swhipple
Well-known member
- Joined
- May 2, 2013
- Messages
- 325
- Reaction score
- 1
I was intrigued by the US rerelease of Capstan since one of my favorite online vendors has been hyping their exclusive deal to distribute it first. I wanted to give it a try even though it may not be the same as the Capstan of years gone by. Call me a sucker for marketing.
I also decided to write a review since a lot of people will want to see what it's like. This is the first review I've written, and my tobacco taste buds are novice at best so please keep that in mind when reading. I have also never smoked any of the older blends so I can't compare it with those.
As soon as I got my tin I popped the lid to see what was inside. The note was very Virginia like with hints of green hay, orange marmalade, and maybe just a touch if chocolate/ cavendish. I thought the flakes were very moist right out of the tin so, I pulled a couple of flakes and let them sit out whole to dry over night.
This morning the flakes were considerably dryer but still pretty moist. I thought they were dry enough and I was ready to try this tobacco. I rubbed them out a bit and loaded up my Savinelli Saturna poker. Then with a cup of coffee accompanying, I headed to the back yard to sit at my picnic table and test out this new tobacco.
False light - I didn't find a lot of flavor on the initial light, just smoke. It also took a couple of char lights to get everything lit well, despite all the time I spent drying overnight.
Top half - Once I had the bowl well lit and I was able to slow down my pace the true taste of this blend started to come through. You can defiantly taste the sweetness of the VA as the backbone of the flavors although there is a richness to it that tastes malty like porter style beer. I also detected faint hints of rum and orange.
Bottom half - I usually remove the top ash from my pipe during a smoke and I did that about half way down this bowl and then waited a few minutes before relighting. The sweetness is still there but now it takes a mildly caramel/toasted marshmallow flavor. I personally enjoyed this stage of the bowl the best.
Summary - I found the overall experience very enjoyable and the flavors are what I gravitate to when I'm in the mood for something on the sweet side. If you like Virginia based blends and have been thinking about Capstan blue then I would say it's worth a try, although at the current price point there may be less expensive blends that are comparable.
I had to use a couple of pipe cleaners during this smoke so the tobacco was pretty moist even after drying overnight. I probably should have dried it out more than I did but it was still smoke able. My plan is to leave the unsealed tin closed up on the shelf for a week and then come back to it to see how being open changes it.
I also decided to write a review since a lot of people will want to see what it's like. This is the first review I've written, and my tobacco taste buds are novice at best so please keep that in mind when reading. I have also never smoked any of the older blends so I can't compare it with those.
As soon as I got my tin I popped the lid to see what was inside. The note was very Virginia like with hints of green hay, orange marmalade, and maybe just a touch if chocolate/ cavendish. I thought the flakes were very moist right out of the tin so, I pulled a couple of flakes and let them sit out whole to dry over night.
This morning the flakes were considerably dryer but still pretty moist. I thought they were dry enough and I was ready to try this tobacco. I rubbed them out a bit and loaded up my Savinelli Saturna poker. Then with a cup of coffee accompanying, I headed to the back yard to sit at my picnic table and test out this new tobacco.
False light - I didn't find a lot of flavor on the initial light, just smoke. It also took a couple of char lights to get everything lit well, despite all the time I spent drying overnight.
Top half - Once I had the bowl well lit and I was able to slow down my pace the true taste of this blend started to come through. You can defiantly taste the sweetness of the VA as the backbone of the flavors although there is a richness to it that tastes malty like porter style beer. I also detected faint hints of rum and orange.
Bottom half - I usually remove the top ash from my pipe during a smoke and I did that about half way down this bowl and then waited a few minutes before relighting. The sweetness is still there but now it takes a mildly caramel/toasted marshmallow flavor. I personally enjoyed this stage of the bowl the best.
Summary - I found the overall experience very enjoyable and the flavors are what I gravitate to when I'm in the mood for something on the sweet side. If you like Virginia based blends and have been thinking about Capstan blue then I would say it's worth a try, although at the current price point there may be less expensive blends that are comparable.
I had to use a couple of pipe cleaners during this smoke so the tobacco was pretty moist even after drying overnight. I probably should have dried it out more than I did but it was still smoke able. My plan is to leave the unsealed tin closed up on the shelf for a week and then come back to it to see how being open changes it.
