Dan Tobacco Midnight Ride

I think that quantumboy's review is spot on. Instead of the usual Guinness Stout like English this is indeed like a hoppy ale. Midnight Ride is currently pretty hard to find but if you can find a tin pick it up and give this tobacco a try.

Soli Deo gloria!

After Noorm?s punctual and complete review, which I completely agree, I should waive to add anything sounding kinda obvious? I apologize with the TR community. Nevertheless MR has not been reviewed so often, moreover seems we have to do with a product going to disappear soon. My further comments are based on 1/3 tin which has been left sleeping approx. two years. The tobacco is not so dry, in perfect conditions for smoking. A Savinelli Riviera, filtered with 9mm balsawood, large bent was used. From char to 1/3 of the bowl the strength is mild to medium, the flavour slightly sweet/piquant/musty and tingles the tongue with occasional sharp notes. The smoke is fresh, the pipe too. To the nose a pleasant biscuity/ spicy/flowery note, to the palate a faint metallic note. In the second third the strength reaches the medium, the bouquet remains unchanged but rounder. The sharper notes disappear replaced by a faintly bitter note. In the last third everything melts in a very round way, and strength remains medium. No gurgles, no bite. Yes: MR smells like some Latakia is present (? and Latakia is an oriental, so maybe the tin description is hiding some ?), or it?s the interplay between the Orientals and Perique, I don?t know. Sure it?s a beautiful medium English mixture to be enjoyed in the leisure time. The quality of the leaves looks beautiful both to the eye and the fingers. The smoke qualities are one-of-a-kind, a true pleasure, the Orientals having the main role. Seems to me that it keeps the properties of the English mixtures of old. Even, I should agree with Sasha and Beer, it?s a bit weak in the body. Four stars, no doubt.

This tobacco is made for those nights on the deck reading a book or just relaxing. The intermingling of the VA's and Orientals are superbly balanced and there is just enough Perique to make this blend, well for a lack of a better term awesome. There is a noticeable amount of Parique in the tin note, I smelled fermented fruit and woody notes along with just a but of Oriental spice. Once lit the tobacco had more of the woody (dark wood) taste along with sweetness from the VA. tobacco. As the bowl progressed the tobacco became more rich and complex with the different tobaccos each taking the stage and bowing out as an other took the spotlight. This is not easily done without becoming overwhelming, but CAO seems to have mastered it with this blend. The Perique never becomes too strong but is always in the background providing good body and one of the finest blends I have had in a long time.

I lit this tobacco on Halloween because of the nocturnal story that inspired the DAN house to create this blend. It is curious that when cold the oriental ones give a lactic smell but, be careful, not a lactic acid of butter candies, it is an acidic lactic as if it were milk that has been in the refrigerator for 1 month.

When cold you can still appreciate a latakia in the background and the perique saluting; my fear continued to grow.

Lighting it was elegant, the virginias appear and dominate this mixture that, when cold, scared me. The orientals transform into a sweet body that with the latakia and the perique form a friendly and affectionate 3-headed monster.

I loved this mix!

E.S

A solid blend. The latakia is present in just the right amount to compliment the Va/Per. The Orientals reveal themselves towards the bottom of the bowl with a floral compliment to the spice of the perique. While this is not my favorite Va/Per (I really cannot consider it an English blend, its more of a Va/Per with a dash of latakia) it does offer something unique and I don’t mind keeping an extra tin in my cellar. Give it a try.

Note: This blend needs a little time to settle in a jar. Don’t smoke it straight from the tin.

I chose this to be my first review on here due to some strange qualities I saw a couple other reviewers mention. I purchased this based off of many favorable reviews on this site as well as various forums. I thought I had a good idea of what this would taste like, but I was completely wrong. I saw many on here describing this as a Balkan, and some even describing it as a Lat bomb. It’s neither of those things. It’s a light English somewhat similar to EMP or Skiff Mixture. However, while I really enjoy those blends, something is off about this blend.

One of the first things I noticed was that the tin says “Oriental, Virginia & Perique” with no mention of Latakia. While Latakia is technically an Oriental, tin descriptions will usually just outright say it has Latakia. I found this curious, and I think it’s a clue to what this blend really is.

When I opened the tin for the first time, I was hit with an off-putting smell. As a disclaimer, let me say that I love Latakia. I love the smokiness, the leatheriness, the woodiness. I’ve never been put off by any Latakia blend, whether it be a Lat bomb, a Balkan, a light English, a heavy English, etc. The smell I got when I opened the tin was not Latakia. It was smoky, yes, but it wasn’t Latakia. I saw that another reviewer mentioned a “liquid smoke” smell, and I’d say that’s probably what this smell was. It smelled like a cheap smoky scotch dumped over Orientals and Virginia. The smokiness you smell in this blend appears to be almost entirely artificial, considering I see very little Latakia in the blend. But even despite this weird aroma, I wanted to see what it tasted like.

Upon lighting, the first thing I tasted was the Orientals and Virginias, with a spiciness from the Perique. Unfortunately, something was off with the Virginias for me as well. They tasted metallic and also slightly artificially sweet. The Orientals and Perique tasted great, but the Virginias threw me off. After those initial flavors subsided, I was hit with an aftertaste that tasted just like that artificial smokiness I smelled upon opening the tin. Every once in awhile I did pick up some actual Latakia, and when that came into the mix it tasted great. Unfortunately, those times were few and far between.

Having smoked this several times now, I think I’m gonna have to give up on it. That artificial smokiness is actually nauseating for me after awhile. I have yet to smoke a whole bowl of this because I have to put it down half way through. If you’re okay with the artificial smokiness, the Orientals and Perique in this blend are quite good and flavorful, which is why I’m confused as to why they’d mask it with flavoring. The Virginias are meh though. For me, I won’t be buying this again. I’ll cellar what I have left and see if the topping diminishes.

1 MONTH UPDATE: Now that this tin has been opened for over a month, the topping has almost disappeared. The strange Virginias have gotten less offensive as well. The orientals and perique stand out more, which in my original review I said were my favorite part of this blend. It is now a spicy, fragrant, woody, earthy mixture. I do sometimes still get a funny aftertaste of the lingering topping and strange Virginias, but only occasionally. The tobacco is pretty dry and almost crunchy as expected, but it tastes better. While I still prefer Skiff Mixture, Squadron Leader, EMP, etc., this is an alright light English blend if you let it sit for a month, at the expense of drying it out pretty harshly and letting it get crunchy. I still wouldn’t buy this again, even after the slight improvement.

This one is a bit of an oxymoron. The tin note is quite sharp-ish but pleasant. A little smoky quite citrus fruits and "sweet". When lit it gives nice semisweet smoke with more zesty tangy citrusy flavor. The perique is more on the spicy peppery side then the dried fruits, which by me is a little downside because the smoke can be a little bit more sharp than I wish too. I am currious what it would taste like if theres more sweet-ish dried fruits perique used. The latakia is just for the aroma here and definitelly more of a guide than a leader. The overall feeling is interresting but I cant put this one to an "english" type. It is really an oxymoron. I can say that this tobacco is the type you need to be in a mood for it. Unlike the Old Ironsides, which provides anytime, this one is much more an occasional stuff. So I am left right between three and four stars. With some awareness to what being said I think I should go with the four stars because when I am in the mood this baccy merrits full score.

Smoke and drive: A pleasant friend if you are in the mood for something unusual.

Notes: Citrus, Bergamot, Pepper, Grass, Honey

Real good tobacco. Today it is one of my favorites. A perfect cut, perfect humidity. It is spice since the beginning, evolving to a more sugary sweet smoke. The orientals provide a good balance with the perique, which aggregates some notes of honey, sometimes remembering some floral. Perfect for VaPer smokers. All tobacco is burned, only ashes are left at the end of the smoke. It burns well from start to finish, requiring few (if any) relighting. If I can suggest some pipe, I should say that this is perfect tobacco to be smoked on corn cobs. If you told me this is a English Mixture I will not believe. To me tastes more like VaPer, but I think it you please the English smokers but not the Latakia fans.

- Germano @pipesnuffscience

Dan tobacco is known for some good tobaccos. This is one of them. Packs easily, no relights and and above all no tongue bite. I usually smoke with a 9mm filter, but this one is pretty easy on tongue! The first three bowls were simply amazing tastewise. Then, i left it to age for one year, smoking different blends from my cellar. But, when I came back something strange happened. Instead of a mellower smoke, I got bittetness at the second half of the bowl and a more harsh smoke overall. Still good though. I recommend to smoke it fresh out of the tin as the moisture level is ideal and leave aging for other blends, preferably virginia.