Condor Long Cut (flake)
This was my great grandfather's pipe tobacco of choice and after trying a few different smokes I thought that I'd give it a try.
Condor is widely available in the UK, but I'm not sure how easily it can be bought in other countries. I popped into the local news agent and found that they offered Condor Long Cut in 50g pouches for £14. They stocked the Condor Blended and Ready Rubbed in 25g pouches, but the flake only came as 50g.
Upon opening the pouch there is a lovely scent of tobacco with mixed dried fruits. I've heard people describe it as having a soapy scent and taste but I simply didn't get this. The flakes rubbed out very easily and it came at the perfect moisture content for smoking directly from the packet: not too wet that it was difficult to light, but not dry and crusty either. One rubbed out flake filled three quarters of the bowl in my Country Gentleman Missouri Meerschaum pipe.
The tobacco lit without a problem and the first thing that I noticed was the plumes of smoke it produced. These weren't overly potent in scent, but this was definitely the most smoke output I've experienced from a pipe tobacco. Condor Long Cut produced a smooth and full bodied smoking experience. It produced absolutely no tongue-bite, however it did leave a bit of a bitter taste on the tongue after the smoke was finished. Regarding tastes this was simply a straight up tobacco taste, I couldn't pick out which tobaccos exactly, I would guess that it is quite a mixture as none stood out. Sadly the pleasant fruity note was present when in the pouch notes didn't come through to the lit taste, but neither did the soapy/floral notes that I had been warned about.
Overall I would say that this is a solid flake tobacco. It seemed to be medium to full flavoured, but it did lack depth; the notes didn't change for the 50 minute duration of the smoke. Certainly not for those that like a light smoke or are into aromatics, but if your a fan of straight up tobacco flavour then this is worth a try. However if it is unavailable in your country, then I don't think it's worth paying over the odds for. Decent, but not great.
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