Pipe Tobacco Review: Tsuge Gunjin

• $14.95, 50g tin
• Sample provided by Drew Estate rep

Background

Next up in my pipe leaf experimentation is another Tsuge, from their “God Series.” I will be packing up with the Gunjin…God of Samurai. This is another series released through Drew Estate in 2014, this time featuring non-aromatic blends named after different Japanese gods…Fujin, God of Wind; Raijin, God of Thunder; Ryujin, God of Dragon. The tins are decorated with Japanese-style artwork that would make Matt Booth jealous.

This is supposed to be a milder non-aromatic blend using Cavendish, Perique, and Virginia. I don’t really know what else to say about this, so…let’s smoke…

Notes

I am using my oldest pipe, a Savinelli Aurelia, as my non-aromatic pipe. It has a pleasing shape that is easy to hold and I long ago learned how to pack it effectively.

I noted that this Gunjin blend has more of a ribbon quality to the tobacco…longer pieces of leaf than in most other pipe leaf I’ve had. Probably very common in the field, but it’s different for me, so thought I’d mention it.

After lighting, my first thought was that this blend is almost definitely the mildest non-aromatic I’ve had. It had a light natural sweetness to it, and notes of hay and lemon grass.

There was almost a fruit note, but it didn’t really come through in a definitive way.

What I gravitate toward in pipe tobaccos tends to be pungent and spicy…specifically English Oriental blends with tons of Latakia in them. This was nice, though, and something that would be very easy to recommend for someone new to pipe smoking, but not wanting to go the aromatic route.