Semois?

NYT has a pay wall. I refuse to buy it as I have no canary.

He's a small farmer and the last I heard he presses and packages it all himself. Some famous pipe writer visited him and got put to work.
pipesmagazine.com/blog/pipe-tobacco-reviews/vincent-manil-reserve-du-patron-tobacco-review/

m.facebook.com/vincent.manil.3

dutchpipesmoker.com/tag/vincent-manil/

This is a good start, but the main article is quite a bit longer, and really wonderful.

Let me see if I can find it outside NYT's paywall.

Nah, you'll have to read the article. It's not burley as you've ever had it before.

Here you go, try this:

web.archive.org/web/20210519125704/https://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/14/magazine/tobacco-thats-so-brooklyn-but-made-in-belgium.html

Le Petit Robin is a favorite of mine. The fine shag cut takes some getting used to, but I love the stuff.

To each their own! The incredible variety of tobaccos and blends is one of the beautiful things about pipe smoking

I'll give you my thorough take on Semois because I smoked it from the beginning of this hype
I ordered the middle shag cut of pure semois - brown brick
Upon opening you are greeted with a very anise sweet(natural - not sugar) and grassy burley like aroma
I smoked it regularly and clipped the foil - didn't jar it
It smokes like a fine cigar - doesn't taste like burley
Aroma is a bit like mushrooms and some kind of floral flavor of Violet gum
I also hydrated some - wasn't so good - always smoke it dry
Here's the drawback
As it gets exposed to air over time - it builds an ammonia acrid odor and taste - I was forced to throw out the remaining Half brick!
I sold the second brick at a premium and vouched to never look back
I received some in a trade and sold that as well

MY CURRENT TAKE:
It's one dimensional
a straight Virginia guy will enjoy it as much as burley people
It is indeed a very special taste you will not really get anywhere else other than say a cigar
It's too pricey
I may want to revisit this tobacco
JAR IT!@ IMMEDIATELY and keep it away from air as much as possible

I've had semois at least half a dozen times. Indeed, it does have a very unique taste, very reminiscent as others pointed out, to a cigar.
But I don't really fancy it because of the aftertaste it leaves.
I prefer by far the French Scaferlati Caporal Bleu (not so French no more; it has been made by Mac Baren for at least 5 years now). It contains Burleys and Virginias. The tobaccos used to be roasted after being cured, I was told. I highly doubt it's still the case, however.
I find it much more nuanced and flavorful. In fact, if you want an idea of what it tastes like, try Mac Baren HH Acadian Perique. For some reason and even though it contains Acadian Perique, it still reminds me a lot of the Caporal tobacco in its taste and nicotine strength.

Indeed. 

October 10th.
Ah Semois!..
just the mention of that leaf makes a pleasant feeling.
First, yes it is a burley, if you never had a bowl you never have tasted a burley like it.
I have ordered four bricks over time. All from four noggins. it was in stock last month for those looking for some.
My last brick has been resting for over a year and let me tell you it does not seem to change except for a boost in first light sweetness.
Chocolate is first, fades to buttered pencil shavings remember the giant sharpener we all emptied in grade school? that smell as a taste....
then a bit of pepper buttered popcorn finishing in a spicy woodsy hazelnut ending.
The chocolate is not milk nor dark maybe semi sweet?
It is ribbon cut with thickness being the only difference between the three bricks. I prefer the original La brumeuse (means Fog/foggy in french?)
reserve du patron and petite robin didnt seem to work as well for me. Probably due to the pipes used.
As for pipes, You want a workaday basket pipe for Semois. The flavor ghost is strong and lingers and apparently one bowl is enough to ghost a pipe.
Vincent Manil prepares the tobacco according to tradition.. they roast the leaves in a big pot, cut ribbons, pack in bricks.
Absolutely no PEG or casings of any kind. It is important to keep the tobacco as dry as possible. Mine was packed with a couple of silica gel packs while in a ziplok and I picked a dry day to finally decant into a long term storage jar.
I have only read bad things about rehydrating Semois so I only load it dry.
Loading is another area where traditional pipe skills wont work. Pack and crush, crush and pack to the desired amount then pack once more, light, repack top, tend bowl often packing as you go.
If we did that method with any other tobacco we just plugged a pipe but Semois burns like a wildfire and tamping keeps it under control.
The dry ribbons pass air quite well while packed "solidly".
Being a small producer of a niche' tobacco has to be hard but Tabac manil seems to be doing well and the product speaks for itself.
For any and all who want to try the "cuban cigar" of the pipe world I highly recommend buying a brick!

Thanks, that did the trick!

Well there a number of folks that think every tobacco is best piled under a mountain of Latakia..

while a member of the Fair Trade Tobacco Forum, I made several connections with growers and fortunate to try their wares. 🙂