Charatan Virginia Three Year Matured

The recipe for this blend was developed when it seemed that Dunhill blends (including 3 Year Matured Virginia) were irrevocably lost to us, and many manufacturers made an attempt if not to repeat it, then at least to present their own vision. The blenders from Kohlhase & Kopp did not want to lag behind, presenting two attempts to recreate the popular recipe.

Appearance: the tin, released in early 2022, contains 50 grams of tobacco, a fairly even walnut color blend of several varieties of Virginia, with some amounts of basma and izmir (with the individual ribbons being a slightly greenish hue, which is somewhat disappointing). Occasionally there are few, almost black, ribbons of stoved Virginia in the mix, but these are so few that this can be ignored. Whether all of the Virginia is really three years old matured, I can't say, but further investigation showed that it tastes a bit harsh. The moisture content of the tobacco is enough to smoke it straight out of the can. Some may even find it a little dry.

Flavor: The original from Dunhill is slightly scented with a fruity citrus flavoring, but here it is so light that after a couple of minutes there is no trace of it. Calm, soft aroma of aged Virginia, in which the bread note stands out slightly among the hay and light dry woody tones, on which the thin trail of spices is superimposed. The overall bouquet is fused into one, it is quite difficult to make out individual notes.

Taste: slightly harsh at the beginning, but quickly levels out, especially in bents. The bouquet of taste consists of the general loose background of Virginia bread notes in the base, a little bit of wood, a slight earthiness, and slightly spicy oriental notes which stand out against this background. As for the stoved Virginia, if the authors wanted to add some chocolate notes with it, I'm not sure that they succeeded. In any case, I didn't feel them. The overall taste of the tobacco is very simple, and it quickly weaves into one smooth bouquet with barely noticeable sweetness. The tobacco burns somewhat faster than expected, quickly overheats the pipe and does not tolerate fussiness. The strength of the tobacco is somewhat below average, but it feeds you well, which makes it seem stronger than it really is. In slow smoking, the tobacco burns into a whitish dust almost entirely, leaving not a drop of moisture in the pipe. The aftertaste of the tobacco is very light, woody, extremely unstable.

The very light smoke has a woody aroma, almost imperceptible in the room.

What's the bottom line? It's hard to blame the authors of the blend for the failure, because there is no any. They created the blend for unhurried consumption, not to impress the pipe-smoker with a bright taste or an intricate bouquet. This blend reminded me of Laurel Heights in its idea, but Pease's creation is lighter and a bit brighter. Also, orientals are used here instead of latakia for density. As for its similarity to the Dunhill/Peterson blend of the same name... The original is more smooth and mild in taste, and the orientals aren't so out of place in it. The overall impression is quite ordinary everyday tobacco. But, seems that this is exactly what it was created for. Also, if you want to host a pipe-smoking tournament, this tobacco could be an excellent candidate for participation. However, 2.5 of 4 is max for it.