Mark Twain

[Legion]

16oz of Mark Twain just arrived in the mail

Buying in bulk without having tried a blend is a little daunting, but so far so good (touch wood - Out of 5 orders I've now received from 4noggins, the only time I've received a sample is when I asked. The squeaky wheel gets the oil I guess)

Upon opening the bag & taking a deep inhale through the nose, I was hit with a very strong yet pleasant aroma that was somehow familiar from my pipe smoking days in my youth. But I can't quite put my finger on it.

At first smell I'm thinking 'plumcake maybe?'. No, I don't think that's it. Going back for a 2nd sniff gave a very different impression than the 1st. 'Amphora?'.
I really can't tell just yet.
It's a lovely aroma none-the-less.

This tobacco is quite moist & like the Buttered Rum, will be getting blended with some Windsail to tone it down & to balance the moisture levels. (I'm so glad that I've got the Windsail as it's perfect for blending with aro's. It doesn't dominate, confuse or detract in any way. To my palate at least)
Is this the way of aromatics these days? I can't remember OTC aro's from 40 years ago being so moist & gloopy.

Once I've blended some I'll give my impressions on how it smokes, for what it's worth as far as my unsophisticated palate goes.

[Ruffinogold]

I dont have issues with the moisture in American bulk aros or otc , actually I never have come to think of it .. well , except for a couple bulk blends . Surprisingly , Smokers Pride Black Cavendish is pretty damn wet to the touch and smokes cool and pretty damn dry . The real pain in the ass are Gawith blends and the like . It may not be PG they use but a good number of their blends are unsmokable out of a fresh popped tin . At least the bulk cavendish stuff is smokable right away , where as SG Firedance [ as an example ] smokes like steam and is literally unsmokable until dried some . The flip side is that the Gawith blends do dry out where as the bulk aros and some otc really just dont unless you want to wait a month or more . Granted , if ya live in the desert , it may only take a couple three days

[Legion]

It's what we're used to I guess. In my early teen years, my mates & I loved trying the American ciggies.
On Saturdays we'd often go into the city to specialist tobacconists to buy the U.S. made Lucky Strikes, Camel, Winston in soft packs for e.g. but I can't remember seeing U.S. pipe tobaccos. The ones that I remember all came from Europe or Britain.

I've never tried straight Cavendish & am keen to try a good one after reading many reviews. But what makes a 'good one'? It comes down to individual tastes. One mans meat is another mans poison.

Although I'm no connoisseur by any stretch, I know what I like & am looking forward to having a few mixing blends so I may experiment & learn how to add a little of this & a little of that to make blends that are more exact to suit my tastes.

What you said about buying in bulk without trying it first is certainly pertinent. I've been lucky up to this point with my few selections.
While I get away with running the gauntlet ordering from O/S, I'll be sure to ask for samples with future orders.

[Legion]

On closer inspection. MT is not at all gloopy & not as moist as I first thought.

It's a lovely smoke that smokes well, that only needed one relight in my tiny Grabow Duke bowl.

It has a very pleasant taste (I'll leave the more experienced smokers to describe it's nuances) & a nice aftertaste, although it does leave the sensation of a dryish mouth as it is a touch hot.
I'm sure that others will enjoy the room note.

I will be mixing it with maybe 10%-20% of Windsail only to cool it down a little.

Overall I'm really pleased with Mark Twain & will order it again at some point.