Tobaccos Solani - 113: Sweet Mystery

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	JimInks (3048)	2015-06-16		Mild to Medium	Medium to Strong	Medium	Very Pleasant

The tangy dark fruit, earth and wood notes from the red Virginia are often noticeable in a minor way. The other Virginias barely show themselves; hints of citrus and grass. The black cavendish is sugary smooth and always makes itself known to various degrees during the smoke. The very sweet toppings mostly sublimate the tobaccos. The sweet black currant is lightly tart with a deep berry flavor, and is the star flavor. The coco cream offers some creamy coconut and a minuscule cocoa hit. The rum is a minor player, not always very obvious, but you feel its presence. The strength is a couple of steps past the center of mild to medium. That taste is medium. The nic-hit is in the center of mild to medium. Burns cool and clean at a little less than a moderate rate with a very consistently richly sweet flavor from top to bottom. Leaves very little moisture in the bowl. Requires some relights as the tobacco is a tad moist. I recommend sipping it for best effect, and also because puffing fast will make it a little hot on your tongue, though I experienced no tongue bite. Has a very pleasing, lingering after taste, although there is a distracting feel of syrupiness at times, mostly around the half way point to the finish. It doesn’t spoil the smoke, though it is just a little annoying. Has a pleasing room note. It is just shy of being an all day smoke because of the sweetness level.

-JimInks

15 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Pipestud (1829)	2004-06-22		Very Mild	Medium	Very Mild	Very Pleasant

I received a free sample of this Solani blend with a recent tobacco order. It smelled wonderful and sweet through the pouch.The golden and black leaf was coarse cut and moist. Upon lighting up, the smoking experience was also, well, to my surprise, wonderful! The blend smoked cool and actually very dry for an aromatic. My wife absolutely loved the room note and the lingering smell on my mustache - Now that I reflect, perhaps I need to buy more of this stuff! (-;

10 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Cumarinophil (108)	2015-04-11		Mild to Medium	Medium to Strong	Medium	Very Pleasant

Solani Sweet Mystery X is a quality full aromatic, providing a mix of fruit (not distinguishable to me), alcoholic notes, hints of coconut and the taste of Virginia of course. Down half way I additionally get the impression of cinnamon. The wide cut works fine in larger, wider bowls. Easy handling and no bite at proper cadence. I find it satisfying enough for the morning hours, as a lighter dessert and also enjoyable using a charcoal filter. The room note is described as very pleasant to me, however, I don’t smoke to please others… .

A good and recommendable (not outstanding) aromatic in the line of many others. Very similar to the Winslow line (maybe also Reiner Professional or Peterson Connoisseur’s Choice in strength and fruitiness).

5 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Cultured Explorer (8)	2014-05-12		Mild	Medium to Strong	Mild to Medium	Very Pleasant

While I don't doubt that this blend is an excellent experience for some people, it wasn't at all for me, and I therefor can't give it any stars of recommendation. The interaction between the tobacco and the flavoring kind of reminded me of Lipton's raspberry iced tea. And while there are lots of people who love Lipton's raspberry iced tea, it is one of the few things that I absolutely will not consume-- it will literally make me throw up, eventually. So, if we share similar tastes in tea, we may share similar tastes in tobacco, and you too may not be able to finish an entire bowl of this. Hopefully this is the only blend that I will ever not be able to finish an entire bowl of due to flavor alone.

4 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30194)	2011-09-23		Mild to Medium	Medium	Medium	Very Pleasant

A Virginia blend consisting of red sweet Virginia, gold Virginia and double-mashed sweet black Cavendish. Its aromas are beautiful and distinct: a pinch of black currant combines beautifully with Bacardi and CocoCream giving a sweet treat. As for the room scent??? A-MA-ZI-NG. This specific mixture has several different types of cuts. One morning I woke up fancying a smoke right away. It bit me a lot, which lead me to the conclusion that you have to be careful with it if you don't want it to hurt you. It lights up rather difficultly

4 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Arkie (129)	2011-03-03		Mild	Medium	Mild to Medium	Very Pleasant

If our beloved government know how good this stuff is they would either ban it outright or tax it ten fold.

I didn't taste the rum or coco cream but the currant flavors came through very nicely. The flavoring was perfectly applied by the blenders - it didn't overwhelm the tobacco taste and it didn't fade away in the course of smoking the bowl. It was sweet without being cloying. Great stuff!!!!

4 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Greekpipesmoker (201)	2017-12-16		Mild to Medium	Medium to Strong	Medium	Pleasant

This evening I found my self in a nice cafe with view of Akropolis and 2 other co smokers enjoying the view and smoking some aromatic blends as we are entering Christmas mood.one co smoker brought this blend and shared a few bowls with me.once i stuck my nose in the tin i thought am i in a bar??a nice and tense smell of rum and coconut came out.a deeper smelling revealed me some cocoa nuts too.the blend moisture was a bit more than medium but no drying time was needed.packs and lights ok.some relights are needed.while smoking the rum topping was dominant from the beggining till the end with some creamy notes escorting it.the tobacco flavours are very sublimated by the topping and come out less than i desired.the virginias give mostly some dark fruits and sour notes.rarelly i got some citrusy notes.the cavendish appear more being mostly sweet and a bit nutty.the flavours don't feel always natural and in my opinion they don't combine well.burns fast ,medium hot to hot with a lot moisture being created.the nιcotine level is low to medium but i cannot consider it as an all day smoke due to the tense topping and the bad aftertaste.the room note is pleasant and no tongue bite appeared.the worst thing about this blend is that one bowl is enough to ghost the pipe.in conclusion i could smoke one or two bowls per week on evening hours with a cup of jot coffee.

Age When Smoked: Straight from the tin

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30194)	2011-03-31		Mild	Medium to Strong	Mild	Very Pleasant

A quality, cool smoking aromatic with a very nice flavor and room note.

I probably won't buy this again, as there are many aromatics that I prefer to Sweet Mystery, but depending on your flavoring preference, you might really enjoy this one.

A must try for aromatic lovers.

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Pip (80)	2020-09-22		Mild	Mild	Mild	Very Pleasant

This one contains quite a bit of bright leaf and the tin note is a very fruity and boozy. The tobacco is quite moist so needs a little bit of drying time. The smoke is very flavorful, and the toppings do translate into the smoke in a very nice and pleasant way, but it can bite if you smoke it like a freight train. The room note is sweet and very heavy. I only smoke outside and when I went inside for 15 minutes and came back outdoors I could still smell it lingering in the air. As far as fruit flavored aromatics go this one's pretty good.

Age When Smoked: Fresh

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	SmokingHawk (54)	2017-12-23		Medium	Medium to Strong	Medium to Full	Pleasant

Recently I got hold of 2 tins of Solani sweet mystery dated 8/11 still packed and unopened. Since I use temper with the flake cuter I inserted the round edge of cuter into the coin insert of one of the tin and it woosh opened means vacuum pack was intact and contents still fresh. The top white round cover was stained brown due to long term compressed with the tobacco. I brought the tin to my nose and boy I can smell sweet cocoa coconut creamy and liquorish smell but it was very very pleasant. I immediately filled my nose warmer pipe with the sweet mystery and did the charing light... Oh man that burst of flavors specially the cocoa and coconut captured the whole room it lit very easy and on the second light I was puffing like a train and cocoa turn to more into coconut and cream and after few minutes I feel like chewing my pipe stem for that creamy coconut taste which is my favorite. I really enjoyed smoking this blend more over I left that pipe for two days after smoking this and I can still smell the sweetness. Overall a very good experience and I definitely recommends this for aromatic smokers out there.

Age When Smoked: 6 years of age

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Room Note Professor (44)	2013-12-26		Mild	Medium	Mild to Medium	Very Pleasant

Reminiscent of Peterson Sunset Breeze, Larsen Signature and Stanwell Melange. Fruity (black currant, which is somewhat plum-like, and I taste apricot too), with some coconut. The mystery note is rose, very lightly done. The tobacco taste does shine through but only on large puffs. The room note is of baked confectionary -- this is the kind of aroma non-smokers find delicious. I would have given another star if less bitey.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30194)	2011-06-21		Mild	Strong	Extremely Mild (Flat)	Pleasant to Tolerable

I've got to agree with the previous reviewer on this one. Hot and nasty sums up my thoughts on Sweet Misery. In fact, I think this crap just might earn a place on my 25 worst pipe mixtures of all time.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30194)	2011-06-21		Mild	Very Strong	Very Mild	Pleasant

* Update 12/28/2011 (Changed all the review to express better my opinion. The stars remain the same)

Worthless tobacco in my opinion. "Why that?" some of you might ask. Well, for the following reasons

1) Nice, but pungent tin aroma

2) TOO MUCH CHEMICAL FLAVORING. To get an idea, the surrounding paper of my tin was yellow. I haven't seen that in other blends.

3) EXTREME tongue bite in my first bowl.

4) No taste at all in my opinion. And I have smoked this 3-4 times.

Really, I cannot see why tobaccos should be chemically flavored so much. Artificial sweeteners and aromas alter the taste of the tobacco. With the heat they decompose, polymerize, oxidize and god knows what else... So don't expect this tobacco to taste like Blackcurrants and Bacardi.

If you want something sweet, go buy a cheesecake. It will taste much better.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30194)	2010-12-26		Mild	Medium to Strong	Mild	Very Pleasant

The best tin aroma I had the pleasure to smell.

Beautiful tobacco composition, obvious high quality.

Too mild for a salty dog as myself. But perfect for the beginner looking for a high quality starter!

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30194)	2010-04-05		Mild	Medium	Mild	Very Pleasant

I'm not a big fan of most aromatics, but this is definitely an exception. It's a great easy clean light cool smoke. Especially the blackcurrants come through gently but nicely, peaking about half way through the bowl, with a mild background of earthy tobacco taste.

I enjoy this most out of a corncob with a pretty small bowl. I'm hesitant to put it into any of my favourite pipes (or devote a good pipe to the rare times I smoke this), but I feel like the cob lets the low-key flavours in this one come through decently. Just when it starts to get a bit cloying, the bowl is done.

As I keep stressing, this is not a heavy hitter in any way -- mild flavour, light nicotine, easy going. The room note is quite appealing to my lady, she much prefers this to my usual english blends!

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30194)	2004-09-07		Very Mild	Mild to Medium	Extremely Mild (Flat)	Pleasant

Sweet Mystery is built of beautiful wild-cut Virginias and Cavendish. It is a remarkably cool smoke and it finishes with a nice white ash. It burns well. It has a wonderful aroma. In fact, Sweet Mystery is so obviously a quality offering that one may, for a few moments, somehow miss that for this tobacco, as with Gertrude Stein's Oakland, there is no there there. At the top of the bowl, this tastes mostly like nothing. In the middle, it tastes like nothing plus maybe the hint of a taste that is not quite identifiable. At the bottom of the bowl, it is nothing, still nothing, but there is a taste, perhaps, that comes and goes, and it may be sort of fruity. If you smoke this in a briar, over a few dozen smokes, maybe a tin, you might be able cobble up the impression that you're smoking tobacco. Then again, you might not. For fans of Erik Satie only.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	neuron_md (37)	2020-02-10		Very Mild	Medium	Mild	Very Pleasant

Very nice-smelling and sweet-tasting aromatic. It gives me tongue bite, and using a 9mm filter makes me enjoy it a lot better. Why even bother to smoke it, you ask? Well, with the filter, it smokes cool and dry and smooth. And there are days when I just crave an aromatic over my rich Latakia's and strong Va-Burs. So, my advice is, to smoke this in a filter pipe.

Pipe Used: Big Ben with 9 mm filter

Age When Smoked: 3 years

Purchased From: SmokingPipes.com

Similar Blends: Reiner Professional.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	TheAdversary (4)	2014-08-30		Very Mild	Very Mild	Extremely Mild (Flat)	Unnoticeable

Upon opening this tin I had high hopes for this blend. Good cut and color, intriguing tin note, a well regarded brand, I loved their aged burley flake blend 656. I believe I am a well rounded pipe smoker, 50/50 aros and non-aros, and I'll try just about anything once.

IMHO this stuff was crap. Tasteless, impossible to keep lit even when fairly dry, room note was almost nonexistent (sez the better half who likes the smell of Dunhill 965, Momoyama II, as well as Hobbits Weed and Red Sky), so I trust her implicitly in this.

The only redeeming factor was the lack of tongue bite, but if that is the only good thing you can say about a blend you might as well dump it in the trash, which I did, only keeping the tin because I always have uses for empty tins. Don't waste your hard earned money on this loser. If you want a complex smooth fruity aro get some Hobbits Weed and don't look back.

Pipe Used: Jorgen Nielsen bent billiard

Age When Smoked: 6 months

Purchased From: Smokingpipes.com

Similar Blends: Hot air.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	puss n' pipes (27)	2014-01-14		Mild	Mild	Mild	Pleasant

Sometimes I have the impression that I give a lot of dedication to the tobacco I don´t "understand", or the one which I don´t like, more than the one I like the most (which is given for granted will always please me), always doing this with the aim to find the breaking point where I can understand or like it. This happened with Sweet Mystery with no chance for reconciliation.

I opened the can, the smell was fantastic, sweet and at least intriguing, i wouldn´t dare to say mysterious, fruity, rum like, peachy, but after that the factual test of smoking that dissaproved the initial impression.

Rum and vanilla notes are noticeable with variable accents of undetermined fruit flavour, peach? currant? and even though the initial quarter of the bowl remains palatable and indulging, then the ordeal of the "ashy" and "goopy" kingdom starts to proliferate and you have to fight with it via slowing down the intake or driving the smoke into a different portion of the mouth. But nevermind, it will always return, granting this sensation of ash taste as contour of the flavours. It´s not pleasant at all.

The liquor notes tend to accent from the middle on and remain prevalent. It has a great room aroma though, the kind that people will admire, but hey, even if we can please others that is not enough if what we are smoking is not really pleasing us. That being said, after several months rotating this can, giving a try in different places, at different times of the day with different weather in different pipes i came to the conclusion that I wouldn´t buy another. Something to notice, even if this tobacco burns easily it tends to be goopy and oily after smoked, leaving your pipe filled with greasy tar and nauseus smell, not the kind that after smoked leaves your pipe perfumed with fragrance that is pleasant to smell.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30194)	2013-08-29		Mild	Mild to Medium	Medium	Pleasant

just tried the blue label - same issue for me - nicotine - quite the sweats - how much nicotine in this company's blends ??

nice flavor & aroma though - mild & sweet

remains lit - tip out ash each third for nicer flavor.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30194)	2012-03-30		Mild	Strong	Mild	Pleasant

First off, I am not a real fan of heavily flavored aromatics, that said, this tobacco is one reason I got away from stuff like this when I first started pipe smoking 40 some odd years ago. This tobacco would do the beginner justice for about one bowl, then after the nice room note faded, your left with that sickly sweet taste. Yuck. If you like tobacco to taste something other than tobacco then this is for you. For me, the strong flavoring of black currents, cherries, etc., was too much. As usual, it has a great smell, but tastes like hell. I wouldn't even give this away...it's straight to the trash.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30194)	2011-07-12		Mild	Medium to Strong	Mild	Very Pleasant

This is a personal favorite of mine as I am a huge aromatics fan. The smell is absolutely sensational and the room note is by far the most pleasant one since the invention of perfumes. I have not met one person who doesn't like the scent.

Taste wise it is very mild. I couldn't really taste the coco cream and once in a while i can taste the black currants slightly, other times it seems to be hiding. That says, it is an very pleasant and cool smoke. If i could taste the black currants every-time I draw this would by far be my No.1 blend but hey, I think the name 'mystery' explains it all.

Highly recommended to the aromatics lover and you can be sure it will delight the people around you and yourself.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30194)	2009-05-01		Mild to Medium	Medium to Strong	Mild to Medium	Very Pleasant

Having tried the Solani Green Label 127 and finding it impressive, my taste buds lured me to explore more and chose Solani X Sweet Mystery out of the options available. Again, Solani hits the mark, and I was not disappointed. As one opens the the tin, a whiff the most pleasant and sweet aromas infiltrates ones olfactory tracts, and immediately draws you to fill up the good ol' bowl and take it for a spin. It seems that the blend is cased by fine berries dowsed in rum and topped with healthy dollop of scrumptious cream. Absolutely deliciously concocted by the blender for a sudden change of pace and 'mysterious' surprize! This is indeed a prime example of aromatics at their best with Solani taking it to a totally different level. If you are not into aromatics per se, this is surely the one to try. Its refined, its cultured, and above all not to over-powering. If one wishes to impress an audience and get the smoking satisfaction - this certainly tops the list. As with all aromatics, pace it as it will bite the impatient.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30194)	2005-05-30		Mild	Mild to Medium	Mild to Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

The casing just dont work for me. Soloni's aromatics just seem extremely "overcased".

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	King Weed (228)	2018-11-15		Strong	Very Strong	Full	Very Pleasant

I obtained this tin three years ago in an internet buy and had it on my table at the 2016, 2017 and 2018 NASPC shows. Nobody ever paid any attention to it and, this time around, I decided to open it as a rum-flavored pipe blend for blending purposes. I agree with some of the previous reviewers that the rum flavoring is, basically, hidden so well as to be invisible to the pipe smoking palette. The same can't be said to be true for the other flavorings: not one, not two, not three, but four additives for aroma/flavor. Its just too much and very fruity in overall tone. This assault of aromas and flavorings mercifully evaporates somewhere between the quarter and first third levels of the smoke. I found the top third to be, generally, uneventful and artificial tasting. However, and this is a big however, the beginning of the middle third unleashed as good a flavor and aroma as a Virginia/Black Cavendish pipe blend can provide. The tobacco flavors and aromas that issued from my pipe were among the best I have ever experienced in smoking this style of blend and rocketed straight into four star territory. Unfortunately, this blend is sullied by the overzealous application of flavor/aroma inducing compounds. Add to that another characteristic noted by previous reviewers; the ability to warm the tongue with lots of Red Virginia smoke. So, all in all, a very solid three star pipe blend.

Pipe Used: Ashton/NASPC Octagon Dublin Quaint

Age When Smoked: probably about 5 years old

Purchased From: Ebay seller

Similar Blends: Nothing in my experience..

Nobody has rated this review yet.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Dov of the Galilee (32)	2017-05-30		Mild	None Detected	Extremely Mild (Flat)	Tolerable

"Blackcurrant, Cocoa / Chocolate, Rum" with that kind of description I'm all in but but having now finished the tin I can honestly say I did feel it. Pleasant aroma in the can but not so pleasant of a room note.

Pipe Used: Savinelli 320 Hercules

Nobody has rated this review yet.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	matthieuduquette (12)	2013-07-09		Mild	Mild	Mild	Pleasant to Tolerable

In the tin. Sweet mystery is very heavily fragrant. Almost perfume-like. I do get the impression of currents. A fairly sour, sweet, and bitter berry scent. The cut is all over the map but it doesn't hurt or help the mixture in any noticeable way.

This smoked a bit warm and had a bit more bite to it than one would expect for a premium tinned aromatic. On the other hand. It otherwise performs well. Easy to light. Maybe one relight which is acceptable and dry smoking. It smokes a commendable forty to fifty minutes. Where everything really falls apart is in the taste.

The taste of sweet mystery is bitter and immediately ashy. It also has a very undesirable flavor in there that I have yet to really find the words to describe. I can only say that the only other blend I have experienced this in is Brebbia Sinfonia but that blend is far worse than Solani X. No complexity or tobacco flavor. Just bitterness, ash, and an unpleasant note that I would consider to be the "mystery" in sweet mystery but not in a good way. Then a light generic sweetness that coats your mouth throughout the smoking experience.

The room note was acceptable but not anything special. A fairly generic sweetness like that of the taste. Some of that unpleasant mystery note makes it's way into the room note but it's not as displeasing at this stage. Though the smoke does burn the nose a lot more than almost all aromatics out there.

Solani X Sweet Mystery is a book that should not be judged by it's cover. Despite the premium presentation. This is a mystery that should be at least looked into. Yet I don't doubt that the majority of those who give it the old college try won't stay around long enough to see the mystery solved.

Nobody has rated this review yet.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	wolfdreamer (25)	2011-10-19		Mild	Mild	Mild	Pleasant

This smells extremely similar to Petersons Sunset Breeze but with an added kind of plum scent. It's a bit deeper than Petersons and the tobacco was more moist in the tin but they are extremely similar. It has a mild taste...a pleasant room note. It did not taste sweet though some of the plum came through at times. I would probably not buy again and instead go for another plum cake...or aged cake aromatic in search of better taste.

Nobody has rated this review yet.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30194)	2010-03-23		Very Mild	Medium to Strong	Mild	Very Pleasant

I can understand why this would seem like a dessert to some. It seems heavily cased.

Perhaps not my "normal thing", but the [unusual] flavors worked out well enough for me to make the 100g tin fit into my "occasional" rotation.

Nobody has rated this review yet.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30194)	2009-05-21		Mild to Medium	Medium to Strong	Medium	Very Pleasant

I'v been pipe smoking for about 5 months now and I smoked a circular tin of this. I didn't taste any of the Bacardi or coco. Black current is a type of berry not often seen here in the US so it's not something that people may have a readily available appreciation for but after smoking this I do.

** march,2,10

im going to get some more of this its something that i want to have again

Nobody has rated this review yet.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30194)	2009-02-10		Mild	Medium	Mild to Medium	Very Pleasant

I am not sure what Coco Cream is... coco-nut? coco-a? I can't taste either in this blend, but the blackcurrant is deliciously prominent in the aroma in tin and smoke. What I really like is that I can also taste those Virginias. It depends on the pipe, but I have this little Ehrlich billiard that really brings out the VA in X Sweet Mystery. Mmmm. It also burns pretty dry and clean. XSM reminds me of some Larsen blends I've tried, in that it features bright tobacco flavors and quasi-naturalish-tasting fruit toppings, putting it in a different class from the much-maligned sticky "drugstore" aromatics.

I don't smoke aromatics all the time, but when I do, I prefer X Sweet Mystery. (Apologies to the Most Interesting Man in the World.)

Nobody has rated this review yet.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30194)	2006-09-15		Very Mild	Medium to Strong	Mild	Very Pleasant

X Sweet Mystery was my last return to aromatics tobaccos. Having been smoking mostly VAs/Périque blends or English Blends for many years, this felt really funny, but I had this rage for an aromatic. Don't know why, the nostalgy of my first years as a pipe smoker, I guess. Because I've already tried Solani's Luxury English Blend and liked it, I gave X Sweet Mystery a try.

This is a nice blend, and it smells pretty darn good! Good proportions and sizes of tobaccos balance each other well while being smoked. Too much loose cuts sometimes lack good smoking intensity, and too much flakes take longer to smoke and can become... This combo is just right. This is not cheap quality tobacco. This tobacco also leaves the bowl surprisingly dry for an aromatic, it doesn't get stickier and stickier as you go and declare a relighting war on the smoker. The only sad thing is that, due to the main presence of broad bright cut VAs, once the tobacco gets drier, this specific leaf will dominate the room note and the taste for most of the way. Cuts off a bit of the magic... This also happens for the Green Label.

X Sweet mystery is definitely not a tobacco for me, being a Hardcore non flavored tobaccos smoker, but for anyone who starts off smoking pipe tobacco, this is a way better start than the common drugstore tobaccos. It's aromatic, but it's quality. Recommended for those who like a good aromatic tobacco.

Nobody has rated this review yet.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30194)	2004-10-02		Mild	Medium	Mild to Medium	Very Pleasant

This reminded me much of a toned down version of Rattrays Charles mixture with a touch of an additional flavor that I could not put my finger on, maybe fruity would best describe the topping on this. This benefits from a little bit of drying in that it is on the wet side out of the tin. This is not something that I would smoke regularly but would make a good occasional , desert type of smoke. I would of given this a little bit higher of a rating except that the flavoring was a little stronger than I like in an aromatic blend. I do recommend this to aromatic lovers.

Nobody has rated this review yet.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	JohnnyFlake (17)	2004-01-19		Mild to Medium	Mild to Medium	Mild to Medium	Very Pleasant

(4-16-03) I decided to buy the 100g tins rather than the 50g tins for two reasons. First the cost savings is considerable and the 100g tins are designed as collector tins. The aroma upon opening the tin is sweet, very sweet, yet it's also wonderful in a way. I like it, yet it may be too much for some. It's a very course cut blend which is about 1/3 dark tobaccy, 1/3 med. brown and 1/3 yellowish/tan in color. It claims to be topped with Black Currants treated with Bacardi and Coco Cream. I do not detect either. For me, the prominent aroma is that of ripe sweet prunes and raisins. It's far too moist for my liking so what I've been doing with this blend is packing a pipe full and then just letting it sit for 4 to 6 hours before I smoke it. At first I let it sit for about 2 hours but it's not long enough. Six hours seems perfect for me. After sitting out for the time specified, it fires up easily and burns nicely from top to bottom with very little maintenance. The flavors are sweet, all the way, from top to bottom, getting slightly spicer and richer after the half way point. I still cannot define the flavor properly, as it seem a bit different from pipe to pipe. Sweet Mystery was a well thought out name for this blend. I will say that from time to time, I do pick up notes of Coco and berry and what seems to be white grape, for lack of a better description. This tobaccy has grown on me over a short period of time. I really enjoy it! Highly Recommended for those of you who enjoy quality aromatics and for a quality change of pace for others. THIS IS GOOD STUFF!

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