Ten Russians:
Tin Note, faint promise of things not yet revealed, lifted the tab and sweet, musty, overripe fruit hit me. Popped the top on that sucker and was greeted by a crumbly mass of tan to dark flakes and ribbons that fell apart with the least bit of handling. Tobacco spread on page 386 of Doctor Zhivago I folded the paper sheets back over the cake and closed the tin, within a few minutes the pungent tin notes dropped off to just strong and so noted by my wife as she passed the page under her nose.
Got my Lat Cob out (it's labeled LAT in marker on both sides of the stem) and waited, when a pich would no longer stay together I filled the bowl in 3 pinch mode, came out to an 1/8th inch below the rim. Prelight has a smooth draw with a tad of resistance and a smooth, sweet plummy flavor on the back of my tongue.
Boldly going where Ron has failed to, the flame caught on after an extended charring, almost let it go out while typing, a minute later i'm enjoying a cool creamy smooth smoke with the plummy flavor much in the background, Anita passes thru and said it smells much better burning. Had to stop typing and relight here.
Trying a quicker cadence to keep it lit, drawing gently, slowly, its staying lit without any bite, so far. 5 minutes in flavor see-sawed without a great deal of complexity, that or my taste bugs have moved on. Somewhere between the 5 and 10 minute mark I tried a few snorks, little bit sharp in the passage, but thankfully no sign of the Red Sea. A few more snorks and I begin to think the p nutbutter and dill pickle sammidge I ate a coupla hours ago may be lacking.
Crap, let it go out again, take a short break , the bowl's getting so warm I'm about to break a sweat. Dump the ash and I'm about 1/3 of the way thru the bowl. Grabbed a glass of Squirt, a grapefruit soda I like and found the bowl had cooled well. Took a sip of soda and swished it around, found it leaves my mouth feeling dry, feeling, not actually dry.
Fired it up again, sweetness almost gone,still a bit creamy with an acidic (not citrusy) taste, feel a small twinge in the stomach and snorks burn a bit more. Should have dried more or used a churchwarden to get a cooler smoke. Having to change up cadence tells me it shoulda been drier. Surprised I haven't gotten any bite, a point in its favor. A slight tingle at the back of my mouth hints at the effects some describe. No doubt on the N content, I'm trying to 'like' this tobacco, the flavors I like, paying too much attention to the strenghth, typing and keeping it lit w/o searing my tongue leaves little left to just smoke.
Finding I can smoke a bowl without ill effects, tomorrow will allow for just smoking a bowl and comments afterward. That said, I can see this growing on me, it's not mind altering, totally overpowering or unpleasant in flavor...YMMV
20570~Ten Russians inna a LAT dedicated cob
