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