Peterson Early Morning Pipe

Well, it starts out good. I enjoy the initial experience of the Latakia flirting with the Virginias and Orientals, and the pleasant room note. However, as with a previous reviewer, it becomes bland to me as I smoke it.

Dunhill Early Morning Pipe: First Impressions.

Scenario: Saturday morning, 9:00 AM. I've just finished a breakfast of country ham, egg, and cheese biscuit, hash browns, OJ, and freshly brewed coffee. I poured a second cup of java, and grabbed my newly refurbished 1970's, Jobey Dansk freehand, and a new tin of Dunhill EMP. This is my first time smoking this blend. I am a huge fan of Dunhill flake and Dunhill Nightcap.

The pipe packed and lit very easily. The tobacco had perfect moisture right out of the tin. Three false lights, and three tamps, and its off to the races.

I was looking for a milder version of Nightcap. My first few puffs were frankly, "yuck." Stong puffing produced copious smoke and a harsh, unpleasant taste. The pipe burned hot, and the experience wasn't enjoyable. I experienced a little stomach gurgle from the nicotene content. Time to tamp the pipe and reconsider the situation.

Apparently this is a tobacco that needs to be sipped slowly to be enjoyed properly. As soon as I adjusted to a more leisurely pace, the tobacco mellowed out, the pipe cooled down, and the taste and experience improved dramatically. The tobacco still didn't have a very pronounced taste, and it wasn't strong at all. EMP tasted like a straight Virginia blend to me - no Oriental tobacco was noticeable in the taste. The strength is what I was expecting though from a mild, early in the day, blend. The burn remained good, abundant smoke - a mild, mellow experience.

This tobacco is perfect for a first smoke of the day. Not surprisingly, it pairs well with coffee.

The first half of the bowl was one star for me, the second half, three stars - so I'm giving it two stars for now. It is not nearly as enjoyable, to me anyway, as Dunhill flake or Nightcap. I prefer something a little more full flavored like FVF. I will smoke the tin that I have, but I don't see myself buying this in the future. YMMV.

*** UPDATE and WARNING ***

I wanted to see if a more leisurely approach, sipping slowly, would provide an enjoyable full bowl experience. I poured a third cup of coffee, and packed a second bowl. I should have paid closer attention to some earlier reviews regarding the high nicotene content, because Dunhill Early Morning Pipe proceeded to lay me out. Five trips to the restroom. Nauseous. Shivers. Cold sweats. I had to fight to keep from throwing up. A most unpleasant experience for a couple of hours. I am recovered enough to where the experience is "almost" humorous, but in the future, I definitely won't be smoking two bowls back to back. It seems like I have to learn everything the hard way, and this was surely a lesson, albeit painful, learned. Don't take this tobacco blend lightly. It may be an early morning blend, but it still has the nicotene punch of its big brother, Dunhill Nightcap.

Upon a recommendation from my father I tried a tin of this Orlik-blended Dunhill classic. I have smoked almost the entire tin before posting these personal impressions; smoking this in a variety of pipes, at different times of day, and with (and without) my usual beverage accompaniments.

To those who thoroughly enjoy this, my best wishes to you for your continued pleasure, but for me it misses badly. Perhaps it is my personal oral chemistry and the fact that I do recall smoking any "Balkan" without Latakia other than some McClelland Grand Orientals before, but EMP's flavor is just not to my taste. The first bowl, smoked without beverage, was very sweet. The tobacco itself is gorgeously presented in the tin and the tin aroma is promising. However, at the 1/3 point in the burn the blend turned extremely salty, objectionably so. Moreover it seems to contain the same 'cavendish' Virginias that are found in Orlik/Dunhill 965 and Standard Mixtures. In those blends I found them overwhelming, smothering the blend. I think this same treatment is in London Mixture as well but the Latakia in it perfects that blend (into one of my favorites). Here it does not marry well with the potpourri of Balkans/Orientals it has. In fact, I cannot tell what these varieties might be.

The last 1/3 of the bowl turns astringent.

At other times I find the blend better and suspect the long, beautiful ribbon cut has not given itself to blending well resulting in a wide variation from bowl to bowl.

Smoked with my favorite 100% Colombian coffee I rarely finish the entire bowl. Smoked with some scotch, it is passable. It does remind me of a mix of Rothmans and Camel cigarettes in both taste and room note.

Well, I have now 'been there, done that'.

Lately I have smoked quite a few oriental and I can say that compared to the rest I was not impressed.

If this was the first of the kind I had tasted, I would have written a better review. It contains a good dose of nicotine. It has a honey, mild taste of Virginia, which is enriched with a good quality oriental. There is no way I can smoke it in the morning. Maybe late in the evening.

I have written enough about the last Dunhill (I will not try another after De Luxe Navy Roll DUNHILL) I have bought.

Update :How times have changed....

Now, after several years I think it is one of the best oriental tobaccos, and always take care to have 3-4 closed tins in my "cellar". Very mild and sweet flavor. Easy going tobacco for every hour of the day.

This was my first english blend I tried back in the '70s and it remains my reference point for the genre. EMP is my favorite vehicle for Orientals. It is gentle enough to smoke all day, although I prefer a variety. Everything I could say has already been well said. This is easily my favorite Dunhill.

Update 5/05: "Favorite Dunhill" it may remain, but the quality of them all has dropped precipitously to mediocre; I've demoted by two stars. If there is some kind of dating method, buy only old tins. So much for a grand old name.

I hope the infection doesn't spread to Gawith.

I'm given to understand that this is the prototypical light English. That said, I fail to see what all the fuss is about. I found EMP to be rather lacking in the character department. This observation becomes particularly apparent when comparisons are drawn to similar blends such as Piccadilly. I would have another bowl if offered, but can't see myself purchasing another tin.

This is a very pleasant smoke with interesting flavour's that are not sickly.I enjoyed it, & it smoked easily without any bite.My pipe was not left with anything 'goopy' at the end.So I would go along with all the other positive review's. 4 out 4 star's in it's class.

Following my other experiences with Dunhill tobacco, I decided a bit off age might smooth things out. I kept looking at it every few months and after 3 years I bit the bullet and popped the seal. Having just tried GLP's Renaissance it seemed they might be similar. Wrong, very voodoo. Strong. First bowl was torture. The tobacco has a thin shag cut, and was very moist even after 3 years. But if you adopt the sippin' whisky techinique the qualities of this blend become apparent. But on the whole to strong for me, I feel a rougher cut would help this brand. A solid English but a blend like Renaissance fits in with my idea of an early morning pipefull.

Tin Aroma: A nice mellow english-type smell. Bits of sugary virginia waft in and out of the predominate muskiness of latakia and oriental varietals.

Physical Characteristics: A standard Dunhill wide cut ribbon, comprised of almost exclusively dark brown and black pieces. Packs easily and burns evenly and slowly, to a gray, grainy ash.

Notes:I am not sure exactly what this blend is flavored with, but it most definately is flavored with something. Something vaguely sweet, and perhaps vegetal. Heck, even the tin says so "mildly flavoured", which is about as apt a description as I could give it, unfortunately. The flavoring is very light at first, but becomes more noticeable as the bowl progresses. It is a mild and pleasant blend, and probably, as it's name suggest, appropriate in the morning. I never really took to this blend though, probably for the nagging wonder about what exactly was used to case this. This reminds me of what My Mixture 965 would be like if it were cased. Tongue bite is a rarity with this blend, but also, for me, so is enjoying the last few puffs, as whatever flavoring agent is used seems to concentrate in the bottom of the bowl as the smoke progresses, amking the last few puffs unpleasant.

Verdict: A nice blend, I suppose, but nothing that really grabs me.