Dunhill Aperitif

Thin ribbon cut, moist with no particular aroma out of the tin. Nice packing with immediate pleasant aroma with the char. Noted this is a new offering of Va, orientals, Latakia and black Cav. Smokingly pleasant as advertised a balanced blend. OK, Whoa! At the half bowl mild N began, but wait, this is a lovely smoke with a great bowl aroma. Finishing the bowl left me feeble for awhile - way to robust for me. 2 Star. I know I can mix this with my wonderful Crown Achievement and gain a four star smoke with less robust.

This used to be a great mixture that lived up to its billing as a before dinner treat. This last version is more like before dinner peat...as in peat moss, and gives Turkish tobacco a bad name. Tin aroma over promises and under delivers what should, and used to be a nice light smoke for late afternoon.

Better as a memory.

CITRUS,SOUR,SWEET

A mild English. Dry, cool- sweet and sour if you are attentive. Weak leathery/citrus..Dunhill is quality. Early Morning Pipe I suggest over this to the new to 'English' folk.

This companion to Dunhill's EMP only deepens the flavors of what is a rather ordinary smoke. Darker colors, fuller flavors of burnt marshmello, campfire and now a fully cigarish overtone from top to bottom. No more or less heavy a nicotine hit than EMP. I find this bitter, acrid and filled with leather flavors. Not at all my cup o coffee.

The aroma of this weed was pleasant, though not really notable among other english blends I have smoked. It lit easily, and required no relights. The first half of the bowl was rather sharp, but it toned down to a very nice mellow flavor in the end stretch. It burned cool throughout its entire duration, and gave no tongue bite. Overall I thought it was an enjoyable smoke, but nothing to write home about. For a smoke right before or after a good rich meal, I think Dunhill's Nightcap actually provides a more robust, and better suited flavor. Two stars.

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.

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.