Manufacturer Description:
Natural sweet Virginia-Mix, distinctive strawberry and champagne flavour.
Characterisation:
The No 8 Sparkling Blend is a Mixture of finer light brown fibers with medium brown, gold-speckled ready rubbed and dark brown flakes. The scent rising from the tin is delicately sour, with a clearly sweet strawberry note. A little amount of residual moisture can be felt between the fingers, as is the case with many flavored tobacco. You can therefore let the No 8 Sparkling Blend pre-dry for half an hour before plugging to make smoking easier.
Plugging:
Since the different components are quite fine, the No 8 Sparkling Blend can be easily brought into the pipe. One should only make sure to start loosely at the bottom and to become firmer at the top.
Light up:
After the first flame, you can gently smooth the filling with the tamper before carefully give fire again and creating an uniform glow.
Smoking properties:
The No 8 Sparkling Blend is not as intensely flavored as you might expect when you sniff the cold scent. Virginia in particular can be tasted with the usual hay aroma. This is then accompanied by a light dry wood note, which can probably be attributed to the Burley. The aroma accompanies the natural tobacco with a fine acidity, which can remind for the tingling of champagne and a fruity sweetness for which the strawberry aroma is responsible. It is not particularly snappy, but as with all aromatics, the No 8 Sparkling Blend also needs to be kept as cool as possible so that the tobacco does not become too hot and the aroma is lost. After a quiet burning, only few medium-gray ash and a little condensate remain, which does not, however, do much work for cleaning.
Redolency:
Since the aroma of the No 8 Sparkling Blend is not intrusive, the smoke also appears more tobacco-safe. But the fine, sweet note makes tobacco perfectly suitable for tolerant society.
Conclusion:
The Mixture of the No 8 Sparkling Blend is made up of different cuts, but the plugging and ignition are so easy that even beginners should be able to cope with it. If the tobacco is kept cool in the pipe, which is not difficult, it shows a medium strength with rather dry hay and wood notes, which are pleasantly rounded off by the sour, fruity aroma, but are not drowned out. If you are looking for a really sweet aromatic, you should not necessarily choose the No 8 Sparkling Blend, but anyone who appreciates an unusual aroma should be curious about this tobacco.
Copyright © 2012 by TECON GmbH
with friendly support of Dennis Hübel