Charring light is lovely and a forward sweetness hits the tongue along with the undeniable bold perique pepperiness. A tangy wine like flavor is immediately noticeable and intertwines perfectly with the sweet round bottom note. The beginning bowl shares a somewhat similar flavor profile to Peterson's Irish Oak, however Haddo's is much more refined. There seems to be some sort of topping at play here, perhaps brandy/rum. Whatever it is, I do believe that it plays an important role in enhancing my enjoyment of this blend. It deftly softens the smoke, enhances the room note and adds a buoyancy to the chutney like sweetness naturally inherent in the infamous stewed leaf.

The flavors and strength build quite nicely down the bowl. By mid-bowl a slight bitterness comes forth and as the sweetness deepens a harmony is struck that both softens and elevates the spice kick like no other perique forward blend on the market with exception of perhaps Escudo. End bowl flavors are sharp yet symmetrical, intense, briny, complexly layered, voluminous and extremely satisfying.

This is a sweet, stout, spicy mixture. I would call it spirited and I am not just referring to the topping. However having sampled both fresh and aged versions, I can confidently say without any doubt that age dramatically tames the rowdy acerbity that I experienced in a fresh tin. I think a few years of age pushes Haddo's out of the "For Perique Lover's Only" realm and into that of the piper who enjoys a rich, strong smoke regardless of a mixture's components.

This is one of the few blends that has left me feeling pretty woozy. I enjoy it after a good meal and because I eat lightly during the day, I reserve this blend for the evening after dinner.

Obviously a few more tins for the cellar are required.

Have noticed that airing out for 1/2 hr. to forty five minutes lets each of the different tobaccos enhance and come out, so when smoking it you can taste the virginia, the burley and the black cavendish,perique in the blend.

If you like VA/VAPERS you gotta try this one.

Just a quick comparison of Pease Blends: Haddo's Delight- whiskey topped , light smokey flavor, fruity (2), Chelsea Morning- Light latakia, fruity (4), Meridian- Medium Latakia, creamy bacon Oriental flavor (4), Lagonda-Medium Latakia- Campfire flavor, light Oriental (2), Quite Nights- Heavy Latakia- Campfire flavor with Creamy Orientals (4), Odyssey- Heavy Latakia- Campfire flavor dominates , light orientals(3), I would say all of these are 3 & 4 star blends, the numbers (#'s)after the blend indicate my personal preferences when compared to "only" these 6 blends

Upon opening the tin, which was dated 10/01/2012, I was smashed in the nose by a sweet super ripe fruit aroma, which has to be the Perique. This blend is young as the tin date says, so I am very excited to have this, as I can gradually note the changes from aging.

After I got my bowl loaded, lit and tamped, my olfactory senses went into overdrive. The Perique seriously lays the smack down hard, which is exactly what I wanted.

I only smoked a tiny bowl just to get a rough idea of what this has to offer, so I will update this review once I have had more.

However, I do believe I may have found my Holy Grail, when it comes to VaPers.

Thanks for understanding.

10/26/2012 EDIT:

Alright, just had my second bowl.

This stuff is exceptional. I hate comparing tobaccos but this is very reminiscent of Irish Oak, just much heavier in the Perique department. That is perfectly fine by me, as I love the crap out of Irish Oak.

During the first half of the bowl your tastebuds are borderline assaulted by the spice heaven of the Perique, and then more towards the end the tobacco gets very rich and deep. I do detect wonderful notes of cocoa and raisins, not as much as figs as you would expect. I definitely think I have found the Holy Grail of VaPers in my eyes.

I do want to try Hal O the Wynd though, just to make sure.

Also, not that it really matters as I don't think many of us sniff the bowls too much after smoking...but it smells like black pepper.

No experience with VaPer blends, so I can't speak to how it compares in that area, but this is definitely a great blend to mix things up a little for a latakia smoker like me. Tasted a lot of the flavors I've read in the reviews here, and in the tin description, raisins, stewed fruit, etc.

I read somewhere that it does indeed have a touch of rum, and this is detectable as well. I enjoy this flavor. Not overpowering, just a nice change of pace. That pleasant rum undertone is why I'm also drawn to Black Frigate on occasion.

Good burn, few relights, burned down to a fine white ash. Very pleased, and will get this again. Impressed with my first two Pease blends and will explore further. Along with Dunhill and C&D blends, these Pease blends seem to behave well for me.

Taste: Very nice. It tastes as good as it smells. I really like this as a nice change of pace from many of my latakia rich blends I smoke. Being from Kentucky, I like the burley notes in this one. Makes me feel "home". I usually don't like burley as it tends to come across as too bitter and overpowering to my tastes. In this blend it is perfect. Dare I say, the first time I've ever loved burley in a blend.

Room Note: Pretty nice. Almost aromatic, but not quite.

Final Thoughts: This is a very cool burning mixture. I've tried this in my Dr.Grabow grand duke. This pipe is small and thin walled. It tends to get very hot if I am not careful. From start to finish, it barely got warm with this smoke. I look forward to trying this in some of my better quality pipes. Another thing worth noting with this blend is the nicotine hit. It's huge. Being an ex-cigarette smoker, I can handle it. Sometimes even welcome it. However, for those that do not handle large doses of the big "N" well, be warned. It is very strong. This blend will become a part of my rotation. Four Stars.

Update: I picked this up again after a month or so and it's more tolerable now that the casing is wore off. It does smoke nice. There is a load of perique in this guy, which is not for everybody, but the fruitiness mixed in works OK. Haddo Baggins would certainly love to puff on this in his churchwarden but I find it a bit too dainty. I will, however, smoke the rest of the tin at some point. A change of pace from the norm but it left me wanting. Upgrade to two stars.

11/22/12 Update: I recently came into and smoked a five year old tin of HD. My review initially was not so favorable, as you can see. Now, I can't say enough great things about the blend. Five years of aging gave the perique a mellowness that dutifully compliments the other components. Where as with a fresh tin, the chaos is at volume ten, now each player is distinctly beautiful. HD is full in taste and is unlike anything else I have ever smoked...in a true class of it's own. I read that Pease designs his blends with aging in mind. Now I see why. If you can get your hands on some HD with a couple years on it, wow...just wow. Jump all over it. Four stars.

The Perique is peppery from the beginning and the sweet virginias add everything else.

Many say it knocks them down from nicotine, but I suspect it's really more the perique doing the job. This blend is quite perique heavy. I don't find it to be all that powerful in terms of nicotine kick, but for those not used to heavy perique, you are going to feel a bit swimmy!

Yes, the Rum casing is a bit over the top, both in the tin note and in the smoke, but Haddo's is a very fine tobacco with a lot of flavor. The overpowering rum flavor dissipates after a few days and becomes a bit more tame, anyway. It's not an everyday smoke, but when I want something that's a little different, this is it.

When it comes to quality it is a well known fact that Mr. Pease produces some of the finest product to ever grace the briar. If Mr. Pease released a blend called Pigeon Crap I would buy a couple tins to cellar, just because I know if he makes it, quality it will be.

This blend is very good, but it just does not stun me like others. I can tell why others love it, but it just is not for me. There is a definite dark, raisin, dried fruit, spice cake type of flavor here, and a meerschaum really brings out the nuances.

Give it a shot, for you it may be utopia in a bowl. I will stick to my other Pease Favorites.

The smoke itself is fine. It smokes evenly and I get good smoke output.

I think there are far better Vapers out there. My personal first choice would be the more natural aromas and flavors of Esoterica's Dunbar which seems to be a little easier to come by than some of Esoterica's other blends.