H&H 10 To Midnight

Joined : 21 Dec 2007 Posts : 139

The Pipes and Cigars website gives this description of 10 To Midnight:

"A dark, full Balkan-style tobacco containing bright and matured Carolina and Virginias, a healthy mixture of Turkish, and plenty of flavorful, fragrant Latakias. A superb late-evening smoke that can stand up to a sturdy single-malt scotch, small-batch bourbon or hearty port."

TTM is at present my favorite Balkan blend and, as the description notes, I like to smoke it most late in the evening. The tobacco comes in pressed cakes of about 3/4"X1" and must be rubbed out before smoking. The burn rate can be controlled to a certain extent by how much it's rubbed out, of course larger pieces are also harder to light and keep burning. If it's rubbed out well, it has about an average burn rate.

Probably my biggest complaint with TTM is the difficulty of rubbing out the cakes. They are pressed extremely tight, more so than with any other cake tobacco I have experienced. If the tobacco is allowed to dry out very much, it really becomes a bear to do (listen to the voice of experience here). Perhaps Russ Ouellette (blender of the H&H series) feels it must be compacted this tight to meld the flavors more.

Once TTM is burning, the smoker is rewarded with a lovely taste combining the sweetness of the Carolinas and the VAs with the smokey spiciness of the Latakia and Turkish. This blend seems to smoke especially well in meerschaum pipes and I have an IMP that I often use for that purpose. Surprisingly, my wife gives this one an "OK" room rating in spite of the Latakia. It might be worth a try if your significant other is not enthralled with your favorite Latakia blends.

Overall, I give 10 To Midnight a good thumbs up rating and keep it in my cabinet. Just be prepared for a little effort in the preparation.

Smokey

Subject: Re: H&H 10 To Midnight Tue Jan 01, 2008 9:39 pm

Great review Smokey! You definitely make it sound interesting.
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Joined : 01 Jan 2008 Posts : 103 Location : North Carolina

Thanks for the review Smokey.
I have been considering trying it along with Larry's Blend for a while now.