Peterson Elizabethan Mixture

***I've upgraded my rating on this blend, which I've gone back to after a number of years away. Perhaps my palate and technique have changed, but properly dried, loaded (fairly tightly) and smoked (slowly), this is an excellent savory and refreshing blend, more suitable for the middle of the day (if you like to start with a kick) as opposed to day's end.

Strong but not rich and with a very perky (but not sweet) bright Va taste and aroma, with the Perique very pleasantly in the background. This is one of the two Dunill blends I've hoarded recently. Reccomended but only to those with a taste for natural, straightforward flavors and strength. ***

A couple of years ago, this was a reliable smoke of mine, and I've probably gone through about 8 tins or so all in all. However, I've dropped it almost entirely. There's simply not enough flavor to make this worthwhile for me anymore. What little flavor there is, is delightful, scrumptious, piquant, but too distant. Good as a palate cleanser.

I read all of the reviews on this tobacco and was suprised by all of the marginal reviews. I tried this blend just as a change of pace and absolutely loved it. I dont think it is fair to compare it to Haddos as this is a different tobacco. (granted Haddos and this are both Virginia/Perique blends). I found this to pack and light very well and burning qualities were exceptional. It was slightly sweet and had the wonderful Perique tanginess. the room aroma was good and the overall smoking experience is always consistantly good every time. I will buy more to stash away in the cellar and will always have some of this on hand. Highly recommended!!

Simply put, this is one of the classics!

When you read the description on the tin, you'll notice that it says LOUISIANA PERIQUE.. not simply "perique", which means that it's the real product. No, this is not laced with some twisted burley, handled/processed like perique. This is the real deal.

Richness.. The first light of the bowl, the LOUISIANA perique makes it's presence known, not unlike the tangy bite of pepper. As the bowl gets it's second light, after tamping, you start to taste the finely aged va's.

When I prepare this tobacco for smoking, I rub it out into small, small pieces and let it dry a bit.

Down into 1/4 bowl, the perique is still standing above the va's but they're beginning to meld. The fullness of this blend keeps me from puffing too hard and not many re-lights are needed.

At half bowl, the tobacco is burning well and the VA catches up to the perique and the strength picks up a bit... sublime!

And for the rest of the way, nothing but full, rich flavor and no bite nor gurgle.

Highly underrated, for those who like their LOUISIANA perique and VA blends, this is one of the best.

FWIW, I never cared for Three Nuns - I found it to be a bit mild and bland. This is THE Va/LOUISIANA Perique that I measure all others against. Highest recommendation.

***addendum 05.23.05*** The first tin of this that I opened smoked like *!*!. Instead of donating this to the local pipe club, I put the tin aside. A month or so later I found the tin and thought "what the heck" and filled a VA/Perique pipe that I was breaking in... Excellent! I'm convinced that some VA blends need to breathe in the tin before consumption. By breathing I mean that you open the tin, let the air get to the tobacco and then seal the tin back up. Go back a month later and BADA BING, it's magic.

Wonderfull Tobacco, pleasent Perique taste at the end of the bowl.Nice burning...What more can I say: 1 h... of a good bacca ;-))

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But no longer available in Denmark:-((

This is another common pipe tobacco. It is a Virginia-Perique blend. I believe the Virginias are mostly red or aged lemons. The long ribbon cut can make even packing in a small pipe tricky, and the chunks of perique can really get peppery if you don't get an even pinch. As I really love Perique this doesn't bother me.

The flavor of this tobacco is a Virginia heavily fortified by Perique. There is some zest and a subtle sweetness from the flue-cured leaf. Sometimes you can actually taste the Perique on it's own, in which case you get a heavy, dark tobacco flavor that is somewhat tangy or peppery. Mostly, the Perique boosts the overall body of the blend, accentuating the deeper themes like a bass violin in an orchestra. The blend just isn't as integrated as a flake, though, so occasionally the Perique does a solo of its own. It burns well enough and does not produce any bite.

The room note is like a strong English cigarette, with a darker tobacco flavor.

The strength of this blend is substantial, but again it's not really what I'd call a "strong" tobacco, but it's definitely for experience smokers only.

Some have compared this blend to Escudo, but I find Escudo at best to be a much milder blend with far less of an emphasis on Perique, and far more tongue bite.

I was looking over the reviews on EM and to my surprise I found that no one said it was one of their favorites and one of their regular smokes. So, I thought I should say it. Elizathean Mixture is one of my favorites and I smoke it often. There, now I feel much better. Now on with a short review. EM is rich in Perique with a beautiful aroma from the tin. The tobacco needs to air and dry for a few days after opening before smoking. I like to give it a good 3-5 days with the lid off. Then, pack the first bowl and sit back for a full tasting no nonsense Perique blend. It is a smooth Perique unlike some that have a harsh and ruff taste to them. Elizabethan tastes rich and mellow right down to the bottom of the bowl. When this blend is cellared it gets even better. I love Perique and this is one of my favorites. I don't compare it to other Perique blends such as Three Nuns. They have their own individual personalities. Elizabethen, Astley's no.2, and Three Nuns are at the top of my Perique list.

I have been smoking E-Mixture for years. It's simple, easy to find, tastes great from top to bottom, and it's easy to find. Upon opening a new tin I am blasted by raisin of Virginia and the plum of Perique. It packs easily, as do all of the nicely cut Dunhill blends I've smoked. Nice short cut ribbons. It's obviously more of the light Virginias than the dark, with a need to search out the Perique. It seems to me that this is just enough of the latter to enhance the Virginia's sweetness. The char is full and sweet without becoming overpowering. There seems to be no flat spots or burdening (I can't wait to finish this bowl) nuances about it. This old gal Eliza burns dry to the bottom with a nice grey/white ash. I rarely use pipe cleaners to dry out the bowl with this Virginia oriented tobacco, as I have to with flake style Virginias. This stuff has been through a whole assortment of sizes and shapes of pipes that I have owned over the years. It seems to be best in a certain English Canadian second (that is completely unblemished) that I picked up in the seventies. Not many firsts today equal the quality and smoking quality of that pipe, which was broken in with this, but E-Mixture smokes just as great in a number of other much newer pipes that I own. I'd give this tobacco the nod, but I don't believe it holds a candle to some of the newer Pease blends like Haddo's Delight. I'm now using HD as a yardstick to compare other Virginia/Perique blends. Frankly, I am an English blend fan (965 is another of my long time Dunhill favorites). So, for me it's often a V/P in the earlier part of the day, and a finish with an English like 965 or Nightcap, or even Dark Star, or Frog Morton, in the evening. But If a "10" is Haddo's, then Elizabethan Mixture is an "8" to me.

This is an absolute standard. Perhaps this is because I normally smoke English blends. There is something very English about this despite being a virginia perique blend. Perhaps one would say that this is more savory than sweet and spicy. There's something of the cornish pasty in this one. But then that is exactly what the English smoker would look for in a virginia perique. Of course to be sure there is a sweetness, but it is nothing like the raisins and figs one might expect from the likes of McLelland. Indeed even Pease's vrginia perique do not quite capture the essence of this tobacco. High in nicotine and sweet on the palate, there's nothing else quite like it. An Englishman's V and P, and filled with a certain, simple, nostalgia like nothing else besides Pease's Renaissance.

This is one heck of a tobacco! I can't say enough good about this stuff. I have been leery of VA/P blends for sometime, and only finally succumbed to this blend after my local tobaccanist gave me a major recommendation. This took a few bowls to really kick in, but after it did I found it to be a good alternate on my all day smoke line up. The virginias are not to sweet and taste absolutely heavenly! The perique is very tame and adds the perfect amount of spice to the mix. One strange little detail-in the background the perique made me think of fresh jalapenos! Not in an overwhelming way at all, but with a bit of tickle on the back of the throat, and a freshness that I don't normally associate with smoking a pipe. I have had several of my buddies who smoke pipes try this blend and they all fell in love with it immediately. You can't go wrong with this one. My family seems to like the room note as well!??