A Tobias Lutz Custom Blend
Got a nice little mini-bomb in the mailbox today, a sample of
@Tobias Lutz
's latest project: MD 609/Oriental/Cavendish. Here's my review:
Cut: ready-rubbed flake, I believe.
Pipe: Altinok meer.
Tin note (technically baggie note, vaguely reminding me of one aspect of my misspent youth): tobacco. No apparent flavoring evident in its unburned state, although he did case it with Brandy.
Prelight: just a hint of moistness to make it flexible, which is about how I like it; no further drying necessary. Packed well, just did a gravity fill with light tamping.
Initial light: tobacco flavor. MD 609 is pretty mellow anyway, and the oriental and cavendish added some balance and gave the flavor a little girth. Flavoring not evident at this point, just a full tobacco flavor.
Mid-bowl: This is where the blend really started to shine. Nice warm smoke with a little spice which I believe is attributable to the cavendish having started out life as cigar leaves, i.e., fermented, but also the oriental (yenidje) adds a slightly exotic dimension. No tongue bite. As it warmed up, the slight sweetness of the brandy/MD combo came through. Burned evenly requiring no relights, and responded well to very light puffing. Outside of the bowl stayed warm but not hot.
Room note: who cares?
End of bowl: it went out. I tried to relight it, as I often do toward then end of a bowl when the fire flags, but discovered that the reason it went out is that there was no tobacco left. So I filled it up again and lit up a fresh bowl :)
Strength: mild, which makes sense as it's composed of milder leaves.
Overall, this is a nice, relaxing smoke with a slightly sweet and complex flavor. The closest commercial blend I would compare it to would be Stokkybe's bullseye flake, but to make a direct comparison would be a bit of a disservice - Tobias' MD blend is much more subtle. At any rate, I would say this is not a beginner's blend, but would be ideal for a real tobacco lover.
Keep up the good work, Tobias!
