[Tristan]

I was at the B&M in Stevens Point on Monday after work and was browsing through the selections. I was looking a non-aromatic tin that wasn't on the steep side. Pickins were slim. I thought I would give this tin a shot.

I lit up a bowl of this about 30 minutes ago. The tin aroma is very pungunt and kind of chocolaty. Apparently there is a tonquin topping. Tonquin is some sort of bean grown in England and Brazil. I had never heard of this until reading about this tobacco and searching for it on the "google machine."

This is billed as a full flavored tobacco. It certainly does have a great deal of flavor. The ad copy online says this is Sam Gawith's best selling blend. It burns well, The tobacco was quite wet when I opened the tin. I rubbed out a bowl or twos worth on a paper towel and allowed this to dry for a little over an hour. The tobacco was still a little too moist for my liking, but my bedtime is getting closer as the minute's pass. There is no time to lose!

I selected my bent sandblast briar that I typically use for aromatics. Being as though I don't smoke aromatics with regularity this pipe hasn't seen much action. I lit, tamped, lit again and again to get this bowl started proper.

So far, this is a very interesting smoke. It's sweet, pretty much a one note experience so far, but enjoyable. I'm not sure if the tonquin treatment is "my bag" as of yet. I'm going to smoke a few bowls and see how it suits my fancy or has a place in the regular rotation.

From what I have read this is said to be a very nicotine strong blend. I'm not really buzzed up at this point half way down the bowl. My mouth is a tad numb and there is a certain degree of "easy chair lock" or "couch lock" as we used to call it in the college days. I'm quite content to sit here and ponder the day with a can of Squirt by my side.

When I smoke flakes, I expect to perform additional maintenance during the smoke. The bowl has needed surprisingly little attention. I smoked half way down before the pipe went out from neglect. This blend produces a great deal of smoke. Besides a tad of mouth numbing I don't detect any "bite" while smoking this tobacco.

I'm now in the last third and I feel the nicotine kick to the pants. It's right on that fine line of good buzz and overwhelming. I'll report back when I've finished the bowl!