Tobaccos Seattle Pipe Club - Potlatch

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	JimInks (3046)	2017-08-29		Medium	None Detected	Medium to Full	Tolerable

The nutty, earthy, woody, lightly molasses sweet burley takes a small lead with able support from the other ingredients. The floral, dry, herbal, vegetative, spicy, woody, earthy, lightly sweet and lightly more sour Turkish and Orientals are an ever present condiment that play above that threshold due to their richness. The smoky, woody, earthy, musty sweet Cyprian Latakia is a secondary player at best. Tangy, vinegary ripe dark fruit, wood, sugar, bread, and earth from the red Virginia duels with the Latakia for attention. The aspects of the tart and tangy citrusy, grassy, sugary, lightly floral bright Virginia lightly whispers to the taste buds along with a touch of floral and sugar. The mostly plummy, raisiny, earthy, woody Acadian perique offers a pinch of spice far in the background. The brown sugar from the unsweetened black cavendish adds a smoothing sweetness. The strength level is medium, while the taste is a step past that mark. The nic-hit is just past the center of mild to medium. It won’t bite or get harsh, but does have an occasional hint of a rough edge. Burns cool and clean at a reasonable pace with a deep, though at times, lightly inconsistent flavor due to the complex interplay of the burley, Turkish and Orientals. It easily burns to ash, and doesn’t require many relights. It leaves virtually no moisture in the bowl. It has a pleasantly lingering, sweet campfire after taste, and stronger room note. It’s not quite an all day smoke, but it’s certainly repeatable, and veteran smokers may consider this to be a constant companion during their waking hours.

-JimInks

39 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Pipestud (1829)	2016-06-08		Medium	None Detected	Medium	Pleasant

I finally cracked open one of my tins of Potlatch recently. Since it is a new blend I wanted to let it sit awhile, but after six months I just couldn't help myself and decided to find out what was inside. Man, was I ever overwhelmed (in a wonderful way) by the variety. Sweet Virginia, spicy Orientals, Latakia and Burley notes all came through without one overpowering the other. I know there is Perique in this blend but I never really felt its presence. Joe Lankford somehow added that leaf to compliment without racing to the front. One of the finest blends of this type that I have smoked in a very long time. Boy, its going to be hard to let the rest of the tins just sit and age.

Pipestud

24 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	mattinski (1)	2015-05-14		Medium to Strong	None Detected	Medium to Full	Very Pleasant

I was surprised at how delectable this english is. This is definitely an extraordinary fusion or hybrid blend. I am usually a Balkan smoker (Plum Pudding for 8 years!) because the complexities from the orientals & Latakia make a smoke that changes and stays interesting thru the bowl. Potlatch is similarly complex. Curiously, Potlatch seems like it has more latakia than it actually does. The burley is a very high grade leaf that supports the latakia and enhances it in a way that I had not tasted before. To keep things spiced there is a balanced mix of perique and turkish. Potlatch also has a solid base of black cavendish which rounds out the other 6 leaf ingredients. This is a tobacco that just gets better down the bowl. A lot of tobaccos start out good but fail to finish. Potlatch has great character and is different than any blend I have smoked. I was surprised that I loved it as much as I did! I highly recommend Joe Lankford's latest creation.

Full disclosure: I am a member of the Seattle Pipe Club.

Pipe Used: small Dublin bamboo from C. Asteriou

Age When Smoked: new

Purchased From: PipesandCigars.com

24 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	LoneRider (24)	2015-07-17		Medium to Strong	None Detected	Very Full	Strong

How many "WOW" moments do we get when we try new blends? I've had a few: "Maltese Falcon", Frog Morton's Cellar", "Penman's Choice (simply one of the best aromatics out there)", and "Blue Balkan". Now along comes Seattle Pipe Club's "Potlatch". WOW! A blend of seven tobaccos that manage to blend and marry wonderfully. Opening the tin, I was met with odors of leather, wood, and a slight hint of chocolate. The chocolate is not a casing, but is there none-the-less (at least to my nose). The blend is easy to light and stays lit with no problems. It should be noted that I hate talking about "room note." What I find pleasant, others may say stinks (my wife for instance, "Smoking the stinky stuff again"". Like a fine cigar, I like the strong scent of a high-grade pipe tobacco. "Potlatch" has quickly become a "go-to" blend for me. I smoke it any time of the day. This is another blend that like the Club's "Plum Pudding) is going to be hard to keep in stock. I will be buying more tins and stocking up :) You should, too. I should add that when I see Perique in a tobacco, I usually avoid it (reeks havoc with my stomach). That said, the use of Perique in "Potlatch" is not overdone and adds just a hint of flavor. Well done, Seattle Pipe Club!

Pipe Used: Larry Roush Stacked Billiard

Age When Smoked: fresh

Purchased From: Pipes&Cigars.com

21 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30167)	2015-11-09		Medium	Very Mild	Medium to Full	Pleasant

Mottled light brown to black ribbon with chunks of black floating around, which appears to be the Cavendish. Moderately deep earthy tobacco smell in the tin with a hint of perhaps light chocolate. Cheap cardboard tin, so I'd recommend jarring this if you're going to stock up. The inside of mine was already coming apart. McClellands, C&D/GLP tins, folks! At least if you're going to age your tobaccos. These cheap Sutliff-style ones are junk.

I noticed a review of Plum Pudding recently that wondered why there was no burley in that mix because it had everything else. The writer was, I believe, going for some sort of humor but I found it interesting because this blend appears to be a ribbon version of Plum Pudding with burley added. And therein lies the difference. I think this could have been another ho-hum blend but the burley elevates it mightily. Excellent burley! Tastes like it may have been sourced from Steven Books, as it has that same old-timey nutty-sweet flavor and the scent of old... ahem... Books! Whereas I found Plum Pudding to be rather "meh", this blend really showed off the wonderful marriage of a lot of components. Often, such a foray results in a cloudy, uneven mixture but this one worked well. The latakia was condimental on top a base of Virginia and that sweet burley. The orientals and perique were in the background, particularly the perique, but both played their parts masterfully. The Cavendish provided a sweet body to the smoke and I wonder if the sweetness of the burley was due to those two components jelling together. I couldn't decide to rate this as a high 3 or low 4 but finally opted for the latter. Not a regular rotation maker but this is one is testament to Joe Lankford, the blender, while the others of his I tried were just ok. If you enjoy that old time Steve Books burley flavor and a nicely concocted stew of "underneath" flavors, this is one you should try. I found it very well done and a pleasure to smoke. A bit of nic for you Vitamin N advocates, too!

20 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	SteelCowboy (685)	2016-04-24		Medium	None Detected	Medium to Full	Pleasant to Tolerable

Potlatch, another great creation out of the mind of Joe Langford, greets the nose with indication from just the scent alone that this is going to be a complex blend! The dominate scent for me, is mainly of Turkish, lightly added Latakia and a bit of sour. It’s hard to say what category this blend falls into, but I would call it an English blend. In the pipe, the flavors are complex to say the least. One moment, I taste the Turkish, then, a moment later, there is the nuttiness from the Burley as that takes over a bit. The Latakia provides a fair amount of smokiness, but is in a supporting role. I honestly don’t get much from the Virginias other than a little grassy taste. There is a little spice from the Perique and I can’t say how much Perique there is in the blend, but there is enough to know that it’s going to be a player. Add to all of that, just enough Cavendish to offer a little underlying sweetness. Toward the end of the bowl, the strength ticks up to just above medium in this creamy smoke. I don’t detect any added flavoring, rather just the Cavendish dimension. If there is something added, it is added ever so lightly. I would mainly call this a Burley, Turkish and Perique blend. But the Latakia and Cavendish add the extra dimensions that bring the blend to a whole new level. I have reached the place where, even when I think a blend is a four star blend, that I seldom find something new that I want to add to the daily rotation. I think Potlatch breaks that barrier for me. My only quibble with Potlatch is with the packaging. I am not sure that this type of a “tin” will hold up to long term, multi-year aging as it is a mixture of plastic, foil, and tin. I’m not saying that it won’t, I simply don’t know.

Age When Smoked: New

14 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	steppx (186)	2016-06-23		Medium	None Detected	Medium	Tolerable

Well, all the Seattle Pipe Club blends are of high quality. And Potlach is a very much appreciated English right now. But if there is such a thing as too complex, then this might be it. Or, it could just be an idiosyncratic thing on my part but I really didn;t love this. I expected to but I didn;t. I would bet I could blind taste this and tell it was a recently developed blend. I say that because it has a certain over ambitious quality to it. For me, subjective here, there is too much Perique. And somehow there is so much going on that I cant focus on any one thing. I get a jumble of taste. To me the greatest blends...the old balkan sobranie (im old enough to remember that), or the old original Smyrna by john cotton, or some of original Dunhill blends, you get complexity but you also get a signature taste. A tobacco blenders vision if you will. Here i dont. But again, very good quality and while Im not giving it four stars it certainly could be deserving of it if your taste runs in this direction.

Age When Smoked: new

Purchased From: 4noggins

Similar Blends: Not too dissimilar to Dan Tobaccos Bill Bailey. And hints at Fribourg & Treyer's Wingate Mixture. Those are older style versions but the taste is related..

11 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	TXBulldog (74)	2015-11-06		Medium to Strong	Extremely Mild	Medium to Full	Pleasant to Tolerable

This is a fine tobacco blend! The mixture is spot on without any one tobacco being too dominant and yet it interestingly intertwines like a fine orchestra. The flavors pull through from beginning to end without disappointment. The fusion of 7 different tobaccos is like someone found the DNA code of the perfect tobacco specimen. This tobacco has something for everyone and won't leave you disappointed. It will quickly weave into my regular rotation. Just when you think you might be getting it figured out, a truly good blend like this comes along and let's you know there's more to be explored. And, while you're exploring, you just upgraded your ride.

Pipe Used: La Strada Bulldog

Age When Smoked: New Tin

Purchased From: P&C

11 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	tabaco (112)	2015-12-17		Mild	Very Mild	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

I was worried that Potlatch may be over-blended, meaning all the different leaves meld into a bland symphony.

Pleasantly no, this is a jazz sextet and when you pay attention you can focus on a single type of leaf. It packs and burns well tastes great, the Burley is high quality nutty and sligtly rich, often I find Burley lacking age with shallow fermentation resulting in alkalinity; pH tongue bite.

The Latakia is in the background like an apt rhythm section, keeping the groove all the way through.

All in all a very pleasant blend not too demanding, Uncle Nic does not crash the party and make a boor of himself. Almost a cruise-control blend: pack, light and enjoy, a nice sojourn from my robust English and Oriental regimen.

10 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	StevieB (2080)	2017-06-16		Medium to Strong	None Detected	Full	Very Pleasant

Seattle Pipe Club - Potlatch.

I've wanted to smoke this for ages!

The tin contains a coarse cut mixture, not just a simple ribbon, and includes about every shade of tobacco! The moisture's a winner, so on we go:

Complex, this describes the taste. I get zero added flavours, it's natural tobacco all the way. The Latakia leads for the initial part, until about a quarter of the way in. After this point the flavour develops a fuller taste: the Oriental/Turkish, Burley, and Perique become equal in volume to the Latakia. I struggle to notice much Virginia and black Cavendish; I think they find it hard to compete with the strength of flavour from the others. The mechanics from Potlatch can't be faulted, but if a bowl's puffed too forcefully it can bite. Although, as tongue-bite affects everyone differently, it may not bite you!

I like the room-note, and the nicotine from it feels quite strong.

Seattle Pipe Club - Potlatch? Highly recommended.

Four stars.

Pipe Used: Altinok Lee Van Cleef; Friday pipe

Age When Smoked: New

Purchased From: Smokingpipes.com

8 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	TallPuffO'Burley (633)	2016-05-31		Medium	None Detected	Medium to Full	Tolerable

ORIGINAL REVIEW 5/31/2016

I just finished a sample given me at the most recent Chicago show. Unfortunately, the sample only gave me two full bowls of this one. It was enough to fall in love with the blend and put it on the TAD list for future purchase of a few tins.

This is one of those blends that is hard to characterize as some may call this an American English blend, some may call it a Scottish blend while others will simply call it a lat blend. Whatever you call it, it is a high quality latakia blend that includes burley. The burley is the key to this blend as it is high quality and incredibly flavorful. There is a fantastic nuttiness to this blend that may be influenced by some nutty orientals as well.

In any case, I would put this up on top of nearly all the Scottish blends or American English blends that I have tried to date; however, with only two bowls I feel it would be irresponsible of me as a reviewer to drop four stars on this one now. I am leaving this at three and will revisit after I have had a chance to get into a full tin of this.

UPDATE 11/21/2017

Well, I finally got the opportunity to smoke a full tin of this that I just finished last week at deer camp. After spending more time with this, I found the orientals to have a much stronger place than I first detected. There is many oriental flavors in this blend, one of which, is distinctively yenidge which has been winning me over lately with its wonderful sidestream making the taste much more palatable for me.

This is a pretty complex blend and if you like shifting and changing flavors, this is the blend for you. I am adding a star to this one as it is truly deserving of a fourth star.

8 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Stefanos (222)	2016-12-20		Medium	None Detected	Medium to Full	Pleasant to Tolerable

This is indeed an excellent English blend! And you can see that even from the tin note where a complex array of aromatic Oriental is complemented by a light Latakia touch and other notes of natural tobacco.

It is a very well balanced blend, it is complex and though I cannot discern all the constituents I can say that Latakia is there, smoky but refined and not in any way in overwhelming proportions. It is backed by sweet red Virginias and earthy Burleys with the Orientals adding a salty/sour tang. I am not sure about the Cavendish contribution but there is a peppery spiciness especially towards the end of the bowl which seems to me to be from the Perique (yes, towards the end I occasionally get a hiccup or two...).

If you like English blends, this is an excellent medium strength specimen. Not heavy on the Latakia but still for me the Dark Leaf is the protagonist along with the Orientals as they both sing on a background of the Virginias and Burleys (and Perique at the end). So this is an English both Latakia and Oriental forward with neither of them being dominant.

It’s very easy to see how this can be someone’s favorite blend: it is just excellent! It’s not going to be a personal favorite of mine though as my Latakia threshold is even lower than Potlache’s content (a thing I can remedy by adding some more Orientals to it), but this is just personal taste, nothing wrong with the blend.

Moreover it has excellent burning qualities and its strength is such that if you like inhaling the occasional puff, this blend is for you.

7 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30167)	2015-12-16		Medium	None Detected	Medium	Pleasant

I like how romantic and poetic all reviews are. I don't have that ability but I hope I will through time. I suspect it to be because I still know nothing, or at least not much or not enough to be able to discern smells and tastes.

That being said, I really liked the tin aroma. I found it quite earthy but still fresh and pleasant, not old dirt. The tobacco comes packable straight from the tin so I didn't need to dry it a little beforehand. I found it very easy to pack, light and keep lit throughout the bowl. The taste is very strange, and to me, hard to describe. Probably because it has a bit of everything in it. Definitely an English blends with the Latakia, which is, although present, not overpowering. It has a touch a Fall in the Forest, these are the words that came to my brains. It just rained and the forest is resting and rejoicing from it. It shares the precious drops of water to all plants and trees present.

I'll come back at it, definitely.

Pipe Used: Corncob

Age When Smoked: New

Purchased From: SmokingPipes.com

7 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Pryhosm (248)	2018-02-18		Mild	None Detected	Mild to Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

Tin aroma is sweet Virginia's, Cavendish and smokey Latakia. There are some sour notes in the aroma as well most likely from the Turk/Oriental. Potlach makes me think of the tobacco's of another age. For some reason I get an "old world" feel from this blend. Unsweetened Cavendish and the kitchen sink blended in, but nothing in massive proportions. Condiments are used as condiments and they blend together very nicely. The tobacco is a little flat for my tastes, but it is a thoughtful and complex blend. For transparency, I like a dominant flavor in my smoke. This doesn't really have a dominant player, and if I had to say there was one, I would say it is the Cavendish. The smoke provides flavors from sweet and smokey (Cavendish, VA's and Latakia) to earthy and spicy (Perique and Turk/Orientals). The perique was barely noticeable to me and I attribute the earthiness to the Cavendish as well as the melange of Orientals and Virginia's. This seems to play to an old school palate and I appreciate it. It is a nice thought less smoke for me, the burn characteristics are fantastic: easy to pack, light and forget about. The nicotine level is low and the after taste is pleasant. Some other flavors I noticed were toasted bread, dark fruits here and there and sour hints from the Orientals. For me this is a once in awhile tobacco and it invokes rainy days and/or morning smokes. I found this best in a cob (Lil' acorn to be exact made the flavors more concentrated and sweet). If you are new to English this might be a good first step, although I always shy away from that type of recommendation since sometimes you don't know what you don't know. Another nice blend from the master blender at SPC.

Pipe Used: Briar's and cobs

Age When Smoked: 2 years

Purchased From: B&M

6 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	oldcodger (74)	2018-11-22		Medium	Medium	Medium to Full	Pleasant to Tolerable

Seattle Pipe Club Potlach derives its name from the Northwest Indian Celebration of Plenty. There are plentiful types of tobacco in this blend, and blender Joe Lankford has manged to derive a solidly attractive offering out of the melange.

The mottled black and brown ribbon is easy to light and keep lit; the mixture requires few relights.

The burley comes across as the dominant ingredient, with the Latakia coming in next. The black cavendish and Virginia add a note of sweetness. Both the oriental and Perique lurk in the background.

Overall this is a medium strength tobacco, although I have upped the taste to medium to full. The room note is not offensive, with less negative nature to non smokers than most mixtures with these ingredients.

Potlatch burns to a light ash with little dottle. Puffed judiciously, a large bowl offers a lengthy smoke.

A significant smoking characteristic of this blend is the interplay of the tastes of the constituent tobaccos. Personally, I prefer great variety in the blends I smoke and almost never smoke the same mixture back to back. Potlatch is a blend that will not tire the taste when smoked either exclusively through the tin or quite frequently for those who choose that manner.

Smoke this in pipes dedicated to English mixtures, or else in cobs or meerschaums. I started my tin using my Latakia dedicated pipes, but soon discovered that I preferred it in cobs or meerschaums.

This is quite similar to Seattle Pipe Club Plum Pudding with an added burley component and a more manageable cut. I prefer Plum Pudding, but both are very fine blends.

5 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Gentleman Zombie (729)	2017-05-09		Mild to Medium	None Detected	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

A tale of two halves for me. In the first half I get mostly Burley, Latakia, and Oriental. This gives me smoky wood, a slight sourness, and a nutty earthiness. Only a hint of sweetness at this point. In the second half the fruitiness and spice of the Perique join in shortly followed by the sweet hay of the Virginias. The Black Cav adds a little more sweetness. The first half isn't much to my liking as it's a bit dull. It livens up nicely in the second half and becomes a very pleasant smoke. I guess with the long list of components, it's not surprising that it would take a while for the character to develop, but I have some trouble waiting for it to do so. 2 stars for me.

Mild to medium in body. Medium in taste. No added flavoring. Burns very well.

Pipe Used: MM Dagner Poker, Country Gentleman, Marcus

Age When Smoked: fresh

Purchased From: smokingpipes.com

5 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	canvas (337)	2017-01-03		Medium to Strong	Extremely Mild	Full	Tolerable

This would be the result of tossing everything under the kitchen sink into the gumbo. Open the tin and your nose doesn't know where to start. You'll find all the flavors you come to expect in an English, as well as some sharp spicy Oriental, some hidden sweetness, and cache of nutty Virginia lurking below. I was eager to dive in.

As a novice, I wasn't sure what I was tasting inside the fire. It kept changing on me like an ever dissolving gobstopper candy. I liked it. Midway through the bowl things settled down and I was on the Oriental side of the tracks.

Because I tend to hot box the pipe when I am smoking I can be sensitive to blends with bite, and this one can be aggressive in this category. For this reason I would likely not buy it again and for me it's 2 stars, but most smokers ought to give it puff and so it gets 3 stars from my telescope.

Purchased From: smokingpipes.com

5 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	J.R. Patton (106)	2016-05-27		Medium	None Detected	Medium to Full	Tolerable

A blend that I personally love and one that defies classification in my collection. I put off trying this one for some time. The reviews lavished praise on it, but with so many component tobaccos involved I couldn't see how it wouldn't end up a cacophonous mess. Boy was I ever wrong! This blend is amazing!

The abundance of tobacco flavors seem to meld together harmoniously, while at the same time the overall profile is constantly morphing, waxing and waning. So even though the tobaccos weave together so well, you still quite often get individual flavors popping to the forefront before soon melting back into the crowd. Love it! The burley and Virginia are most often noticeable...both of impeccable quality and sweetness. The latakia plays in the background lending it's smoky spice to everyone. And the perique and Orientals throw in some pungently sweet & sour notes from time to time.

Definitely a uniquely enjoyable creation, exceptionally balanced. Having quickly smoked through a couple 50g tins I'm wishing I'd had a couple 8 oz. tins instead. On the whole, I'm quite impressed with SPC & Joe Lankford. If it wasn't for pipesandcigars, I may not have had the pleasure to experience their work. Thanks guys, keep up the great work!

Purchased From: Pipesandcigars.com

5 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Mr. Big (321)	2015-12-15		Medium to Strong	None Detected	Medium to Full	Pleasant to Tolerable

Updated 4/12/16 This has really started to grow on me and with a few months of breathing, it seems to have gotten more creamy. I hate to say this, for fear of turning away the English smokers , but I put this in an "American style" of tobacco, but a real good one. I've bought more

updated 5/17/2016 Changed this to 4 stars , it's a creamy, "meaty" strong smoke. Very satisfying. this really reminds me of GLP's Caravan , but it's smoother.

Original review: I really think most experienced smokers will like this. On the positve side, it comes with a full 2ozs., at perfect moisture that packs and lights perfectly. The initial light and any relights are flavorful and creamy, however the smoke turns "muddy"after a short while. The Burley and Cavendish are not major players that stand on there own but do make a creamy base, however, they do seem to mute the perique and Orientals. I'm especially sensitve to "Burley tongue bite" and this does nip me . The tobacco has pleinty of "N" kick and would be nice after a big meal or single malt .

I could be a buyer again, and I think many would like this blend, so I gave it 3 rather than 2 stars.

Pipe Used: osark maple/MM cob

Age When Smoked: 2 weeks? 4months open

Similar Blends: GLP Caravan with Cavendish.

5 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	r (34)	2015-12-13		Very Mild	Extremely Mild	Mild	Pleasant

What a treat!

I have tried nothing like it. An extremely pleasant Cavendish, perfectly paired with a sweet Virginia, dominates a mild yet complex mix of tobaccos. The Perique and Latakia stay in the back without taking over but with ample room to show off their best qualities. I can only assume the Burley is responsible for tying everything together and deliver an effortless burn.

I cannot emphasize how pleasantly mild this blend is. Try it!

5 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Indianapolis (49)	2020-04-27		Medium	None Detected	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

The tin note smells like a good latte -- creamy, coffee, maybe a little cocoa. And then happily, that note carries forward into the taste.

This is my favorite SPC blend by leaps and bounds. The treatment of the burley is really the star. It's everything a burley should be -- nutty, chocolatey, creamy, rich tobacco taste. But even then, its not as far out front as other American blends like Americana or Devil's Own. There is a nice balance with the perique, cavendish, virginia and oriental.

I've come to really love these american blends when the burley is handled well, and this one is special for the awesome coffee notes. A winner, and it'll have a big place in my cellar.

And, by the way, there's nothing "Balkan" about this blend. Like, at all. It's as far from Sobranie as it is from Lane 1Q. This blend screams american to me, but YMMV.

Age When Smoked: Reasonably fresh

4 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Jevverrett (106)	2016-04-21		Medium	None Detected	Medium to Full	Tolerable

Another of the bombing gifts.

It strikes me as being plum pudding with burley. It is as good, and easier to work with than plum pudding is. Nice ribbon that packs and burns well. The burley may be what mellows this blend out. It sort of rounds off the stronger edges that the plum pudding has.

Overall, I like it it. It's a bit more of a go to blend than its counterpart because of it ease of prep. I guess it is to be expected from the SPC that their tobaccos would be outstandingly well done for the most part. I bought some more of this, and some of the Seattle evening, which I plan to get into soon.

Pipe Used: IMP meer

Age When Smoked: Fresh

Purchased From: Gift

Similar Blends: Plum pudding.

4 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Sosakan (33)	2020-09-12		Medium	None Detected	Medium to Full	Pleasant to Tolerable

SPC makes a lot of “kitchen sink” blends, where they put pretty much everything in a blend. Potlatch is the definition. Many times these blends become confused, muddied and doesn’t have that thing that can bring it all together. This one is all those things, but it is kind of like a jawbreaker/gobstopper/allsort in that if you get bored easily, this will keep you stimulated by the rapid and continuous flavor change. It’s like Indiana weather, you don’t like it? Wait a minute!

I get the feeling this isn’t a popular Tobacco , but I got mine for a great price and am glad I have 2 pounds. Try it out, you’ll only be disappointed briefly! ;)

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Dr.James (39)	2019-12-05		Medium	None Detected	Full	Pleasant

Seattle Pipe Club's Potlatch is a festive unification high quality ribbon cut tobaccos, the Virginias are fruitily sweet and bright, and along with the earthy, woodsy dry Cyprian Latikia form the base of this blend. Front and center, the Turkish and Orientals sing through with slightly floral, tart and resinous effervescence that harmonizes quite well with the fragrant Burley which imparts a sharp, nutty and almost cigar-like top note. Perique is synergistic with it’s spicy black pepper and sour dark fruit. At the core lies unsweetened black cavendish that adds a creamy malt nuance and balances the components. Burns at a moderate pace to a gray ash leaving little moisture behind, even fresh out of the tin. Strength is a solid medium and is full of flavor. Due to the myriad of uncased tobaccos and their complexity, you will find variations from one bowl to the next and in which pipe you choose. Potlatch has plenty for everyone, and is a very welcome addition to the rotation.

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	nkulk8r (90)	2019-01-19		Medium	None Detected	Medium to Full	Pleasant to Tolerable

Potlatch: a word meaning “potpourri” in Kwakwa̱ka̱’wakw.

Update: July 17, 2020

What a difference a clay makes . . .

If you're not tasting tobacco in clays, you simply don't know what you're missing. I may very well have to re-review in a clay everything that I previously reviewed in a briar -- the difference is that dramatic.

The original review (below) was based on sampling Potlach in a briar. In a clay churchwarden, there was no confusion about what I was smoking. All of the constituent components came into perfect focus in the clay (whereas everything was a little "fuzzy" in a briar). The cool, dry smoke that the clay churchwarden provided, with its 7" stem, allowed me to individually pick out the black cavendish, the burley, Cyprian latakia, bright Virginias, Turkish, Orientals and the Acadian perique in ways that I simply could not in a briar. The best analogy I can think of is when NASA discovered that the reflective null corrector in the Hubble space telescope was about a millimeter askew, preventing the telescope from focusing properly (everything was fuzzy), and when they replaced the reflecting mirrors with clay ones, everything came into perfect focus, with crystal clear clay clarity . . .

In the original review, I was like "This could be like Russ Ouellette’s STC Smyrna mashed-up with some Irish Flake and Holiday Spirit” -- but in the clay, I had no such delusion confusion, and Potlach became a uniquely flavorsome tobacco tasting experience, unlike any other Balkan blend in my current portfolio. Good on Joe Lankford for coming up with this one.

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This is only the third “American blend” that I’ve come into contact with – the others being Bayou Night and Sutliff's Crumble Kake English #1 – and Potlatch bears almost no semblance to either of those two.

The combination of flavors in Potlatch had my mental rolodex really spinning, trying to put my finger on what, if anything, I’ve had like this before. It’s an English/Balkan with a persuasive punch of Burley behind it. The thought kept popping up in my head: “This could be like Russ Ouellette’s STC Smyrna mixed-up with some Irish Flake and Holiday Spirit” – but that wasn’t quite right (in spite of how many times it popped into my head). There have been several comparisons of Potlatch to Plum Pudding (Plum Pudding + Burley), and I think that’s a closer equivalence than Smyrna + some Irish Flake and Holiday Spirit (more like Plum Pudding + Irish Flake), but it’s been some years since I’ve had Plum Pudding (ever since I ditched it for Plum Pudding Special Reserve). With my memory of Plum Pudding being a little hazy (I only bought a single 2-ounce tin of it, and that was when I first picked up the pipe back in 2013), I think Plum Pudding with just the right amount of Irish Flake would possibly parallel the Potlatch profile. (I need to get me another tin of Plum Pudding and do some experimenting). Potlatch is an interesting, stimulating blend, comprised of some quality leaf, but Potlatch is something I’ll have to be in the mood for – something I’ll be sure to crave when the time and weather is just right. Potlatch is good stuff -- stuff I will definitely come back to -- but Potlatch didn’t leave me doing 4-star backflips. More like 3-star summersaults.

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Ducksbreath (125)	2018-06-07		Mild to Medium	None Detected	Medium	Tolerable

I'm not going to give this a long review as to why I don't like it, although I will somewhat reccomend it for being a very complex blend. I think it is the variety of woody, flat, very smoky Latakia used (which I find in other blends so obviously other people like it).

I will just say that it is mild on the nicotine and has a woody, dry, sometimes nutty taste and a body which I find the opposite of "creamy".

If there were more burly taste and strength,I'd be able to classify it as an American/English.

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Stutter818 (51)	2017-05-01		Mild to Medium	None Detected	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

I finally get it. Needs to be sipped slowly and gently to really get the delicate mixture. My revelation bowl was from an opened tin jarred for over a year. The first time trying it, it was way too complex for me - I was mostly a Latakia lover. Now it seems to have settled down perfectly and it is a delicious, still complex but in a good way smoke. I hope Deception Pass does this too - I am not a fan of it for now.

Pipe Used: Peterson lovat

Age When Smoked: 1.5 years

Purchased From: West Coast Pipe show

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Bartimeo (6)	2016-11-20		Medium	Mild to Medium	Medium	Very Pleasant

Potlach. I can not add any better comments to this lis mix described here. I subscribe to the harmony of the 7 tobaccos. I abide in saying that the burley is the master key. Latakia underlies with a minimal and precise dose of oriental. Virginia and Perique in the background. Finally the Black Cavendish brings its slightly sweet bottom. Four stars. Blessed be God who gives sublime moments of pleasure.

Pipe Used: Comoys

Age When Smoked: 2 years

Purchased From: www.smokingpipes.com

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Planet Scott (66)	2016-05-15		Mild to Medium	None Detected	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

Wow! Complex, but nothing overwhelms here. With so many different tobacco leafs, you might think there would be too much going on. Not with this one. Slightly smoky, slightly sweet, slightly nutty. Run, don't walk to get some of this. Highly recommended.

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	rushm1n3r (20)	2021-05-10		Medium	None Detected	Medium to Full	Tolerable to Strong

This blend aged very well. After sitting in a decanter for 2 years, each bowl I've had is very smooth, no tongue bite. Rich, smokey, savory, filling, like a fat Sheppards Pie.

Pipe Used: Missouri Meerschaum

Age When Smoked: 2 years old

Purchased From: Pipes and Cigars

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Tomcat (221)	2019-09-28		Medium	None Detected	Medium to Full	Unnoticeable

Upon opening the tin it smells like your typical English , IT IS NOT ! Buttery creamy and nutty sweet with a hint of chocolate. My expectations were low and boy was I surprised. The base of sweet bright And red Virginias , smooth burleys and cavendish hit the spot . The orientals are outstanding and in every puff ! Yenidje orientals I suspect. The latakia is smokey and subtle , just perfect . The perique is there and spicy . All the tobaccos I can detect and they are blended nicely . 4 stars . Glad I bought 2 8oz tins at bargain basement price

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Halegua (1)	2022-12-18		Medium	None Detected	Medium to Full	Tolerable

Smoked in Missouri Meerschaum. Outside on the patio on a cool Florida afternoon. Very pleasing, Surprisingly complex and rich. Looking forward to smoking in a briar. To me this is a great all day with plenty to explore.

Pipe Used: MM

Age When Smoked: A year old tin.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Mijnnif (130)	2022-10-19		Mild to Medium	None Detected	Mild to Medium	Strong

Tin note is Smokey Latakia and strong sweet spice. Kind of a chunky ribbon cut. The first few puffs are truly musky in flavor quite strong. It smooths out quickly after a few puffs. This is a Balkan blend that has just a slight sweetness. Very traditional tasting I think of a milder version of Artison's Blend or Railroad station, with the added addition of the fermented perique and some spiciness. It defiantly gets much better as you progress through the bowl. smoother and less musky, more spice. Nic hit is mild to medium. Not an all day smoke but a nice change. Three stars

Pipe Used: Dr. Grabow duke tasting pipe

Age When Smoked: 3 months old

Purchased From: Smoking pipes

Similar Blends: Artison's Blend or Railroad station but much liter and sweeter.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	O. D. Jones (25)	2021-06-06		Mild to Medium	None Detected	Medium	Tolerable

Certainly interesting to come across a tobacco named after the information bulletin of the Lettrist International, made up of a combination of tobaccos that illustrates the concept of "surplus value"...so I will try to do a Debordian central critique of this smoke... I'm joking a bit there, I realize both the magazine and this tobacco have the same source for their name...

Opening the tin, you are greeted with some tangy and tart Oriental and Virginia aromas, with that musky Perique note in the background. The Latakia is applied with a very light hand, and the cut of the tobaccos is a sizable ribbon.

In the pipe, the Cavendish is basically unnoticeable, and just contributes to the cool burning quality. You get some of that good, nutty, burnt toast bitterness from a quality burley, and the musty Perique peeks in and out throughout the smoke. It is a medium flavored smoke all the way through, and to me, mild on the nicotine; but keep in mind I am liable to smoke a small pipe of pure Perique on occasion, so my opinion on nicotine levels may not match yours. Required a couple of relights at the bottom of the bowl, and I enjoyed the second half more than I enjoyed the first.

The only thing that keeps me from rating this higher is it just doesn't hit my preferred flavor profile. I would give it two and a half stars personally, but if it's more your style, you would likely rate it higher. Definitely a quality blend, and I would get it out of that cardboard tin and into a glass or ceramic container pretty quickly. It's got an ideal, ready to smoke moisture upon first opening, but left in the can overnight, it seems like it wants to dry right out. The Virginias are a quality addition, and seem well aged, as I never get the harsh "cigarette-y" quality I can pick up from cheaper or less well-aged Virginias. Despite the number of tobacco varieties included here, it holds together as a straightforward medium blend. If you are Latakia-phobic, feel free to dive in as it seems to have just enough of that leaf to be synergistic with the Orientals.

I see it listed as a Balkan, and I know all these terms are pretty much in the eye (or palate) of the beholder, but I certainly wouldn't call it a Balkan, more like a VaPerBur....Worth a try, as it is certainly a quality blend, but I don't see myself picking up another tin of it, as it just doesn't really fit my tastes. I prefer Ten Russians to Plum Pudding, but I'd like to sample some of the other Seattle Pipe Club blends, because this certainly is well put together.

Pipe Used: petes, spigots and Donegal Rocky

Age When Smoked: fresh!!!!

Purchased From: pipes and cigars

Similar Blends: not really sure, what VaPerBurs are out there?.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	JKOD (30)	2021-04-27		Mild	Extremely Mild	Mild to Medium	Unnoticeable

This is a pleasant and easy to smoke pipe tobacco. I don’t normally get into the nuances of tin notes because I primarily enjoy my tobacco when smoked.

That said, this blend seems smoke ready in every tin I’ve opened. I have let it set out a little, but it doesn’t do much to change the burn and/or flavor for me. This is a good blend to smoke any time of day, but I seem to find the most enjoyment mid-day as I don’t find it heavy/full enough for an evening smoke.

I find its sweet, floral and light smoky flavor to be hard to resist. The retro gives me a little taste of what I would consider to be a bit like bourbon after taking a drink and exhaling through the nose - most specific to Woodford Reserve. Needless to say I like to pair this with that on occasion.

Nothing in this blend seems to be a standout to me as a true front runner as the tobaccos all play well together to create a somewhat complex yet familiar flavor profile.

To me, this seems like it could be a good introduction to what people call an English blend. I will always have some Potlatch available to smoke, but not ready to call it an every day smoke, although it could easily be.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Homesteader (7)	2020-06-19		Medium	None Detected	Medium to Full	Tolerable

Seattle Pipe Club's Potlatch. I recently became an instant fan of their Plum Pudding, and it made me want to try some more of their blends. Potlatch contains, from the label: black cavendish with luxury burley, Cyprian latakia, bright Virginias, Turkish, Orientals and Acadian perique.

I get a taste of the burley with maybe even a little cocoa. The Perique is there but you have to kind of search it out; it's not as pronounced as in Plum Pudding. There's a smokiness and maybe even a barbecue-like taste from the Latakia--maybe helped along with the black cavendish.

The tin I received looks to be a couple of years old, as it has no obnoxious warning label on it. There are at times some rough spots but overall a very enjoyable smoke. I've already ordered more.

Pipe Used: MM Country Gentleman

Age When Smoked: 1-2 years, freshly opened tin

Purchased From: WV Smoke Shop

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Barryck (1)	2019-09-05		Medium to Strong	Medium to Strong	Medium to Full	Pleasant to Tolerable

Truly a unique blend that I wouldn’t have considered until I received a coupon for an 8 OZ can. I’m more of an aromatic smoker by preference, yet I also like to enjoy a variety of different tobaccos. The notes seem to change as the bowl burns down. Though it has a burly note to it, there’s no tongue bite, and it doesn’t gunk up my pipe with too much residual moisture. It’s not my go to, but I will store it in mason jars to keep it fresher. Great one to share for my next potlatch.

Pipe Used: Briar Works Rhodesian Bull

Age When Smoked: New

Purchased From: Pipes and Cigars dot com

Similar Blends: Just For Him - Ruins of Isengard (Middle Earth Pipeweed).

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	JaWiBr (558)	2023-05-18		Medium	None Detected	Medium to Full	Pleasant to Tolerable

Tin note of smoky, pungent sour fruit and chocolate. Tobacco is a ribbon cut of black and brown with a little dark brown and tan mixed in. Moisture content is good. Some pipe smokers will want to dry it a bit. Burns slow with a few relights. The strength is medium and nic is mild to medium. No flavoring detected despite tin note. Taste is medium to full and mostly consistent, with complex notes of peaty vegetation, floral, dry, herbal spices, tangy sweet dark fruit, smoky incense, fermented sour, slightly spicy, woody, sugar, zesty citrus, toast, leather, bitter orange peel, a nuts and lemon grass background note, and a peppery retro. Burley is leading with Cavendish, Latakia, Oriental/Turkish, Perique, Virginia supporting. Room note is pleasant to tolerable, and aftertaste is great.

Pipe Used: James Upshall Smooth Acorn (4) (P) (FH)

Age When Smoked: 4 years

Nobody has rated this review yet.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	KingLeary (9)	2023-01-04		Medium	None Detected	Medium	Tolerable

Smells like a barn. Tastes like a barn. Notes of barn with "barn" overtones.

7/10

On a serious note: This tastes like a f*ing barn. Go buy it. Cheers.

Pipe Used: Chacom 95

Age When Smoked: New

Purchased From: Local Tobacconist

Similar Blends: SPC - Hood Latch.

Nobody has rated this review yet.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	ArturiusKN (6)	2020-07-17		Mild to Medium	None Detected	Medium to Full	Pleasant to Tolerable

The first SPC blend I’ve tried, bought a 2oz tin on a road trip through Knoxville and have been gradually working on it for two months now. I was initially underwhelmed, expecting a more intense blend, but over time I’ve come to appreciate Potlatch for its extreme complexity. To quote the rabbi, it’s like a many-sided gem that can be revisited time and again.

Technique: coarse cut and appropriate moisture, Potlatch is easy to smoke and is my go-to blend to break a new pipe in.

Flavor: I get a pleasant amount of orientals early on, with Virginia and cavendish sweetness later. Early bowl can seem flavorless after a light, but character really comes out in a larger/wider briar pipe. There is a slightly vinaigrette tin note I picked up, but the diversity of tobaccos really lives up to the namesake when smoked, and the room note is agreeable.

Nicotine: on a 1-5 scale about a 2. I usually gravitate to higher Vitamin N content, but potlatch has just the right amount to feel good without the jitters.

Moisture, Smoke, & Ash: blend ashes well, considering the many components. The bottom part of the bowl is rarely sticky or fussy, but I have gotten better flavor out of filtered pipes, especially for the latter half of the bowl, and the blends tendency to burn a little hotter given my smoking cadence. I do get a thicker cloud of smoke than many blends relative to the heat output, so there is the temptation to draw too fast to get the most out of the bowl.

Aging potential: as a coarse cut with a diverse cast and next to no tongue bite, I think this is solid fresh. That said, 2 years of age would probably be the target threshold for my next tin, just enough to start meshing the flavors together.

Summary: Potlatch is an easy blend to get something out of, and a not-difficult blend to get a lot out of. I’d suggest it for anyone looking for a more contemplative intermediate smoke and an easygoing all-day blend that awards revisiting.

Pipe Used: Briarworks 52/151, Sav 320 w/ filter

Age When Smoked: 6 months

Purchased From: Smokey’s (Knoxville, TN)

Nobody has rated this review yet.