Update: Been a regular in my morning pipe for a couple weeks now....still enjoying every tasty minute of it!!

*UPDATE*: After having the better part of four ounces in a mason jar for about six months, I revisited it (Mostly to try to go through some of my tobacco, so I feel better about buying more) and I found that it was much better the second time around. The, well, mason jar note, was very reminiscent of the McKetchup smell, which I actually really like, and I found it to be sweeter and spicier than I remembered. I'm reluctant to raise the review to four stars, however, when I still have no plans for reorder.

Color: light to dark browns, reddish brown, black

Pouch aroma: fermented and tangy, slightly musty; no topping noted.

Loading: easy, no prep

Lighting: easy, takes to charring well; some bowls needed only a false light

Burn: slow, even, dry

Ash: medium-fine gray and dry

Dottle: none

Smoke: dense, gray clouds in volume

Palate: happy and clean

Perique-osity scale: 5 (0=undetected, 10=overpowering)

Pipe: performed consistently in group 3-6 pipes of various chamber shapes used.

Performance: most complex and enjoyable sipped at a smolder, but really holds up if one revs the RPM's.

A very pleasant blend of Virginia tobaccos with notable, yet balanced, integrated use of perique.

Naturally sweet, red Virginias provide the backbone of flavor. Occasionally, slight grassy notes come through. Perique adds its stewed fruit and peppery presence for a nice complexity that fades a bit and resurrects to keep things interesting.

The flavor of stoved Virginia develops during the last half of the bowl. There might be some stoved Virginia utilized. Maybe it's the Black Cavendish. Slow, gentle puffing could have served to stove the leaf. However achieved, it adds depth and richness to the smoke. Interestingly, toward the very end of the bowl, I had a fleeting taste of cumin.

AJ's VaPer will only sweeten if sealed and aged, but it is lively and enjoyable right out of the bulk 4 oz. bag purchased.

Have to agree with reviewer "Parker"

Upon lighting you get the sutble sweetness of Virginias and the spice of Perique. The description says theres Cavendish too but I don't taste any.

Basically, its sweet and spicy all the way down to the bottom of the bowl. Nothing too complex here, just a pretty good Va/Per.

I'm only giving it three of four stars because I can't figure out if I like this more or less than Virginia Spice (adds cigar leaf) or Anniversary Kake (way more complicated flavors) from the same blender. They are all excellent in their own right. Russ clearly knows VAPers.

This one is a heavily spicy rendition of Vaper and hits the mark squarely dead center. A tasty concoction that is nearly the equal of any Vaper out there - and that is saying a lot! This is the second of Russ' blends to make my regular rotation (Classic Burley Kake being the other) and if you love Vaper's, you MUST try this. Ages wonderfully.

Sweet rich Virginia flavor, tang and roundness are very much complimented by the Perique. Twangy, tang, spice. Almost a dill pickle effect at play here. Very nice and the cavendish is well behaved and controlled never dominating either the flavor of the Virginia or the sassy aspect of the Perique.

If you love perique, try this you won't be disappointed!! I tell you what!

I find this one to be a "somewhat recommended" for me. The pack, and burn are good, but I find this blend a little rough around the edges. For my money I find P&C's "Old Red", and McCelland #2015, much sweeter, and more mellow. I will cellar this and review in a few months. Rate * *

First off the bag aroma was amazing! I opened up the ziplock and stuck my nose in. This blend has more of a sour smell than a lot of the other VaPer blends that I have tried so far. And you can also smell the Perique. That?s a good sign because now I know that there is a decent amount in there.

The blend came to me a bit dry so I stuck it in a bowl, wet a wash cloth with distilled water and put it over the top of the bowl for about 6 hours. Every few hours I would take the towel off and stir the tobacco around so that it re-hydrated evenly. After that I let it rest for a few days and then started smoking it. This review is after 6 bowls of this blend. I smoked it in both my Peterson #268 Zulu and a Peterson #80S Bent Bulldog and it performed well in both.

Packing was easy as this comes in a ribbon cut. I mostly used the gravity method and then pushed down another pinch on top. This seemed to work out rather well. Lighting was also extremely easy. The aroma that came out of the bowl reminded me a lot of Scottish Cake for some reason. For the half of the bowl my initial impressions were that this was absolutely the best bulk blend VaPer I have ever tried. Everything seems balanced throughout the whole smoke. There are never any ups or downs and I am wondering if it is the addition of the Cavendish that keeps everything flowing smoothly.

For the second half of the bowl the Perique does seem to pick up a bit. Not enough to deter most people but it definitely lets you know that it is there. This one smoked cool enough for me that it went all the way to the bottom of the bowl without any gurgling or steam sounds coming out of the bowl.

I will say that I did get one bowl going way too hot and smoked it way too fast. The result was a sour, ?burnt? taste that lasted the rest of the smoke even after I had set it down to cool. My advice is to smoke this one slowly and you will be rewarded for the extra time.

Overall, I liked this blend more than the Anniversary Kake that is available from the same site.

A cigarette is to be smoked. A cigar is to be enjoyed. A pipe is to be savored.

I rate this blend 6.5 out of 10.

One cannot overstate that this is first and for-most a VaPer and the Va's take the driver's seat throughout the smoke and they are wonderful. This has to be smoked to be understood... and several times at that... something one will want to do after the first puff, so don't worry. Knocked this one out of the park Russ! A truly unique, exquisite smoke that needs no aging. Thank you.

Namaste'