Dan Tobacco Midnight Ride

I can't believe I haven't reviewed this blend yet! I've smoked 3-4 tins of this the past 3 years or so. I think the main reason for the neglect of a review is based on the overall experience for me.

The tobacco has a nice tin smell and does tend to give the impression of sweetness. The perique is hidden in the nose and doesn't really come out strongly. The appearence is of a dark melange. The oriental is apparent in the nose. The moisture content is not over the top, but as with all tobaccos, open the tin and let it rest with the lid secured on it for a day or two to let the oxygen open up the leaf. The flavor will be much better.

The packing is easy, as it's a rather thin-medium ribbon cut. It takes to the match readily and will stay lit well. I have not tried DGT on this blend, but think that the addition of the orientals would make it a less than optimum candidate. But, there is significant virginia here so... give it a try, who knows?

The flavor of the orientals comes through well and the perique stays in the background for me. The virginias are in good proportion, and play well with the other components. The sweetness in the smell comes through in the flavor as well. The virginias have a sigificant amount of sugar casing, most all va. does to some degree or another, but this one is on the edge of being overdone. Not quite, but close. Overall, the flavor is nice, but doesn't really progress much and the complexities are subtle at best. Not a bad thing. It just is what it is.

I think if I were to have one single reason for putting my four remaining tins of this in the back of my cellar, it would be that the strength of this blend was a bit wimpy. It just couldn't hold my attention and I didn't really look forward to another bowl anytime soon. That generally is the sign of death for a blend in my opinion. If I don't immediately start planning my next bowl, it just isn't going to stick with me long.

I have four tins left of and 8 tin order bought in 2007. I smoked what I believe to be 3 and gave away one. The remaining tins will sit in the cellar until I get the time to put them on e-bay with some other tins that I just don't have interest in and are taking up valuable space. If you like this blend, as so many of my pipe brothers do, keep an eye out and when I list them, take a crack at them.

With the non-smoking community getting it's way in almost every endeavor, I need the room to stock away things I do love for the day when all tobacco will be lost forever. I plan on having enough tobacco in the next year or so to smoke for the rest of my life if need be. Yes that's a tall order, but who knows what will happen next?

If you are into lighter style english blends like this, you will be very happy. Try some. They are re-releasing these and you will get the chance to try a new tin soon. Cheers.

Appearance: Nice mixture of light to dark, with everything in between. The ribbon cut is fairly long and of medium width.

Aroma: Great Oriental spicy/nutty aroma with Virginia sweetness and a hint of fermented fruit. (Perique?) Almost smells like some Latakia present.

Packing: Packs easily into any pipe, just don?t over-pack the small ones.

Lighting: Lights easily, just tamp and relight.

Initial flavor: Wow, really rich. Great interplay of Virginia and Oriental. The Perique merely adds some fruitiness to the Va.

Mid-bowl: Great complexity, marvelous nuances in the smoke when puffed slowly. Can get hot if over-puffed, but this is not a work day blend. It shines when you can relax with it. Finish: Ends on a great note, no noticeable change until it?s gone. Pipe is clean and dry always.

Summary: I wasn?t sure about the Latakia, so I waved a can in front of Greg Pease. He confirmed that there wasn?t any present. My only complaint about this blend is that Dan doesn?t put it up in larger cans or bags.

This is a great blend, but it’s definitely not beginner pipe smokers. It’s a blend that you must know how to smoke, how to tame, how to enjoy, how to understand.

From the moment I opened the tin and had my first bowl to the last bowls of the tin, it changed quite a bit. So I’ll present the phases of this smoking experience below.

Tin note: Fermented tobacco, leather, a bit smoky, quite powerful.

Aspect: Beautiful ribbons with mostly golden leaves, some brown and black leaves. Came dry!

First smoking experiences: An interesting blend, but not what I expected it to be. It was mostly an oriental blend with a lot of perique. Initially, you find the natural sweetness of the virginia and some spicy notes from the perique, then some other spicy notes, condiment-like from the oriental, and the latakia can barely be detected. Sweet and spicy, orientals and virginia in the front with some floral notes. the perique is there with its spicy, fruity and vinegary taste. but where’s the latakia? If I were to list the tobaccos from the most prominent to the less prominent it would be: A good amount of perique, orientals, virginia, and latakia behind. An interesting taste, from sweet to spicy. Not great, not terrible. So far! That was after my first three bowls.

Middle smoking experiences: After I opened the tin, I put the tobacco in a hermetically sealed jar like I do with most of my tobaccos so that they do not get dry. What happens is that, when you open a tin and put it in a jar, it also helps the tobacco to “breathe” and “bloom”, and after a while it will taste better. Same thing happened to this baby. After a week in the jar, the latakia started to make its appearance and the blend was more balanced. But there was another “problem”. The big amount of perique, or the intensity that it had, overlapping the other tobaccos. Well, I solved this by using meerschaum filters. When I first smoked the blend, I smoked it in unfiltered pipes. After deciding to go for some meer filters, it took a bit off from the spiciness, allowing me to concentrate on the other components of the blend. Surprisingly, there’s a little flowery oriental that I didn’t detect before. The smoky characteristcs are there too, but still shy. The virginia however, can be easy to detect with some hay and bready notes, as if they just tossed in some Golden Slice in there. Now, with the meer filter, the flavors dance in this very interesting and somewhat complex blend.

Ending smoking experiences: As I was getting near the last bowls of the tin, the smoky characteristics of the latakia became more prominent, the spicy perique was still there, but at a tolerable intensity, the orientals were flowery and the virginia got sweeter. It’s like a different blend compared to the first bowls I’ve smoked without a filter.

Conclusion:

One thing is for sure, this is not a blend for beginners. Not for beginners in Oriental or English Blends and not for the new pipe smokers. It’s tough and hard to understand. Will take you at least one full tin to understand it and appreciate it.

My advice: Let it ‘bloom’ in a jar and smoke it with a filter if you want to get the best of out it. If you wanna be tough, go ahead and smoke it without a filter, but the perique will almost overlap all the other tobaccos and you won’t get all from this blend.

Strength: Medium Flavoring: None Taste: Medium to Full Room note: Pleasant or Pleasant to Tolerable

Most of the tobaccos I’ve tried since joining TR have been chosen from the highest rated blends on the board. Why not, right? And this approach has certainly worked out for me… by and large. At the same time, spoiled camp follower that I am, I get disappointed when I can’t get a touted blend to work for me. Such is the case with Dan’s Midnight Ride. Sorry to be the lone dissenter, but I was put off the instant I opened the tin and was met with the scent of Liquid Smoke, which seems to be more popular now than ever, and is here used, apparently, in lieu of actual Latakia, which is present but barely so in the tin. The tobacco that is present is cut into long, thin, wide ribbons ranging from gold, to toast, to black. The tobacco scents are melded into mildly spicy silage under the Liquid Smoke and mostly subsumed by this chemical, at least until the LS scent fades some, over time, after the tin is opened. Moisture appears to be optimal, but there is enough propylene glycol added to impede combustion, and it also joins the Liquid Smoke in oiling my mouth before I get very far down the bowl. The dominant VAs are wet hay-ish, and the vegetal Orientals are muddled with the VAs and what little Perique there might be, and all of it is shaded and confused by the Liquid Smoke. For me, MR is neither balanced nor complex, nor is there "interplay" between the varietals, but I find it fairly insipid and muddled. Strength is mild. Tastes are more mild than medium. Room note is fairly innocuous. Aftertaste starts with burnt Liquid Smoke and trails off “VA sweet”, mostly from the propylene glycol.

Here’s a blend I really wanted to like, but it just frustrates and confuses me. While I can’t really say it’s bad, it’s not good, either, and I simply can’t recommend it, especially in view of all the great, available blends that use the “same” tobaccos, eg., Chelsea Morning, on and on, another case of the “competition” blowing a so-so blend off the Board. One sad star.

I order all my tobacco from DanPipe: a great tobacco company that is just 2 country’s over. Always reliable, orderly and efficient; yep sounds German alright. Aside from ordering a few tins of MyMixture965 and Irish Flake to provide me with a lasting warmth to survive the winter; I asked for a couple samples of Midnight Ride and Ascanian No. 2, and they gave me a generous sample of both. Time to get out the corncob…

Midnight Ride is an English blend without the Latakia. It is similar to Hamburger Veermaster, but the additional Perique and Orientals make things interesting and really spices up the blend, taking the forefront and never relenting throughout. I smoke my pipe indoors with the window open (even now during winter) and this blend definitely gave me an all-around warm feeling from the Perique spiciness, similar to drinking a Whiskey straight. Now there is an idea for a fun night: Midnight Ride and Whiskey paired together!

The Latakia is MIA here, even though it is listed. With Presbyterian, I could at least get a slight Latakia taste, even if it was just an illusion form the blending process. However, I couldn’t taste anything resembling Latakia in Midnight Ride and I am very sensitive to Latakia; can smell and taste it from a mile away.

Midnight Ride is still a high quality blend, with the Perique and Orientals making you come back for more and never gets boring. A really nice blend for a cold winter’s night or galloping through town warning your townsmen of the imminent Redcoat invasion.

=Update 12/9/17=

I can now taste the Latakia, really gives it that well-balanced and smokey taste I love in English Blends. I'm boosting my rating up to 4 out of 4.

Revised 11/13/2015- I've had an unopened tin in the cellar for 3 years, that I just opened and let breath for a month. It is wonderful. Some sweetness, some Latakia, but most of all, Orientals done with a touch of spice and a wonderful marriage of flavor. I like this better than Rattray's Red Rap.

Wow, this is a very well done, creamy and round taste mixture! Opening you can find a well done ribbon cut, at the right moisture level (I just let it dry a few mins before loading, but that's why I prefer minimizing relights and in this way smokes a little bit cooler); it has wonderful round, creamy, slighlty smoky / pepperly aroma... wow!!! Quite easy to keep lit, dosn't burn too fast and you can enjoy a cool, relaxing, round taste smoke: the VAs provide sweetness, with some grass and figs taste, the orientals bring a grassy sourcy touch, the PE adds a hint of spiciness and finally the LAT gives the smoky background (not too much): a very well orchestastrated blend!!! The N factor is mild to medium. This blend is a loyal friend you can always rely on, a great all morning and afternoon smoke (in the evening I prefer a little bit more of N load). Absolutely highly recommended and to keep as regular player in my rotation!

Nice English blend. Not always brings the desired satisfaction. But when the constallation is good, this tobacco becomes a star. Anthem of this tobacco: Moonspell - Midnight Ride https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=5zhs5-kbNi0

I loved C.A.O. American History Mixtures series, unfortunately no longer available here in Italy. My last tins are ten years old, now. Midnight Ride is a very rich, intense, spicy, meditative blend. Perique is there to gives it an edge. Great tobacco! 4,5/5 in my personal rating system.