Motzek Micha's Cake

Micha's Cake.

Sometimes I just miss the point - but maybe I'm just right if I say this is like Dunhill Royal Yacht except it's the organically produced luxury version.

I do like both, but Micha's Cake just wins. Congratulations to Tom Darasz and his predecessor, Herbert Motzek!

Opening the pouch, I was amazed: it was everything I expected from a good Virginia mixture: vinegary, earthy like the countryside after a rainfall, plus there was this subtle background of the Barbados Rum (what brand it is, I don't know - but I definitely want to have a tumbler full of it every time I open the pouch).

Moisture right out of the packaging is rather high; I did have troubles with quickly lighting a pipe. Still, once you get it going, you will not mind the relights for the taste this tobacco will present to you.

Already I hinted at what the taste is like, and again - forgive my tastebuds, but this is like something between Dunhill Three Years Matured and Royal Yacht. But the difference is what makes this blend here shine: there is this ever-present sense of refinement and complexity. You'll immediately find out what the difference between some blend out of the tin you bought at your local tobacconist's and a pouch sent to you with a hearty handwritten "Danke und viele Grüße aus Kiel" ("Thank you and best wishes from Kiel") on the bill is - there is a way to taste whether you're an off-the-shelf customer or you're being treated as a person.

Don't mind my advocating this too much. But house blends do not only deserve my respect, sometimes they outright earn it.

One last consideration: do let this tobacco dry a bit before packing it into your pipe. As with all moist bowls you will get harshness that doesn't suit any tobacco at all.

Micha´s Cake to me is a brilliant blend and the first Virginia blend I got to really appreciate in my journey through the endless depths of the pipe blends available.

Usually they were to mild and light for me, as I'm usually a Burley and Kentucky lover, but this one has a diversity of refined - and most important for me - rich, full-bodied flavours. The Cake has an appetizing appearence and is pressed from golden bright- to medium-, as well as a toch of dark-brown Virginias. The unbunrt aroma divine to me. you easil pick up the rum note with its zesty, slightly lemony-bitter and mellow alcoholic aroma.

The taste is superior and finally made me appreciate Virginias. All VAs I tried were a bit too "thin" and "airy" to me, but this one is so full of flavours and full-bodied on the palate - it's a pleasure! The Virginias have a bold flavor profile ranging from deep earthiness, over grassy, hay-ish and bready notes as well as a touch of lemon that intertwines excellently with te rum applied. According to Tom Darasz this is sprayed with real 12yo Barbaidos Rum and then aged for at least 4 weeks. It offers a slight "sharpness" (in a positive sense), bitter-citrusy freshenss and a unobtrusive, natural touch of alcohol. Just perfect...!

Has great aging potential! After around 12 months in the mason jar the rum aroma faded a bit in the unburnt aroma, but got really smooth and mellow in the smoe and the Virginias became really intense in flavors. Excited to see how it ages in long-term storage!

I especially adore this in the summertiems, as it's refreshing and smooth on the palate. A cool drink alongside, sitting on the front porch and enjoying life as it is - 4 stars, indeed! Not only a gem for Virginia lovers!

This review tests my abilities as an (amateur) tobacco reviewer and will test your patience as a reader probably...

I explain: I ordered 100g grams of Micha’s Cake and I received a 100g pouch of a crumble cake stating “Black Gold”, which is the other crumble cake Motzek Tabak offers. But what was it I actually received, a misnamed Micha or the actual Black Gold? The first is a blend of bright, red and dark Virginias with an added 15 y.o. rum casing, the second is a blend consisting of Cavendishes with 40% Perique.

Now you would assume it is easy to distinguish between a rum cased blend of Virginias and a blend of Cavendishes with a 40% (!) addition of Perique. But for me it wasn’t… The pouch note had a note reminiscent of rum, but was it actually rum or rather notes of fermented Perique? As for Cavendish, it is a vague term, at least for me, as the blends I usually smoke do not contain any, and there’s English Cavendish, Danish Cavendish and American style Cavendish. Try to figure out…

To the sight the blend seems to indeed contain three types of leaf, bright, red and black, this combined with the fact that I tend to identify the pouch aroma as a rum casing rather than Perique leads me to the tentative conclusion that what I received was a misnamed Micha rather than Black Gold.

Smoking the blend, which is really interesting whatever it actually is, I sensed a (mild) peppery spiciness especially after the first half of the bowl. You would think that with 40% Perique the spiciness would be strong if not overwhelming and in anyway clear out the confusion, but alas, another reviewer writes about Black Gold: ‘I have to admit that I was very skeptical about the 40% Perique. My fear was that the tobacco would be very sharp and the delicious Perique taste would suffer. I don't know how you did it, but the tobacco is so friendly to the tongue not sharp at all except for the pepper note of Perique.’ So, according to the other reviewer, despite its huge Perique content, the tobacco is not an assault to the senses but only peppery. Where do I stand now?

In support of the Micha case is the presence of three kind of leaf, bright, red and black, the casing and to my judgment the spiciness is too mild to warrant a huge Perique presence despite the other reviewer’s comments. No conclusive verdict has been reached however. And moreover a Black Gold case could be supported upon the inconclusiveness of the above and the consideration of the further fact of the slow burning qualities of the blend. Here the Micha proponent could counter that its slow burning is due the fact that the blend is rather moist, which it is…

Moist it is, as I said, but I found that it smokes coolly in the condition it arrived. Easy to light and to keep lit, very cool indeed, very mild in both nicotine and strength and very flavorful. Needs no effort to sip - great also for inexperienced pipe smokers. Flavor-wise it is sweet like a Christmas pudding with chocolate, raisins and sweet spices with a sweetness that seems to come from both the tobacco and the casing. I have to stress that casing is very mild, it does not mask the tobacco taste at all. This is not an overtly aromatic/zed tobacco. I also sense a saline and sour note, as if it contained orientals which it does not… Actually to me it tastes like a slightly sweetnened Oriental blend sans Latakia. One reservation I have is that it needs some attention because due to the presence of different cuts it might burn unevenly. Also care must be taken not to stuff the tobacco too densely.

Recommended? Surely. It's an easy and flavorful tobacco that you don't have to think a lot about. I place my bets on it being Michas Cake and intend to find out definitely.

The various roasted, fermented Virginias provide a fair amount of tart and tangy citrus, vegetation, plenty of grass/hay, earth, wood, toasted bread, some tangy dark fruit, floralness, sour lemon, light sugar, spice, honey, vinegar, and cedar notes along with a couple of pinches of spice. The rich twelve year old Barbados rum mildly sublimates and compliments the tobaccos, though it does weaken a mite by the time you get the last third of the bowl. The strength and nic-hit are medium. The taste is a slot beyond the medium threshold. No chance of bite or harshness, and only a few minute rough edges exist. The cake easily beaks apart, and may need a little dry time. All of that depends on your personal preference. I did not dry it. Burns cool, clean and a tad slow with a mostly consistent sweet, floral, slightly rugged Virginia rum flavor that extends to the short lived, pleasant after taste. Leaves little dampness in the bowl, and requires a few more than an average number of relights. Has a pleasant room note. Three and a half stars.

-JimInks

A good blend, a crumble cake of brown and dark brown leaf with a strong spicy rum smell.

Not a great deal to say here, this is a strongish pressed and dark Virginia, first half of the bowl is - for me - dominated by the rum flavouring, which is not a bad thing at all. Overall through the bowl the rum taste is there, but it does drop considerably as you're progressing, with the very bready and substantial Virginias taking the lead, and the Rum giving its spice on the nose suggesting more strength than this blend really has.

I don't smoke flavoured (aromatic) tobaccos a lot at all, so for me this is strong flavouring, but one that plays very nicely with the other components working together rather than overtaking the blend.

Arguably for me the finish is the best part of this blend, where the rum becomes an aftertaste, and chewy, faintly sweetish tobacco is the lead.