Ashton Artisan's Blend

Nothing special.... I wanted this to be everything I have searched for but instead it disappointed. There are many better English blends about. It is perfect moisture from the tin but burns hot and could bite.

Since the demise of the cherished Dunhill line, I decided to try Artisan's as a potential Nightcap replacement. On that front, there's no comparison. I just don't get the same complexity and richness that I get with Nightcap. To me, Artisan's resembles the Frog Morton - Frog on a Log blend. Overall its a nice English blend but nothing memorable.

I'm with Suzanna Hoffs on this one. Artisan's Blend is disappointing to me. I am almost sure there are absolutely no orientals in this mixture. As for the Périque, I can't say there is any either. K & K's website seems to confirm this as it describes AB as containing Latakia, Virginias, DFK Kentucky (undoubtedly to support the lack of latakia), périque (never detected any) and Black Cavendish. While unsweetened, the Cavendish is a dominant component in this so called "full" mixture, just as with Rattray's Account Mixture. It spoils the tobacco's potential by making it rather uninteresting as I go. The Latakia is there but it's not a major player. And it's not Syrian either. I suspect it's the Kentucky that actually provides some kind of spiciness vs the typical smokiness of the Latakia, which tells me it's extremely sparse. If it wasn't for the Kentucky, this would not only be bland, but very weak in strenght! The Virginias are decent but nothing to rave about. I will certainly finish the tin as well as the other one I bought. When done, I will not buy again; there are much better full English mixtures (with much more Latakia) than this one currently available. Yes, disappointing. K & K seems to remediate to Black cavendish more and more instead of Latakia in their "Full English" mixtures.

This is certainly a Latakia forward blend. For people who love Lat-bombs, this is a must try. My problem here is that the high proportion of Latakia overpowers the other flavors. I think this has been said before, so I won't dwell. If you're looking for a medium English, look elsewhere. If you love a strong, smoky English, this is a quality blend and could become a favorite.

I am sorry for just 2 stars! Let me explain why I didn't like this English.

I think the Latakia proportion of this blend is too high. It simply overhelms. Unfortunately with that much Latakia it was very hard me to detect the sweet Virginia, nor the exotic Oriental. I also am not sure if the Latakia in this blend is a high quality Syrian Latakia, which generally leaves a nice flavor by sticking on the palat and tongue after finishing the bowl, and remains there by inviting you for the next bowl. This one leaves almost nothing like that.

The Perique also dissapears under the Latakia taste invasion. Its lovely spicy and bitter addition to the blends is just a dream with this one.

The Latakia lovers would apreciate this blend, and that's why I've added the second star. Next time I will get some Dunhill for my gentle, strengthful, and elegant English needs. When I'll need some cool and tasty Latakia I'll choose some Balkan flake.

I wanted to try something different other than my usual Dunhill Early Morning/Nightcap, so I picked up a tin of this on my way to Goettingen. I am fond of Latakia and Perique in English blends, but I found maybe this product has a bit too much of both to be really enjoyable. The initial aroma on tin opening was spicy, so my first thoughts were of strong Latakia, but the flavor on the first pull to the bowl bottom were not what I would consider well-blended; it kept shifting. If this is your sort of thing, then I recommend it, but I enjoy a consistent flavor throughout a smoke...

Additionally, I found this product to burn much hotter than my Dunhill typicals. If you are so inclined to pick this up, easy does it, unless you like tongue bite. It gives a nice hefty dark grey ash and packs nicely into the bowl. As I stated, my only complaint was the variety of flavor throughout the smoke.....

I've mainly been smoking VA/Per & straight VA blends & I have now tried several Latakia blends. They all start off OK, but bite like hades during the second half. I'm giving up on English blends, but will still pursue the Balkans. Will probably start mixing my own. Moisture content seemed just right out of the tin & had a good burn rate. Strange how Latakia seems tasteless but you know it's there because of the smell and bitey/numbing mouth feel. It smoked very mild (inhaled) and had a fairly good nicotine content. This is a pretty good English that smokes well initially, but must be finessed during the second half. It's just not exceptional IMHO & therefore, I will rate Artisan's Blend two **s only because of tongue & palate discomfort which requires days to recover. Can only be smoked occasionally & couldn't possibly be an all day smoke for me!

The Tin Aroma made this a very promising blend due to the wonderful Syrian Latakia content and orientals. At first light it was somewhat like Sobrane only a bit stronger but thats where the comparison ends because as I made my way down the bowl the perique overwhelmed the smoky taste and became too spicy for my liking. I am really not a big fan of Perique tobacco in English blends and I think Perique should be reserved for Virginia and Burley blends and not Latakia blends, anyway I was a bit disappointed with the end result because of this. If they had left the Perique out It might have been one of my favorite blends. I will revisit the tin when it has some age on it and see if my opinion changes.