Line: McClellands Grand Orientals
Blend: Black Sea Sokhoum
Components: Virginia and Samsun
Pipe: Ben Wade freehand
Drink: Iced tea
I've been going through the different Grand Oriental blends and decided to try the Black Sea Sokhoum today. This blend contains aged Virginia leaf and an oriental tobacco called Samsun. Samsun is the name of a town in northern Turkey on the coast of the Black Sea and has been in existence for over 2700 years. Tobacco grown here is said to be delicate, light colored and some of the most light bodied of all oriental tobaccos.
This blend is seen as a chopped ribbon with multicolored brown and black chunks. The tin aroma is somewhat like molasses. Again the moisture level is perfect and my pipe packed and lit easily.
The blend description says the Samsun tobacco lends depth and a mild, cigar-like flavor. I do agree with this as there was definately some cigar tobacco flavor in the background. The main taste however was the Virginia leaf ... but this time it was rather tart and bitey. I found this rather curious as I did not get any hint of the tartness in the tin aroma. The tobacco also tended to burn somewhat hot unless my puff rate was on the slow side.
So my first impression is that this might be a good blend, especially for pipe smokers who also like cigars. But right now I feel it needs some additional aging to smooth out the roughness in the Virginia. I've sealed the remainder of the tin in a mason jar and will revisit in a few months.
Blend: Black Sea Sokhoum
Components: Virginia and Samsun
Pipe: Ben Wade freehand
Drink: Iced tea
I've been going through the different Grand Oriental blends and decided to try the Black Sea Sokhoum today. This blend contains aged Virginia leaf and an oriental tobacco called Samsun. Samsun is the name of a town in northern Turkey on the coast of the Black Sea and has been in existence for over 2700 years. Tobacco grown here is said to be delicate, light colored and some of the most light bodied of all oriental tobaccos.
This blend is seen as a chopped ribbon with multicolored brown and black chunks. The tin aroma is somewhat like molasses. Again the moisture level is perfect and my pipe packed and lit easily.
The blend description says the Samsun tobacco lends depth and a mild, cigar-like flavor. I do agree with this as there was definately some cigar tobacco flavor in the background. The main taste however was the Virginia leaf ... but this time it was rather tart and bitey. I found this rather curious as I did not get any hint of the tartness in the tin aroma. The tobacco also tended to burn somewhat hot unless my puff rate was on the slow side.
So my first impression is that this might be a good blend, especially for pipe smokers who also like cigars. But right now I feel it needs some additional aging to smooth out the roughness in the Virginia. I've sealed the remainder of the tin in a mason jar and will revisit in a few months.
