Mystery Review — March 2018

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Shane Ireland: Hey, everybody.
I'm Shane Ireland.
Kaz Walters: Kaz Walters.
Andy Wike: Andy Wike.
Shane Ireland: Welcome to another episode of Mystery Tobacco Science Theater.
No, Mystery Review.
It's the March episode of Mystery Review.
Adam, Adam O'Neill, was the what?
Kaz Walters: Selector.
Shane Ireland: What do we call it?
Inquisitor?
The selector.
Andy Wike: Inquisitor.
Shane Ireland: The selector of this month's blend.
I gotta say, I think Kaz and I both were pretty sure.
Last time, we knew we were smoking a Mac Baren product and we were so sure about what it
was, but actually it was something a little bit different.
We were stumped in the end.
These are turning into the kind of thing where when I get the bag now, I start just trying
to get inside the head of the person who picked it more than I trust my taste and my sense
of smell and everything.
Shane Ireland: I'm looking at this and smelling it and I thought, "Did Adam seriously have
the guts to pick another Mac Baren right away because we would never think he would do that?"
Then the more and more that I'm smoking this and smelling it, I really don't think that's
what he did.
But I think Kaz and I both suspected that perhaps this was Mixture Flake rubbed out
or something like that.
Kaz Walters: Yeah.
Shane Ireland: I think there's a little bit too much vanilla coming off the bag note-
Kaz Walters: Definitely.
Shane Ireland: -and the smoke for it to be that.
But seems like it was still possibly made in Denmark.
I don't know.
Kaz Walters: Yeah, it has a Danish style to me, especially it's got an aromatic element
to it and the way the tobacco's cut.
It looks like something that would have come from Denmark.
Shane Ireland: I think I'm comfortable at this point saying that I don't believe that
I've smoked this before.
Andy Wike: Yeah, I don't think I have either.
Shane Ireland: It's possible that maybe years ago or something, but it's not something that
I'm immediately familiar with, which I think is the point.
I think Adam knows us all well enough to be able to say that he can pick something we've
never tried.
I've been going back like, "Is this Orlik Racing Green or Orlik Club Mixture or one
of those that I'm not too familiar with?
Is it a Newminster flake rubbed out?"
I really don't know.
Kaz Walters: Neither do I.
Andy Wike: I thought about Stokkebye Bulk for a second, but I don't know if the cut's
that similar.
I haven't smoked all the Stokkebye Bulks.
I've smoked probably the three that everybody smokes.
Shane Ireland: Sure, sure.
Andy Wike: You know what I mean?
But I also think that there's more contrast between the dark leaf and the bright Virginias
in Stokkebye's bulks.
Shane Ireland: Yeah, there's a-
Andy Wike: Same thing with Sutliff.
You see that dark, black Cavendish and then brighter leaf right beside it.
But this is just-
Shane Ireland: There's some big chunks in there.
Andy Wike: It's not that- Yeah.
Shane Ireland: Some flake chunks in there.
Shane Ireland: I don't know, I'm not convinced anymore that he rubbed out a flake.
I think that might just be a cut and it might be a blending house that I don't smoke too
often.
Andy Wike: Right.
Shane Ireland: But the dark leaf, like you noted, Andy, I don't think it could be anything
but a Cavendish.
I'm not getting any spicy, smoky quality in here.
Andy Wike: Not at all.
Shane Ireland: I mean, it's certainly not Latakia, but I was thinking maybe a pinch
of Dark-Fired, and I don't think so.
I don't taste any Dark-Fired.
I don't taste any Perique.
That dark leaf must be a little bit of Cavendish.
Other than that, there's definitely some bright and maybe a little bit of Burley.
I'm tasting a little bit of white Burley.
Kaz Walters: Yeah.
To me, it's lighter-bodied.
This just, to me, screams a Danish or European-style aromatic Virginia-Burley blend thing going
on.
I thought about Stokkebye Bulk, too.
I could be wrong about this, but the only ready-rubbed Stokkebye that comes to mind
is their toasted burly.
This is definitely not that.
Andy Wike: Right.
Shane Ireland: Could this be German, though?
Kaz Walters: Sure.
That's why I admit-
Shane Ireland: Yeah, European.
Kaz Walters: European, yeah.
Shane Ireland: Have you smoke any of the Rattrays?
I've smoked the Sterling and the Wallace Flake a bunch.
But then there's the Sir William and the Red Lion and the other additions to the English
series or whatever.
Kaz Walters: Yeah, yeah.
Shane Ireland: I'm wondering if this could be one of those.
Those are Virginia blends with a little bit of flavoring.
Kaz Walters: Sure.
Shane Ireland: Like whiskey or something like that.
Kaz Walters: You know, that's actually an interesting idea.
Shane Ireland: That's the thing about a vanilla essence on pipe tobacco.
That can come from so many different things.
Andy Wike: So many things.
Shane Ireland: It can come from Tonquin, from a bourbon flavor.
There's a lot of ways to-
Andy Wike: Deer Tongue.
Shane Ireland: Deer Tongue.
Kaz Walters: Yeah, Deer Tongue's another one.
Shane Ireland: There's a lot of ways to impart a vanilla essence to a pipe tobacco.
He picked something more or less, I don't know, extremely general.
Kaz Walters: Yeah, I mean, it's a decent blend but it's definitely, I mean, general's probably
a good term.
It's almost like an archetype tobacco.
Shane Ireland: It has a pipe tobacco flavor for sure.
Kaz Walters: Yes.
Andy Wike: It's definitely on the lighter side strength-wise, too, I think.
I think this is probably something that you could have with a cup of coffee in the morning
if you don't really want something that's very strong, just something you could puff
on all day.
Kaz Walters: That's what I was thinking.
This could easily be someone's all-day blend.
Andy Wike: Yeah.
Kaz Walters: Yeah.
Shane Ireland: Yeah, it's a nice, mild, unassuming, friendly blend.
You know, first of all, somebody said earlier, I think it was you, Andy, that in the bag
it smelled like vanilla wafers.
I'm actually getting a little bit of that now that we're progressing down the bowl here.
It's getting a little deeper, a little more rich.
Still a similar flavor.
The flavor seems to be pretty consistent all the way down, but it's just filling out a
little bit more.
Andy Wike: I don't think it's Brunello with the graham crackery notes, though, either.
I think it's just ...
Shane Ireland: I just smoked some Brunello the other day, too.
I'm pretty sure that's not what this is.
I mean, I was smoking something that had a couple years on it, but still.
Andy Wike: No, I don't think it was the Brunello.
Shane Ireland: Any guesses before we get the big reveal?
Kaz Walters: The only thing that I feel confident saying is this was made somewhere in Europe.
I mean, that's about as comfortable as I would be.
Shane Ireland: It's made somewhere in Europe and it may contain pipe tobacco.
No, it's just a nice, mild, vanilla, like a ready-rubbed.
I don't know if I would consider this an aromatic, though.
I should say that.
Kaz Walters: No, no.
I do think we've all been out in public at a park or something and someone passed by
and they smelled the pipe before they see it.
It's like, "Oh, my grandfather smoke a pipe."
To me, this is that smell, that room note, that flavor.
Even someone who's completely uninitiated into the hobby would recognize this as a pipe
tobacco.
With that being said, I still don't really have- It's not a Sir Walter Raleigh.
Shane Ireland: No.
Kaz Walters: It's not a Captain Black.
It's not your old-school Burley or aromatics.
There's something there that's really tripping me up.
Shane Ireland: I will say that before we see what Adam actually gave us, it's getting a
little nuttier.
It's a little more toasty and a little more nutty now that I'm pushing down here.
But again, that's not a big enough clue for me to hazard a guess with any accuracy.
Andy Wike: Yeah.
Shane Ireland: What an interesting video so far this has been.
Andy Wike: We don't know!
Shane Ireland: It is a mystery indeed.
Okay, let's see.
Andy O'Neill: Oh hey, everyone.
It's Adam O'Neill coming to you from a fishing trawler off the coast of South Carolina.
Actually, just kidding.
It's a little bit chilly in South Carolina.
You'll have to excuse my getup.
For my month in the inquisitor chair, I am picking Amphora Full Aroma.
Now, I know Shane's smoked quite a bit of the original.
I don't think any of the guys have smoked any of the Amphora lines.
We might be in some safe territory there.
But I don't think Shane himself has smoked too much of it.
I haven't really spoke about it 'cause I only just started smoking a lot.
Hopefully I can throw him for a loop this month.
But good luck anyway, guys.
Shane Ireland: Oh, yeah.
Amphora Full Aroma.
Andy Wike: I was thinking it was one of those pouch tobaccos...
Shane Ireland: We weren't way off the mark by saying Mac Baren in the beginning.
But no, I don't know if I've ever smoked the Full Aroma.
I've smoked plenty of the original.
And that is a lot more chocolatey.
I think the Orientals and Burleys come out a little bit more in that.
But I was getting a pretty heavy Burley note here.
It adds up for sure.
Shane Ireland: You know, we can at least take pride in the fact that we didn't guess that
it was Odyssey.
Thanks, everybody.
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