Drucquer & Sons Loch Ness

The musty, incense-like Cyprian Latakia offers a wealth of earth, wood, smoke, floralness, some sweetness, and a pinch of spice as it takes a very small lead most of the time. The small leaf, musty, incense-like Oriental provides plenty of earth, wood, herbs, floralness, vegetation, tingly spice, rich buttery sweetness and some sourness as it competes with the Latakia for attention. That's chiefly due to its floral, spice content, which occasionally surpasses the Lat a tad. The bright Virginia produces a lot of tart and tangy citrus, grass, some sour lemon, floralness, sugar, bread/toast, vegetation, light acidity and spice in the third position. The earthy, woody, tangy dark fruity, bready, sugary red Virginia also has a touch of vinegar, tart citrus, and spice. It almost shares the third slot with the bright. The earthy, woody, stewed fruity (raisins, dates, and plums), peppery Louisiana perique is just above the condiment level. I do notice a very light sweet casing. The strength, nic-hit and taste rankings are medium. There’s no chance of bite or harshness. It does have a few very small rough edges that are typical for blends in this genre. This mildly moist crumble cake easily breaks apart to suit your preference. Well balanced and complex, it burns cool, clean and a tad slow with a fairly consistent zesty, deeply rich, fruity, sugary sweet, savory, floral, tingly spicy, mildly creamy, campfire flavor that extends to the pleasantly lingering after taste. The room note is a bit stronger. Leaves little dampness in the bowl, and requires a couple more than an average number of relights. Three and a half stars out of four.

-JimInks

Plenty of immediate thoughts about Drucquer & Sons' Loch Ness, just not sure where best to begin. My tin is dated 06-08-22, which means any aging in my tin obviously occurred prior to the manufacturer dating it. And, indeed, it was/is aged sufficiently when I first smoked it. The tin note reminds me of top, bygone “English English” blends, subdued, smoky peat and musty, wheat/rye bread, smelling like it sat long and undisturbed in the tin. It’s easy to pinch off wads from the “krumble kake”, roll and stuff them loosely into “the right pipe”. It lights easily and smokes down slowly to nothing. Tastes are similar to but much better than the tin note, with savory-rather-than-hot, spicy, sour Orientals and sweet (and/or sweetened) VAs well shaded but not at all overpowered by the sour, very “classic” Latakia, which is some of the best I’ve smoked in many years. The Perique is musty, also sour, more dark figgy than anything else, and the lot is very well melded, more sour than sweet, but not so much as to spoil anything. Strength and tastes both ramp up past medium the way I smoke it, and the aftertaste is a long, sweeter trailing off of the best of an excellent smoke.

For many years I have thought that the best English blends had a lock on the “good Latakia”; but here is another example of American Greg Pease’s exceptions to this “rule”. I’m pretty sure experienced pipers will love this stuff, and beginners can use it as a time machine, to try something that tastes “like this sort of tobacco used to taste”. 4 stars, right out of the gate. My educated guess is that it will age well in a sealed tin. However, I will probably smoke it steadily from now on, in case it’s like some of the best English blends that fade sadly once they are jarred.

Drucquer & Sons - Loch Ness.

Think of the standard cardboard inners that hold the tobacco in a C&D, G.L. Pease, etc, 50g tin. Well this has two, stacked on top of each other. The kakes have a musty, tangy, vinegary smell, but the aroma isn't putatively in ''Lat-bomb'' territory. They crumble easily and aren't too wet.

The Latakia and Oriental form the leading flavour, easily. However, I don't find a my palate being lambasted with a whopping-great smoky flavour, instead the Lat's quite ''calm''; there's lots of it, but it's woody, camphoraceous, with less causticity than is often. The Oriental pairs nicely at the front. It's a little ''zingy'', but not overly floral. I find a definite ripeness from the red Virginia, this collaborates excellently with the citrusy bright Virginia. The Perique? Much less of this than the others. For the initial half I barely notice anything other than a very light pepper-note, but towards the end this taste of pepper becomes much clearer. The burn from it's brilliant, very reliable, giving a bite-free smoke.

Nicotine: above medium. Room-note: a little ''busy''!

Loch Ness? Had first bowl yesterday afternoon, smoked only this since; and ordered more! Highly recommended:

Four stars.

I expected to like this tobacco very much, but I was disappointed. Opening the tin, the smell is of fruit, not tobacco. My wife, from across the room said "Wow, that is sweet." She had the same reaction a week later. The smell is not unpleasant, but like perfume that might initially smell intriguing it is of the kind: I don't want to sit by that person while eating dinner. Other reviewers have noted the likelihood of some topping or casing. This is not one that helps the tobacco. It is noticeable at first, but the effect on the rest of the bowl is negative: it hides the tobaccos and tends to make the taste uniformly flat and even unpleasant. Its a shame, for the tobacco looks excellent. I admit my aging neurons might have destructively interfered with the signals that people who like it are getting, but I cannot recommend it.

This freshly opened tin has notes of fruity alcohol, smoke and mild Rasin. The mostly brown marbled crumble plug has a little black and tan mixed in. Tobacco is moist but doesn't really need drying. Breaks apart and rubs out with little effort. Burns slow with a few relights. The strength is medium and nic is mild to medium. No flavoring overtly detected, though tin note said otherwise, and I admit it could be a little fermentation (tin date 032322). Taste is medium to full and mostly consistent, with notes of musty herbal spices, dry earth, lots of smoky wood, floral, sweet grass, tart lemon, mild burnt toast, mild sour vinegar, tangy stewed plum, and very mild peppery retro. Oriental leading Latakia supported by Virginia and perique. Room note is tolerable, and aftertaste is great.

I'm back with another tin of Druquer and Sons, this time it's a semi-newer release as of last year. I believe, but correct me if I'm wrong, that this is the second of the new releases for this lineup. I do like Scottish mixtures, Blairgowrie being my one of my top 10, so I thought it would prove to be an interesting smoke.

Opening the tin I see a famous C&D style crumble cake. The cake in question has a nice mixture of colors and does like the tin says it does: break up easily. The tin note is really pleasant with lots of hay like, sweet, bready Virginias, soft Orientals, light Latakia and some fruitiness from the Perique. After crumbling some of the cake and loading my pipe, I find it at the right moisture for a good light.

Lighting up, the Virginias taste the most up front to me. This is a very bready smoke. The Orientals are more herbal than they are incense like and the Latakia offers a slight smokiness. The Perique is hiding in the background. This is a very smooth smoke. I have to admit it benefits from a large deep bowl more than a shallow one for me personally.

The taste in this one is a straight medium. It fills your mouth and then pleasantly lingers. The strength is also a medium. This is like a walk in the park with Lady N. I say nothing to room note, though I think with the increased Virginia content this blend may smell better than your average English blend. I give this blend a solid four stars.

Happy Piping!