Murray Sons & Co, Ltd Parsons' Pleasure

Parsons Pleasure.

Having wanted to try this for a while I opened it with excitement! The visual inspection showed a great ready rubbed tobacco. It gave off (as expected) a standard Virginia unlit aroma. I found the lighting of it very easy and it didn't require re-lighting many times. The smoke has a lovely ripe Virginia flavor with almost a hint of dried fruit to it. It didn't give much bite unless heavily drawn upon either. The room note is pretty much as you would expect from Virginia, albeit still appealing. A very enjoyable Virginia blend.

Highly recommended.

This was a gift from a friend who thought a parson should have at least tried Parson's Pleasure.

The cut is a fine short ribbon. It is similar in appearance to a RYO cigarette tobacco but at a moisture level appropriate to pipe smoking.

The flavor is a basic, light, simple Virginia. I did not get any complexity or subtle favors. It was a consistent (and good) slightly sweet taste through the bowl. This is one of those tobaccos I could smoke all day and not get tired of it.

I think this is a blend of a different era when many people did smoke all day and did not need challenging blends. They just wanted a good, simple, consistent smoke they enjoyed. I am not going to get any of this in from Engand, but I would not hesitate to smoke it again.

50g round tin.

Tin aroma:Mildly earthy,almost no aromatic properties whatsoever other than natural tobacco,,,could be roll up tobacco almost.

Appearance:Medium tan brown overall(tan/brown/dark equal mix)thin short cut ribbons,perfect moisture level.

Pipe:An unknown brand nylon system pipe made in france(http://www.smokingmetal.co.uk/pipe.php?page=332),with a 3mm draught smoke tube(amplifies lighter virginias)and a stinger on the mouthpeice which tightens the draw again to concentrate taste and create a slower backdraught(keeps the burn slower and cooler).

Ignition:Using matches(gas lighters can melt nylon stem pipes if drawing too hard!)I basically got a basic no-nonsence,unsweetened,natural virginia,yet naturally sweet.

For nearest comparisons it tasted generally between a non-aged 'Peterson-Irish Oak'(although this tastes like a good aged mild virginia),'Samuel Gawith-Best Brown Flake','Players-Navy Cut'flake...Sweeter than the last.. It lights quite easy i might add and stays lit.

It had a slight woody tang factor ala red virginia,or like 'Peterson-Sherlock Holmes' minus the blueberry aromatic properties.

Initially i couldn't say i was blown away with a new undiscovered novelty here;-but this is the outcome of having tried quite a few archetypes now,that things start tasting between already discovered pillars of taste,tastes that are between other brands of simular construction that i am already familier.That said though,i can say that it makes an ok candidate for when i am in the mood for something like it.

Just revisiting the jar here 2 weeks later for a smoke as i type is proving a better impression because i havent smoked any other stronger pipes before hand to spoil my taste.

On the first light its slightly winey/apple cider-ish,then settles into a darker mid pencil wood-ish,yeasty,toasty white bread virginia.

Smooth as butter but not buttery - more of a sunflower spread factor or unsalted green olives - starchy like new sweet potato's /potato mash.

This might be too plain for some people,but i myself like these 'grey area' tobacco's actually..Like the current pouch 'Three Nuns' and certain old english blends - its a very mid 20th century smoke..I like their atmosphere,i get a simular feeling smoking these as when discoving an old newspaper under the floorboards from 1928 or something,its nice to have some black and white to get away from the technicolour sometimes.

A light easy cruise of a smoke,it swings (in my mouth),cool but a fastish burner(may suit a larger capacity bowl).

Gently breezy,no soap and no bite,slightly like old english brand cigarettes like 'Parkdrive','Woodbines','Capstan Full Strength' minus the typical cigarettish salt peter stale ammoniac piss factor.

Post pipe aftertaste is ok - like a feeling of having eaten some golden un-salted potato crisps,(or maybe peanuts).

Quality baccy and well behaved,smokes down to a fine white ash.Light-Medium nicotine strength.Mild buttery toasty ,woody room note.

This has grown on me in the fortnight i have had this beyond my first underwealmed impressions;it suits this dark rainy moonlight night as a quiet comfort(i like plain baccies on rainy dreary days),,this melts in the mouth like creamy mashed potato.

I'm going to give it 3 stars for cheering me up and feel i would purchase again.Its the lighter non-latakia brother of 'PunchBowle' as well i am sure,it tastes like a familier friend anyway;an english with no latakia or oriental,yet it tastes english in its way.

I wasn't quite able to finish the tin of this, not because it was bad tasting but more because it didn't excite. It's a "so-so" virginia, mildly sweet and, quite frankly, kind of limp-wristed. The virginias don't assert themselves much and I ended up puffing faster than I normally do (subconsciously) in order to get more flavor. To its credit, it didn't bite unless seriously provoked. But it didn't push the flavor envelope, either.

As mentioned, this is the baby of the Parson's Pleasure/Barney's/Punchbowle trio. This one contains no latakia, whereas the middle brother (Barney's) contains a light amount and the Punchbowle is rather heavier. A bit of latakia or blending orientals or perique would probably do this no harm and I might experiment further. Similar to Gold Block, this one might add some body to a wispy mix or improve the burning qualities of another blend. Smoked on its own, it really offers little to endear itself over the long term. Try it if you like very mild virginias.

Parson's Pleasure is no longer sold in the USA, and I had to get my tins from a website in England.

It is a straightforward tobacco, more on the mild than wild side -- which, I suppose fits the bill for a blend named Parson's Pleasure.

My tins were quite aged, and the roughness tantric spoke of did not exist, perhaps due to the aging. There was just enough sweetness and nicotine strength to keep me interested. Very refined Virginia flavor that you just can't get anymore.

I was (believe it or not) introduced to this blend in 1966 by the then Bishop of Oxford, Dr Carpenter. The room note was absolutely wonderful, and it was that more than anything else that made me want to try it. It was one of those all- day-every-day smokes (like Capstan, Player's Medium Navy Cut, Gold Block, Broken Scotch Cake, etc., etc.) that is so mild and undemanding that you can smoke it all the time without noticing you're doing it. All right, but ... meh; pleasant, but unexciting. I bought one tin of it and didn't bother after that. Fribourg & Treyer's Golden Mixture is probably the closest you can come to it these days; or, in the UK, Peterson's Sherlock Holmes.

Worth a try, in the unlikely event that you come across a tin.

A nice cool Virginia blend in English fashion, a good all day smoke as it didnt blow my mind nor did it disappoint neither. I wouldnt consider this a tin to pop on Christmas eve, but certainly sufficient for any other occasion.

not a very good tobacco if you ask me.im nearly finished this 50g tin..and i wont be buying it again,it burns very fast even if smoked slowly,no tongue bit but very lacluster and dull,for me theres plenty of better tobaccos to be had.

I found a tin I've had for well over 20yrs. when I lived in Ca and we had a pipe club. One of our (actor) members was able to get this and Digger for us. PP virginia is straight up no flavoring I can detect but it is old. However it was fresh in the tin and had that viginia/hay smell. I enjoy it and puff on it to break the rotation, it's a simple smoke that carry's alot of great memories of our club in South bay.

Mild virginia shag, naturally sweet, and tending to be a little dull. It's quite moist in the tin, I might try to dry it a little. As noted, it does have a tendency to warm up and bite if puffed too hard, it needs to be smoked really slow and evenly to prevent this. Its alright in my long stemmed canadian.

I have noticed a slight honey scent when my friends have been smoking it, I am inclined to think that this is a natural feature of the tobaccos used, as there is no taste of it that I would expect if it was a flavouring. The room note soon fades after smoking to a faint tobacco smell, not at all offensive.

It lights and burns fairly easily, with only a little drip, probably because it is so moist.

Its nothing to get excited about unless you only like the mildest virginias, but I can happily finish the tin while reading, as it isnt going to distract my attention the way some of the bolder blends I enjoy could.