Gatlinburlier Blends

The Gatlinburlier is located in the tourist-trap town of Gatlinburg, TN, and was the first place from which I bought bulk pipe tobacco close to 15 years ago. They have an online presence, offer great customer service, and are just a plain old tobacconist that skips on the haughty pretenses. The majority of their blends are aromatics, with a couple "codger varieties" thrown in. The prices are reasonable, and whenever I, or someone I know< heads towards Pigeon Forge or Gatlinburg, I try to score some baccy :) (for those who are into chew, they offer a pretty popular selection in that department as well)

I. Sugarlands Honey
On the Gatlinburlier website, this is simply described as “A sweet, old-fashioned blend.” There is no review on the TR site… therefore I can only speculate as to what is in this blend (even though I have been enjoying it for 12+ years). It consists of medium width ribbons that appear to be a mix of Virginia, Cavendish, and Burley. There is a definite cocoa note that is common to the latter, and the darker pieces are certainly not dark-fired, so I’ll say they’re the Cavendish that contributes the remainder of the sweetness to the tin note. There is some faint grassiness in the background, but I suspect the Virginia is mainly filler. It comes a little moist and I sit it out for about 60 minutes prior to packing. The Burley is medium strength, with brown sugar sweetness. There is almost a hint of cinnamon in the retrohale. The Cavendish is mild with a faint touch of licorice, and there is a slight grassiness behind it all. Cool burning and gentle on the tongue, it reminds me an old codger blend.

II. Mellow Moonshine
This blend is cut into thin/medium width ribbons, and feels very supple, and springy, to the touch. It has a tin note of hay, cocoa, and peaches. It comes across as very balanced, yet still sweet. The moisture level is great for smoking right out of the pouch. This blend reminds me of semi-sweet peach tea and black walnuts. It is medium strength with a touch of whiskey flavor in the retrohale. It burns cool and is bite free. I consider this a solid offering for folks who don’t like over-the-top aromatics.

III. Valley Vanilla
This is a nice change of pace from some of the straight Cavendish vanilla blends I have smoked recently. While it does have a fair amount of black Cavendish, it is balanced out with a decent helping of burley. This results in a more pleasant, and less “goopy”, blend that is partially rubbed from thin sliced flakes. The Burley keeps the tin note grounded, and minimally sweet. It is reminiscent of dry hay, alcohol-based vanilla extract, and a touch of honey. The consistency is pretty moist and it benefits from some drying time prior to packing. This is probably the only Gatlinburlier offering that I’m not terribly found of. The vanilla isn’t overly sweet, in fact the predominant flavor is a sort of musty hay. The most unfavorable aspect is the propensity to bite…whether sipped or slurped. This strikes me as a blend that requires a smoker with a certain niche in flavor, and a lot of patience in technique.

IV. Chimney Smoke
This is all black Cavendish...all the time :) With a name like "Chimney Smoke", you sort of expect either fire-cured, or latakia, but such is not the case here. It is warm and sweet smelling- with molasses like pungency and a touch of spice, it reminds me of ginger snaps fresh out the oven. It is somewhat evenly cut into larger pieces, and the moisture level is good enough to pack and smoke straight out the bag. If the tin note reminds me of another tobacco, it would be Dan's Treasures of Ireland- Galway. This tastes like a marshmallow that was toasted over a fire, only to be withdrawn, coated with brown sugar, and returned to the flame until the sugar cartelized. It is quite tasty and doesn’t bite, but it will burn hot if you don’t take it easy.

V. Mountain Vine Wine
“Spicy aromatic, rich and dark tobacco.” This is a ribbon cut, primarily black Cavendish blend with a touch of burley and Virginia to fill it out. The first note I got was a kind of fruity molasses- a mix like dark cherries and blackstrap. I think there is a touch of whiskey flavor in there too. It smells pretty robust, with a touch of hayloft, but not overly sweet for all the Cavendish. It is fairly dry as it comes, but 30 minutes on a plate doesn’t hurt anything. This one can burn a bit hot, but it doesn’t bite. It started tasting like toaster cranberry bread- grain/grassy like with mild, tart fruit notes. The second half of the bowl had notes of something like a sweet fermentation- I guess where the “wine” reference comes from. My neighbor complimented its room note. Overall, not a bad smoke- it seems on par with a Sutliff Private Stock aro.