Capella Original Blend Tobacco
ConcreteRiver
Setup: Recoil w/ flavor barrel, Dual 12 wrap 24g 3.5mm SS316 @.33 ohms. 60w power, 450F temp limit. Full Cotton Wicks.
Testing: Capella Original Blend Tobacco, 4% and 8%, 60/40 VG/PG base, Steeped 40 days.
Flavor Description: Sweet and mellow body, with a sour hay tobacco finish.
This doesn't really seem to have an aggressive "tobacco" flavor. I mostly just get something vague and sweet up front and a tart, sour finish. No smoke or ash. Sort of a moderately dry hay type of tobacco, but it's pretty light overall. Maybe a light leathery note. No darker leafy or herbal notes. Reminds me a lot of the Liquid Barn tobaccos, and tastes especially close to their Sweet Pipe Tobacco with a slightly more aggressive tobacco note.
Sweetness feels a like FA Oba Oba, with that light marshmallow kind of note and a bit of that fluffier texture. Pretty solidly sweet for a tobacco. Sourness tastes kind of citric and thins out the back end of the exhale, punching the tobacco through that big wall of sweetness.
Off-Flavors: Sweeter, fluffier texture. Light on tobacco with a tart sourness.
Throat Hit: Light. That tartness is a bit harsh but nothing crazy.
Percentage testing: At 4%, this is pretty non-descript. Mostly just sweet. Tart finish, with just a tiny bit of almost sour tobacco poking through.
At 8%, still pretty sweet but I am getting just a touch more tobacco. On a scale of 1 to Black For Pipe, this is like a 3. Tartness doesn't feel quite as sour and out of place here.
Just based on these tests, I think you could safely drag this up to 10%+ if you wanted to run this as a solo flavor. If you wanted to use this as a primary flavor, and add in some backup accent tobacco, I'd start around 6%. Use at 3% as a sweet tobacco type additive.
Uses & Pairings: Alright solo tobacco if you want a sweeter, lighter pipe tobacco.
Seems a bit tart to be used as a sweetener for heavier pipe tobaccos, especially something that already has a tobacco absolute vibe like the "for pipe" line by INW.
Could work as an accent in non-aromatic tobacco blends for sweetness and body.
Tobacco is light, but still present enough that you're pretty limited to tobacco mixes with this.
Second Opinions: This is one of Capella's newer flavors. I've heard horror stories about their original tobaccos, but their new burley, smokey, and original blend seem to have replaced them.
I'm seeing nothing out there in terms of notes or reviews.