It has been a hard time obtaining a tin of this well reviewed and highly sort after blend and I was ready for a treat. Upon opening the tin I was hit by a familiar scent that I couldn't put my finger on, it was hidden behind the nice smoky latakia. I proceeded to smoke a bowl and noticed the scent stayed with the entire bowl and added to the flavor, I wasn't sure if I really liked it??? What was it??? A few more bowls and I was sure I tasted and smelled that hidden aroma. Then it came to me, but first I asked my wife to smell the tin and asked her opinion. She sniffed and sniffed and said it was on the tip of her tongue, then I told her, "IODINE" , she exclaimed ," yes". I can't even open the tin anymore. Sorry to anyone who loves this blend and read this review, Please tell me I'm wrong.

Clarification : I can see from some of the comments about my review, that some reviewers never had the pleasure of having your Mom apply some povidone-IODINE to your cut. I guess you need to be at least 55 years old to remember, as they replaced Iodine with less painful over the counter antiseptics, although you can probably still buy it. You only needed to experience the sting once and the smell would be etched. Today, if you go for any major surgery they "slather you up" with a reddish solution called BETADINE, this contains 10% povidone-iodine but the smell is there. FYI, it is NOT an Ammonia smell, as some reviewers have claimed, which I am all too familiar with. That would be the Ammonia smell found in most tins of snuff tobaccos.

I know, who cares, well I wouldn't be surprised if Esoterica was using a top coating of Betadine as an anti mold inhibitor in part of their " secret recipe". If I was a lover of this blend, I would personally try a misting of "Betadine" on some "Pirate Kake" and see if I didn't have a new cheap way of obtaining Penzance!!!.

Oh, and thank you reviewer "Kokinhenik" for your homework on the other reviews calling out Iodine, I did not know that.

I told you not to read my review!!!!! ...............................................................

UPDATED -4/20/12 YOU REALLY HAVE TO READ " THE REST OF THE STORY" !!!!!

First I wanted to fill in the gaps from my original review: Upon originally opening the tin and noticing the "Iodine" smell and taste( see original review above ), I proceeded to spread the tobacco out on the table to see if I could air the Iodine out of the tobacco. After three days there was no difference in the intensity , when you walked into the room, you were hit by a scent from eight feet away. Now the tobacco was bone dry. My wife told me to either throw out the "science experiment " or she would! I collected the tobacco , stuffed it back in the tin, this was no small task as the tobacco flakes turned to dust at even a slight touch. I placed a small humidifying puck in the tin for a few days and upon opening the tin, the tobacco was at a perfect humidity but the "damn Iodine" scent wafted from the tin. I closed the tin and sealed it with a hot glue gun and threw it in the cellar.

Now, fast forward to the present time almost 6 months later.

I kept reading the great reviews and said to myself," I'm going to try this again" . I unsealed the tin and upon opening , Iodine smell wafted from the tin. I didn't care, I was going to try another pipe, same result, the scent translated to the taste. Overall, I would say that the strength of the scent was about 50% of what I remembered when I first opened the tin 6 months earlier . Still not smokable. I covered the tin and left it on the table for a week.

I then reread some of the reviews from this site and in particular, reviewer "Darth Vader" 10/28/11, who has claimed that the scent was caused by a mold problem, my only disagreement was this was not an ammonia scent. So I went back to the tin to see if I could detect any mold. Upon opening the tin again, I was ready for my blast of Iodine, but IT WAS GONE, not just reduced, but 100% GONE, without a trace of Iodine scent????? I'm smoking a great big bowl of it right now and it is wonderful and totally without Iodine scent or taste.

I did look for mold with a magnifying glass and couldn't see anything obvious but there were a few suspicious flakes. I can see why this is rated 4 stars but I will never be able to give it 4 , just on my bad experience. I especially want to thank reviewer , "Darth Vader" for being so persuasive, and causing me to check and recheck.

Update: Mr Big - very interesting point you made. Reading the entire forum revealed 7 other iodine call outs, starting with reviewer Loosewatches back in July 2006. I too had a hard time placing that scent. I ended up landing on Olives. Curiously they have a fair amount of Iodine that occurs naturally. I did a smell test and there is a similarity between the antiseptic and the tin. Several other Esoterica blends have that same iodine scent as a noticeable component of the tin bouquet. As I mentioned, this is the only one where it comes through in the smoke for me. That unique taste is what drives the fuss for this blend. It sets it apart in flavor from other blends in the genre.

Can be very wet out of the tin/8oz bag and requires some drying.

Luckily Pipes and Pleasures of Columbus Ohio had this in stock, and I managed to order 'some' which a friend who lives in Ohio collected for me and sent over to the UK. He managed this strategically by 'repackaging' tins and sending them over as fishing tackle!

Anyway onto Penzance the weed;

Never been one for hype, it's always disappointing. However this on the other hand really is something else. I can totally see why people will sell their kids/cars/& wives to try and get this stuff.

Exceptionally smooth oriental and latakia blend with those two weeds being the main players. Lovely plumes of white smoke to boot! I personally taste the orientals over the latakia. Hints of a sweetness are there but what elevates this from all the other English's I have tried is its totally silky smooth and creamy pure effortless smoke. It has zero bite and zero heat.

"I am not a man" - (tobacco)....."I am Cantona!" - (Penzance)

It looks and smells as if it's been prepared in a large wood shed in some dark deep earthy damp forest. Yum Yum!

The best English I've tried to date. The smoothness and flavour are sublime, and it is to date my favourite smoke.

Am concerned though that I may now not smoke anything else!!

Bugger...

I like this blend. As a matter of fact, if my fellow pipers stay on the ball, you can find this if you get on certain etailers email list. That is how I came upon a pound of this. But do not hesitate, because once they advise this is in stock it goes in a matter of minutes.

I really cannot add to the hundreds of reviews here, but this is a solid, complex blend that delivers the perfect strength and balance of what a great Enlish flake should. Only thing that I do not like about this flake is how small the pieces of tobacco are cut. Almost impossible not to suck up pieces upon light up.

That said, Penzance is good. It's kind of got the whole package. Sour notes, leather, smoke. It burns well. I find it appealing that this is such a well rounded tobacco, but at the same time, none of these elements shines in a way that compels me to want it the way some of my blends do.

I will also mention that this tobacco seems very pipe dependent. I have had bowls of this that I thought provided a near transcendent experience, but more of my time with this I thought to myself that it wasn't as good as 3 Oaks Syrian or Peretti's Omega.

One of the better latakia blends out there, but somehow almost disappointing. Three stars for sure, but I can't say it deserves a fourth when my relationship with it has been as inconsistent as it has.

Edit 7/10/2011 Ok, I get it. This is a big picture vs incredible attribute thing. Penzance is better at big picture than any other lat blend. 4 stars.

Update March 2013: I have seen a few reviews posted saying that the later vintages of this blend are inferior to the older vintages. From my experience I cannot agree. I have smoked from both older and newer production and in my experience they are fairly consistent and equally excellent. Cool, creamy, smooth, and flavor unique to this blend.

I am thoroughly impressed with this blend. It is a great balance of latakia and Orientals with just enough Virginia for my taste... little whiffs of sweetness that punctuate the pungent smoke and spice. Easily one of the finest tobaccoes I've smoked.

This is my first experience with a "krumble kake" but I found it very easy to load and light. I didn't rub it out too much, basically letting my light tamping break up the flakes, and got a long cool smoke.

It is a shame that this stuff is so scarce... I could easily make it my "regular" smoke. Would life go on without it? Absolutely, but it sure does make smoking that much more enjoyable.

It's like Zeppelin. It's like Guinness. It's like a Mediterranean sunset. Nothing difficult to understand or appreciate, but a perfect expression of what it is

SOLID QUALITY STUFF. 4 stars.

I don't mind the presentation, a "krumble kake". I've found it's best not to let it get too dry even though it always seems wetter than I prefer my tobacco. It loads and lights easy. The burn is very good and rarely needs relights.

The tin aroma is smokey and its appearance is predominantly dark, black in fact with some light strands here and there. Its flavors consist of a campfire-like background with some spice on the nose which I like. It's sometimes buttery, sometimes bitter, but rarely sweet. The latakia seems in just about the correct proportion to not overpower the Orientals which dominate the flavor. If there's Virginia in Penzance I can't taste them.

I can see why this is such a popular blend and everyone should try it at least once. For some reason, perhaps its lack of nicotine (in a word, wimpy) or its lack of sweetness, I have never been able to get excited about Penzance. I like what's there, but it's missing something important to me. Still, I have to recommend it. It's got a lot of good qualities including the high quality leaf it's composed of. You could do a lot worse.

Every store I visited, and every "online store" I clicked on seemed to be fresh out of stuff. It was no where to be found, but EVERYONE was saying how great it was. "Oh you know this tobacco is good....BUT NOT AS GOOD AS PENZANCE!! SILLY MORTALS AND YOUR NON-PENZANCE TOBACCOS AH HA HA!"

Feeling like Charlie from that willy wonka story, I grew depressed as I yearned for the tobacco, all the while I performed a musical number as i stared into the moon. I wanted to be just as cool as the 60-year old guy sitting in his underwear hiding in his closet from his beast-of-a-wife and posting on the internet bragging about his non-existent scrooge McDuck supply of Penzance.

So I waited for my chance, and nearly forgot about penzance. Until that faithful day.

I was browsing Craigslist for the usual stuff. Free dirt, old furniture being sold at full price, and anonymous sex, when I came across a most interesting Ad. It read "PENZANCE? I GOT YOUR FIX." I became excited and quickly replied to the ad demanding that I be sold/given penzance immediately and that I would do anything for the chance.

He said that what he had was very rare and that it would cost me a ton of money. I said I didn't care, and I knew about the rarity of penzance. We set up a drop point in the city. He would drive by in a orange and yellow VW "NEW" beetle, and he would throw the penzance out the car, I was to wear a red balloon for identification. At the same time, I was to use my smartphone to hand over the cash via paypal to his online account, as he checked for updates. He said that if his account wasn't updated by the time he reached 8th street, he'd hunt my down and drag me out to a forest. So I agreed.

The next day I took an early lunch from work and waited in the "spot" with a red balloon in hand. 5 minutes had passed and I began to sweat in the hot sun. I knew this was a bad idea, no tobacco is worth this effort. But then he came, and I saw his fruity bug vroom on down the street. He threw out what looked like a pretty large package for tobacco and I became as giddy as a little schoolgirl. He held his hand out of his bug and gave me this little wave that really threw me off. Whatever...I knew what I had to do, I didn't want to get dragged off into the woods, I hate camping. So I forked over the $200 on my phone and ran over to the package to open it up. IT was quite large and rather heavy! Take that old creepy coward liar!

This is where the fun stopped however. I opened the package and my heart sank into my lower back. Inside was a copy of the script, music sheets, and autographed picture for the cast of "Pirates of Penzance". It began to rain, and I fell to my knees and cried. That creepy old man on the internet had won, look at what he did to me. Why would I go through all of this for some stupid tobacco? Is my life really that empty that I must give into the hype of some stuff that apparently smells like old bum?

My life changed that day, and I no longer felt the need to have the best, seal away the most, smoke the best or be the "best". I became me.

A couple of months after that, my cousin came over to my house with a tin of penzance. I showed restraint, and did not get overly excited. We smoked it all night long.

It was ok.

Tin note is rich sweet earthy tobacco with an occasional hint of iodine. Wonderful though moist, heavy and rich. It crumbles so easily I almost had a hard time getting a flake out of the tin. It packed better than most flakes lit easily but needed a few light tampings and relights....especially toward the end, but I didn't mind at all. Smooth and mellow, with a leathery aroma that is well complimented by the ever so slight smokiness of the Latakia, truly wonderful flavor that remained the same throughout the bowl. If you like English Blends you're gonna like this one, I can almost promise it. I'd give it Five Stars if I could.