There are very few tobaccos that can pull off the “gap” blend. Meaning it bridges the gap between an aromatic and an English blend. For those that don’t know, here’s an epicurean example.
An aromatic is like a fine dessert with all its sweet, fruity flavors that are light and refreshing on the palette. English blends on the other hand, would be a steak or a hearty, bold stew that fills the mouth with all its savory, smoky tenderness that warms the soul. So a tobacco that bridges this gap, would be like putting vanilla pudding on a bacon wrapped fillets. Gross, right? Pretty much but believe it or not, there are tobaccos that can pull this off.
Unfortunately this is not one of them. As taken from the tin: “A mellow mixture designed to bridge the gap between aromatic and English style blends. Comprised of golden and dark brown Virginia with a sprinkling of Black Cavendish, this excellent blend bears a natural fragrance accompanied by subtle notes of caramel and apricot.” Hmmmm. Yea, I’m gonna have to say nope! Not in the slightest.
If you expect to cross the bridge with this tobacco, be prepared to fall headlong into the deep, murky, stagnant un-smoked dottles at the bottom of your bowl. The other side you shall never see.
Speaking of the other side, this one almost sent me there. It had me begging for mercy and on one knee within the first few puffs. I hoped the apricot flavor would make an appearance and help the situation but just like Tony Romo’s ability to lead the Cowboys to a win post-season, it never happened. By the way, the EMS guys were nice as I was told they had to rock me back and forth to get my lips unstuck from the floor.
The tobacco is pretty to look at and the name is somewhat cool too but that’s about where it stops being ‘cool’ because once lit, it burns hotter than hell. Seriously, after taking a puff on the pipe then a sip of Redbreast Irish Whiskey, I exhaled and lit a guy’s cigar from across the table.
It was horrendous, (at least from what I can remember) HOT and well, it was a horrible waste of tobacco. Nothing else can be said about this other than when I gave my dog a few puffs, he began licking his butt…probably trying to get the taste out of his mouth and in all honesty, I was somewhat envious that he would succeed.