Dunhill Aperitif

I've found this to be one of Dunhill's more average blends, although mainly due to my preference for the stronger stuff. When smoked carefully (not to avoid bite, this stuff burns pretty well), it does have a character of it's own, a bit of spice does come out and one could envision it as a good prelude to a fine meal. Better yet, something that saves the experience of a mediocre meal perhaps. It has a different enough flavor, and a mild-medium character that will appeal to more than a few, and I could hardly say it would be a bad choice. Personally, Balkan Sobranie would have been my choice in this range, but you can't do too wrong here.

If Durbar is an alternative to 965, this would be something the London Mix smoker might enjoy. It's very polite in its

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manner and very smooth, with hints of spicyness and character appearing here and there... kind of like the ideal waiter, really. This would

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make a good all-day smoke, and I'd also recommend it to anyone curious to try English blends, especially to a new pipe smoker.

Let me first say that I've smoked two tins of this in my ten years of pipe smoking.I'm 3/4 way through the second as I write this.That said It's quite hard to describe.The taste is mild while the room aroma is as pungent as you can imagine.I would hazard to say that smomeone wishing to change from aromatics to english's would appreciate this blend.I find that it's most enjoyed in the evening as is Nightcap and anything else with latakia.This is a nice blend to smoke when everything else starts to taste the same.And for that I recommend it to you.....prppypipe

The Turkish tobacco in this blend dominates, but not to the point of obscuring the other ingredients. If forward Turkish/Oriental tobacco floats your boat, then launch your pipe-craft into this sea.

Puffing slowly and tamping properly keeps this from getting too hot and brings out the cavendish and virginias. The cavendish reminds me of 965, sort of like burnt marshmallow.

The latakia plays a solid supporting role, but not center stage. Aperitif seems to have more latakia than Early Morning Pipe or Standard Mixture Mild.

This fills a niche between Dunhill's heavier English blends (London, 965, Nightcap) and the lighter blends noted above.

I prefer Dorisco, Squadron Leader, My Own Blend 7000, and Brebbia's Preludio in the medium body category. Though, one could do much worse than Aperitif and have difficulty doing much better.

I would agree with above reviewers that this kind of sits between EMP and Nightcap, even though it has the cavendish in common with 695. However, to me it has more oriental influence than these other two. I broke out some Aperitif for the first time in a while last night, for consumption while clearing the snow off my deck.

The last time I had smoked Aperitif was about 6 months ago (also while clearing snow, for some weird reason) and I found the orientals to be overdone in this blend, to the point of being harsh and one-dimensional. I do not know whether it was the additional aging or what (12 months vs. 18 months), but this bowl seemed more "in tune". The orientals are still in first chair, but the blend as a whole smoked a lot sweeter, with a better flavor spectrum.

I the interests of objective science, I tried another bowl of Aperitif in a different pipe (a meerschaum) this morning when I could devote full attention to the blend. Still nice and sweet. (Is the the cavendish coming through? I missed it before...). Builds in strength to a nice latakia crescendo towards the end. Bummer, end of bowl.

This has moved up a notch or two in my Dunhill's ladder and I will visit the tin a bit more often. There are just so many good Balkan/Scottish blends out there though...

(October, 2003) The aroma of this when first opening a tin is a real tease. I pick up a distinct semi-sweetness but there is also pungent, musty & smokey odors in the mix. This is a thin ribbon cut tobacco with equal amount of brown, tan and black in the mixture. Moisture content is near perfect but I still allow a fresh tin to air out and dry for a few hours before smoking. This tobaccy packs easily and fires up easily as well. Upon firing up this stuff, you are immediately rewarded with a burst of complexity. The flavor profile is that of Orientals, Latakia and Cavandish. I do not pick up on the Virginias but most certainly they are playing a supportive role. This is really hard to define and as a result, I find this blend very interesting! My thinking is that the Cavandish and Latakia tend to dominate the first 2/3 of the bowl, with the Turkish/Orientals and Virginias laying back. However, in the final third, the Turkish/Orientals come forward and take the leading role, with the Cavandish & Latakia second and the Virginas somewhere in the back. The flavor profile in the final third becomes very pungent, musty, spicy and semi-sweet, all at the same time, and there is a more than average amount of nicotine present as well. This is a delicious, complex tobacco and I really love it. In my opinon this blend needs to smoked at a slightly faster pace than normal to bring out it flavors. If smoked too slowly, the Cavandish seems to dominate. 5 out of 5 Flakes - Highly Recommended!!!

16th-Sep-2003. Aperitif,I can enjoy anytime of day.Not overpowering! To me,it's abit like Dunhill's 965-without the spice.All the flavour's come out to play,& is a an enjoyable smoke.I also love Dunhill's 965 & Night Cap.I'm not that keen,at all about Early Morning Pipe.I find Aperitif far more interesting.It smoke's nice & dry,& doesn't bite. I'll go along with all the positive's that have been said,before me.81/2 out of 10.

Being a great fan of Early Morning Pipe and Nightcap my next foray into Dunhill English blends has been Aperitif. I find it a beautiful midway point between EMP and Nightcap. Medium in strength with a pleasing tin aroma and a gorgeously smooth mildy smoky taste. The Cavendish and Virginias add a pleasing sweetness that enhances the Latakia rather than getting in the way. Some people believe there's a flavoring apparently and perhaps there is from the Cavendish but it blends right in wonderfully. I get the impression more of sweet Virginias than of cased Cavendish. The smoke is very cool down to the bottom of the bowl. I love Frog Morton, but Aperitif is a whole different class. First class all around.

As a beginning pipe smoker and college student, I purchased a tin of this on a whim as a break from my regular tobacconist-mixed blends, and I must say I was impressed. Opening the tin, a rich aroma emanated from the tobacco with hints of smoke, peat and a certain transient sweetnes. As somewhat of a novice to many kinds of tobacco, it seems more fit to compare this to Laphroaig scotch in heady strength.

This particular blend packs extremely well, burns surprisingly evenly, and leaves a marvellous white fluffy ash as if to say "job well done". The taste is full and rich with an uncommon smoothness very well complemented by the pipe's burning aroma making for a most pleasurable experience from start to finish.