Peterson Founder's Choice

The tobacco is an exact replica of Peterson Saint Patrick's Day 2015.

The tobacco was a little dried out, so I put it out to moisten for a couple of days. I must say that this tobacco has a pretty rare cut: Orientals, Virginia and Burley are dried, pressed and diced with about 8mm sides, then topped off with cavendish. Exactly the same cut is found in tobacco produced by W.O. Larsen's Belle Epoque. Moreover, these blends even have similar flavor composition, which gave reason to malicious tongues to say that the "Belle Epoque" is also a clone of blends from Peterson. I have tried this blend as well and I can definitely say that it is different - stiffer, more "chemically" or something like that. Anyway, unlike the Peterson mixes, it burns my tongue and feels more sour. But enough about Belle Epoque. Back to Founder's Choice/St. Patrick's Day.

As the tobacco became more moist, I opened the can and inhaled the smell. It had vanilla, plus mango, a little bit of something exotic, and rum. There was substantially more vanilla than fruit, and the rum was barely noticeable. As for the tobacco, its own smell was well hidden under this sauce. Only a faint nutty note and the tiniest bit of bread were found, but that's about it.

Each cube of this mixture has to be kneaded to get individual leaves, then stuffed into a tube with them. The leaves are thin, so I already knew (and remembered from experience) that the tobacco smokes hot enough. I took a large pipe without denying myself the pleasure, although I had to work hard to fill it.

The flavor in the beginning is a sweet tang of Cavendish, some Virginia bread and quite bright nuttiness. All tobacco notes are well masked by a dose of fruity sauce, in which, there may seem a slight artificiality. Also, there is some roughness in the flavor in the beginning, but the tobacco does not bite. As you smoke, the tobacco becomes softer, leaving a distinct nutty note, a subtle spiciness from the oriental and the sweetness of the cavendish (together similar to a hint of cinnamon). As I said, the tobacco smokes quite hot, which rules out tight puffs or shallow pipes. So fill up your largest, well-smoked, pipe and be patient - the tobacco is light, and you're definitely not in danger of a nicotine hit. Towards the end of the pipe from the concentrated sweetness there is a slight note of prunes in it.

The tobacco burns into a fine loose ash of a light gray color, leaving a little moisture in the pipe. Nevertheless, I do not recommend filters - they will nail the taste of the blend. In addition, the filter provokes you to inhale more tightly and you can burn the pipe.

The smoke is light, sweet and very pleasant smelling. It dissipates easily.

Bottom line: this is a really pretty good dessert tobacco that calls for unhurried. It can be enjoyed for hours if you have a large enough pipe. It's a shame that it's on sale less and less often.

First of all, I'm not a heavy hitter when it comes to aromatics but love them on occasion for a change of pace. Peterson's Founder's Choice is truly an admirable aromatic. Upon opening the tin, one will get a waft of the most pleasing bouquet & banquet of flavors that you can imagine. It is "one" of the most alluring aromas of any aromatic I've ever whiffed. It will make you salivate & maybe entice you to reach for a spoon or a shot glass rather than a pipe. This is about a quarter inch cube cut presentation of black, brown & light brown tobaccos... Oriental, Burley & Virginias flavored with Rum, Vanilla & Mango.

Thus far, I've only sampled two bowls. This is not a goopy, heavily cased aromatic but is heavily topped with a combination of flavors. The cubes rub out easily and I haven't tried any other method. I dried a bowlful amount in a ceramic dish to an almost crispy state & loaded up a GBD Virgin Apple. Drying it out didn't seem to diminish the aroma & the flavor on my palate was delightful and the room note further enhanced the smoking enjoyment. It also provides a little more Vitamin N than most aromatics.

I'll have to admit however, after the charring light, it did bite a little. So, I set my pipe down for a little while & let it cool down. After the next light the mixture was tamed considerably. I sipped on it until about the halfway mark, enjoying the taste. Then the flavor started improving even more as the tobacco blend started the melding process & conjoined with the topping. At that point, the overall flavor seemed to improve.

I sipped on this and toward the very end the topping flavor diminished enough to leave mainly the taste of a regular tobacco blend. I was actually surprised by this feature as it was something I wasn't expecting. I was expecting harshness & blandness to increase toward the finish but that never happened. It was just the opposite as the quality tobacco flavor came into play toward the end. The condensation was very minimal & left a dry gray dottle in the bowl upon completion.

This is "one" of my favorite aromatics with Erik Stokkebye's Family Reserve & Bagpiper's Dream being my top choices. Based solely on the qualities of an aromatic... about 3.5 stars for PFC

very smooth, fruity and interesting tobacco

if you like aromatics and subtle fruity taste this could be your new all day smoke, because it sure is on the best way to become mine.

the cube cut is very even and homogenous, depending on your preferrance the cubes can be rubbed out before packing or you can pack them as they are.

Lighting the Pipe can be a bit of a chore if you chose to not rub the cubes out, but as soon as you got an ember going only a few to none relights should be necessary

the tobacco burns very nice and cool, but new and unskilled smokers need to keep in mind being not too hectic with their puffs since it tends to produce a very unpleasant chemical taste when smoked too hot

due to its moderate casing/topping in relation to many other aromatics that are available nowadays, this tobacco can definately be recommended to new pipe smokers (as long as someone tells them how to pack and smoke cube cut) aswell as to seasoned ones

Ive only had one tin of this and I'm nearly finished smoking it. I have to say it is possibly one of the most enjoyable tobaccos I have smoked. Typically it seems to have disappeared of the shelves.

It is very mild and cool smoke, not too sweet for me. I rub the cubes out a little before packing fairly tight and it stays lit if you work at it.

I'm afraid I cant really describe it better than this as I am still quite new to the pipe (about 4 years) but I know what I like and this is one of my favourites, at lease it was 🙁

I bought a tin of this tobacco because I was attracted to its cube cut. The cold smell is very rich, with a predominance of the mango aroma. However, when you start smoking it, those smells are lost, remaining in a typical aromatic, very fragrant in the tin but bland in the pipe. Also, the tin is 100 grams and I can't wait to finish it. I will not repeat.

First of all, I'm not a big aromatic fan but love them on occasion for a change of pace. Peterson Founder's Choice is truly an enjoyable aromatic. Upon opening the tin, one will get a whiff of the most pleasing bouquet & banquet of flavors that you can imagine. It is by far the strongest & most alluring aroma of any aromatic I've ever smelled. It will make you salivate & maybe entice you to reach for a spoon or a shot glass rather than a pipe. This is about a quarter inch cube cut presentation of black, brown & light brown tobaccos. Oriental, Burley & Virginias flavored with Rum Vanilla & Mango.

Thus far, I've only sampled two bowls. This is not a goopy, heavily cased aromatic but is heavily topped with a combination of flavors. The cubes rub out easily and I haven't tried any other method. I dried a bowlful amount out on a sheet of plastic coated pasteboard to an almost crispy state & loaded up my GBD Virgin Apple. Drying it out didn't seem to diminish the smoke aroma & the flavor on the palate was delightful as well as the room note which further enhanced the smoking experience. It also provides a little more Vitamin N than most aromatics.

I'll have to admit however, after the charring light, it did bite a little after a good burning rate commenced, using the DGT method, I set my pipe down for a little while & let it cool back down. After the next light the mixture tamed down considerably. I sipped on it until about the halfway mark, enjoying the awesome flavor. Then the flavor started improving even more as the tobacco blend started the melding process & conjoined with the topping. At that point, the overall flavor seemed to improve. I sipped on this and toward the very end, the topping flavor diminished enough to leave mainly the taste of a regular tobacco blend.

I was actually surprised by this feature as it was something I wasn't expecting. I was expecting harshness & blandness to increase toward the finish but that never happened. It was just the opposite as the tobacco flavor came into play toward the end. The condensation was very minimal & left a dry gray dottle in the bowl upon completion. This is one of my favorite aromatics with Erik Stokkebye Family Reserve being my top choice & Bagpiper's Dream coming in 2nd place. ESFR is drier & ready to smoke right out of the bag. However, the toppings are different but both are delightful & FWIW, ES Family Reserve was less harsh and had absolutely no bite via using the DGT method as mentioned above. This method will work most all the time to tame a blend & take the bite & harshness away. It burned perfectly clean & dry. About 3-3.5 stars for PFC...