Peterson Connoisseur's Choice

Maybe some vanilla/rum, but mostly sour berry like the old " fruit strip gum" the cherry piece, nice. needs some time to breath or it will be hot and steamy. I'm not an aromatic kind of smoker, but this one I can get by with, along with "Luxury blend". Flavor stays almost through the entire pipe. I might keep this one around. No gurgle, no real bite, wife didn't complain, I can only hope it will age well since this is a once a week smoke.

3/26/12 I pulled this one out from behind the cellar to give it another go. I still agree with my above review , however I picked up some bitterness and bite. Will not buy again.

Update: I just can't smoke this anymore! I think it has become a novelty balti for me. Ghosts up my aro pipe something rotten. Downgraded to somewhat recommended - if you are an aro man/woman.

Much like a 'Tropical Balti', there's a lot going on, and I wondered initially if it was going to come together, or become a novelty that would wear off quickly. In fact, it's grown on me, it's a pleasant, fruity, sweet vanilla, fairly light, cool burning treat after dinner, a second dessert if you like. My wife (not normally a fan) on room note: 'Aaah, that one smells lovely'.

Overall, it was good. It was a tad dry in the tin, but still enjoyable. The flavor did not pack as much punch as I thought it would, but overall it was a solid purchase. The smell upon opening the tin was subtle, but enjoyable.

In the tin this stuff smells delicious, I didn't know whether to smoke it or put whipped cream on it.

Comes across with a very appealing room note. But all those flavors that were so lovingly applied to this mixture, not to mention the poor tobaccos themselves, are all quickly lost in biting heat and the fog of my own apathy.

I may be too critical. Basically I feel that this mixture is nothing special, but it is priced like it is something special.

Try Boswell's Pipes' aromatic mixtures instead - i.e. Berry Cobbler or Christmas Cookie - The tobaccos and the delicious flavors come off much better in those mixtures.

I seem to have trouble appreciating Peterson's aromatic blends. Odd, because I love their pipes.

This Peterson mixture is a delight to the nose in the tin. I found it to be less vulgar and slightly milder mannered than Sunset Breeze (if a comparison is justified.)

In the bowl, it is a little harder to recommend. The gentle nature of this tobacco suggested by the aroma turns out to be rather more boisterous and ill tempered. Although it takes to the match well, and the upper decks are refreshing and autumnal in flavour, before reaching mid-ships I was battling with a very different beast. The word is HOT. My Doctor Plumbs ‘dinky' heated like a cauldron, even when sipped very gently.

This fierce heat was a feature throughout the bowl; to such an extent that I feared my briar might crack asunder.

The room note is delightful, and a sure fire hit with the ladies. Such a shame that the work involved in producing this pleasing note is scarcely worth the effort.

Upon opening the tin, you are greeted with a delightful smell, a mix between that advertised tropical fruit and chocolate? Smelled like chocolate to me... maybe the rum, maple and vanilla flavour, when combined, smell like chocolate?

Anyway.... I wish the tobacco itself was as flavourful as it smelled. It wasn't a bad tobacco taste, it was just bland. The room note coming off of it was better than the smoke I was draw into my mouth. I find the same problem with University Flake... smells great, taste blah.

Of course, this was only after one bowl, a first impression if you will... I hope it will grow on me. Maybe after some aging and another bowl will be great!

It just seems, to me anyway, that Peterson blends and my palate don't mix. Maybe their blends are too subtle and nuanced for my untrained taste buds to notice. Maybe I am just expecting more umph! out of my tobacco (like Plumcake and Devil's Holiday).

I picked up a tin of this tobacco last night and was pleasantly surprised.This tobacco is absolutely wonderfull.If you like CAO/DAN tobaccos,then you will love Connoisseurs Choice.It burns a little on the warm side,but this is one tobacco that I will not keep around due to the cost.It is not available in bulk,and $12.00 for 50g. tins is something that Im not willing to pay and I had to come back and edit my review for that very reason.At the time when I first submitted my review,I was unaware of how expensive it would be to smoke this tobacco.Its good,but NOT THAT GOOD.I will stick to DAN tobaccos Sweet Vanilla Honeydew,and DaVinci.

The tin aroma is very tropical FRUITY. Almost smells like a fruit punch (spiked with rum). The vanilla is there but sits more in the background. The flavoring is quite heavy which IMHO is the downfall of this blend. It covers up that beautiful tobacco too much. I did find that drying the tobacco for about an hour helped bring the flavor down some, but for me, still too much! The best part of the bowl is that bottom 1/3 when the tobacco becomes more stout and can compete with the sauce! This blend is also prone to biting the tongue.

This tobacco is beautiful to look at. Chunks of flake can be found in the mix, which I love. No doubt that very quality tobacco was used to create this blend. The fruit flavor does stay through entire bowl. A good thing for an aromatic. Too many aromatics just burn off leaving you with a bowl of average leaf.

I do enjoy several aromatics, and I smoked two tins of this one. But I won't be buying anymore.

As I have said before I am not an aromatic person! This one though is a very mellow blend with a good rum toping! If you like aromatics and dark leaf aromatic blends you will like this! Perfect for breaking in new pipes..