Mystery Blend No. 1:

A crumble cake in what I think of as a slab style—something I associate with Sutliff. It breaks down very easily into coarse ribbons and clusters, showing it’s a mostly dark blend; probably Black Cavendish and top flavoring darkening the leaf. There’s certainly some sort of dressing here, berry-like, not so far from the Sutliff Mocha Strips’ flavoring. But the tin note also gives smoky Latakia.

Lighting up, that English nature is clear. Not a Lat bomb—but an evident BBQ note. At first I found the flavoring was present but not as forward as the tin note suggested, but with most smokes, it rises in the first third or so (and sometimes it’s prominent from the first light). Initially, I find more of a vanilla creaminess, reminiscent of the My Mixture 965 Brown Cavendish convention, but with more of an Aromatic bent. But then the miscellany of fruit mounts, which has a berry quality to it. It takes on a sort of Danish Aromatic character. An English reimagining of Mocha Strips feels like an apt enough sum-up.

While not too finicky smoking right away, Mystery Blend 1 is a bit moist upon rubbing out, and to my preference, benefits from a good half-hour or so airing out. 

On to Compare & Share Mystery Blend No 2—

This one seems to nod to classic American Burley blends with a natural, topping light delivery.

Like Blend 1, we have a crumble cake, but this one is a little different. In addition to being lighter in color, the consistency is a little looser. It reminds me of Hearth & Home Marble Kake, which I think of as a sort of ready rubbed version of a crumble cake.

Blend 2 is dry, not brittle, but definitely good to light on arrival.

Burley from the jump, the forward profile is woody and nutmeg with a mild molasses sweetness. Smoking on, a vegetative base comes through as does a light accenting spice. The early part of the smoke reminds me of Sutliff Ready Rubbed Match with a little more natural woodiness and lighter on the casing. The darker Burley attributes also start to rise, some smokes in higher resolution than others. It develops into a deep wood and earthiness that’s almost maduro like.

I think this is one of my favorite Compare & Shares, at least recently. It’s nothing super complex or anything, but it seems like a blend crafted as a simple pleasure, nothin’ fancy Burley, and it hit the mark.

Just finished my first bowl of #1 in a clay pipe, which I rubbed out and stuffed into the pipe with no drying (the bag arrived in today’s mail). I can confirm the berry notes both in the tin and for the first 1/3 of the bowl. Then I got some funk that reminded me of perique, which lasted for the middle 1/3. And finally the mocha/chocolate anppears and stayed throughout the end of the smoke. Burned to a fine white ash, with no dottle, and no moisture in the bowl (of course I rarely get any moisture in my clay anyway). No relights needed, I smoked at a moderate pace and never got any bite. A very delicious smoke.

I have not had this tobacco before so I can hazard no guess.

On to #2, smoked in the same clay pipe after a cooldown. Tin note is all grass and hay, very pleasant. Quite dry and easy to rub out the cake, I loaded it up with no dry time needed. Upon lighting I got a bit of grass and herb notes. Kinda boring for the first 1/3-1/2 of the smoke, then all chocolate/mocha for most of the rest of the bowl. Towards the bottom of the bowl (last 1/4 or so) it turned acrid, and I tapped out the last bit of the bowl as it grew unpleasant. A little dottle and unsmoked tobacco left as I dumped the bowl. Not as tasty or interesting as #1, but still had something to offer as the chocolate was quite nice for a while.

I'm smoking #2 right now. My first hardly informed guess is C&D Redburn. 

I've smoked each once 

I liked the both. 

#1 is a stumper. I personally didn't sense the Latakia like @briarberg did. But I'd trust his senses over mine.  I can't peg the topping. After sticking my snoofer deep into the bag, I swore I spotted cherry. But it didn't come through in the smoke. At times it reminds me just a little of Bob's Chocolate Flake. More study necessary

As Greg pointed out this looks Sutliffy. Easy to work with. I let it dry about 30 minutes. I had a hard time keeping it lit, especially early in the bowl. But that might be chalked up to poor loading on my part.

Smoked in a group 3 size billiard. 

 

#2 is also quite good. A cocoaish burley. Seems to have C&D fingerprints on it. One of those cakes they make like Night Train.

But this one seems to be burley driven. The flavoring maintained throughout with a few peaks and valleys. Burned well. Pretty dry. Strikes me as easy going. My best first guess is

. But I've only smoked a small sample of that a long time ago. So I'm just going with likely candidate. Not something I recognize.

Smoked in a large pot. 

Tried and like them both. Would possibly buy in the future, but haven’t tasted either before.

…so have no clue on ID for either one 🤷

…may do some sleuthing in the few days before reveal if time allows. (After all, I did nail May #1, even though I’d never tasted it before.)

I smoked a bowl of #2 again last evening, in my MM Country Gentleman this time (last time was in a clay). The tin note was delightful, and I really like the look of this cake. I loaded the bowl with the broken flakes from the bottom of the jar, and it had good moisture level - no drying needed.

Unfortunately, again I found that the flavor was just not interesting. I didn't even get the burley chocolate this time. And as happened during my first bowl last week, even though I was smoking at a moderate pace, it turned bitter and acrid toward the end of the bowl, becoming downright unpleasant. It burned to a fine white ash with very little dottle, but I've concluded that this #2 is just not for me.

I still have enough for three or four more bowls, so I'll come back and give it another try in a few months, but this may make an appearance at a pipe club giveaway, if you find yourself anywhere near northern Indiana sometime.

Compare & Share June Revealed:

https://www.tobaccopipes.com/blog/compare-share-reveal/