A few months back, I purchased a large variety of pouch-size traditional American tobaccos, to sample broadly. At worst, I'd know what I was (or wasn't) missing; at best I could find an affordable standby burley, after the lamented demise of Edgeworth. Well, I found myself liking Granger with surprising enthusiasm, and wanted to attempt a summary.

A Greek poet of antiquity wrote: "The fox knows many things, but the hedgehog know one big thing." In the world of pipe tobacco, there are many blends I love that are foxes, complex, polytonal, even finicky. Granger is a hedgehog; it knows one big thing, does it well, and persists. It's nothing more and nothing less than all-day American pipe burley.

Digging through old ads for Granger, the main selling point is that it's especially raised, treated, and cut as a pipe tobacco, rather than its contemporaries that doubled as cigarette shag or chew. In the pouch, the tobacco is rough-cut (as billed), uniformly dark, with some of the dried stone-fruit aroma that "plain" burley has... perhaps a little sweeter. Granger is, according its own copy, treated with the "Wellman's Process"--some combination of cooking, fermenting, and casing, i.e. what happens to all pipe tobacco, with a fancy moniker.

Whatever the trade secrets of Granger may be, they work when the pipe is lit. The initial flavor is lightly sweet, with nutty, mellow white burley underneath. The sweetness fades fairly quickly and the burley comes to the fore, though the room note keeps its pleasing undertone. In the pantheon of drugstore tobacco, it's closest to Carter Hall, but much "quieter" in terms of flavor. Given it's a straight burley, it did not rock me with nicotine. It's a good, two-matches-and-puff-away tobacco; I don't doubt there's a touch of PG, but not a distracting amount. It avoided the typical complaints: it didn't bite, nor did it gunk up my pipes. The mildness and relative simplicity make Granger well-suited for a short smoke, which is nice for my needs. The last puffs can be a bit ashy/cigaretteish, typical for the genre.

Reading other reviews, I was disappointed to see that one recurring knock on Granger is its consistency. My pouch was fine, but some reviewers honestly believe that there's varying quality from package to package or even pipe to pipe. It would be a bummer if my future puffs of Granger weren't so pleasant.

Though it makes no difference when match is set to tobacco, I can appreciate an added political perk of Granger: it is manufactured by Pinkerton, a branch of Swedish Match. Much as I enjoy Carter Hall and Prince Albert, Middleton/Altria/Philip Morris' kowtowing to federal tobacco legislation leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

In sum, Granger Rough Cut is a well-tempered example of a tobacco style I very much enjoy. "Folks seem to like it," goes the old Granger slogan, and I seem to agree.

Nice review Doc!

There is one of those discount cigarette stores near my office that has a ton of Granger pouches and I purchase one occaisionally. I like it. I guess the guy that owns the store bought out an entire lot from a store that was going out of business or something because it is about the only pipe tobacco that he has in stock.

Update: I cracked the larger Granger tub... I've been smoking it so often, and the package arrived with a slight dent, so I figured better to check now. Taste seems to be consistent with the pouch, but there's *noticeably* more PG... moister, faster/hotter burn, little more goop in the pipe. Nothing some time in my tobacco pouch won't fix, but I feel like I should be dilligent and say it may not be as well-behaved as suggests my encomium for the version that comes in the bag.

My first ever encounter with pipe tobacco was Granger, but not as a smoker. My great-grandfather smoked that blend pretty much all the time. I remember the aroma.

You've got me intrigued...think I'll see if I can find some.

Mike

Mike, pm me if you want a sample--I have a big ol' tub open, and it's still in production. Some time in the mail will do it good, I think--the tub variety really needs a day in the pouch to mellow.

After a steady diet of lobster, caviar and prime rib, isn't it funny how plain old meat and potatos hits the spot,,,,

Thanks Doc!
PM sent.

Mike

I was interested in the quote about foxes and hedgehogs.
A google search turned up this site.
http://www.creativeparents.com/FoxorHedgehogQuiz.html
I am a fox according to the test.
Bub

I've been smoking a few bowls of Granger, thanks to a sample sent by Sir Doc!

It's interesting how different burlies taste different...this one is nothing like Prince Albert. I guess I thought there would be similarities, but Granger had a "sweetness" that PA doesn't have. It's a very pleasant smoke, but for some reason it scorches my tongue. I might have it packed too tight, and drawing too hard.

Mike

Glad it arrived safe and glad you're having a go at it.

I do pack it light, and I find I like it better in a smaller bowl--that may help the scorching. To be honest, I may switch back to the pouched version when this tub is kicked--it was milder somehow, def. dryer in the batch I got, maybe just from the added air exchange.

I've been puffing on a sample of Granger Doc sent. The cut is anything but rough - I had envisioned more of a chunky broken flake and/or cube cut type thing, but it's really very soft fluff with a few chunks here and there. It has that very soft feel to it akin to heavily processed tobaccos. As far as OTC blends go, it was OK, not bad tasting at all but it does have an odd and distinct flavor note to it. Gets kind of distracting before too long. I got a little tongue bite from it too but I was probably just puffing too hard on it. I'd say compared to Carter Hall and PA it's about as good, but falls short of anything you could get from C&D. However, it's not too bad and if I were out somewhere and without tobacco, I'd buy a pouch of this before I'd buy PA. On the OTC scale, I'd give it fair marks.

Never tried Granger and only very recently tried Carter Hall and PA despite my 30 years of pipe smoking. Most of that time spent smoking only non-OTC tobaccos. Much to my surprise, discovered I liked CH & PA as well or better than most non-OTC's I've tried or been using. Only tried about 8 C&D blends but like CH & PA better than most of those I've tried. earl