A & C Petersen Premier Cru

Having enjoyed this blend a lot in the 1990's, I went on a quest to find a tin. I wasn't able to find one but I did find it in a pouch, which I had never seen before. No matter, it was still a great smoke.

This is probably the most nuanced tobacco I've ever smoked in my life. If my mind was on something other than the smoking experience, I missed it, and it smoked like any other tobacco. But when I closed my eyes and focused on the taste, I found a myriad of flavors that would pop up and then slowly meld into something else. All manners of light fruit, leather, wood, spices - all rolled into one incredible whole. I breezed through the pouch, which was totally stupid since I have no idea when or if I'll find more. But like someone who can't get enough chocolate cake, I couldn't stop! I'm seriously considering lobbying for the return of this tobacco. It may just be the most perfect blend ever. And that is truly saying something.

If anyone reading this can find some, buy it. If you don't like it, contact me and I'll be pleased to take it off your hands.

Please Note: I am trying to work off my back log of tobaccos i have tried years and years ago. In most cases i have no clue anymore when. Or who produced it back in the day. Also my memories are faded by time and those reviews are based mostly on my notes but sometimes i have a current tin for comparison as well:

I do have to agree with my esteemed colleagues: this is one of *the* nicest and most complex english type blends out there. Well, if in fact it *is* still out there that is. I have not seen this in a while and writing this review i got curious about its status. But all i could come up with is that none of my dealers have it or can order it.

Describing this blends taste is rather futile. Think about any whatsoever taste you associate with english blends and it *will* be in Premier Cru. Plus a dozen others as well. The different taste styles will pop in an out as the bowl progresses and always will be perfectly balanced while doing so. You really should be able to give the bowl your full attention or most of the changes and nuances will be lost to you.

Aftertaste is very nice, room note is that of tobacco and tongue bite simply will not occur.

So do i recommend this blend? You bet i do! If you ever see it about then get it by all means. No seriously, do yourself something good and get it.

Pro tip: there also is a flake version of this blend. Unfortunately i never had the opportunity to get that one but i bet it even is nicer than the version at hand.

I've smoked Premier Crú a number of times, buy haven't seen ot since my days in England ("Unashamed luxury", read the ad in those days).

If I may say so, imagine Peter Stokkebye's Luxury Navy Cut, but with a discreetly added dose of Latakia (Syrian rather than Cyprian) and some Turkish (Orientals). I never detected any added flavors, but there might be just a tad of a topping similar precisely to that of Stokkebye's LNC.

Indeed, a mild to medium quality smoke, very tasty and velvety smooth, with the Virginia Périque being the predominant flavors, and the Orientals remaining in the background. Don't expect something like Nightcap or any of the heavier English blends (Stokkebye's Perfect English is far stronger than this).

I haven't seen it in a long time. It's a bit pricey, but a recommended smoke.

My absolute favorite tobacco. But also a complitated tobacco which require some work from the smoker to release its fully potential. It is very important to pack this tobacco right which means quite tight. If it is packed too loose it will burn too fast and hot which will destroy the taste. Smoke it VERY slowly.

Reviewer Mainspring, our first reviewer, labeled this blend as "impossible to find" ten years ago (2004-7-10). Last year I bid on a 100gr tin on e-bay and won at $24.00 and I haven't seen another 100gr tin since, whether online or at pipe/tobacco shows. So, take into account that this was an older and larger tin of the ribbon cut variant (this tobacco also came as a flake cut in 50gr tins). Both the top and bottom were bulged-out and it made a noticeable hiss when the pull top was cracked. A very pleasant aroma greeted me that was both English blend and aromatic at the same time, making Premier Cru an aromatic English. This is a lesser known subcategory of English blends and I've only encountered them scarcely in my time and can't remember any specific blend names to cite. The tobacco was , more or less, uniformly medium brown with a narrow range of color variations and uniform in it's cut. The moisture content was at a normal level and it packed and smoked straight forwardly with only a short drying time. Setting the aromatic component aside for the moment, I would classify this blend as a medium English that was very satisfying on the level of Dunhill Standard Mixture Medium. The aromatic component was light, sweet and I was not able to identify any particular "flavor" in it. The middle range of this smoke was soft and friendly and, yes, nut like in flavor. All in all, I enjoyed this blend straight out of the tin and have made it my current "English base" tobacco in microblending. Not the best English blend I've ever smoked, but very enjoyable and recommendable - three stars.

If you can find it, I highly recommend it. one of the best blends i've had, easily in my top 5 all-time. If there really are orientals in here, they blend in perfectly. packs and lights easily, and the flavor is amazingly smooth and sweet.

I wish I knew where to find some more, I only had a sample a friend gave me.

This is a review for the 100g tin. This is a tobacco of great quality and it certainly contains all those different tobaccos it mentions. My personal problem with it is that I sit down and smoke it carefully, trying to get the fine nuances of the components, but all I get is a one dimensional taste. Unfortunately the 50g flake tin is not in production any more. People I respect have told me this tasted far more interesting since the same ingredients were "married" in a very different way. Will try hard to find a tin of the flake, but doubt the relationship with the normal version

This is one of the most complex tobaks I have ever smoked. There are so many things going on here. There is a naturally sweet, nutty flavor combined with a slight nose tingle of perique. It is extremely well balanced. You can be sure to have different flavors all the way down the bowl. It burns dry and cool - no bite! I was fortunate enough to put 9 tins away 3 years ago. This stuff is almost impossible to find. I hope it becomes readily available again because it would have a huge following. Highly Recommended!

Simply put, this is a wonderful tobacco. Mildly sweet, tangy and spicy, with faint earthy notes, creamy delicious latakia in just the right measure and just a tiny bit perique to give it a little boost. In fact, everything here is perfectly balanced from the first to the last puff. Best oriental I've ever tried, and I don't expect to find any better in the future (I hope I'm wrong, though). It is a pure joy to smell, pack, light and taste, from opening the pouch to emptying out the ashes. It burns rather quickly due to its thin cut, but I am yet to experience anything else than the faintest tingle on the tongue during charring. And I wouldn't have it any other way, either. No excessive heat during smoking, and not even a hint of residue in the bowl when finished. It's just perfect.

Best smoked on its own with a crystal clear palate to fully benefit from all the goodness in it.

Its limited availability is the only thing preventing me from smoking this more often. I was only able to get one 40g pouch before it disappeared (I didn't think far enough ahead to get a decent amount of it when I bought this pouch). So for now, I am carefully nursing what remains of it. I can only dream of finding this in its tin and flake variants. If I ever come across some again, I will be sure to hoard all I can of it.

This can be bought in bulk or 40 g pouch where I live in Sweden and I bought it in bulk. A very complex tobacco with many tastes that undulate in and out throughout the bowl, never ever boring but sometimes confusing in its richness. On of the better tobaccos I've had. Goes in somewhere between EMP and RR. One slight objection that has to do with the Perique I guess, from time to time the taste of green bell pepper appears, and I don't like green bell pepper. However, I can put up with it in this tobacco just like I can with a few pieces of green bell pepper in a salad... Apart from that this is a great tobacco that I'll be sure to include in my rotation. Update: Bought the 40g pouch today. It seems to me the blend consists of lighter leaves this time? The aroma is not quite as pungent as I remember it and the peppery feeling is hotter and more marked. Possibly a difference between the bulk and the pouch varieties? Still a really good tobacco but I preferred the bulk one 'cause of its relatively lesser pepperiness.