Dan Tobacco Midnight Ride

Midnight Ride is a well done classical English mixture. Natural sweetness with some smokiness underneath, just a tad lighter than EMP. Pick this one, if you like the VAs upfront in the taste and the condimental tobaccos seriously utilized as such, getting a bit more intense when you reach the end of the bowl. Very pleasing in the nose (of the smoker that is).

Midnight Ride is a well done classical English mixture. Natural sweetness with some smokiness underneath, just a tad lighter than EMP. Pick this one, if you like the VAs upfront in the taste and the condimental tobaccos seriously utilized as such, getting a bit more intense when you reach the end of the bowl. Very pleasing in the nose (of the smoker that is).

Disclaimer: I am very much a novice piper still, so please take this review with a grain of salt.

i purchased a tin of Midnight Ride as an introduction to orientals, perique and latakia. I have only smoked Virginia/Black Cavendish/Burley blends before this.

Upon opening the tin it was immediately evident that this would be something completely different. Contrary to the rich, sweet and nutty flavours I was used to with the Danish-type blends, MR was not at all rich and sweet, but instead stingy, sour and pungent. I was drawn to this new aroma and kept sniffing the tin for five minutes, trying to figure out what I would be in for.

Upon lighting I was first greeted by a familiar Virginia sweetness, but almost instantly a completely new tingy, spicy, earthy pungency -- to the point of almost being acrid -- pushed through. I was surprised, as I instantly recognized the taste and scent:

When I served my time in the army nearly twenty years ago, we were sent to put out a ground fire in the forest. Upon arrival at the site, the acrid scent of burning moss was everywhere, as the wet, marshy ground slowly and smokily burned away. The scent was very strong, and the smell lingered in the forest as we kept watch through the night.

The strong, acrid smell and the experience of keeping watch in that dark forest has stuck with me through all this time, and this is where Midnight Ride instantly carried me back to.

I don't know how I forgot to review Midnight Ride long before this but I will rectify that oversight now. I believe my reason for neglecting this blend in my reviews is because I don't smoke any blends with Latakia in it anymore although thankfully it only plays a supporting role in Midnight Ride. Obviously made with only the highest quality tobaccos by expert master blenders. If you like Oriental blends than this is good as it gets. I don't smoke blends containing Latakia anymore but this blend is so good that I can't help but light up a bowl of Midnight Ride every now and again.

Some are saying, no Latakia. Others, gobs of Latakia. I think it's there, at least in my sample from 2005. The Perique and orientals are also very noticable, against a backdrop of fine Virginias. Whether or not the Latakia is a figment of my imagination, at any rate it is light to my tastes. This is not the sort of thing I would stock up on or rave too much about, but I am enjoying the few bowls in the sample I traded for with Chaplikc. I prefer Virginias and VAPERS in all forms, and especially flake for an everyday smoke, but love to try all sorts of things. There are all sorts of things in here, like multiple Virginias, probably multiple orientals, Perique and (I believe) Latakia, and if they threw one more strain of tobacco in this blend, such as Burley, it might be over the top. As it is, I wouldn't say I would not buy another tin, especially an aged one, but this blend won't be one I cellar a lot of. To its credit, I will say Midnight Ride is a nice puffin' tobacco; I can play with the smoking rate and not worry about bite, blow it out my nose without sneezing from Perique overload, and generally have fun smoking it. It's just that I will probably reach for a VAPER or Lakeland flake next.

I'm smoking my last two tins of this wonderful blend. Similar to mild English blends, other than the fact it actually has no Latakia in it, it is deep and soothing. I would recommend it as a crossover for those desiring to change to English blends, but like most great tobacco's this is no longer produced. Sad times, sad times.

It has been a while since I smoked this but I will always try to keep a tin around because of the wonderful flavor. The perique tobacco adds some good spice to this blend. After it's all lit up, I experience hints of orange and a creamy, nutty flavor that continues throughout the bowl. A good flavor especially if you like un-cased blends.

[update, Jan. 25 2008. As a few others have been, I was 'fooled' into thinking that this was an 'English' blend and have recently learned/realized that there is indeed zero Latakia in this mixture. It does, however, have scads of Perique, which I've sadly developed an intolerance for (irritation, sinus reaction)--which his too bad, since I do enjoy Perique blends and even got a kick out of the small batch of plain perique I'd once sampled. That being said, not being a 'revisionist', here's what I wrote a few years back:]

One of the first English/Latakia-based blends that I tried, when I began exploring the joys and mysteries of pipe tobaccos in earnest 5 years ago.

Lacking the accrid intensity of, say, The Balkan Sobranie (I've only tried the last, pouched offerings of that revered blend), this is nonetheless not a meek smoke. There is a poetic sweetness about it without even a twinge of caramelized, cavendishy sugar essence. Midnight Ride was my first experience of just how rich and complex an English can be while retaining a sweetness and a lightness that simply can't be appreciated or understood by the uninitiated who pass by and sneer at its smokiness. Which, by the way, I've never understood, since I love it when I get whisps of Latakia and full VAs from another smoker. It's like a campfire or other intoxicating smells of nature.

By the way, isn't this tabak produced BY Dan FOR CAO, or are there actually 2 different MRs available (tobaccoreviews.com features 2 different tabaks with this name, one made by "Dan Tobaccos" and the other by "CAO") ... somebody help me out here ...

Highly reccomended for the Latakia lover who enjoys strength without the severity of the strongest English/Oriental smokes. Ride on, man!

This is truly a first class blend. It is a cool, full bodied smoke. Midnight Ride smokes brilliantly two minutes after you buy the tin, which is pleasantly surprising; it seems every smoke these days requires a few hours of drying time in the air before it is tolerable.

The ribbon cut burns very well and I would give this blend four stars if it were not quite as heavy. It is just a bit too smoky. I like the lighter English blends; I like tobaccos where I can smoke three or four bowls consecutively. This is not a light blend, but for those who like the heavier tobaccos, this is much more interesting than Dunhill 965, which is as much a standard as 'night and day'.

In every category I find that Dunhill is excellent, but someone else is better. If you like full bodied English blends, Midnight Ride is an excellent choice, perhaps the best because of its interesting, rich flavor that does not rely solely on brute strength.