Tobaccos Robert McConnell - Pure Havana

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2004-06-23		Medium	None Detected	Medium to Full	Pleasant

My take on this blend is quite different from the prior reviewer, but my conclusion is the same - this is a very nice tobacco. I DON'T love cigars, and the one or two that I smoke each year are just kind of fun. So I put off smoking this tobacco from my McConnell sampler pack for more than a year. My mistake.

This has wonderful elements of both cigar and pipe tobacco. Don't expect this to taste like a ground-up Cohiba, because it has a faint sweetness, an almost-delicate top note, and a fragrant nature that I have yet to discover in a cigar. That said, this tobacco has a nice, rich fullness to it, obviously a contribution of good cigar leaf. It does burn fast, but I attributed this to a fine leaf cut and a drier feel. The pipe tobacco blends seamlessly with the Cuban stuff, and I was very sad to smoke the last puff of this. Burned well, smoked cool and dry, nice fluffy ashes.

Again, don't be afraid of the "cigar" label. My wife thought it smelled good, and I didn't have cigar-mouth for the next 24 hours, two absolute indications that this is a very fine Pipe blend.

4 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2012-10-10		Medium	None Detected	Medium	Pleasant

The two things to remember about Pure Havana, are that it is intended as a blending component, and that if you order it in the US now-a-days, you will receive Pure Caribe instead.

I am fortunate enough to have some of the original left, which is, in contrast to Havana cigars, a mild tobacco. The taste is whisper-y of 1920s Havanas, not the rich, strong modern ones, and it is a useful blending spice, but it is not meant to replace a cigar by filling your pipe with it.

it does smoke well on its own, but it is entirely mono-dimensional, and you should not expect more of it than you receive. It blends well with mild VAs and Perique; Latakia overpowers it, unless you use it very gradually.

If you can find this anymore, it is worth snapping it up (with the old, paper label and a rubber stamp imprint of 'Pure Havana'. Otherwise, you could do better if you want a stronger cigar blend to buy a few pounds of raw leaf, and then process it yourself.

On its own, a medium-sized briar, around a Group 3 or 4 will be the best option; in a blend, you actually want a larger bowl, and you should pay attention to the blend as it is when you mix it, and after a few weeks to months of marrying. You will need to take care to ensure that your base tobaccos do not overpower the Pure Havana, and that it lofts high in the background notes of your ultimate end mixture.

I suggest treating it as you would Latakia or Perique, but with the knowledge that it too easy to overshadow it. That said, Pure Havana does add a unique character to any blend that will make it stand out as unusual. I have tried Pure Caribe, which is similar, though not quite the same, as it is even lighter in body, and thus even more care is needed in this regard with its US replacement.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2013-12-13		Medium to Strong	None Detected	Very Full	Very Pleasant

I have to be very surprised that there are some here who have smoked this herb apparently pure .

I do not remember exactly when , I guess about 15 years ago , or even more , as my very fond of smoked F & T Wingate Mixture already suffered the second loss of quality , I tried to mix the stuff. And with the then still reasonably good Robert MacConnel Oriental Mixture . To ROrient I gave only times only about 3% . It was hard to believe, but this new herb produced by me was unbearable . Out of interest I tried each in small portions (pipe filling sizes ) to explore the Havana leaf out . Oriented to the color of the supposedly went well . And yet not to smoke. To the conclusion I have about 80 grams of tobacco ( from previously approximately 103 grams ) thrown away. and the pipes needed some fillings to displace the spirit

By the way I smoke , although very rare, right Habanas . Rolled .

Yes , and gladly, if it fits a good Englishe Mixture with Habanna sheet.

But the idea of ​​this herb Rob McConnel Habanna pure to smoke in a pipe, I would never have.

Pipe Used: dont remember

Age When Smoked: new

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2001-03-25		Very Strong	None Detected	Very Full	Extra Strong

OK, I have to assume that this is the real deal and is Cuban tobacco because of the taste simularities with Cuban tobacco I have smoked. With that said, Pure Havana is a treat for pipe smokers who love a good cigar. This tobacco smells and tastes, earthy and spicy, not for the faint of heart. My only problem, which isn't a huge deal, with this tobacco is that you can smoke a bowlful in less than 30 minutes (more like 20), so you know that it burns hot. I have experimented with adding a little Syrian latakia and cube burley to the Pure Havana to slow the burn while adding some depth to the tobacco. I have also added McClelland Dominican GLory Maduro to the Pure Havana, which is an excellent smoke. As always the Pure Havana is of high quality like other McConnell tobaccos. A must try for the cigar lover.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Kilmarnock Piper (250)	2009-10-12		Mild to Medium	None Detected	Medium	Tolerable

I am not a Cuban cigar expert. In fact, I've never had one. This is interesting stuff, however. It doesn't remind me strongly of cigars. It's really pretty mild. A fast burner when smoked straight, it is nevertheless a good blender and enhances certain Virginia blends. The tin aroma is unique and heavenly!

Nobody has rated this review yet.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2008-11-04		Strong	None Detected	Full	Tolerable

On the Tin is the description: 100% Cuban tobacco. Coarse cut deep brownish T. Strong and very tasteful, round and somewhat herbal and sweet, without the sharpness of some oriental leaf. No bite at all. Mild at the beginning of the bowl and towards the end a strong nicotine taste. Burns fast. To be smoked pure by cigar lovers. Excellent T for mixing: gives body and deep round taste. If someone wants to blend: this is one to have.

Nobody has rated this review yet.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2007-06-05		Medium to Strong	None Detected	Medium to Full	Tolerable

Great stuff for the cigar lover. It tastes like a real cigar in a pipe. Excellent for blending. Note: when blending do not rehydrate the cigar leaf. It causes a nasty taste. This must be smoked dry either by itself or in a blend.

Nobody has rated this review yet.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Noorrmm (192)	2005-09-04		Mild to Medium	None Detected	Mild to Medium	Tolerable

Opening the can I found a fairly uniform, light brown color, ribbon cut blend. The aroma was quite neutral, not cigarish at all. Neither was there much Virginia aroma, so I can't tell what this blend consists of from the smell or appearance.

It packed easily into a range of pipe sizes, and always lit easily, maybe too easily. The tobacco burned quite quickly, unless sipped at VERY slowly. Naturally, it also had a tendency to be on the hot side unless great care is taken.

I expected much more cigar flavor from this blend, but it was merely bland and undemanding. Pleasant enough, but hardly compelling. There are much better cigar blends available.

Nobody has rated this review yet.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2005-06-16		Medium to Strong	Mild	Full	Pleasant

Since some time this is my favorite mix-tobacco. So for me the tin description isn't a lie. I indeed can recommend it if you want to use it for that purpose. The only thing that I noticed, is that the quality isn't always the same and I don't think the tobacco is becoming better by aging. Some tin's have a discreet chocolate fragrance, while others don't have it at all, smelling then a bit "old".

Nobody has rated this review yet.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Spike (296)	2004-09-16		Mild to Medium	None Detected	Mild to Medium	Tolerable

So far the best cigar taste in a pipe tobacco. Drawbacks: Too fine a shred, burns fairly fast, best cigar flavor is at the beginning. Why doesn't some company offer this type of tobacco in a flake or broken flake that will last longer?

Nobody has rated this review yet.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Paddy (127)	2003-09-29		Very Mild	None Detected	Mild	Pleasant to Tolerable

This tobacco is a chopped ribbon, medium brown, about the color of an English wrapper. It has the very faint aroma of chocolate that I find in several McConnell tobaccos, but no chocolate flavor comes through in the smoke. It packs easily and burns evenly all the way to the bottom of the bowl to a fine white ash, similar to cigar ash. The taste of the smoke is reminiscent of a cigar, but not quite; it does not have the full bodied complexity of a cigar, certainly not a fine Cuban, Dominican, et.al., maybe a White Owl or an El Producto. It is sort of cross between a pipe smoking experience and the flavor of a very, very mild cigar, and it is very lightly sweetened so as not to interfere with the leaf's flavor. This tobacco burns fast and hot, but is mild and offers no bite. It has flavor but no depth which makes it a boring smoke. I would not smoke this tobacco straight on any regular basis. However, it is a nice additive to some home made blends I like to tinker with. The cigar leaf adds a little nuance to a mixture that I find interesting. I recommend it for that purpose, but not as a straight pipe tobacco. Paddy.

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