BRANDO
About Me:
Italian born and raised, worked in FL as executive chef for many years, actually living in Colombia. Three decades of pipes and cigars!
Badges

Reviews


Cornell & Diehl - Seersucker 2oz
Cool as a Seersucker Jacket
Nice on the palate, with smooth cigarish notes. The dfk is present but not intrusive, the Orientals brings delicate spicy nuances, the Burley add nuttiness and the Virginia sweetness. No tongue bites, very satisfying and medium to strong in strength. Not the easiest blend to prepare, this plug is not as dense as the european ones like Salty Dogs or Peterson 3P's, therefore is almost impossible to cut it in flakes. I prefer to peel it layer by layer then cut the leafs with a scissor till they become nice ribbons.

Low Country - Pee Dee 2oz
Nice kicking Burley mixture
Medium to strong in strength, the nuttiness of the Burley steal the show while Virginias brings sweetness and the Perique spice up this mix in a very delicate way. This is one of those blend that's right up in my alley: easy to pack, burns evenly, no tongue bites, with a nice dose of N-vitamin. Recommended for the Burley's fans.

Cornell & Diehl - Yorktown 2oz
Magic Virginia
At first I couldn't smoke it without feel bites, but after I tried it with filtered pipes, the harshness disappeared. In fact, I use to add a pinch of this Virginia to any mixture that doesn't agree with my palate and it does its magic. When I'm in the mood for an excellent and sweet VaPer, I add to it a tad of Perique and again... magic happens!

Lighters - Kiribi Pipe Lighter - Kabuto Mizo Silver
Mine had a valve leaking issue
I bought this lighter in 2019 with the hope to save some bucks instead of buying an IM Corona but... after two months of use, its valve that receive the butan started to leak and a refill lasted only few hours. Since the issue, it is resting in a drawer.

Toscano - Sinfonia Flake 2oz
Tasty Toscano Cheerot, in a Flake form
I found this one more enjoyable than the Concerto but I wouldn't define it as an "english blend" as the tin's description suggest, my argument is the absence of some oriental leafs that usually form the holy trinity of Va-Lat-Or... anyway it is a really good smoke, medium strength imho. The smokiness of the Kentucky it's there, the Latakia is very subtle and the Virginia doesn't bite. Recommended.

G. L. Pease - Haddo's Delight 2oz
Canned Pig's Farts
One of my absolute favs, I stolen this funny title of my humble review from another old one review that continue to make me laugh... Probably the tin's smell resembles like pig's fart but honestly, I didn't grow up in a farm to relate :) anyway, it still is a terrific smoke even if in the last years changed a little bit its usual profile. Highly recommended to the discriminating VaPer lovers.

Toscano - Concerto 2oz
Toscanish
As an Italian smoker that enjoyed and still enjoying toscano cheerots after three decades, when I decided to try this blend my thought was: "cool, I can smoke some good kentucky leafs imbued with Perique and Latakia and find in them the usual smokiness that I'm accustomed with my beloved sigari toscani" but... it kind of disappointed me. It's a good all-day smoke, not as strong as the brand is suggesting, but no fireworks here.

Favorite Products