Japan Tobacco Momoyama

MOMOYAMA is the epochal name of a period in Japanese Art and Architecture around the turn of the XVII century. To name a tobacco thus, would be the equivalent of our naming one "Renaissance".

It is therefore particularly appropriate that I should have discovered this delightful mixture while walking through Greenwich Village, on my way to see what turned out to be a very entertaining production of Shakespeare's Cymbeline. I popped into "Village Cigars", in the corner of Hudson and Christopher streets?a corner indelibly associated with in- and UNdescribable souvenirs?et voilà! A new face beckoned.

I was initially taken with the Zen-elegant tin design: a crisp silver background, with a red border. In the centre, the stylised silouette of a galleon, also red, main-masts square-rigged, lateen-rigged over the aftercastle. The name MOMOYAMA in almost Cyrillic-looking lettering.

As I opened the tin, a smell like overripe apples?a smell I abhor?wafted out. This soon dissipated, though, and something like the perfume of red wine remained. Périque! Also, the unmistakable yeasty-smoky scent of Latakia. There is ribbon-cut mahoganny Virginia here too, and a bigger, wild-cut yellowish leaf as well, too greenish for bright Virginia, too lush-looking for Burley: Lemon Virginia?? The whole thing looks top quality, inside a perfectly-ruffled thick paper sleeve. MOMOYAMA is obviously put together by people who know.

I pinch-fill my Tsuge Ikebana?what else??with it, and light in one movement with Spanish Bamboo foco-locos. Catches easily. Big smoke.

I taste the red Virginia first: semi-sweet, smooth, sec. Not much Latakia depth, although, after a few moments, the taste gets bigger, graver. After some 2 minutes, Périque comes to the fore...in a big way. The taste keeps getting bigger, spicier: I am beginning to LOVE it. Never overbearing, always well balanced, this mixture keeps my attention nevertheless, even though it burns problem-free. Very flavourful.

To say that MOMOYAMA is Early Morning Pipe with Périque would be accurate, but misleading. The perfect balance suggests EMP, but this has a more interesting, less bland cast. The Périque gives it real pizzazz without going over the top. Nevertheless, this is very much for the Périque lover; a light virginia-latakia mix, but with a definitely "with Périque" cachet.

A surprising and delightful discovery.

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PS 1/'03

I have been smoking this for several months, now, and have grown to like it even more. When the tobacco dries out a bit inside the Mason jar, it integrates better in flavour and becomes really deliciously smooth. I am, by the way, not at all sure that there is any Latakia here after all. I am a vampire and sleep in a coffin. The subtle smoky-yeasty nose (and flavour) are more like dark-red Virginia. Delightful.

Review is of a 10 year old tin. I recall smoking this in the 1990's when it was readily available in the States, and I recall it being wet in the tin. This was at perfect smoking moisture. A mostly light colored ribbon cut with the tin aroma of a light aromatic blend, but dry to the touch.

I think most of we pipe aficionados would like to think of ourselves as purists, but I admit that I love certain tobaccos with noticeable flavorings, including St Bruno and many of the Lakeland flakes. This is a flavored tobacco, and it is excellent. The dark fruit flavor enhancer really brings out the high quality of the virginia and perique leaf (never noticed any latakia), even though the concoction sounds like something a purist would balk at smoking. It is sweet, but not that much sweeter than a straight lemon virginia. The room aroma is such that friends and family would enjoy it, but does tend to "take over" a room - best smoked outdoors. I did not notice any high levels of nicotine but the flavor was hard to ignore. This is a great aperatif or dessert tobacco, but can be smoked all day long (assuming you could find enough!). This may be one of the most perfect tobaccos around, great for any time of day, and satisfying in most every way tobacco needs to be.

If you like a naturally sweet tobacco, or if you're looking for an aromatic that isn't drenched in casing, or if you want a great room note with something that won't gag you with the taste of cherries, this is your tobacco. I don't know if this is around even in Japan, but it needs to make a comeback in the U.S. Excellent tobacco!

This was the first pipe tobacco I smoked. I live in Japan and found this in an old general store. The tin was from 2002 and cost me about 7 bucks.

As soon as I opened it, it gave off a scent of plum wine, figs and other berries. It was relatively moist even after 11 years!

It smoked decently cool and very evenly, it does have a little bit of tongue bite so please be careful.

I don't know how many of these are still around but if you can find the pre-MacBaren version, I would recommend it. I'm about half way through my 50g tin and it just gets better after every smoke. Very nice for an aromatic and definitely no synthetic casing taste.

The woody, earthy, floral, spicy, herbal, vegetative, sweet and sour, fragrant, incense-like Orientals are the lead component most of the time. The red Virginia provides a burst of tangy ripe dark fruit, earth, wood, bread, some sugar, light floralness and spice. Occasionally, it edges out the Orientals. The peppery, earthy, woody, plumy, raisiny perique is in the third slot most of the time. The nutty, earthy, woody, molasses sweet burley is occasionally a tad more obvious than the perique. Usually, it’s behind the perique by a razor’s edge. The tart and tangy citrus, grassy, bready, sugary, floral bright Virginia plays below the level of the burley. At most, it’s a condiment. Sometimes, I think I notice a touch of Cyprian Latakia, but I believe the Orientals cause that. The lead topping appears to be a fruity, sweet and sour Japanese plum wine. I also observe a little caramel in the background. The toppings moderately sublimate the tobaccos. The strength and nic-hit are medium. The taste level is a couple of steps past that mark. There’s no chance of bite or harshness present. Has a few minute rough notes. It burns cool and clean at a reasonable rate with deeply rich, sweet, floral, mildly spicy, lightly sour, inconsistent, very complex flavor that extends to the pleasantly lingering after taste. The room note is a notch stronger. Leaves little dampness in the bowl, and requires a few more than an average number of relights. I seldom give four stars to a blend with this much variability of flavors, but I am making an exception in this case.

-JimInks

Wow! Just for fun, I purchased a tin of that Japanese tobacco, Momoyama, a couple of months ago. I popped the tin tonight and am in absolute heaven! It is short, ribbon cut with some cubes that are almost black. Most of the leaf is dark and the smell in the tin is of ripe figs and some kind of alcohol with a very slight Perique smell as well. The wrapper has turned a musky brown in color from whatever the additive is in this stuff along with the unusually dark bits of cube cut. It is strong in nicotine content and is certainly a heavy rather than light blend. The taste is more sweet than bitter, and it burns as cool as any Virginia/Burley I've ever smoked. I know the description does not include Burley, but I detected a hint of that leaf during the smoke. At the midway point of the bowl, I detected a hint of Perique, but it was so far in the background that it was hardly noticible. Near the bottom of the bowl, no doubt about it -- Perique. I looked at www.tobaccoreviews.com to check out what others had to say here. Anyway, every reviewer consideres this blend to be exemplary. I guess this is a sleeper pick because I have not heard much about this Japanese tobacco but it is simply wonderful and unique. I don't know when the last time was that I enjoyed a new tobacco as much as this stuff.

One of the nice things about attending the pipe club I go to is that I get to try old and or discontinued blends. This is one of them. This blend as stated was produced by Japan Tobacco Inc. Not sure of the year manufactured or the year this was stopped being produced until Mac Baren took over. I smoked 4 bowls of this and the tin note was a slight liqueur smell? Kind of hard for me to tell other than it was a sweet fragrance. This is a mild aromatic. The second and subsequent bowls I smoked seem to taste better possibly due to other tobacco being smoked in the pipe previously. It tasted okay but for the life of me I cannot place this in any particular category. Good tobacco but for me I would somewhat recommend this one and since it is no longer in production it probably is a moot point. From the Oxford Living Dictionary, “Momoyama, adjective, Attributive, designating a period in Japanese history from 1568 to 1600, characterized by political unification and great magnificence and ostentation, or the cultural artefacts of this period. Origin, 1920s; earliest use found in Pacific Affairs. From Momoyama, the name of a hill near Fushimi, south of Kyoto (Japanese Momoyama, lit. ‘Peach Mountain’), and of a castle built there by the daimyo Toyotomi Hideyoshi during this period, used attributively after Japanese Momoyama-jidai Momoyama age, period.”

**UPDATE** After smoking more of this I can absolutely get wisps of Latakia. I was surprised when it dawned on me. This was a blend that has a flavor that is hard to describe, but the smokiness of latakia is subtly present but just enough to give the blend a perfectly complex flavor. It goes well with whatever topping casing was added...amazing! There is perique in the blend as well because that typical perique spiciness comes out and tickles the back of the throat from time-to-time. There is a bit of an N kick as well that most other aro's don't have. This is top notch stuff!!

**Original Review** Strange the description mentions Lat. and Per. I didn't detect any from the smell out of the tin or in the smoke. This is by far the best Aro. I have ever had the opportunity of smoking. I have a relative that lives in Japan and they brought me a few tins on their last visit. What a treat! Plums, figs, somebody mentioned wine in another review... I can pick that up as well. It smokes wonderfully into a nice white ash. Doesn't leave a sticky residue like most aro's. Not any bite when smoking it either and it leaves a pleasant aroma. I highly recommend this... especially since I'm not a huge fan of Aromatics.

Momoyama begins with an outstanding tin aroma. Plums,figs and raisins come to mind. A scent typical of a well aged Vaper (even though it isn't a Vaper). The addition of the topping adds to the sweetness. In the strict sense of the word it could be considered an aromatic, however, I would not call it such. The tobacco is rich and I find the flavors very similar to some of the old Dunhill blends. I find it to be very similar to Dunhill Ultra Mild although Momoyama is a bit better. If there is Latakia in this blend, it was added with the lightest of hands as I can't find the Latakia flavor at all. I don't think this blend is produced any longer or is not available in the US which is a shame. A quality tobacco such as Momoyama belongs in the marketplace. Highly Recommended!

Although I had travelled to Japan, and bought tobacco there, I learnt of Asuka and Momoyama from this site. My better half got me some of both in 2004, and this review is based on those tins. They are Mac Baren made and actually say Momoyama II. I conjecture a distinction is being made between the original and the incarnation.

On opening the tin the paper insert was soaked through, though the tobacco was adequately moist. There were sourish, winey top notes - somewhat reminiscent of Stonehaven and University Flake - with a basso profundo note (if I may mix metaphors) of good tobacco. I smoked it in pipes previously used for Escudo and Deluxe Navy Rolls. It packed well, and burnt well to a fine ash without leaving any dottle.

There is definitely perique in the mixture, and very well applied, too. The top notes disappear during the bowl. There is an aftertaste that lingers pleasantly in the mouth. In wine-speak, Momoyama has a long finish.

I have put down `none detected` for flavouring because the top notes do not survive putting match to tobacco.

I like Momoyama very much, but I do wonder if minus the exotic origin my reaction would be exactly the same.

I purchased a tin of this stuff while vacationing in Japan in 2006. It was the last tin in the shop. I have since "lost" the tin, so I can't say for sure if it was blended by Mac Baren, however, the lady who sold it to me said it was blended in Denmark for the Japanese market, so maybe. Frankly, I was surprised to see any pipe tobacco at all in Tokyo, pipe smoking isn't very popular there. At the time, I purchased the tin not for its tobacco, as I wasn't smoking then, but for the tin. What happened to the tin? Read on. I opened this only several weeks ago, in August. Now, I'll have to admit, the interim years of it sitting on my shelf may have done this tobacco a disservice (perhaps the stuff doesn't age well, who knows). Upon opening it I was greeted with a sickly scent of plum wine and figs. The tobacco was so heavily cased, and wet, I thought there would be zero chance of lighting it. I was nearly right on that matter—the rough cut dark tobacco was difficult to pack and it didn't take to lighting very well. The taste, a sweet syrupy plum molasses-like concoction was not to my liking. There was also a bit of a nicotine kick, and, if pressed, it bit. Truly, this tobacco was very unpalatable; I suffered several more bowls of this stuff over the summer and then unceremoniously threw the tin and its contents in the trash (all the time forgetting that I had originally purchased it for the tin). It was the only tin I dumped this year. Foul stuff. I cannot recommend it.

Cheers!