Peter Heinrichs Crue Pierre Henri No. 2

Appearance: dark, long ,uniterrupted flake

Tin aroma: Dark stewed raisin, dates, buckwheat honey

Impressions: A true masterpiece of blending when it comes to German tobaccos and their standards. Probably my very favourite K&K blend. Smokes well, pretty mild for me but has a fabulous dark stewed raisin, grassy, woody, slightly tart and tangy flavour. When it comes to it's keynote, it is a distinguished buckwheat honey flavour which is a major player in this blend. Perique adds a little bit of spiciness and fig. BC boosts the sweetness. Could be an everyday smoke for me.

It is a very good blend in comparison with different German blends which in the vast majority I'm not a big fan of. In point of fact, Crue Pierre Henri no.2 is an exception. Highly reccomended.

Excellent Blend! **EDIT**: Heinrichs confirmed that this *"Old London Pebble Cut" by McConnell.* Both prouced by K&K, both the exact same description and mixture. And apparently this is also the same as "Ashton Pebble Cut" and "McClelland Pebble cut". So what...a tobacco like this deserves 4 different licenses, spread it in the whole word, this gem of tobacco goodness! 😉

After the sample of this blend impressed me so much, I bought a 100g tin and I think I've found a new "Top-10 pipe tobacco blend" for my personal taste. This tobacco is outstandingly good and is reminiscent of Reserve Crue No. 6.

The unlit tobacco smells pretty natural. Stoved fruits, slightly honey-sweet, a bit tobacco-y spice. This is a "Pebble Cut" it's like a flake cut, but the flakes aren't cut in slices, it's one very long slice, that breaks apart easily.

Needs a bit of drying time fresh out of the tin, and then it burns steady and flawless.

Lighting Pierre Henri No. 2 up is like magic, really! Ethereal, oily and fermented in smoke-texture. The first thing standing out is an aroma very reminiscent of spiced, stoved fruits. Quickly a mild, natural, tart nuttiness enhances the smoking experience, as promised in the description by Heinrichs. Decent, but not overly sweet honey-ish sweetness underscores the melange and acting as a excellent counterpart to the full-bodied tangy, peppery spice of this blend. In the back a earthy aroma is giving a piquant foundation, which complements the nutty quality of this blend very well. I also perceive some citrusy-grass notesby times that underscores the stoved-fruit aroma. All the components are so well married, and enhancing, complimenting each other it's woderful, really!

Everything is in perfect balance and harmony. You truley get a sense of that the tobacco was "toasted", as it has a feeling of roasted nuts, and maybe toasted bread to it. Very much going on here, yet never overwhelming. Still I prefer taking my time and concentration to delve into this crazily delicious and rich blend.

Upper half of "medium" in strenght, quite full, yet smooth in taste and no obvious flavoring I could detect, besides the usual casings on the tobaccos enhancing the sweetness.

The lovely (genuine Louisiana) Perique with its fruity-peppery character, in interplay with the nutty an fruity-sweet Virginias and etheral, herbal Macedonian Oriental leaf this is very palatable and clearly a 4/4 stars blend to me.

**EDIT²:** As I just found out that McConnell replaced the wonderful Oriental leaf with mundane Black Cavendish, I swear by this incarnation... 2-3€ cheaper and the genuine taste of Oriental leaf is still in this...what are you doing McConnell?! Oriental replaced by B.Cavenish? REALLY?