Peterson Sunset Breeze

Nah... Sorry.

After all the pomp and ceremony about this one being Petersons better efforts at an aro, well, I'm just not convinced.

I like Ameretto, the tin aroma is wonderfully pungent, strong and promises a lot up front, seemingly at ease with it's reputation as earnt from other tobacco adventurers before me..

However, as far as I'm concerned this pleasant aroma doesn't translate as well (if at all) into the smoke, neither for that matter in the room note either if I'm honest. I detected VERY weak overtones of this aro as it reached the end of it's recyling process of the senses, during each 4 second draw that made up my half-hour's afternoon toke.

This one does smoke a wee bit on the warm side (and I'm a sipper) and it tastes more chemically artificial than most of it's stable brothers that I've tried from Peterson. It's ok, but I won't buy another. 'Connoissours Choice' is a much better option IMO.

Still, it's for you to decide not me...

A blend in the same league as Blue Note: good tobaccos so heavily cased that the shredded leaves almost feel sugary and sticky between the fingers. A bowl once a year might be fine, but this kind of blends now nauseate me from the tin aroma up to the actual smoking experience. Better than the drugstore aromatics (at least, if you smoke slowly, you can get some tobacco taste), but as usual the taste for the smoker is not as delicious as the smell that those who surround him can experience. And the second half of the bowl always tastes rank and gets bitey... If you want to get a more detailed description, take a look at my review for Blue Note and think that this is a tobacco with a very similar taste but with an amaretto flavoring (which everyone else will rave about, but the smoker won't since he will get almost nothing of it). Not bad, mind me, but just the thought of this ultrasweet stuff make me shiver...

I had a tin of this aromatic years ago right after it was introduced to the market. I took notes about Sunset Breeze being intensly flavored with the aroma of sweet almonds (Amaretto).

This time around I found a tobacco with hardly any flavor noticeable. Neither added aromas nor distinct tobacco flavors were to be found. It is not bad or a total waste of money, just lacks any good reason to ever purchase it again.

Sunset Breeze is of medium strength with a tendency to get a bit bitey/dusty when smoked too hot.

A aromatic blend of Virginia, Burley, Black Cavendish & cased with Amaretto. First smell from the tin was caramel / butterscotch, probably due to the Cavendish & Burley. On first light, the same butterscotch / nuttiness were evident and then suddenly, notes of sweet something. Not necessarily the amaretto, more a marzipan-like flavour. Only deeper in the bowl, I could trace the Amaretto - very lightly. For those who like these flavours, probably a good aromatic blend but not my favourite. I will probably not buy another tin.

This is a great aromatic, no doubt. It is loved by your room, nicely cased but just too much. Tobacco -very good- is there and you feel it BUT I have a problem with the temperature. It seems to me that caramelization times and periods of virginias and others do not collide nor harmonize. Thus the whole bowl is a sort of - quite fast - alternate scenes’ sequence with different actors playing separately. Might be nice to others, while for me this was a tiring experience, also due to a very quick burning time. There are TOO MANY worse aromatics than this, but there are several which are far better.

Review after 5 years: I have definitely put down aromatics and flavoured, except for a couple of compulsory exceptions (St Bruno, Epiphany,..) Nowadays, I don’t see any clue in such chemical and perfumed weeds. Downgrading to 1 star, which goes out for my fellows who smoke tobacco rather than creamy soaps.

I wish I could write an objective review on this tobacco, I really do. This tobacco has such a special place in my heart. While I could explain that this is due to the circumstances under which it was smoked, I believe this is indeed a wonderful aromatic.

I have never seen, tasted nor possessed amaretto in my life, yet I would imagine this tobacco tastes and smells exactly like it. Wonderful floral, fruity and liqueur notes creep out of the tin. Very much like the brandy drenched fruit cake present on any Christmas dinner table. It translated very well into the taste, the present fruit content resembling more apricot than in the tin. The flavour nearly completely masking the taste of burning plant matter. While I struggle to analyze the room note if I am the one smoking the blend, this is an absolute crowd-pleaser. This room note immediately produced me a wife and a mistress.

Even while blatantly gulping on this blend, it would continue to refuse getting any warmer. While I never inhale anything but the air around me, this blend goes down like breeze at dusk.

Best tobacco ever.

We took a gamble on Sunset Breeze as the 1lb bags were on sale, and let me just say this tobacco did not disappoint. Sunset Breeze is exactly what I look for in an aromatic. What you smell is what you taste. If you’re not a fan of flavoring in your tobacco this might be a smoke you stay away from as the flavoring is very noticeable. That being said the flavoring is heaven on earth. I’ve been desperately searching for an aromatic that can at least stand up to this high standard set by Sunset and I’ve come back empty handed every time. This is a tobacco I hope to always have a bowl saved away for a rainy day.

**UPDATE/EDIT** I may have jumped the gun on this review. Having smoked a lot more of SunSet I now have a couple of concerns. First and foremost This blend has a chemical taste which creates a film in your mouth that’s hard to ignore. This isn’t so bad the first few bowls but if smoked daily you’ll really start to notice it. Second and most importantly it will impact your pipe in a negative way. The taste still haunts my pipe days later.

This was the first tobacco I tried that I felt was something special - the type of tobacco I had been searching for.

The tin note is beautiful, very distinctly 'tobacco' rather than candy but with a subtle amaretto aroma. Upon lighting, the added aromatics are distinct but subtle adding to the flavours of the tobacco rather than overwhelming them. Throughout the smoke hints of peach, caramel and almonds are presented with the amaretto most obvious on the exhale but this is always very balanced and never too sweet. The only drawback is that it tends to smoke quite hot although this may be more to do with the smoker than the smoke, however I experienced no bite.

The room note is as would be expected, a little sweet but very pleasant. Mainly fine ash is left but with what at the time I thought was a surprising amount of dottle, now that is what I generally expect of Peterson aromatics, particularly when using a smallish pipe. Having said that, particularly for this blend I find a much more enjoyable smoke when using a 'compact' bowl as the subtlety of the flavours tends to be lost by end of large or wide bowl.

Why: Burley aromatic with Virginia and black cavendish. A step down in aroma compared to Peterson Connisour’s choice but with added Burley. So if Burley is your way and you want an aromatic, this will work.

Looks: It looks like a good bit of burley and black cavendish with some Virginia selections in ribbons.

Using?: A dusk smoke when you want an aromatic that is not overwhelming and a dose of Burley. The room note is sweet.

Result: Doesn’t feel or look wet but smokes a bit wet. Even with pauses condensation wets the filter and there is some bubbling. Burns best when halfway down the bowl. Not a hard alcohol/amaretto taste as described but sweet.

Conclusion: Get Connisour’s choice unless you are a Burley person. This is geared towards a more traditional pipe base and taste with added select Virginia. Connisour’s choice does it better without the Burley with more Red Virginia and black cavendish mix for more fruit, rums and vanillas tastes.