Drucquer & Sons Blairgowrie
(3.63)
Created in the classic Scottish blending style, Blairgowrie is a robust blend of matured and aged Virginia leaf, fine Orientals, Cyprian Latakia, and Perique, pressed and aged in cakes, then sliced and fully rubbed out for a rich smoking experience. Blairgowrie is deep and full tasting, and quite slow burning for a long, smooth smoke from first light to the last puff. - Gregory Pease
Details
| Brand | Drucquer & Sons |
| Blended By | G.L. Pease |
| Manufactured By | Cornell & Diehl |
| Blend Type | Scottish |
| Contents | Latakia, Oriental/Turkish, Perique, Virginia |
| Flavoring | |
| Cut | Broken Flake |
| Packaging | 3.5 ounce tin |
| Country | United States |
| Production | Currently available |
Profile
Strength
Medium to Strong
Extremely Mild -> Overwhelming
Flavoring
None Detected
None Detected -> Extra Strong
Room Note
Pleasant to Tolerable
Unnoticeable -> Overwhelming
Taste
Medium to Full
Extremely Mild (Flat) -> Overwhelming
Average Rating
|
3.63 / 4
|
Reviews
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 Reviews
| Reviewed By | Date | Rating | Strength | Flavoring | Taste | Room Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
| Nov 22, 2017 | Medium | None Detected | Medium | Pleasant to Tolerable |
Fully rubbed out flakes of light brown with a hint of black. Tin nose is basic tobacco with just the slightest whiff of oriental leaf and just a bit more fruity perique. As with Regents Flake, I pretty much just rolled this stuff softly and stuffed. Interestingly, relights were few.
I've commented many times about how C&D-sourced tobacco seems substandard to me. However, in this one, it seemed that the roughness of the base tobaccos interplayed more seamlessly with the condiments. In other words, the latakia, oriental and perique almost completely offset the deficiencies of the Virginia. I got more of a burley than Virginia background but it worked here. As Incendio stated in his excellent review, it's the marriage of the tobaccos that is the star. It starts out with the Virginia/oriental in the main role with just a whisper of perique. I don't know what the proportion of latakia is here but it's very, very light and doesn't really show up until 1/3 of the way down the bowl, give or take. The blending expertise is hugely in evidence here. More latakia and this is just another Scottish-wannabe. More perique and it goes in another direction. This is almost like Regents Flake but with the addition of those two condiments, it puts the base leaf more in its place and less prominent, taking this blend into classic territory. If it had utilized a better grade of Virginia, I think this could become one of Pease's finest efforts. It reminded me of another GLP blend I smoked awhile ago but with more promise. I enjoyed this one and might purchase some tins for aging, but it's nothing I'd want to smoke a lot of... for a reason I've already beaten to death, both here and on other reviews. Well worth a try.
I've commented many times about how C&D-sourced tobacco seems substandard to me. However, in this one, it seemed that the roughness of the base tobaccos interplayed more seamlessly with the condiments. In other words, the latakia, oriental and perique almost completely offset the deficiencies of the Virginia. I got more of a burley than Virginia background but it worked here. As Incendio stated in his excellent review, it's the marriage of the tobaccos that is the star. It starts out with the Virginia/oriental in the main role with just a whisper of perique. I don't know what the proportion of latakia is here but it's very, very light and doesn't really show up until 1/3 of the way down the bowl, give or take. The blending expertise is hugely in evidence here. More latakia and this is just another Scottish-wannabe. More perique and it goes in another direction. This is almost like Regents Flake but with the addition of those two condiments, it puts the base leaf more in its place and less prominent, taking this blend into classic territory. If it had utilized a better grade of Virginia, I think this could become one of Pease's finest efforts. It reminded me of another GLP blend I smoked awhile ago but with more promise. I enjoyed this one and might purchase some tins for aging, but it's nothing I'd want to smoke a lot of... for a reason I've already beaten to death, both here and on other reviews. Well worth a try.
| Reviewed By | Date | Rating | Strength | Flavoring | Taste | Room Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
| Apr 09, 2019 | Strong | None Detected | Medium to Full | Pleasant to Tolerable |
The first tin was sublime. The second tin was nowhere as good as the first; tasteless and flat. Whereas the first tin was composed of long thick strands, the second tin was more of a ribbon cut. The perique which was ever-present in every puff was absent. All I taste is the Virginia and Orientals, with the latakia in the background. The Virginia tastes rough to me. It's either C&D quality control, or my taste buds have changed. Update: I called Smokingpipes and voiced my displeasure. They immediately credited me for the tin, which shows how good their customer service is. I re-ordered a third tin and found the cut back to the original thick strands, but the taste was not the same. The blend tasted flat, without the cohesive taste of the first. I would suggest that this blend needs at least six months of ageing from the tinning date in order to enjoy. Update: 06/20 After a year of ageing the Virginias are smoother, but not yet ready to earn the 4th star.
PurchasedFrom:
Smokingpipes (Exclusively)
Age When Smoked:
6 months
| Reviewed By | Date | Rating | Strength | Flavoring | Taste | Room Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 05, 2020 | Mild | None Detected | Mild to Medium | Pleasant to Tolerable |
I've smoked six of the seven Drucquer/Pease revivals and Blairgowrie is clearly the mildest of the blends. Beautiful tin appearance, this blend has a delicately tantalizing tin aroma. Unfortunately, the smoking aroma is somewhat delicate also. I share a trait with reviewer Pipestud, in that, we both like our pipe blends to have the fortitude to smack us around a bit. Blairgowrie does not quite do that, but, it does yield a soft beautiful smoke. I found the upper third of the smoke to be the best and it identified itself as a lightly spiced Virginia/Oriental mixture. The spicing comes from small amounts of Latakia and Perique that were barely perceptible. The middle third dropped slightly in intensity and smoked like a traditional Virginia/Oriental blend. It was in the bottom third that this blend offered a slight surprise. Now both the Latakia and the Perique came home and elevated the smoke to a higher and more enjoyable level. It didn't last that long, but, it was enjoyable while it did. I substituted Blairgowrie for two other Drucquer blends I had been using in micro blending and the resultant mixtures were both weaker than and less enjoyable than the originals. So, we have a solid pipe blend that I can recommend at three stars.
Pipe Used:
Michael Parks large apple billiard
PurchasedFrom:
Smokingpipes.com
Age When Smoked:
tinned 12/26/19
| Reviewed By | Date | Rating | Strength | Flavoring | Taste | Room Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
| Jun 26, 2020 | Medium to Strong | None Detected | Medium to Full | Pleasant to Tolerable |
I have mixed feelings about this blend. I love the cut. Slow cool burn, great for outdoors. I was expecting an English with Perique and that’s really not what this is. The Latakia is much less pronounced than the Perique to me. So much so that I get very little Latakia in the smoke compared to the tin note that signaled this is a Latakia mixture. I do like English with condimental Latakia but I never had a Latakia mixture where the Perique outshines the Latakia (I guess that’s why Nightcap is classified an English with Perique and this is classified as Scottish). To me the Perique and Oriental are neck and neck second to the Virginia in overall flavor. VA/Oriental mixtures without Latakia always leave me missing the Latakia. Anyway, I’m confused. Not unhappy, just confused. Perfect moisture out of tin. Will smoke more and try to figure this blend out. Recommended but don’t expect an English with Perique.
Pipe Used:
Various briars
PurchasedFrom:
Smokingpipes.com
Age When Smoked:
Fresh
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