Oof!
Nightmarish at first look for those spoiled with the likes of ribbon cuts, 'cause this stuff's absolutely littered with stems and bird's eyes aplenty. But smoking it? Boy, this stuff leaves your mouth dry and bitter. The nic-to-flavour ratio is WAY out of whack, too; the nicotine is so high on this that retrohaling turns my nasal passage into a bloody pepper mill and sizzles the roof of my mouth. But I was smart with it! Packed this stuff tight like all good, dry tobaccos. One light and BOOM. No "false light" crap here.
Is this really what they smoked pre-WW? Like, on the regular? Brutal! I'm not saying I don't like it or that it doesn't have character, but it feels like a defeated purpose smoking it all on its own. Worth a try? Definitely, why not? That's the joy of pipe smoking, to try every blend out there! But yes, caution is advised. And DON'T hydrate it! Let it do its thing as intended, and then give it its due properly blended. =)
P.S. My father mixed a third of this with D&R's Windsail Platinum and it made the two sing together. Dark-fired burley getting all sneaky in the bottom with those flue-cured virginias? Wonderful blend! I even named it for him: Grass Snake.
