Friedman & Pease Inverness

The orange and red Virginias provide a little tangy dark fruit, some earth, and light citrus as they form the base of the product. The Maryland is lightly sweet, and is more of a flavor carrier for the other tobaccos. The very wine-like, smoky, woody Syrian latakia is almost a supporting player, and never rises above that. Sometimes, it recedes a mite here and there. There is a slight fermented quality present that could come from the tobaccos or how they aged. The nic-hit is mild. The strength and taste levels are closer to mild than they are to medium. Won’t bite or get harsh. Burns cool and clean at a moderate pace with a slightly inconsistent taste, though it lacks depth. Leaves little dampness in the bowl, and needs an average number of relights. Has a nice, short lived after taste. An all day smoke with a little gentleness that is more of a starter blend than anything else. Two and a half stars.

-JimInks

The rich and dark Syrian Latakia is the star of the show here, and the supporting cast of Virginia and Maryland combine to soften the blend to where "Scottish" is just the right choice. These old F&P blends have true richness as they were originally made to age almost two decades ago.

Dark brown ribbons with a tin nose of something akin to brandy perhaps, although Syrian latakia has been described as having a wine-like flavor and perhaps what I'm smelling is the latakia fermenting. No typical latakia aroma, nor any Virginias, and certainly no Maryland. Just that boozy type scent.

This brandy-like essence was very mildly in the taste but I still can't be sure it's a topping. Any real Syrian latakia flavor that I'm familiar with has been lost and replaced with this fermented brown sugary taste, but this wasn't what I'd call a "sweet" tobacco. In fact, it bordered on bland. It needed to be sipped very slowly and snorked continuously for it to emit much in the way of flavor. What flavor it did have beyond this brandy was a basic down-to-earth tobacco-y flavor with a slight hint of nuttiness... nice for mindless puffing. It didn't satisfy my criteria for the "Scottish" mixture it purported to be since it had no oriental presence. Hard to recommend this unless you just want to smoke something out of production. I found it at an excellent price and was curious, but I feel no need to pursue it via Ebay. Not terribly compelling in this day and age.

It's been a while since I smoked this , but my memory of it was that i was always disappointed that there was not more latakia in it . I know it was not intended to be a latakia showcase , but it had just enough syrian in it to make me want more . I could never enjoy the bowl for what it was because of the nagging desire for more latakia .