Brebbia Preludio (Mixture No. 60)

I had high expectations based on what I had read by others here and elsewhere. Therefor I was somewhat disappointed. This "English" blend made in Germany while not bad is not entirely to my liking. I tried it out in my Peterson Donegal Rocky. Firstly, it burns somewhat juicy. Early on I had to place a pipe cleaner in the stem to soak up some liquid. It has a bit of tongue bite, but not much, it is tolerable. As for flavor it has a smokey sourness to it and really not much else. The nicotine content seems to be somewhat high, not to my liking. Once you get past the juiciness it burns well but no other flavor develops. Meh.

1/14/2013 update: I have tried this a number of times and the only difference that I've noticed is that the nicotine content doesn't seem that profound. However I still find it to be at best an insipid blend. The two star rating is generous.

5/27/2013 update: My taste in pipe tobacco seems to occasionally change or evolve. Surprisingly I now rather like this mixture. Perhaps I was expecting something different at the time of my previous tries but these days I'm enjoying Preludio Mixture No.60. It is to my current tastes a nice mild English style mixture. Recently I've come to find enjoyment from Virginia tobacco, which seems to take the lead here in a nice mild smooth manner accompanied by a nice bit of oriental tartness and a smidgen of Syrian Latakia smokiness. There is nothing truly attention getting here but it is pleasant and satisfying to smoke on occasion. I've enjoyed this mixture a couple of times a week these days in a number of pipes. As for the "juiciness", perhaps aging a few months corrected that issue as I've not noticed it. And the "Vitamin N" is rather tame, which is nice. I'm puffing away on Preludio right now in an old Tinder Box Israeli made Exotica and it's very nice. I'm raising my review to 3 stars. Recommended.

This mixture is a collection of different aroma and flavors: earthy, grassy, fruity, spicy, nutty, musty, smoky ..... The taste is slightly bitter-sweet with a hint of salty-yeasty, this particular taste can slightly remember the sauce Marmite! IMHO better in a narrow pipe (18-19 mm).

After reading the various reviews at TR, I was very curious to test the results of the "Burley and Latakia" marriage (the so-called American English Mixture, right ?), even if the late spring is supposedly not the right period. I first bought Classic English no. 7 and - days later - also Classic English no. 8 and Preludio no. 6.

Let's review the third one:

at the opening I experience a musty-almondy like aroma, the Macedonian leaf is unmistakably present, not the same I can say of the Syrian Latakia.

The cut is small ribbon.

The colour is a wonderful contrast of bright and medium brown to black.

The weed is very (and I mean VERY) wet in the pouch. I have let the tobacco airing out one hour or more, then lighting was easy. No gurgle, no goop.

The smoke is refreshing medium english, musty-fruity, faintly bitter-sweet. There's some Latakia, but the main quality of the smoke stays in the interplay between the Virginia and the Macedonian. A metallic-piquant quality of the smoke makes me suspecting there is some Perique.

All-in-all a good smoke, of the like of CAO/Dan's Midnight Ride, Just milder.

This is a high-quality, unflavored English blend with a focus on the unique qualities of Syrian latakia.

With that out of the way, let me say that I don't think there's any way this blend has perique in it; I'm extremely sensitive to perique, and I finished the tin quickly and with nothing but pleasure. I'll also add that I didn't experience any of the moisture problems others here have noted. I was smoking a recent, 2007 tin, though, in case that's a factor in terms of current quality control.

Beyond those amendments, I don't have any poetry to share about this one. It isn't as deeply "Syrian" as some blends -- particularly GLPease's discontinued Syrian line -- but the distinctive sweetness and hint of floral qualities that come with Syrian latakia are still there. I like my Englishes best when they lean more toward latakia than Virginias, and this one complies. The orientals tie it together neatly, without ever dominating enough to swing this into Balkan territory.

I'll just add that I followed this tin with a five-year-old tin of GL Pease's Raven's Wing. There are distinct similarities between the two blends, although Raven's Wing exhibits, in my opinion, richer Virginias and a more flavorful Syrian latakia. But RW is no more, and Preludio is still with us. If you miss RW and are looking for a *similar* replacement, Preludio might well fit the bill for you. But regardless: Preludio is an enjoyable blend all on its own merits.

This was the first English mixture I ever purchased in a tin. I loved the scent upon first opening, but dang this stuff was moist. I had to leave the lid off for about two days to get it properly dried. However, once that was done it lit and smoked great, only ever ocassionally going out on me.

I'm not sure how well I really like this blend. It's robust, but there is just the slightest hint of flavoring that comes through. I'm not sure what it is, but it reminds me a little of fermented fruit or plum wine (perhaps it's perique?). That bugs me, because it really does not strike me as a natural taste of the tobaccos, being more artificial in nature. It only comes through when you pull a little hard on the draw, but at least it doesn't bite you. Another irritating factor is that the Latakia really fades out about halfway through the bowl, leaving only sweetness and that weird fruity sensation.

I think that this would be a better blend if they would just somehow tone down that fruitiness. I still like it, just not as much as a lot of other English blends.