Nat Sherman 205 Virginia/Perique

I bought this at the Nat Sherman shop in Manhattan. After sniffing the jars of many of Nat Sherman?s offerings I thought many of them were like MacBaren blends, that is, a little heavy on the flavorings. Not so with this one. This broken flake has rich, dark tones with just a hint of their more aromatically-flavored blends; fine tobacco is the dominant smell. The smoke is very flavorful and somehow sophisticated (what would you expect in Manhattan?): rich Virginia pecan pie (but not too sweet) is the base with Perique adding tangy, earthy, peppery top notes. The pipe fairly quickly yields that intense malty ambrosia that I associate with the finest Virginias, with the other notes adding interesting complexity. One DGT attempt was not very good (not as good as e.g., Hal O? the Wynd, but I don?t DGT often; this experiment needs to be repeated). In one sitting, the flavors build to a wonderful finish. There is a fair amount of nicotine in this blend. It goes well with coffee in the morning or whisky after dinner, or just by itself. I tip my hat to the blender who created this well-balanced blend.

Update: This blend looks a lot like McClelland 2015. It doesn't taste exactly like 2015, however. I stored it in a vacuum-sealed jar for a couple years and tried it again. It seems to go sour on me, imparting some slightly unpleasant aromatic flavor, or bitter. When the burn rate is just right, it is excellent, but it's easy to get off flavors when you puff outside a limited flow rate. I have just tried heating it 220 deg F for 2 hr with a little Speyside scotch to see if that makes it better.