Last week I placed my first TAD order with 4noggins. I ordered various tins of VA flakes, 100g of Frog Morton, a pound of PS Cube Cut for cellaring and some cleaning supplies. I like 4noggins as it is the only place that offers free shipping to Alaska for orders over $95 ( 15 bucks for Priority Mail is, after all, a tin or two or 4-6 oz of bulk baccy ). I had spoken to Rich on the phone about Balkan blends, Sasieni vs PS Balkan Supreme, that sort of thing. He was kind enough to include a sample of Rincon de la Pipa #1 in the box. First impressions: - a very nice strong Balkan note, very noticeable. Warranted a "you got some of that sh*t smelling tobacco again, didn't you?" from the wife. Sharp, but not overwhelming. - bit on the dry side from the baggie. Fairly coarse strands, mostly yellowish brown. I loaded an Amphora X-tra straight apple which was freshly cleaned an scraped and went to work on on a full bowl. Took fire really nice, no charring needed. Lots of smoke. Campfire and old leather but not extremely spicy tasting. Halfway through the bowl I got a Nic kick. Tastes like it smells from the bag. Creamy smoke, but lots of body. Very rich oriental taste, no extra flavors added. Burns very cool to a nice white ash. Gently tamped it some toward the end which was a mistake, because it bit me pretty hard. I smoked it outdoors on my walk so no idea on room note, but there were no complaints from Momma when I returned. Smoked another bowl from same pipe this morning with coffee on the way to work. I really took my time with it. It went out on me once. Thanks to slow traffic I was able to relight, without tamping of course. Just scraped the ashes out. It got really really Oriental right before the finish line, but it didn't attack me. Leaves a nice old leather scent in the car ..... I usually crack the windows to air out while I smoke on the ride, but it was 8 degrees F so I had just the sunroof open. This is a good quality solid Balkan.
