CATEGORY: Balkan Blend
BLEND: Black Cavendish, Cavendish, Latakia, Oriental/Turkish, Perique, Virginia
FLAVORING: none
BLENDER: Joe Lankford
MANUFACTURER: Sutliff Tobacco Company
CUT: Crumble Kake
PIPE: Old Dominion Williamsburg clay pipe
INTENSITY: Medium
NOTES:
Figs/raisins | Roasted orange | Beef
TASTE: B+
AROMA: A
BURN: A-
FINAL GRADE: A
A 90-100 B 80-89 C 70-79 D 60-69 F 0-59
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Musty, mightily-so. Gamey, lesserly-so. Each carrying traces of salt & vinegar. Of course, there's also smoky-woodsy Latakia goodness by the dollop. Dried herbs or maybe potpourri. Spicy kicks from the Oriental leaf make me see orange... the color. Citrus notes under that--roasted oranges--make me taste orange... the taste. Quite the 'range affair. There are some hollowed-out edges in the profile. Jagged emptinesses where sweet peppered meat might be. I taste molasses.
But that's actually there (sweet peppered meat) thanks to a Cavendish (molasses) sprinkle addition to other soy sauce umami. Still, something misses here. & it seems to not care. Not care. An almost lethargic medium profile. Skip: "You guys. You lollygag the ball around the infield. You lollygag your way down to first. You lollygag in and out of the dugout. You know what that makes you? Larry!" Larry: "Lollygaggers!" Skip: "Lollygaggers." Saltier now (mid-bowl). More compost and dark fruitiness. Figs, raisins.
An Emo kid looking out the window on a rainy day. Edgy and cool (depending on who you ask) but somewhat vacant. A shoegazer blend. "Shoegaze [music genre] combines ethereal, swirling vocals with layers of distorted, bent, or flanged guitars* ... "creating a wash of sound where no instrument is distinguishable from another.**" [Or perhaps Sherlock Holmes when he crashes.]
Packs nicely. Burns well, w/ a moderate amount of relights. Doesn't bite. White ash is purdy. A final note: the finish and room-note are absolutely fantastic, each. Which just sorta makes the pulls themselves more day-dreamy. The finish in particular is all dark fruit and umami weighted meatiness. Ultimately not my cup of tea but I won't mind drinking it again & again. I'm not mad, just disappointed? Keep reading for my confusing high-grade at the end.
What happened here??? I feel as tho I might be Watson to this blend's Sherlock. Does Christopher Morley have anything to do with this***?
*Patrick Sisson, "Vapour Trails: Revisiting Shoegaze Archived October 22, 2014
**"Explore: Shoegaze | AllMusic". 2011-02-17
***Plum Pudding. Of Divers Ingredients, Discreetly Blended & Seasoned. Author: Christopher Morley
TASTE: B+
AROMA: A
BURN: A-
FINAL GRADE: A
A 90-100 B 80-89 C 70-79 D 60-69 F 0-59
@kaplowitzmedia
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::: very :::