Tobaccos Blender's Gold - Burley and Black

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	beaupipe (102)	2013-11-14		Very Mild	Mild to Medium	Mild	Pleasant

Smoking this stuff is perhaps better than not smoking anything at all…but not by much.

This is, at best, an uncomplicated, more-or-less smokeable, mild aromatic. I bought this last year because I didn't have any other option. I'd been out of the country for a year. When I got back, I was forced to spend a couple of months in a city far removed from my cache of pipes and tobaccos. The best I could do was walk to my nearest drug store, buy a cob, and a bag of the only tobacco they had in stock: Blender's Gold Burley and Black.

So this was my go-to blend for a couple months and I did learn a few things about it. It's a ribbon-cut mix of Burley and Cavendish covered with a generous helping of humectant. Freshly opened, the bag has aromas of vanilla, caramel, and a touch of cider vinegar. It's a very mild smoke with a light vanilla and butterscotch quality. The only problem with this is that it tends to be very steamy, even after extended drying. I found that by far my most enjoyable smokes came in filtered cobs, given all that humectant. Nicotine seems disappointingly low.

All-in-all, this isn't a bad tobacco. It isn't a good tobacco either. And the more a smoker has access to good tobaccos, the worse this will probably seem. I've been mixing the remainder of the bag with simple OTC Burleys and it seems to work ok.

7 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	JimInks (3046)	2016-05-29		Mild	Mild to Medium	Mild	Very Pleasant

The gold Virginia cavendish provides mild grass and citrus with a drop or two of honey. The unsweetened black cavendish offers some brown sugar. The burley is a little nutty sweet and earthy in a secondary role. Sublimating the tobaccos to some extent is a light vanilla and caramel topping, though the caramel is less obvious. The vanilla has a little thinness to the taste. No nic-hit to speak of. Has no bite or harsh notes. Needs a little dry time, but burns cool and smooth with a consistent flavor, requiring a few relights if you do dry it; more if you don't. Leaves some moisture in the bowl, but no goop or dottle. Has a pleasant after taste. An all day smoke.

-JimInks

6 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	OldTallMike (13)	2015-01-22		Very Mild	Very Mild	Very Mild	Unnoticeable

After not smoking for a while, I came back to it. Wanted to try a few OTC blends, So I bought Captain Black and A tin of Burley and Black. I hadn't heard or read anything about it yet, so I was only going on the fact that it was a Sutliff blend for Walgreens-kindof had the idea that it would taste like the classic blends I smoked in College-not great, but pleasant. Frankly, To quote Ralph Wiggum "it tastes like burning." Not much else.

Tin note is nice, actually but beyond that it is really devoid of anything. Wanted to like it , as it is in my nature to like old standby's and locally available products. But this falls really short of even mild expectations.

Pipe Used: Missouri Meerschaum w/filter

Purchased From: OTC, Walgreens

5 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30167)	2010-03-04		Mild	Very Mild	Very Mild	Pleasant to Tolerable

This is more humectant than tobacco. Almost tastes like the plastic bag it comes in. Somewhat recommended if you are flat broke since it's cheap. I guess I wouldn't toss if if I was stranded on an island by myself but I'd give serious thought to smoking my socks first.

5 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	danberres (1)	2018-04-07		Mild	Medium to Strong	Full	Pleasant

Just a brief not stating I love Blender's Gold and is now my go to blend especially Burley and Black I have tried so many blends from tobacconist all over. This is a comfortable blend and I enjoy it very much

Pipe Used: cob and others

Age When Smoked: 75

Purchased From: Walgreens

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	JosephJames (12)	2016-08-18		Extremely Mild	Mild	Very Mild	Pleasant

I smoke a variety of pipe tobacco. I have no problem with OTC blends if they are good.

This is the most humectant-laden tobacco I have ever encountered. Super Value black Cavendish runs a close second. Not much taste, very mild. Tin note is pleasant and I got chocolate out of it more than anything. Reminds me of chocolate covered cherries that are also sold in the drug store. Room note is pleasant.

Not much here. Like a lot of aromatic tobaccos, the delivery is in the tin or room note. For the person wielding the pipe, there isn't much pleasure in it.

Pipe Used: Corn cob

Purchased From: Drug store

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	smoke screen (1)	2016-06-13		Very Mild	Medium	Mild	Tolerable

It has bite in the back of the throat afterwards, probably from the chemicals they put in this tobacco. It smells good in the can and could be better used as a room scent if put in a fabric pouch and put on a shelf. I will probably do that when I get fed up with it. Perhaps if I put a filter in my pipe it will be less irritating to the back of the throat. It totally fails as a tobacco. The nicotine kick is hard to reach and comes at the bottom of the bowl if you work hard for it. People should be fired over this. I will never buy any of these 3.5 cans again from this company. They don't understand tobacco. How hard can it be? Shred tobacco leaves and put in a can. There is something retarded about this product.

Pipe Used: Dr Grabow Duke

Age When Smoked: Mine or the tobacco's? OMG...

Purchased From: Walgreens

Similar Blends: Shavings of a bar of vanilla soap.

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Appalachian Scholar (34)	2016-02-06		Mild to Medium	None Detected	Extremely Mild (Flat)	Extra Strong

Like tobacco? Then you'll hate this. I didn't think there would be a tobacco that was worse than Paladin. I was wrong. It tastes like rubber and gives off a faint smell of burning blackberry leaves. Actually was afraid it would ghost a cob!

One reason to have a zero star rating.

Pipe Used: Corn Cob and Billard

Age When Smoked: Should be put out its misery.

Similar Blends: Rubber.

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30167)	2010-04-16		Mild to Medium	Mild to Medium	Mild to Medium	Tolerable

In the bag it smells artificial and the smoke kind of tastes like plastic (not good). The tobacco has too many additives and it's wet.

Don't buy this.

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30167)	2010-03-02		Extremely Mild	Mild	Extremely Mild (Flat)	Unnoticeable

Completely flavorless and more humectant than tobacco, this is one putrid mess.

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Corncob3 (77)	2020-06-21		Mild to Medium	Mild to Medium	Mild to Medium	Very Pleasant

One of the best kept secrets when it comes to OTC blends. Now that summer is in full swing, I decided to splurge on a variety of the BG line: Royal Cherry, Rich Vanilla and Burley&Black. B&B being my favorite. Let the blend dry on a baking pan just outside your door during the warmer months. In the winter, it dries best indoors between 74-76 degrees. Once dry, crush down before loading your pipe. Give a false light. Wait a few minutes before tampering again and relighting. With the first draw there's a malty, orange rind note. This remains constant as the blend gets a tad sweeter down the bowl. At the midway point things get spicier, with a creamy, slightly floral finish. The room note is just heavenly. Four stars.

Pipe Used: Corncob

Age When Smoked: Dried after opening

Purchased From: Walgreens

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	WyoSmoke (3)	2016-06-26		Mild	Mild	Mild	Pleasant to Tolerable

Not sure if the blend has changed, but my tin wasn't heavily pg'd. I left out a bit about 30 min and lit it up. Hmmmm pleasant. Mild not much nicotine, really. Nutty, slight sweet maple/ vanilla. Burned fine to the bottom of the bowl. Nice summertime smoke with no bite. I'd buy it again

Pipe Used: MM cob

Age When Smoked: New

Purchased From: Walgreens

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30167)	2013-02-01		Extremely Mild	Very Mild	Very Mild	Pleasant

As a quick smoke I recomend this blend. However if you have an evening and want to have a relaxing and contemplative smoke this is NOT for you. The taste is weak and not much like a burley.Its a cheap tobacco, such is what one should expect from a tobacco for the price. I would like to mention one could do better or worse than this blend. When I purchased this blend for the first time it was in the new canned packaging. The canned form is moist and somewhat compacted in the can a quick shake fixes that though. I would recommend to find some prince Albert if you want a stronger flavor than this blend or some Walter raliegh for a stronger smoke.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30167)	2010-03-11		Mild	Very Mild	Mild	Pleasant

The 'light bred' of tobaccos. If it's all you've got then you're glad to have it. The taste is not bad, but once you're not starving any more it gets dull real quick.

The fact that it is completely innuocuous however, does lend it to experimentation if you happen tohave some. And it's cheap enough for the experiments to fail and you won't be out much. I tried casing it using hard candy flavorings with some success. Also if you need to tone down some other tobacco blend it's very good for that. Lacking its own character also means it can dilute an English/Balkan or an aromatic equally well without disturbing the flarov of the other blend.

1 person found this review helpful.