This is definitely a once in a while treat. Successive bowls will not be a joy. My two ounces lasted better than a year. It shines in Cold weather in a contemplative setting. I prefer it in my briar bent acorn Sav DC, but also enjoyed it in my meer.

I will likely buy more because the flavor, to me, is unique enough that I think it will be good to have on hand. The hard part, like all germain blends, is waiting for the stars to align where you can actually find it.

On other notes, it comes somewhat moist and can use a brief drying. Nicotine levels aren't very high, I can't say I felt any sort of punch. Tin note is strong, with some slight tartness. Room note, from what I smelled drifting past my nose, is quite nice (for a pipe smoker). It burns quite slowly, over an hour and a half for me. Finally, it left a pleasant aftertaste in my mouth and a delicious aroma in my nose.

Currently, there's only one tobacco that I've tried that tops this, and that's Captain Earle's Private Stock, but its flavor profile is vastly different. It's just my preference though. I've only tried one other blend by Germain, their Balkan Sobranie re- release, and though I've only had one bowl of either, I would say I prefer Margate. My opinion may change once I give both more tastings, though both blends are so rare that I'm saving them for special occasions until I can obtain more. I wish I could compare this to the highly regarded Penzance, but I've yet to get my hands on any. Overall, Margate simply is an exceptional blend and gets my full recommendation.

I have smoked a lot of nice tasting stuff, but this takes the cake. It could only be improved by making it a touch stronger. I'm gonna stock up.

Soli Deo gloria!

This blend has:

1. A highly fragrant, incense-like aroma.

2. A cool-smoking, easy-to-pack, very thin ribbon cut.

3. The flavor of saddle leather combined with incense (and just the slightest touch of creosote).

Conclusion: Cool, leathery, smokey = delicious.

If your looking for a nice, classic English blend, look no further.

First, on the positive side, I love the cut. It comes really moist in the tin, but after a day or so of drying it burns really nicely. Minimal relights and absolutely no dottle. A really pleasant burn. No bite whatsoever.

I would place the nicotine level on the upper end of medium. Does not put me on the floor, but after an hour or so, I'm definitely feeling it.

The flavor is where things begin to break down. When I first started with this blend, I was impressed right out of the gate by what I usually find myself seeking in a Lat blend...good, rich Lat flavor with a pronounced spicy, oriental component, both in the drawn smoke, but even moreso in the nose from the bowl(which for me is the coup de grace). However, inexplicably, the more of this blend that I smoke, the more dominant I'm finding the orientals. The last 3-4 bowls of this have found the orientals completely overpowering the Lat...it becomes almost undetectable. I occasionally coax moments of perfect harmony, usually when gently sipping, but these are becoming increasingly rare and fleeting. I find this unusual since I usually feel that swelling the ember every so often and coasting it brings out Lat characteristics best. Doing so with this blend only produces a muddled mess.

I also cannot seem to avoid a bitter, acrid taste throughout the burn.

All-in-all, I had high hopes for this blend, but I'm disappointed with the Oriental dominance.

Margate is a really interesting blend. When first opening the tin I noticed the cut first. A very fine shag like cut. This presentation makes this blend very easy to pack and a breeze to keep lit. There are some interesting olive green strands in my tin. I am not sure what they are but they are tasty.

This is a true pipe smokers blend. Cherry aromatic lovers need not apply. This sucker is strong. It is so strong that even my dog leaves the room when I fire this one up. It has a deep rich latakia flavor and a slightly odd aftertaste. Not wholly unpleasant, just unidentifiable. This one will stink up the house so if you have a loverly significant other be ready for a fight.

As the bowl progresses a new and tasty flavor develops in the second half. Most blends I feel have their better days in the first half of the bowl, this is one of the few where I look forward to the last waning moments.

If you like latakia you must give this one a try. I find it is far and above what Dunhill MM 965 tries to be. Highly recommended.

Esoterica makes excellent tobacco, and in the esteem for Penzance, there are several in the line that have become sleeper blends for me. Margate fits that description. It is heavy on the Orientals and quite full, whereas most in that category are somewhat wimpy.

Browsing the reviews some time ago I came upon the astonishing claim that the blend is entirely composed of Oriental leaf and its smokier variety, Latakia. I just couldn't believe it--a Latakia heavy blend without any Virginias? I immediately pulled out my tin and began smoking away, curious whether this could be true. When evaluating the Oriental component, I make it a habit to pull the smoke through the nasal cavity to check for spiciness. In return, I was rewarded with a full onslaught of peppery spice. My appreciation for Margate hit a new high, and I dutifully consumed my remaining tin in short time.

Margate is an excellent counterpart to both London Mixture and Sam Gawith's Skiff Mixture, blends big on the Orientals. It lacks some of the sweetness that both exhibit due to the apparent lack of Virginia leaf, but it never feels light, or overwhelming. If you're mourning the inability to score a tin of Penzance, check this out...I think you'll find it a novel substitute, held to the same high standards of the entire Esoterica line.

This blend can be fiery and a few times it has overwhelmed my senses if I pushed it too hard, but its redeeming qualities are bundled tightly in its intricate elusory flavors. I say this because Margate has an undeniably dry flavor kick with very little sweetness to hang on to. Enjoying Margate is on par to enjoying a really dry oaky red wine in that its flavors are presented in a much narrower spectrum. That said, most of these flavors are tough to pin down or compare to some of the obvious food related references that are often tied to sweeter mixtures. Perhaps it’s best to say that this mixture just tastes like well blended, high quality no-frills tobacco.

If anything, Margate has made more of an impact on me through my sense of smell. Its pungent incense like aroma is a thing of beauty and keeps me coming back for more, where its flavor ebbs and flows between full round and spicy, to subdued and at times somewhat flat. The real magic with Margate is this dance it does with my olfactory senses. Perhaps I spent too many nights as a kid in front of the camp fire with my friends and family but if I could rate Margate’s rich wood fire like aroma on a nostalgia scale of 1-10, it would easily rate a high 9 for me. There is something that I crave with this one yet flavor is only one component of the craving.

For me this mixture took some time to fully appreciate. Sometimes when something is so simple it’s easy to overlook what it does well. And what Margate does is satisfies my desire for a rich dry latakia laced smoke.

Margate delivers great taste in a very unassuming package. The Orientals have the smallest bit of tang, but plenty of sweetness as well. They balance the Lat easily. Not the fullest smoke, the most complex flavor, or the biggest body...but I'm not always looking for those things.

This a very good tobacco.

Lovely tin design with an old-fashioned looking sticker. "entirely made, blended and aged in the British Isles", although you can't buy it there. (Note to British residents: it works out cheaper to buy online from the States anyway, even when shipping is added, because they won't stand for UK-style taxes there.)

Well all I can say is this makes me proud to be British. they claim it's based on the old-fashioned way of blending, and I'll believe them although I wasn't around in them days.

The cut is more shag than ribbon (I think), and very easy to pack - although it must be mentioned that this tobacco comes verrry moist right out of the tin; I've heard of 'goopy aromatics', but a fresh bowl of this might be called a 'goopy Latakia'. It's wet and sticky. If you've got the patience, dry it out before packing every time.

For someone like me who's not especially used to latakia blends, the lat. content in this seems quite high, and the tin note is all camp fires and burned tires. The tin note, room note and actual smoking taste are all about identical for me, except that the room note (and ghost in pipe) has a sort of cigar-ish aroma, which was quite a surprise. The actual smoke is smooth, creamy, slightly salty latakia tempered by the orientals, and no VA sweetness to speak of (I'll believe them when they say it contains no virginia.) Latakia becomes more prominent towards the end, and there's a little bit of bite if you smoke it moist.

All in all this is just wonderful, and satisfying enough that I'm not going to bother trying many more latakia blends, since I've found something close enough to perfection to justify calling off the hunt. I've got my eye on some Germain's Special Latakia Flake as well, but unless the mythical Penzance makes a reappearance I'll be happy to stick with this for the foreseeable future.

Pop the tin and there is a firmly pressed puck of very narrow cut ribbons (damn near shag). I actually took a pair of tweezers and counted 7 distinct shades of tobaccos (besides black) ranging from lemon yellow to olive drab, pea green, tan, etc. Geez, what a rainbow of tobacco! Tin note is strictly smokey Lat. Burns great, no bite, lots of different flavors as you travel down the bowl, fantastic latakia hits.What's not to like ? Right now this is my favorite lat blend, hands down. And I have 4 or 5 more open on the shelf to choose from. Ya gotta give it a try. Next stop for me....Pembroke...Margate with a touch of adult beverage. Could be interesting.