What's Lane up to Anyway?

 

(Firecured) For as long as I can remember, Lane Limited has been selling heavily sweetened smoking tobacco to a legion of loyal fans. Best known for its Captain Black brand, and a few dozen blends that it never even bothered to name, preferring sexy monikers like "BLWB," Lane seemed happy keeping aromatic smokers stoked in, well, aromas.
But lately, Lane seems to be breaking out. First the reintroduction of "Lane Ready Rubbed," (Edgeworth Ready Rubbed in everything but name). Then, a new Captain Black blend containing, of all things, some Virginia flake, and now, a non-aromatic VePer, "Lane 125th Anniversary."
Says the blurb, "In celebration of their 125th anniversary, Lane Limited announces the release of their first Virginia/Perique blend ever - Lane 125th Anniversary. This combination of red and bright flue-cured tobaccos with just the right amount of heavily fermented Louisiana Perique hits all of the sweet and zesty notes that VaPer fans know and love."
Is any of this new stuff worth trying? I think it may be. I bought a couple pouches of the new Captain Black Copper, and have found it to be pretty good. Previously, I bought my first (and last) pouch of Captain Black (White), ten years ago and didn't care for it, a little too over the top. After just a couple of bowls, my impressions of Copper is that it's Captain Black on a leash, nice and sweet, but not too sweet, and with some depth to it. Not a brooding tobacco, by any means, just a pleasant aromatic with a little maturity.
So, back to the question at hand: What is Lane up to? I imagine they've woken to the pipe smoking revival brought on by the WWW. Today's pipe smoker is much more likely to try premium and non-aromatic blends than ever before and also has a real interest in variety. Lane is simply, and, it seems to me, sincerely, trying to meet that demand, and with 125 years of experience in the business, I imagine they have more than a couple of tricks up their sleeves. They also have the shelf space, imagine stopping by your local convenience store for a VaPer or Latakia blend, for those of us whose only tobacconist is UPS, it would fill a big void.