The website, http://www.tobacconist.ca/menu.html describes this great tasting tobacco as a unique earthy but sweet, herbal tobacco. While in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada I visited the shop and was able to open various jars of house tobacco and get a feel for the aromas and look of the tobacco. I spoke with the house blender, Chris and described the kind of tobaccos that I like, particularly Virginias and Virginia Perique blends. At the price of Canadian tobacco I did not want to make a mistake and pick up a blend that I would hate.

I opened the jar of Montego Bay and sniffed the aroma. The look was of a mottled light and darker brown ribbon cut tobaccos blended together. The smell was of a sweet, pungent Virginia, the grassy undertones but on top of that there was a subtle sweetness in the smell. I asked Chris if the tobacco had any topping and he assured me that it did not. The aroma was from the blend itself not from toppings.

I purchased 50 grams of the blend and left the shop. Over the rest of my trip I smoked the blend in an old bent pipe that I always use when I travel. It is a Virginia pipe and it always delivers a good smoke for me. The sweetness was subtle and the good Virginias – both red and yellow came through beautifully. I liked that aspect of the blend a lot but there were two unidentifiable tastes that haunted me with each smoke. In my hotel room I looked at the blend in a bright light and I could see flecks of green in the blend. I separated a few of them out and put them on my tongue. Ah, I knew what I tasted – it was an herb called Deer’s Tongue. It has been repeatedly spoken of on the pipe and tobacco forums and blogs as adding a very earthy, sweet almost minty vanilla flavor to the blend. I would not describe it as minty vanilla but rather as a very herbal taste, not bitter or sweet but with a taste like vanilla bean or mint leaves. It is not an overpowering taste but it is very evident. There was another taste there that I could not quite get to but I was guessing it was some Oriental tobacco that was used as a condiment in the Virginias.

I smoked it for the remainder of my trip and quite a bit more in the month and a half since the trip. I really like the multidimensional flavor of the blend. The mixture and layers of flavor added to the Virginias by the Deer’s Tongue and the Oriental make this a thoroughly enjoyable smoke regardless of the time of day. Its flavor stays with you after you smoke it on the insides of your lips and mouth and gives a reminder of the fullness of the smoke.

After smoking most of the 50 gram bag I emailed Chris at Burlington and asked him to confirm what I tasted in the blend. He responded with a prompt email. I was right about the Deer’s Tongue it was there as a condiment. I was also correct in tasting an Oriental. This particular one was Dubec. It had just a bit of astringency to the taste which is what I have come to expect from Orientals. It is not bitter or tangy but has a definite taste and effect on the tastebuds toward the back edges of the tongue. I like the taste of Dubec and I really liked the addition of it in the Montego Bay Blend.

I have just enough left for a few more bowls and then I will have to either give them a call and order some more or visit again when I am there in September. We shall see. It is a great blend and one that is worth a try if you can stomach the high prices that the tax structures have added to tobacco in Canada.