Pipe Tobacco Reviews: Wild Geese

A non-sticky cavendish mixture from Germany with a contrasty appearance. It contains a rather complete spectrum of tobacco colours: from pale yellow to reddish-brown to blackish.

The cut is overall somewhat erratic: wide and chunky, sometimes short-cut, sometimes long. In the tin, it has a sweet aroma that I can't identify.

I do however recognize this fruity-flowery smell, whatever it is, as being in the same league as that of Germain's No.7.

Once lit, it proves to be quite smooth and without even a trace of harshness. Natural tobacco flavour here is practically nil. The dominant taste is that of the added flavourings, but it's very well balanced and refined in nature - not heavy or overly sweet.

Sniffing the sidestream smoke while puffing away, I find it has a pleasing, slightly musty aroma in addition to its sweetness. Although mild, the Virginias in the mixture produce just enough piquancy to keep it from tasting flat.

It's a fairly light-bodied smoke that burns absolutely dry - and cool due to the wide cut - to a fine light grey ash at the bottom of the pipe.

This is listed in the British A.I.T.S. index, but doesn't appear to be widely available in North America.