Dunhill Aperitif

I was really blown away by Aperitif. It was pleasing to see more old Dunhill blends released and this is really great and perfect for its intended purpose. Kind of like 965 on steriods. Not that it stronger, rather its a flavour explosion. The tanginess and tart taste really stand out. Highly recommended and i'll buy more.

Definitely one of my favorite blends! The tin note is great and the buttery taste I get in my mouth after each smoke keeps me coming back. I'm pretty new to pipe smoking and I would say that this is a great one to get started on.

First off all, tin is epic. The leaf is mixed in colors. The tin note is Latakia dominant. I have placed this tabac as a bridge between MM965 and Nightcap or any other full bodied English in the Dunhill line. The smokiness of the Latakia is dominant feature of this blend. The Virginias take a backseat but the citrus and grassy notes pop in every once in a while. The sweetness of the cavendish only mellow this blend. The aroma is semi-sweet, woodsy and not completely offensive to others. This is a bold flavored characteristics make this a nice full English, but the mild and mellow features make this an all day blend. The name aptly applies, it works very well with a dry aperitif. All in all, this is a nice middle of the road tabac, I highly recommend.

I really, really enjoy this blend. Smooth/creamy, spicy and sweet without being overbearing in strength. It is a perfect marriage of flavors…The sweetness is always subtle, but lasts the entirety of the pipe, almost as a base, with the other flavors playing on top. It is mellow enough to be smoked all day. The cut is perfect for packing and lighting and keeping lit. I am happy that Dunhill brought this blend back out and while I guess they call this a "Scottish" blend, I find I am favoring it more than the other English type blends that I smoke.

If only this could be put back on the market! Truely one of the finest blends that Dunhill had going. Aperitif is so well balanced that it could be an all day smoke, but its uniqueness makes it a bit more sophisticated which makes it a nice end of the day smoke. The smokey hickory, bbq flavor is just a perfect touch for the outdoors on a quiet night. Orlik if possible please please attempt to give this another go!!!

I have been dipping into a tin from 2014 and "The Aperitif"only gets better with age.

Of all the Dunhill offerings this was always my favorite.

It smokes almost "cold" and the mouth feel is like silk. The black cavendish really makes this blend nice and creamy and completely balances out the turkish and latakia which play in the background beautifully as the smooth virginia sweetness delights the senses the entire time. There might be a slight flavoring added...maybe anise??

Most people try to compare it to Dunhill MM965 but that blend is a totally different animal. If you think of it in terms of brothers, MM965 would be the short-tempered, younger brother with "The Aperitif" being the even-keeled, older brother.

I always thought of "The Royal Yacht" and "The Aperitif" as the Dunhill freak blends...somewhere in between aromatic and english...but they kept Royal Yacht for some reason.

"The Aperitif" is one of those nonpareil smoking mixtures that makes pipe smoking a really special thing for me.

Please bring back "The Aperitif"!!!

How do I start? I guess that the logical place to start is by comparing it with "My Mixture 965", and go figure, both are Scottish blends, both have the same composition i.e. Cavendish, Latakia, Oriental/Turkish, Virginia in this exact order, both are made by Dunhill so I guess they gotta be similar. Well, in a sense they are, with a few notable exceptions. First off - and I am starting here unlike other reviews I have written - with the taste, Aperitif has a very interesting sweet finish to it, unlike MM965 which is quite single leveled. To the naked eye - and here I am citing from memory, as I have no notes for MM (back then I didn't have a clear system in place), Aperitif seems to be a tad lighter in texture, possibly having more Virginia in it's composition, or possibly a different type of Virginia, which I suspect being the reason for the sweetness. The nose, well ... nothing out of the ordinary, a typical nose, somewhere in the neighborhood of your regular english/scottish - latakia making its presence known. Not sure what to say about that Cavendish, which I guess is dark masking the latakia on a visual examination, or it may be lighter and the dark ribbon in the blend is solely due to latakia. I might be tempted to say that although Cavendish may be the dominant tobacco - it is made out of a different type than in MM. I may need some technical help here - Cavendish is a way of making tobacco, and not a tobacco type in itself, so I guess you can make Cavendish from different leaf types. Smoking it .. yeah, we have the composition of your expected Scottish typology, but that subtle sweetness makes it quite a unique taste.

You haven't smoked MM965 yet? Well, than I will refrain to saying that you are in for a corpolent, but well balanced blend at the same time, with a mysterious sweetness that persists in your mouth once the first notes start toning down.

I would recommend this, and if I ever have a chance of running across this blend, I am seriously thinking about purchasing a few tins for long run storage. In my book, this is somewhat a King of Scottish blends, whereas MM is probably a jack or a 10.

I haven't tried the Orlik or Mac Baren yet but this Murray's version was ten years old when purchased back in 2011. I'm not new to Tobacco Reviews... just rejoined a short while back and doing some catch-up work. Aroma was predominantly Oriental with Latakia in the background. At first light, I already knew how I was going to rate this blend. I prefer a lighter Latakia mix and this blend suited my preference. Yes...this one takes me back to the time when all Murray blends were fairly easy to come by! The travesty was/is that I only started piping on the tail end of the Alfred Dunhill tobacco decline. I'm regrettably saddened by this dilemma but such is life.

Aperitif is very comfortable on the palate & reminiscent of Balkan Sobranie in flavor & also reminded me of MM 965 as well but the Latakia content is applied more sparingly. The aftertaste is also quite enjoyable and adds to the pleasurable smoke. So far, this is my second favorite Latakia blend, next to The Balkan Sobranie OM due to the modest Latakia infusion. However, it's a close race between this & MM 965 & I thought MM 965 was more of a Balkan than an English anyway but the terminology is rather academic. If it were up to me, I'd just as soon refer to them as Latakia blends.

With a little more Latakia infusion, this could be a medium Balkan mixture & closer to the BSOM or MM 965 but that's just my personal taste test impression. It is heavy on the Orientals this one is, with a captivating, sweet, exotic tin aroma... ie., you know it's probably going to be really good. It burns well & smokes cool & mild with a sweetness that develops more as the bowl progresses. I don't notice the Latakia so much approaching mid bowl. The pleasant, sweet aftertaste on my palate was satisfying & the Vitamin N content is closer to the mild than medium in strength. I enjoy this prior to dinner and any other time of the day or night & it could readily be an all day smoke.

This is a great Scottish blend. It maintains good flavor throughout the entire smoke. Very soft, creamy, sweet smoke which requires no maintenance. This is another Dunhill crowning achievement which has satisfied many a smoker for decades & I'm one of many who loved this blend. Mix a little more Latakia, Red Ribbon or simply add some 965 to this blend and you'd have a striking resemblance to "The Balkan Sobranie OM"... at least you might be caught up in the smoke from the mixture. This blend should get you rocking back on the celestial plains of life & have you contemplating better times. I'll edit this review when/if I sample the Orlik or Mac Baren version.

I cannot put this blend down. Its addictively delicious.

Sweet, creamy and rich. A bit of spicyness. With pleasant and light sweet notes that randomly appear at later stages of the smoke. Sweet and creamy all the way to the bottom of the bowl. A work of art.