Peterson Connoisseur's Choice

I had no idea I was getting an aromatic when I bought this, I also had no idea you could pack that much flavor into tobacco, but I'm a newbie. This blend tastes and smells like a dark chocolate candy with cherry liquor inside. I smoked it a handful of time when I bought it and have been leaving it alone in a jar for a while. I don't anticipate going back to it until I have another cob.

I’m not an aromatic smoker, but every so often I like to try something different from the VaPers and strong flake that are my favorites. With that being said, CC is a pretty good aromatic as most of the one’s I try don’t so much underwhelm me, they overwhelm me with cloying sweetness and lack of tobacco flavor. I do admit that the aroma from the new tin was a little concerning because the fruitiness was very strong, but didn’t translate into the bowl with the same intensity. The aromatics balanced well with the tobacco and burned cool and clean with little to no moisture in the bowl. CC has plenty of tobacco richness, but is mild enough for an all day smoke, so I would recommend this to a newbie or veteran . The fruitiness dissipates somewhat through the bowl, which is fine with me because the tobacco is what you’d expect from Peterson; quality Virginia , Burley and Cavendish….My girlfriend likes the room note which is a change from her usual reaction to most of the tobacco I smoke. I rate this a a 2.5 and though aromatics aren’t my thing, I would buy it again.

After having a great experience with Sunset Breeze, and after reading many positive reviews of Connoisseur's Choice here, i decided to buy a tin to try the tobacco. It has great flavour in the tin (although the sweetness borders on cloying), yet most of the flavour really doesn't carry over to the smoke. Frustrated, I drew too deeply and too fast in search of satisfaction and ended up with a hot smoke. On the second bowl, I did slow things down somewhat yet the casings really weren't shining through unlike the Amaretto in Sunset Breeze. Overall, my experience with this blend has been mediocre at best. I will be continuing my search for an aro I can enjoy like SB.

Preface--I have only had the bulk version of this tobacco, so I'm not sure how much of a difference that makes, but based on the reviews here, I feel it might...

I'm always a little perplexed with Peterson tobaccos. I'm no genius, but no dummy, either, and I know that once a company reaches a certain status, you're paying for the name as much if not more than the product. Having said that, I think I have very high expectations for Peterson's tobaccos, and pipes, for that matter. While their pipes are usually higher quality pipes, their tobaccos don't seem to live up to the name to me. This one is good. Not great. Good. But, I'm critiquing it amongst a field of other big name/high caliber companies. Compared to some other luxury brand tobaccos, it's ok to good. Comparing it to value brands/off brands/cheaper brands, etc., it's really good.

Anyways, this one has somewhat of a complex taste, with no, single flavor being overwhelming. It's pretty mellow and balanced. Some spice, some nutty, some citrus. Burns ok. Little to no bite. Pleasant room notes, but it's not one of those room notes where the audience are raving about. I'd gladly smoke this again if it were gifted to me, but for the price/name, I'll likely just get something else.

Peterson's Connoisseur's Choice was my first aromatic as a pipe smoker. I have mixed feelings about aromatics of the ones I've tried (I'm still trying to find that perfect aromatic) but nonetheless I'll state what I think of this blend and how to get the most out of it.

Tin: The tin note of this blend is one of the best I have ever experienced. It is extremely sweet and dessert-like and fills the air. You can mainly smell the tropical fruit and vanilla. No artificial or chemical scent to it whatsoever, it is absolutely wonderful. Imagine if Peterson's made ice cream versions of their aros...

Packing/Lighting: Moisture level is perfect. Packs good and lights generally good, but sometimes takes a bit of perseverance to "get it going", it's so mild you don't even know if it's lit or not.

This tobacco is definitely a sipper. This stuff can get hot if you're not careful. The key is slow and steady, but even so, it can still get pretty warm.

Strength: Mild to medium. There is a mouth feel to it, and somewhat of a body, but a little too mild for my taste.

Taste/Room note: As the tin says, this blend has a bit of spiciness coming from the Red Virginias. There is an underlying sweetness from the various flavourings. The tobacco is definitely quality stuff. This tobacco also has a very soft and velvety mouth feel which is very pleasant.

The room note of this tobacco is incredible, and is part of enjoying this blend fully. Without it, the tobacco would be pretty boring. I recommend to smoke this in a bent pipe so the smoke can reach your nose. Also when you exhale you can get the aroma of this tobacco.

Final Thoughts:

Honestly, this tobacco isn't really for me, but it's not the worst smoke. As I've said, it might be worth picking up if you're already a fan of aromatics and you think the room note sounds appealing to you, go ahead. If you like non aros and want to get into aromatics, go with something else. So overall, "meh".

Like - Incredible tin note and room notes, and a very relaxing smoke.

Dislike - It is a little on the mild side which is not for me. The taste, although decent, does not taste how it smells, which is disappointing, as it has such a great aroma. Heat can be a problem, as this tobacco can get hot very easily, even when smoked moderately.

Update - I am on my second tin of it and having had this tobacco for a while it opened my eyes to a few things about it. This aromatic tastes a little bitter upon first light. It's rather tasteless on the tobacco side of things and that's covered up by the peachy rum flavouring. Not too much vanilla but it's there. It goes from not having any taste at all to tasting kind of foul for the last one-third of the bowl; I usually don't smoke that part. It's all smell and no flavour or taste really for that matter. Quite flat.

I liked this blend as a pleasant aromatic. A fine smoke any time of day. It was moderately strong at times but usually mild. Flavour was quite pleasant and noticeable. Taste of the tobacco was a bit muted or masked by the added flavour. Room note was pleasant or even very pleasant with the right air circulation. It was a bit moist when it was fresh. After a few days it was just right and started to burn quicker. When it's completely fresh it has a strong tin note which is pleasantly sweet. This is my first Peterson blend that I've tried and I'm very happy with the results. I bought another tin so that I'll have more for the upcoming week. I dig how the sweet vanilla mixes with the rum & fruit flavour. If you really love aromatics, you'll love this.

I got this tobacco as a gamble because I couldn't find the Peterson Special Reserve that I was looking for.

The taste is somewhat unnoticeable when smoking, not what you would expect after sniffing the tobacco in the tin. The strength is medium. Therefore, I could say that this tobacco does not have anything special about about it.

From my point of view, it is recommended only for adding a nice smell to the room.

Overall, 2 out of 4

Smells like fruitcake in the tin - very sugary. Considering that the blend has some lighter Cavendish and Virginia in with the black Cavendish, I was expecting some body to the smoke, but it was light. Too light for my tastes. The casing, although it smelled medium in the tin, also tasted light. Perhaps this is because the tobacco [in my well-sealed tin] was very dry for an aromatic. Hardly moist at all, like it had been left out for a week. If you like a semi-aromatic, or a more subtle aromatic that is smooth and mild, this may be for you. No tongue bite or gurgling with this one.

Another problem I have with this aromatic is that the tobacco has a slight spicy taste to it that doesn't mesh with the fruitcake flavoring. One could argue that it adds complexity to the flavor profile. This slight spiciness is also apparent in the tin aroma.

The room note is excellent, tho I can't really identify what I am smelling as far as the different ingredients advertised to be in the casing. For example, I detect no coffee taste or aroma.

When I exhale the smoke, it seems rather empty. Or flat. It has no weight to it. Partly because the smoke is so bone dry. The deficiencies of this blend become extremely apparent when compared to a MUCH better version of it - Dan Tobacco Blue Note - another black Cavendish/Virginia blend with whiskey, fruit/citrus, and vanilla flavoring. Unless your tastes run to a mild and dry semi-aromatic, best to skip it.

I'm new to pipe smoking, so take from this what you will... I've only tried 3-4 kinds of tobacco so far, but this one is currently my favourite.

When you open the tin, you get a pleasant fruit-cake like smell. You almost want to eat the tobacco, which is odd because I don't like to eat fruit cake...

It has a mild or very mild taste when you smoke it. Sweet and pleasant, maybe hints of something like maple. It is nice, but not as strong of a flavour as I had hoped for.

The room note is also light and pleasant. My wife likes the aroma too.

The tobacco burns well straight out of the tin. On my 2nd or 3rd bowl, I was able to smoke the bowl nearly to the bottom on one match, with no relights. That's something I couldn't do with the other tobaccos I have tried. (smokes well in a corn cob too)

I definitely recommend this tobacco, especially to Australian pipe smokers who don't have a huge selection of tobaccos to choose from. I can definitely see myself buying this one again after trying out more of Peterson's range.

*** 2018 Update ***

I bought some of this recently for the first time in years. I guess my tastes have changed, because this is no longer one of my favourites. First bowl in a briar pipe resulted in some nasty chemical tastes, which could be the pipe more than the tobacco. Second bowl in a corncob was a bit better, but I still didn't like it as much as I did a few years ago. Maybe I've just had some nicer blends since I first reviewed it.