I did not find the tobacco overly wet upon opening. It burned cool and dry. The tobacco is packaged in a plastic bag inside the tin, and kept relatively moist over the two months that it took me to finish the tin (I have a number of other tins open).

In conclusion, I rate this tobacco 3 of 4 stars. A fine mellow English blend, English fans will probably find this a little bland. It would probably work well as an introduction to English blends.

RD

1/14/2013 update: I have tried this a number of times and the only difference that I've noticed is that the nicotine content doesn't seem that profound. However I still find it to be at best an insipid blend. The two star rating is generous.

Let's review the third one:

at the opening I experience a musty-almondy like aroma, the Macedonian leaf is unmistakably present, not the same I can say of the Syrian Latakia.

The cut is small ribbon.

The colour is a wonderful contrast of bright and medium brown to black.

The weed is very (and I mean VERY) wet in the pouch. I have let the tobacco airing out one hour or more, then lighting was easy. No gurgle, no goop.

The smoke is refreshing medium english, musty-fruity, faintly bitter-sweet. There's some Latakia, but the main quality of the smoke stays in the interplay between the Virginia and the Macedonian. A metallic-piquant quality of the smoke makes me suspecting there is some Perique.

All-in-all a good smoke, of the like of CAO/Dan's Midnight Ride, Just milder.

When dried properly, this is as cool-burning a blend as they come. The first few bowls of preludio I have seemed to be missing some element - I felt like there was a sensation just beyond my reach. On my third or fourth bowl, I came upon a revelation by exhaling through my sinus/nose (i.e. snorking or retrohaling). I was at that point washed over with a sensory experience that was, well, almost akin to something usually experienced intimately with another person.

After opening this tin, I have smoked it more than any other available tobacco in my collection. Perhaps the best testament I can give to it is that now that it is almost gone, I am only debating how many tins of this I should acquire.

I rehydrated the tobacco a little using the damp cloth over a bowl method. To smoke, the tobacco burned well, and had a good deep latakia flavour. However, it was a little too one dimensional for this smoke-blower. Indeed, it lacked complexity of any kind and failed to beguile the mind or seduce the senses.

I sense that at some point this was a great tobacco, but being allowed to dry out caused it to loose most of it's allure. A great shame. A finer experience can be had from tobaccos of this type with Esoterica's 'Margate' or G. L. Pease's 'Charing Cross'

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Open a pouch of this tobacco and take a deep breath.

I live in southern Italy (where this tobacco comes in a pouch, not a tin) and where old world vineyards still flourish. I'm on my (at least) tenth pouch of this stuff and I still can't get over that intoxicating, and ever so slightly off-putting aroma. It is heavenly.

Now, that being said, there is probably a reason for that musty aroma! The tobacco is saturated with moisture, which can be unpleasant to the impatient smoker. My secret: Empty the pouch and place the tobacco in a Spanish cedar cigar box (Not the paper lined one!!! - Raw cedar is a must!!) Fluff the tobacco up, and let it sit for a few weeks until it is almost crispy. Then, my friends, you have something akin to nirvana in the pipe, that's all I can say. If you are a fan of Syrian Latakia, this is a must-try blend. And like a fine wine, a bit of aging in the proper wood makes all the difference.

With that out of the way, let me say that I don't think there's any way this blend has perique in it; I'm extremely sensitive to perique, and I finished the tin quickly and with nothing but pleasure. I'll also add that I didn't experience any of the moisture problems others here have noted. I was smoking a recent, 2007 tin, though, in case that's a factor in terms of current quality control.

Beyond those amendments, I don't have any poetry to share about this one. It isn't as deeply "Syrian" as some blends -- particularly GLPease's discontinued Syrian line -- but the distinctive sweetness and hint of floral qualities that come with Syrian latakia are still there. I like my Englishes best when they lean more toward latakia than Virginias, and this one complies. The orientals tie it together neatly, without ever dominating enough to swing this into Balkan territory.

I'll just add that I followed this tin with a five-year-old tin of GL Pease's Raven's Wing. There are distinct similarities between the two blends, although Raven's Wing exhibits, in my opinion, richer Virginias and a more flavorful Syrian latakia. But RW is no more, and Preludio is still with us. If you miss RW and are looking for a *similar* replacement, Preludio might well fit the bill for you. But regardless: Preludio is an enjoyable blend all on its own merits.

I'm not sure how well I really like this blend. It's robust, but there is just the slightest hint of flavoring that comes through. I'm not sure what it is, but it reminds me a little of fermented fruit or plum wine (perhaps it's perique?). That bugs me, because it really does not strike me as a natural taste of the tobaccos, being more artificial in nature. It only comes through when you pull a little hard on the draw, but at least it doesn't bite you. Another irritating factor is that the Latakia really fades out about halfway through the bowl, leaving only sweetness and that weird fruity sensation.

I think that this would be a better blend if they would just somehow tone down that fruitiness. I still like it, just not as much as a lot of other English blends.