Peterson Elizabethan Mixture

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.

I have always considered this one a bit unusual in the way it delivers the Perique. The tobacco is a ribbon cut in every shade of brown. I never get much tin aroma except for the very faint odor of fermented apple, just a wisp. It starts out with a lightly sweetened Va. flavor. The sweetener is very light and reminds me of honeydew melon, bright on the tongue but quite faint. Nothing interferes with the taste of extraordinarily good tobacco. The smoke then moves to a darker Virginia flavor with plenty of depth. My guess is that the combination of the various Va.s, the sweetener and the Perique produce a smoke that is absolutely unique and tasty. Finally the Perique emerges full bore as the Va moves to the background, and Lordy! we are in the Perique zone. At this point the constant, mouth watering tang of Perique carries the smoke to the end of the bowl. This is rich tobacco. One of the truly great Va./Perique blends. Dunhill knows tobacco. Most highly recommended. Paddy.

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!??

I think the Perique in this blend is in perfect proportion for me, which is to say that it's not the dominant feature. You get the pleasant pepper tang and spice on your throat, backed up by toasty virginia, without having to scratch your chin and wonder "am I really enjoying this stuff"? What I like best about this weed is that it delivers quite adequately in the nicotine department. I manage to fire up often enough to keep the jones-meter down, but if I ever get into trouble, I know I can count on Liz to restore sanity! Anyone venturing into Perique-land tentatively (as I do) will find a safe enjoyable smoke here that can be smoked frequently or as a change of pace. Don't let stronger Periques like Haddo's Delight scare you away. This is good smoke!

Tin Aroma: This blend, on first whiff, was almost sour with Perique. After a bit of airing out, the tin aroma took on something of the Virginia character of the blend, and I knew I was in for a powerful experience.

Physical Characteristics: A short, thinnish ribbon cut, leaning more towards the blonde end of the color spectrum than the dark brown, but still nicely balanced. Packs like a charm once it has aired out a bit, and smokes evenly to a cool grey ash.

Notes: I have smoked two tins of this, one 'new' and one with a year's worth of aging on it. I FAR preferred the aged tin, so much as to not really recognise that they were the same tobacco. As a matter of fact, if I had not smoked then one after the other, it would have been hard to make the connection between the two. Where the young tin was grassy and musty, the aged tin I smoked had none of these flavors, being instead a full-on tobacco-tasty experience. This is a powerful blend, and those faint of heart when it comes to nicotine should probably smoke this sitting down.

Verdict: I much enjoyed the tins of this I have smoked, and will waste no time in putting more of this in my cellar. I would heartily recommend aging this to anyone, and especially to those new to Virginia/Perique blends.