Dunhill Aperitif

This is one tricky smoke! When I first opened up the tin I was greeted with a low key odor that was easily identifiable as latakia. More apparent as I continued to sniff, was the sweet smell of slightly cased cavendish. Very Interesting! Unlike other cavedish/latakia hybrids that I have sampled this one was definitely subtle and imbued with a wonderful complexity. Upon first lighting I was immediately aware of the sweetness of the cavendish. This is where it gets hard to describe. The first thing most people think of when they hear "the sweet smell of cavendish" is an overwhelming dose of casing. This is not the case at all(pun intended). This cavendish has a very natural sweetness to it not unlike the taste you get sometimes from a straight virginia, only magnified a bit. As the bowl progressed there were other surprises in store. Although the latakia was very subtle throughout- it remained a positive presence and made a very welcome contrast to the sweetness mentioned earlier. About 2/3rds of the bowl in, a taste emerged that sent this blend right into the amazing category- turkish tobacco! The addition of this has somehow turned this sweet, smoky experience into something truly unique and added the essence of a fine havanna to the mix! Again-keep in mind that none of these flavors were ever anything but subtle! Although this tobbaco provided a wonderful experience I would not want to smoke it everyday for fear of becoming to familiar with it. For the same reason I would not recommend it to a new smoker as the complexities will probably be lost on them. Truly a unique smoke- everyone should try this once! P.S.- I made no friends with the room aroma!

This was quite tasty when first opened, but that has not been the recent experience. The taste, while very full, lacks character and feels more like something to chew on than something to enjoy. The nicotine content is surprisingly high and is not pleasant.

Early flavor was fairly nutty, but this has been replaced by ash. I?m just not pleased with this right now. 4/02

Aperitif is a quality Dunhill smoke--well-cut, good-quality tobaccos that are well-blended and consistent. It packs, lights, and burns well. Like most Dunhill English blends, it smokes nice and cool even when you aren't paying any attention to your technique. It has a nutty, slightly sweet flavor. It produces a good volume of smoke, always a plus in my book, if not my wife's, and burns to a fine white ash. This is a fairly strong tobacco, and not one to smoke on an empty stomach. If you push it, it can turn bitter, and so for me is not quite the top-tier smoke that, say, Dunhill London Mixture is.

I really did not like this particular blend too much. I did not find it very appealing. It has a lot of kick, but comparably little taste. Compared to the other Dunhill blends, Aperitif strikes me as a "Mercury": a Ford that tries too hard to be a Lincoln. Buy Durbar instead.