Benjamin Hartwell Evening Stroll

[Davetopay]

I picked this up on sale at my local shop having seen it on the shelf for over a year gathering dust. If I had read the can more carefully, I probably would have left it there. The leaf in this blend has been hidden. Hidden behind all sorts of artificial flavors, humectants, and aromatic compounds. I have a soft spot for aromatics, but not so much this one. Allow me to back up a bit.....I opened the tin to be greeted by short, dark, vanilla scented shreds of tobacco...and an alcoholic smell as well. Not totally off putting, but not what I had hoped for. It packed with reasonable ease,but had a gunky feel that is commonly found on cheaper grade aromatic blends. It lit easily and didn't require much attention once puffing away. It was also fairly flavorful, but something was off. The topping came through really well and lost some of its chemical nature, the aroma was nice and kind of old fashioned in the "grand-pa" way. But as I got to the bottom third of the bowl in my cob I discovered teh flavor of pencil shavings. Yup, pencil shavings. I had tasted this before. I grabbed the can, spun it around to see the back side of the label.....and there it was.....ALTADIS. That explains it. Don't get me wrong, there are some pretty good value blends from Altadis and Fox & Hound is a go-to pouch for me when I want to have a care free easy going smoke, but this had much the same character as some of their lower grade blends like Almondine, Maple, and the like. Maybe I just got it too hot in the bowl, but it was a bit of a let down.
Don't get me wrong, this is a perfectly acceptable blend, and certainly a step up from a lot of "drugstore" and bulk blends that get sold as store brands, but it is only average at best.

[wharfrathoss]

i keep seeing this stuff at my local too, they have a few different blends. i've kept passing it up due to the price ($11/$12 for 50g). knowing it's made by altadis is the kiss of death IMHO, although i did enjoy fox & hound too when i started smoking.

[Vrbas]

I have 2oz of this stuff and it was one of the first tobaccos I ordered when i was getting into smoking. The room note and pouch aroma is phenomenal. The smoke, to me, was simply burley. Not at all bad by any means, just a very nutty burley w/o anything exciting going on.