Peterson De Luxe Navy Rolls

I would equate this to Mac Baren's Navy Flake after a body-building course.

Tin aroma is rich, leathery, tobacco, rum, liqorice, and earthy.

The round discs look elegant and break up well. They smoke slowly however you prepare them and provide a full-bodied smoke with strong tobacco and leather character with hints of liquorice and sassafras.

Room note isn't great and the volume of smoke isn't huge as it burns slowly. Nicotine is fairly heavy so be wary!

When I leave the comparison of Dunhill De Luxe Navy Rolls to the legendary Escudo aside, I get a very nice VaPer tobacco, that delivers in the visual, haptic and olfactory department, not to forget the taste.

Full Virginia sweetness seems to be in constant battle with the spicy, peppery and earthy tones of the Perique. The experience is very repeatable per fill, thanks to the coin presentation. That also makes it perfect for aging, but I never managed to keep a tin for more than two years, though. Definitely a must try once!

I sometimes wonder what would happen if the reviews on this site permitted half stars ... would there be a mad rush to update everything? Would dedicated users split the fine hairs on their previous reviews? Would people who left half-star comments in their notes go back and decide whether or not a blend was 3.5 or 3.75 and leave that instead?

Probably not with De Luxe Navy Rolls. This is a four-star smoke.

I tried Escudo and I thought I simply had a bad experience with that blend, or maybe just that tin. So I tried Dunhill De Luxe Navy Rolls. It was nearly the same experience, but worse. It seems VaPer is just not for me. Here's the good. The burning characteristics are great. It stayed lit with the true light up. There was no gurgle. It burned evenly with almost no dottle. And the room note is pleasant, once your olfactory senses have strained themselves to pick it up. THAT'S IT. Here's the bad. I've learned that, for me, that "Perique spiciness" only means "chemical tongue bite". The smoke itself was 99.9999 flavorless. I rate the nicotine high enough to give me a major headache afterwards. Conclusion. After trying two of the highest rated VaPers and having poor results with both, I'm done with all of them. It isn't for me. Smoke what you like and like what you smoke.

Nice presentation upon opening tin. Attractive meaty smelling rolls of mixed shades. Dry it a little and ready to go. Flavor was a little lacking, glad the perique is there. Very one dimensional, wondering how this used to be many years ago.

The most notable characteristic of any Dunhill tobacco is the absence of drama. You just open a tin, put the content into a pipe and begin to enjoy. So, it's beautiful, fragrant, very high-quality tobacco. I prefer to smoke it folded. Lights easily, do not require relighting and virtually no tamping. By contrast with relaxing pure Virginia, it's more intended for a sailor on morning watch. He will not fall asleep while smoking this.

The reason why I do not give it four stars is that I am not sure I love VaPer so much. But if you do and money is not the issue, go for it.

Update 11/10/2012. Upgrading to 4 stars. Simply the best Va/Per.

A pleasant, medium-strength smoke. The Virginia gives the blend a nice buttery, lemon grassy sweetness while the perique lends its usual spicy aftertaste.

I've have the most success rubbing out a few coins and letting them dry overnight as my first smokes were pretty gurgly.

Nice enough stuff, worth a try.

A truly luxurious experience. Think dark, dried 'spicy' fruits such as raisins, dates, figs etc. I also prefer to rub this stuff out, and pack it fairly tight. Fairly low in vitamin N, and not as complex as Royal Yacht (my favourite), more one dimensional, but very easy to smoke. Great first pipe of the day for me. Easy to light and stays lit. I also like to sometimes add a few threads of St Bruno, to really give this a nicotine hit.

I have been disappointed with this mixture which, as others have already pointed out, is fairly expensive.

Quality is there, the taste is nice, it burns well...But...where is the Perique, I ask you?

Now I have to smoke three tins of this.

Escudo is a better, and less expensive, option, lads.