The tin note was grassy,sweet, slight cramel and fruit. Very nice.

It filled well and lit well too. The smoke was reasonably cool and burnt down well with little waste. Tastewise it seemed bland at first, a simple clean bright Virginia with a touch of sweetness and leather. However The flavors got stronger mid pipe with the addition of an ever-so-slight fruityness coming through.

Very smokeable and not too heavy on nicotine either. Found myself refilling with it without realizing! Ballanced pleasant and a good all round smoke. This is particulalry suited I think to the morning over the newspaper or a two-pipe crossword puzzle!

That is not to say that this blend is bad. Quite the contrary. It is a sweet VA blend (Mysore produces some of the sweetest VAs on the planet) with a touch of Burley that I personally cannot detect in the room note, but just barely in the taste: that chocolate-cocoa-ish taste, cleverly hidden underneath the VA sweetness from India. Makes for a fuller taste than a straight VA blend, so that is a good thing.

The tongue bite some complain about is what you get when you mistreat a VA blend. Sip slowly and it won't bite. So, no complaint from me on that.

Overall, a good VA blend with a touch of Burley that adds to the taste. The taste builds up a little throughout the smoke. Solid three stars for me.

The Earl Grey aftertaste is quite strong and nice, leaves a pleasant dryness on the tongue. The room note will make friends. As others has noted, does have a bite at first, but quickly disappears after a few minutes as the rest of the bowl dries from the heat.

Such an interesting blend! Easy to smoke without having to pay too much attention to it, in which case you get a constant, comforting mild Virginia sweetness. But when you have contemplative moments here and there, it rewards you with subtlety. Nothing too sophisticated, but enough to fit the popular fictional connotation of Sherlock Holmes. I think it's a great name for it.

Was looking for a lighter variation on my usual fare (spicy English), but nothing too shallow, and this was just perfect. If only it were cheaper! It's worth pointing out that the tin contains a condensed cake, so you actually get a bit more than you might think for the price.

Surprised by so much negativity in the reviews. Perhaps quality is inconsistent, or perhaps it's too “interesting” for folk with well-honed expectations. I guess it's not everybody's cup of tea (see what I did here?).

Straight from the tin, I was constantly relighting and having to puff away like a mad man. I let it dry a little and tried again but still found myself constantly re-lighting and puffing away like a mad man. Then I let it dry completely, tried again and it was @!?#... I even tried different combinations of loose and tight packings but no matter how I packed it, in the end it still felt like I was trying to suck for air, through a straw, in a vacuum!

When I did finally manage to get a perfect light, I found the nicotine strength to be very weak, there was barely any flavour and the room note was dreadful. In fact, when I smelt the bowl of my pipe, I could have sworn somebody's cat had Pi@#ed in it!?

This was the most frustrating tobacco I have ever come across and for this reason I will never buy it again. It's also the last time I take a recommendation from the shop assistant.

It could have been a bad tin but I'm not wasting another tenner to find out. Thank Jeebus I still had half a tin of Irish Whiskey to take the pain away!

I must say, I wasnt immediately keen on the note the tin emminated. It rambunctiously screams berries, spice and citrus fruits. Whilst not altogether unpleasant, I can't deny that the smell briefly reminded me of Silage I'd smelt on my Uncles farm up in Aberdeenshire a few months previous.

However, smoking the stuff is a different ballgame alltogether.

The smoke is milder than the tin note would have you assume, and a much more toned down affiar. Unfortunately, some of the dominant flavours of this blend are lost when the product is lit, but nevertheless it is a very enjoyable smoke. The product maintains its spice and a very feint hint of berries and citrus, and seems more pleasant through the latter half of a bowlful.

The room note is great, though again not what youd expect from the tin note. A classic aromatic whiff with just a hint of spice.

Tongue burn is manageable if smoked sensibly, and ribbons are pleasing to the eye.

All in all, a pleasant smoke. Though not for everyone, Its worth a try!

This is also a good way to start down the road to smoking English blends. However, aging won't really do anything to this blend, so don't buy in hopes of cellaring and getting a change in flavour.

There is a pleasent bouquet of berries when you first open the tin.

A ribbon cut with plenty helpings of virginias and burley.

Smokes well, but you should let it dry out a bit before smoking. Elsewise, you will have to relight often. Drying, however, I have found to fix this little problem quite nicely.

I offer this tobacco to anyone who comes to my house and wants to smoke a pipe with me. It also goes well with a cup of hot tea and is best smoked (in my view) during the fall and early winter.

3 stars and a good nod from me.

I have had a few tins of this and to be honest it is my favourite of the peterson aromatic series because it is sweet enough to satisfy my slight occasional aromatic urge and also serious and plain enough to qualify as a strait tobacco.

It is actually quite a strait tobacco and the first thing that gets me as soon as I see the tobacco apearance is how blond and light it is;its a strawberry blond orangy glowy ginger cake of thin easy to deal with ribbons.

Quite moist to touch and could do perhaps with a pre ignition airing before packing. The tin aroma is light and reminicent of a blueberry breakfast muffin.

Its takes flame ok and you get a light virginia sweet fruity note for about the first quater inch of burn then its tangy cereal-esque cornflake virginia nature comes into play and you get a toasted rock cake /sweet bun taste(toasted is a key description here and reminds me allegorically of lucky strike cigarettes which are allegedly toasted tobacco(like dry roasted monkey peanuts in there husks),dry,but this is stronger and definately pipeish in its charecter).

Due to its strait out of the tin moisture level,do not pack too tight,also note it burns quite quickly and can be a bit steamy for the first quater inch before settling into reliable rythme.

Room note is mysteriously milky creamy and my written notes say like "wet sweet acrylic paint"(in a nice way i might add)

I say this tobacco does not bite;it can get hot and can give you dry tongue if you go hard,,,,;also it does not bite in a typical nasty aromatic 'poly glycol' way(you know that bad chemical reaction from certain chemically enhanced/preserved over the counter blends) But,,,; it does have a 'prickle' factor sometimes which is not tongue bite ,but is 'tangyness';i will compare this tangyness to explain what i mean:- Sherlock holmes has a 'green' taste which is like an aftertaste sensation simular to having eaten green cobnuts(simular to fresh chestnut that hasn't been roasted yet;the taste is like a substance found in some tree nuts which is astringent and is a bitter substance called 'tannin' which is found in vegetation(and is used for tanning leather actually)it is a taste like a pre ripe banana or like chewing an accorn slightly(accorns are edible btw)or plain green tea maybe). What it does to your tongue is simular i suppose to what curry also does;it leaves a sensation but is not 'bite'.

Sherlock Holmes has a tang factor which depending whether you like tang or not, you can chase this tobocco with a drink that opens your taste buds to reveal that tang,or another drink like milk which masks it.

The tang is not massive but it has something in its mild and easy going plain-ness which makes it slightly hotter than another simular cometitor like 'erinmore mixture' which i like also and have discovered since discovering Sherlock holmes.

So what else?;ah,i smoke mainly clays and falcons these days which give me a sharper clearer and cleaner taste of my tobacco's. When i was smoking this in my peterson pipes at first,which have larger bowls,i will say that this was well behaved and lasted longer(because of the bigger bowl)and also the taste is mellowed and more rounded and less tangy actually(bigger airy briar tones things down).

It burns quite well down to a light ash and the taste doesn't change or turn turgid like some chunkier pelletish aromatics do in a large bowl..

I prefer erinmore flake for its creamy milkyness,but sometimes i prefer a bowl of this for its more tangoman tangyness/green tea way.. Sherlock Holmes is more aromatic than erinmore but they are good comparisons.

I have already said that i have repurchased this a few times and is my choice on hand example of a non over the top mellow but serious as well aromatic.

2.5 stars