be hard to keep lit if you don't pay attention and it's moist.
Taste: 6 - to me, because i love that african fire cured leaf that whoops ass.
Room Note/Aroma: 4 - i don't know, i'm smoking it and my dogs don't talk.
Consistency of taste: 6
Combustion: 4 - would be a 6 if i left it dry another 20 minutes.
Humidity during smoke: 4 - haven't had to run a cleaner thru yet, because i've been busy typing and talking to my son who won't leave me alone. if i'd have been puffing constant, i'd probably need to run one thru.
Tongue irritations: 6 - none.
Throat irritation: 6 - none.
Satisfaction of smoke: 6 - if i can make it through the entire bowl, i'd be amazed.
After-taste/Finish: 6 - this paired with a stout is perfect.
quality-price rapport: 6 - this is a BULK tobacco, pretty darn cheap i suppose.

Impressionistic Evaluation (choose one):
___this is one of the best of this genre.... (10 pts)
_X_I wouldn't mind paying for it... (7 pts)
___only if someone gave me a tin, etc (5 pts)
___I don't like it, but can understand other may (3 pts)
___one of the worst tobaccos I've ever smoked (0 pts)

TOTAL SCORE OUT OF 100: 89

Freeform Thoughts/Impressions:
wow. it's got power to spare, that's for sure. the flavor is very deep and smokey. hints of sweetness are in there if you take your time.
be careful not to smoke this on an empty stomach or a large bowl. if you don't think VAs have enough flavor for you, this will change your mind.

i'll try to revamp this score sheet tomorrow if i get time.

[EvanS]

don't you still have the one that we toyed with a couple months back?

I'll take that as a NO

[IHT]

Originally Posted by EvanS

don't you still have the one that we toyed with a couple months back?

I'll take that as a NO

i do, somewhere in my PMs, i'm just in my garage running on battery power without a mouse, etc. takes longer to mess with... and i'm trying to keep from snapping my sons neck for not leaving the puppy alone... i 'm trying to relax and seem to be more tense now.

i'll work on it, use your suggestions and a few other ideas i have had.

[Papichulo]

Woot woot! I have not received anything yet, but I look forward to it

[IHT]

you all should have it by now. let me know if you got it with a quick post here.

[uncballzer]

Originally Posted by IHT

you all should have it by now. let me know if you got it with a quick post here.

Just now got mine out of the mailbox; Will try a little tonight--smells sooo good already!

[dogsplayinpoker]

Haven't received mine yet, I'll let you know.

[IHT]

i'm still tinkering with the review form.
trying to find a mix of what matters and getting rid of what doesn't and how can i manage to make that add up to 100.

lets see how this works out, i'll smoke some of the blend tonight... the problem i/we were running into was when a smoke tasted awesome, then you factor in little nitpicky things that carried the same weight, it dropped the overall rating down mroe than it should. trying to figure out a way to weigh the "flavor" of the tobacco more heavily than things like "tin aroma" or "room note" or "how cute it is in the tin or the tin art", shite that don't matter.

here's my latest attempt, with input from EvanS (still have the PMs, evan )


Tobacco =
Place & Date =
Tobacco Cut & Appearance =
Ingredients =
Smoking Conditions =

Evaluated Aspects scale of 0-8:
Smell in Tin:
Packing :
Lighting :
Taste Quality:
Room Note/Aroma:
Overall Burning Quality:
Tongue irritations:
Nose irritation:
Satisfaction of smoke:
After-taste/Finish:

Impressionistic Evaluation (choose one):
___this is one of the best of this genre.... (20 pts)
___I wouldn't mind paying for it... (15 pts)
___only if someone gave me a tin, etc (10 pts)
___I don't like it, but can understand other may (5 pts)
___one of the worst tobaccos I've ever smoked (0 pts)

TOTAL SCORE OUT OF 100:

Freeform Thoughts/Impressions:

[IHT]

Tobacco = blind review #2
Place & Date = garage, Pearl Harbor Day '07
Tobacco Cut & Appearance = little curlies and shag
Ingredients = all African leaf VAs
Smoking Conditions = controlled environment, space heat approx. 8 ft away, sitting on a folding chair (or i'd have been layin on the concrete)

Evaluated Aspects scale of 0-8:
Smell in Tin: 8 - it's bulk, no tin. smells strong, like fire cured african leaf
Packing : 8 - super easy, once gently rubbed. i took a small pinch, rolled it up in my hand, gently slid it into the chamber.
Lighting : 6 - had i let it dry at all, would've been easier.
Taste Quality: 7 - i love it, but some of the flavor is masked by the initial power ever draw.
Room Note/Aroma: 7 - hell i don't know, but i bet it's very nice.
Overall Burning Quality: 8 - even burning, easy burning, shaggy cut when rubbed out
Tongue irritations: 8 - none
Nose irritation: 5 - if you're not use to it, blowing out the nose will cause your tear ducts to start working.
Satisfaction of smoke: 8
After-taste/Finish: 4 - after taste is mixed. part great flavor, part burnt ash. i get that "chew on the tongue" feeling i use to get with cuban cigars.

Impressionistic Evaluation (choose one):
___this is one of the best of this genre.... (20 pts)
_X_I wouldn't mind paying for it... (15 pts)
___only if someone gave me a tin, etc (10 pts)
___I don't like it, but can understand other may (5 pts)
___one of the worst tobaccos I've ever smoked (0 pts)

TOTAL SCORE OUT OF 100: 84

Freeform Thoughts/Impressions:
HOLY MOTHER OF NICOTINE! i'm starting my review down here, damnit. in case i can't finish, cuz i'm feelin light heeaded, a little shaky... i was about half done with my bowl and looke over at my beer to see if that was talkin to me, and i had only drank about 1/4 of it at that time... it's the tobacco speakin in tongues. and it called me "sally".
sorry, newbs, don't hold it against me. pleaes, somke this in a small bowl, eat something before, and have something with sugar (no carbination) to drink with it.
wow. i'll add more in a bit.

okay, more stuff. had to sit and watch some "pear harbor" stuff on the military channel with my son, explain a little bit to him.
but, while smoking, i FINALLY understood what some ppl mean by "soapy/floral" notes. well, this should be the standard. i finally get it. it's not an "additive" like some ppl think, it's the damn fire cured african tobacco that it's made with. that's one of the flavors, and i like.
alright, time to add up the score, see how it differs.

84, which is less than the 89 i scored it the last time. i guess they're probably both accurate. where it loses out is the strength causing a little nose burn, and aftertaste.
maybe i should put a non-point area in the top for "strength"?? if so, it would be on top of the chart. full on strong.

this is part of a review of this tobacco done by someone else: "It's definitely not a casual tobacco. The strength, especially, upon lighting is close to being overwhelming."

[JAK]

I can't wait to here what this tobacco is. All this talk about a powerful tobacco has got me excited. I have never had a pipe tobacco where I could feel the nicotine, but I am always looking for one.

[dogsplayinpoker]

Mine got here today but I didn't get in 'til late so I will have to smoke a bowl tomorrow and Monday and post the review.

[Papichulo]

Tobacco = blind review #2
Place & Date = My living room with the patio door wide open.
Tobacco Cut & Appearance = finer then normal strips of shag
Ingredients = Not sure, but I am thinking VA, but I am not sure because the hash had heavy volcanic/mineral content. Kinda like you see an aged Padron 1926s or something fine. I think it is the mineral content or possibly very white ash on the tips of the tobacco, but not throughout the ash. Hopefully this makes sense.
Smoking Conditions = It is a beautiful day out and about 74 degrees
Evaluated Aspects scale of 0-8:
Smell in Tin: 8 - bulk. smells strong, like cured Copenhagen-like smell, but without any menthol like aroma.
Packing : 7 - easy, but I thought is was a bit wet. I should have let it out to dry a little.
Lighting : 6 - a little difficult, but after I tamped it it was a dream, but I was surprised that I had to relight several times. I did not over pack, but when I would relight it would smoke fine until I put it down for a few minutes.
Taste Quality: 7 - I really enjoyed it
Room Note/Aroma: 7 - I can't smell anything over-powering, but a faint oaky/pete smell; you know like a fine single malt Scotch aroma.
Overall Burning Quality: 8 - even burning, easy burning, shaggy cut when rubbed out
Tongue irritations: 7 - none
Nose irritation: 8 - none
Satisfaction of smoke: 8
After-taste/Finish: 6 - kind of a blunt finish to the taste buds with a semi-sauna like sensation of oak and raw almonds.

Impressionistic Evaluation (choose one):
___this is one of the best of this genre.... (20 pts)
_X_I wouldn't mind paying for it... (15 pts)
___only if someone gave me a tin, etc (10 pts)
___I don't like it, but can understand other may (5 pts)
___one of the worst tobaccos I've ever smoked (0 pts)

TOTAL SCORE OUT OF 100: 72 (I might of missed a block/line of points)

Freeform Thoughts/Impressions:
Well, I really enjoyed the flavor finished the whole bowl well over an hour long ride in my Savinelli Punto Oro Billiard. I did have lunch before I smoked the bowl and accompanied my pipe with a glass of honey-sweetened sun tea. My son was watching the Matrix and I was surfing the net house hunting. I really felt I could smoke this tobacco anytime. Maybe since I have been smoking medium to full bodied cigars for fifteen years the nicotine did not get to me.

I am a bit apprehensive about the quality of my review, but I am still learning a lot from you all about pipe smoking. Thanks for giving me the opportunity to endulge. I have thick skin so go ahead bash me

[Papichulo]

HOly Sh*t! Fifteen minutes after finishing the bowl I was bum-rushed with a delay nicotine knock out. I had no idea. You know, this does not happen to me often, but I will relate this to my cigar experiences. I started getting the hiccups and a bit light headed. You did it to my Greg

[IHT]

nice review work. nobody cares if it reads like mark twain, they want to know your experience with it, no matter how it reads.

yep, i use to have no problem going to herfs and smoking 8 cigars straight, all pretty potent cubans... this tobacco, on the other hand, i would stack it up against any of the strongest cigars anyone can imagine. smoke a medium sized bowl of this, or a party Salamone, young RyJ Cazadore, i can hang with those, not this tobacco.



ps - you forgot to add the bottom score of 15, so you graded it an 87.

[Papichulo]

Originally Posted by IHT

nice review work. nobody cares if it reads like mark twain, they want to know your experience with it, no matter how it reads.

yep, i use to have no problem going to herfs and smoking 8 cigars straight, all pretty potent cubans... this tobacco, on the other hand, i would stack it up against any of the strongest cigars anyone can imagine. smoke a medium sized bowl of this, or a party Salamone, young RyJ Cazadore, i can hang with those, not this tobacco.



ps - you forgot to add the bottom score of 15, so you graded it an 87.

Thanks for correcting my cigar. I am still miffed on slow knock out punch. I am still feeling it