Esoterica Tobacciana - Peacehaven pipe tobacco reviews

Review

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Reviewed By:	Date:	Strength:	Flavoring:	Taste:	Room Note:	Recommendation:
Showing reviews 1 through 11 of 11 reviews of this tobacco
teniscat	04/25/2011	Mild to Medium	Mild to Medium	Mild	Tolerable
Decent tobacco, cross between cigarette tobacco and pipe tobacco. Fairly mild, probably would not buy again.
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drush1962	06/12/2010	Mild	None detected	Mild	Pleasant
On opening the package the first time, I found the citrusy, bright virginia smell to be very much like OGS. I was really excited, because I love OGS, like everyone else. I was disappointed when I tried to smoke it, because it bit hard. I left it alone for a while, until I ran out of some of my other favorites. I put it all in a big bowl, rubbed it all out, and left it spread out on a cookie sheet to dry overnight. Since then it has not bitten once, and is a fantastic virginia blend a lot like OGS. It has the same citrus notes, a mild flavor that changes from the top of the bowl to the bottom, and from one pipe to the next. It smokes best in a large open pot shape, and smoked slowly. I'm ordering two more 8 oz. bags. One of my favorites!
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Pipestud	04/09/2006	Mild	Extremely Mild	Mild	Pleasant
With Stonehaven being such a wonderful blend, and Blackpool also roaring with quality, it is difficult for me to recommend Peacehaven. Stonehaven and Blackpool are very finely composed with some clout and flavor - not so with Peacehaven which is a weak sister. My tongue was somewhat seared following a couple of bowlfulls. I never found the flavor I was seeking and probably tugged a little too hard and often as I conducted my search for something that would ring my chimes. As is the case with most Esoterica blends, Peacehaven has a place in some smokers cellars. If you are one who enjoys very light flavor and are disciplined enough to puff slowly, then this might be a good choice.
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DUPE.1512	06/09/2005	Mild to Medium	Extremely Mild	Mild to Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable
This is the first blend by Esoterica I've tried that I did not like. This is a very thin flavored Virginia blend that burns hot, tastes harsh and bites hard. I agree with Sopwith on this one, save your money.
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Warwick	06/04/2005	Mild to Medium	None detected	Medium	Tolerable
This is a difficult one to rate. It came packed as long flakes in a plastic tray, all sealed in a foil pouch. The flakes smell wonderfully rich and it is easy to see the variety of colors of tobaccos embedded therein. The flavor is primarily from the mid-range to the high notes, and they all come at you simultaneously. There is not so much an interplay of flavors as there is a parallel assemblage of flavors. This is a slightly sweet and lighter VA than I typically like, but it is a nice pleasant flavor and it tastes like a quality product. So I am always surprised at its tendency to bite, even when dried some. The flakes are easily rubbed out - perhaps a bit too easily. I find I often end up with a high percentage of tobacco 'dirt', no matter how careful I try to be. I do not care for the room note - it strikes me as not too strong but offputting and cigarette-ish. This is an outdoor tobacco for me. I also do not care for the notable presence remaining in the bowl afterwards. I think this ties in with the poor DGT quality of this blend, as I found out and as another reviewer noted. All in all, it has the flavor of a 3-4 star blend, but the detrimental ancillary aspects cause me to give it only 2 stars.
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Inquisitor	01/19/2005	Medium	Extremely Mild	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable
This was tough to put a recommendation to. Read on, perhaps you will see why. This arrives in a loose flake form, moist enough to make it pliable. Rubs out with virtually no effort. 1/3 light brown, 2/3 dark brown. In my inside jacket pocket, I kept picking up what smelled like a spicy cologne, or a less-sweet, non-cloying version of that Christmas spice ribbon candy. It took me a while to figure out it wasn't my cologne. What I picked up was aromas of allspice, nutneg, maybe even light crushed clove. When I smelled the baggie more closely, those flavors were not clearly distinguishable, but presented as more of a vague melange. There was also a GH-type pastry/cinnamon note, with only a hint of the usual musty Esoterica characteristic, suggesting limited use of matured leaf. The moisture makes this a bit hard to light, but once going the rubbed flake stayed lit easily. Initially this presents as a medium strength Virginia with possibly even more nicotine than the usual Esoterica - but you don't expect it until things get a bit ... fluid. There is some tingle on the tongue. The top range has a light pastry sweetness with a faint ginger zip. The mid-range is toasty. Very little in the bass zone. All in all, quite pleasant. At just past mid-bowl, I pause for 30 minutes. Peacehaven does not take this kindly! The sweetness and mildly fragrant flavors disappear and do not return. While what remains isn't bad, it isn't good either. (NOTE: Poor DGT'ing seems to be a feature of several Esotericas). So, a pre-DGT recommendation could have been three stars, but post-DGT would get one star. Thus, I compromised on two. Too bad. The appearance and pouch aroma promised so much.
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LoisKelly	08/19/2003	Mild to Medium	None detected	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable
If this is one of Esoterica's least reviewed blends, it's their own fault. Availability only in bulk may dissuade many potential fans from ever sampling it, which would be a shame. It's a lovely, lively VA with a particularly delicious flavor. The vibrant mouth feel warns of impending tongue bite, so savor this one slowly. You'll be rewarded with a beautifully fresh smoke replete with nice citrus components. Old Gowrie with pizazz. That this isn't sold in tins is a crime, as it would be tailor-made for cellaring.
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BriarNorth	05/27/2003	Mild to Medium	None detected	Medium	Pleasant
I can really only recommend this tobacco to veteran smokers and seasoned Virginia lovers, as the threat of tongue bite with this weed is right up there with some of the MacBaren or McClelland's offerings. Of course, veterans may ask themselves if it's worth this amount of concentration on technique to enjoy a bowl...? Well, I do! With that said, the weed is lovely four inch mottled flakes that rub out easily, and while I can't say they are moist, they did have a resiny feel and some may want to air the stuff out. The flavour IS very very good: fresh and bright, grassy/oaty with an abiding fruitiness and mild citrus overtones. The flavour progresses somewhat through the smoke but not dramatically. I believe that a well-aged version of this tobacco would smoke like an absolute champ and I wish it came in a vacuum sealed tin! There are Va flakes that aren't as demanding, but this one is worth it!
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NEWMAN	04/17/2002	Mild	Very Mild	Mild to Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable
Perhaps I received the bottom of the barrel but my pouch was not a flake or had been partially rubbed out during processing. I would class it more as a ribbon cut with many long, thin strands. Despite varied packing techniques, this and the high moisture content caused difficulty and numerous and far too many relights. This also may have caused some of the bite I experienced. Perhaps a perfect packing would reduce this tendency but when coupled with the lack of natural sweetness in its taste, it's not worth the effort for me.
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provguy	04/08/2002	Medium	None detected	Medium	Pleasant
Here is another winnner from Esoterica. The first time I smoked this tobacco I fell in love with it. This is a straight virginia flake and is very easy to smoke with no bite and wonderful flavor. Easy to rub out and fill your pipe and lighting up is easy as well. I find it goes out frequently initially but then does not present a problem. I have not heard any complaints about the room notes and find it pleasing myself. This is probably one of the best tasting virginia flakes I have come across. Burns nicely to a grey white ash and I find at the end of the bowl I want to fill up again. Four stars.
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Sceny	04/09/2001	Mild to Medium	Extremely Mild	Mild to Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable
If you enjoy lighter, mellow Virginia flakes, you should like this one a lot. The tobacco is high quality and the taste is excellent. While not full or dark, it is still a good, refreshing smoke for early in the day. The aroma of my sample is bright and sweet, like a quality lighter Virginia, with a hint of a grassy smell. The tobacco came as a half-rubbed-out flake, four inches long and as a color mixture of darker, medium, and light browns. The remaining flake rubbed out very easily, though packing the longer strands of leaf was a bit difficult. The tobacco is on the damp side, but when rubbed out lights easily. I chose a deep-bowled Stanwell for the first bowl of this blend. In the first third, the flavor is mild and slightly sweet, a "bright", clean flavor with some subtle complexity. There is a danger of tongue bite, avoided only through careful puffing. The flavor is not dark or full at all, though it is fairly refreshing. In the second third, most of the sweetness has disappeared. The smoke is still mild, but it has taken on a deeper, more complex flavor by this point. It is still no where near Dark Star in dark fullness, but it is regardless very good, especially in a deep, narrow bowl. I also highly recommend smoking this mostly unrubbed and using DGT; it really brings out the flavors in what is a rather subtle, soft blend. By the final third of the bowl, the flavor has continued to darken and mature. For a lighter Virginia, this is rather full of flavor and interesting. There are occasional flashes of sweetness, and most of the bite has vanished through DGT. It finishes soft and mellow, and there is no moisture problem. Overall, this is a nice, lighter Virginia flake. While not my favorite type of tobacco, I enjoyed smoking this blend. It makes a nice change of pace from the darker flakes I prefer. I recommend this to anyone who enjoys flake tobaccos, and especially anyone who uses DGT on Virginias.
Showing reviews 1 through 11 of 11 reviews of this tobacco