HU Tobacco African Line Nyala

  • Nyala. African Line. HU Tobacco. Blended by Hans Wiedemann. Manufactured by Kohlhase & Kopp. Bu-Va-Per-Cigar (Brazil, Havano).

    The last three African Line blends load cigar leaf. Nyala is the first in order of appearance; after came Manyara and Khartoum. There are Havana and Brazil leaves in Nyala, that all together with Perique spice a base formed by Red Virginia and a good dose of Burley. This last is cased with a pinch of chocolate. I feel it closer to the European than to the American taste.

       

    Before lighting the bowl scents of: dried citric rinds, chocolate, pepper, vinegar, nutmeg, pickles. At first sight: any type of browns. The cut is a potpourri: tiny cubes, scattered broken flakes, threads of different sizes. I dare to think it has so much to do with a comfortable combustion and the perfect fusion of flavors.

       

    The first puffs smear your face with a dense smoke, fully loaded of floral nuances; the conjunction of all those leaves produces a very aromatic fragrance with plenty of exotic spices, a carnival of sweet and sour, toasted and fresh.

    The Red Virginia gives shape and outline the air-cured leaf flavor that definitively leads the way. These initial notes are very cheerful and full of nuances: by the side of the Burley, bittersweet chocolate, some kind of nutty creaminess and sweetness. Both (Va-Bu) combine and complement perfectly. Besides that, the Burley helps to spread his buddies’ flavors so efficiently. Perique draws attention from the beginning, adding that characteristic fruity sourness and the funny tickle on the back of the nose. Both cigar leaves by their side provide some strange spiced and no nosy. They complete the whole picture by being in the right place with that perfumed woody touch.

    As you leave the first third, the flavors start to evolute without denaturing. And the accents swing. In the chocolaty Burley, the bitterness gains vigor and weight. Perique progressively leaves the roll of fermented fruit and enjoys playing as hot aromatic spice. Virginia offers more of that rich toasted side as the cigar leaves rise the bitter without losing the floral spicy touch. But all of this is just guessing because if something must be said is that this mixture is above all a blend: a blending of tastes, flavors, colors.

    When I smoked it in too depth bowls, felt that the ending turns a bit bitter and cigar tone overpasses the rest but maybe it was me. In average capacity pipes the balance of flavors was perfect until the last thread.

    I’m not used to burley-based blends, but I could smoke this tobacco on a daily basis. Besides that, I’m sure it still could teach me more. I didn’t go through its limits. For me the combination Cigar Leaf-Perique is really accomplished: spicing but not overwhelming or being out of tune. It gave me good pipings. Being an absolute profane in the blending art it seems really hard to reach such a perfect balance between these particular and distinctive flavors. The goal was to build a global taste effect and here it is.

    Greetings

    Louis

    Einmal editiert, zuletzt von Fermat (23. Oktober 2022 um 10:38)

    • Offizieller Beitrag

    Hola Louis,

    great Review of a great Tobacco. I was hooked by burley blends a while ago,

    McBs' Burley Flake was my favorite. But when this african queen arised from

    his masters hands (or nose, or palate?) my flag circled around in a blink of

    an eye. This one exhibits the nuttiness and the chocolate I loved about the

    Flake, also the latter is somehow boostered by a small amount of artificial

    helper. The advantage is his mellowness, a big, deep grip into the wheel

    of aromas which makes him a full bodied blend with medium strenght.

    MacBarens Flake has the bad habbit of being harsh, almost astringent

    on his last third and gets quite strong.

    Number 2 in line (for me) is the Amphora Burley Blend, which provides an

    even more entensive natural Nut&Choco aroma when starting the pipe.

    But this boy also tends to be very tangy at the end.

    I guess that the mixture provides the mildness, I would give the earthiness,

    peatiness, sometimes mouldiness to a seasaw of Perique and Havana.

    Pero a mi me da igual, up the pipe with the stuff...:D

    Saludos

    Thorsten

    "Every morning I wake up thinking, 'Good, another 24 hours of smoking'"

    - J.R.R. Tolkien - 1966 -

  • Thanks Thorsten! Glad you like!

    I totally agree, for me this is a master example of skills, accuracy and good taste.

    Will be a blend in my bar for a long time!

    Hugs

    Louis