Peterson Elizabethan Mixture

Elizabethan Do you like Perique?, This has it , but perfectly married into the Virginias. I was totally engrossed with the intense incense scent produced by the Perique while snorking this blend . It actually reminded me of McC's "Tudor Castle's ", a "new book print" scent . I really enjoy the typical Dunhill ribbon cut, as it's easy to load, light and keep lit. The Virginias are very flavorful without bite, and producing a nice smooth smoke. An all day Vaper. I decided to do some one on one Vaper comparisons. So down to the cellar I went, I pulled out some Esoterica Dunbar, Escudo, Rattrays Marlin Flake, McC 2015 Bulk , SG's St. James Flake, P. Stokkeybys's Luxury Navy Flake and the Elizabethan. I was going to smoke nothing but Vapers for a week and determined once and for all, my preferences. Like a mad scientist, here are my results:

Dunbar- on the lighter side of these offerings, but very ,very smooth, absolutely ( I love that word,"abbsahloootlee", always reminds me of Sylvester Stallone in Rocky) no bite, incense scent was noticeable. No raisins or spice notes, liked the cut, an all day tobacco at any smoking pace, flavorful but not in your face . More of a sweet Virginia blend than a VaPer when slow sipped, Perique noticeable when smoked more aggressive,no bitters. Good on DGT

Peter Stokkebye Luxury Navy Flake- Mild with a nice flake cut , no incense scent on first half of the bowl, Low in Perique, some sweetness but rougher on the tongue, no complexity, best in price but least in flavor. Ok on DGT

Elizabethan- Incense scent jumps out on initial light and stays the whole smoke, noticable Perique, nice ribbon cut . Sweet and sour flavor with no bite, More strength than Dunbar and more flavor but not as smooth. Virginias very well behaved, no bite, interesting and complex for a Vaper. More aggressive puffing brings out a raisin spice flavor without bitterness. Poor on DGT gets ashy, but a good all day Vaper on the tongue.

McC 2015 Bulk- Loaded with Perique, incense scent jumps out with the typical McCVinegar ( I happen to like it). Not a smooth offering ( bulk had 3 years cellar age), flavor is big but so is the spice, can bite . Virginias are sweet with Perique raisin flavor. Cut is a broken dark flake and is hard to keep lit. Want a spicier Vaper with bold tangy flavor ?, this is it. Keeps my interest, but grates my tongue. Good on DGT

SG's St. James Flake_- Heavy Perique, incense scent, very smooth ( 3 years bulk aging). No bite or harsh spice or raisin flavor. Perique overpowers the Virginia in a nice way, very mellow, creamy dark base note flavors, not tangy. Keeps my interest..

Marlin Flake After a slight rub out, you end up with a nice size flake that packs easy and smokes great. Perique and incense scent is noticeable but not overwhelming , has a nice balance with the Virginias. Virginias are tangy, sweet and sour without bite, has a good spice balance . I would say a raisin flavor can be detected in the tanginess. Everything in good balance no bitterness. Brisk smoking pace can make blend ashy and hot. OK on DGT but looses tang and more ashy,

Escudo- Perique medium ,not a strong incense scent ,more hidden than most, stronger on the last 1/3 bowl. Virginias are more dark and not as sweet as MF, has a bitter undertone. No strong raisin flavor but some spice. slightly tangy but not as much as MF. Tin has two years age, flavors slightly mottled, not that interesting. Once coins are slightly rubbed out, the cut is very fine ( almost a shag) and thus tends to burn fast and ashy, hotter burning than Elizabethan and could Bite if pushed. I felt that these were some strange results, as I always remembered this much better, is "Scandinavian Tobacco Group" taking some shortcuts ?

Results, for me and only me, I'll continue to buy Elizabethan as it's an easy to smoke, middle of the pact smoke. But the best are: Dunbar, for an easy smoke with sweetness and smoothness and also St James flk. for those special times when I want a heavy dark VaPer. I do regret that I didn't have any McC Beacon Extra , and St. James Woods as I feel these would have also performed well.

I bought this as it was about the only Dunhill that I can get my hands on that I haven't tried yet. Plus there was the fact that I wanted to try a well regarded VaP and this seemed to fit the bill.

The tin aroma wasn't particularly strong, perhaps giving off little hints of raisin or plum. Packing and lighting were uber-easy, given the finely cut ribbons this is no surprise though. The smoke itself is very nice if a little hard to pin down. Sometimes it gives something a little plum or raisin like, similar to HU Director's Cut, other times it gives a more lemony flavour much like Germain's Perique Mixture. Once in a while it even gave hints of coffee. Very satisfying if not astounding.

In summary, a very good satisfying smoke if lacking a little of the Wow! factor and nicely varies it's flavour between the heavier Director's Cut and lighter Perique Mixture giving a nice complexity that I like in a tobacco. I am in no position to make a comparison between this and the original Murray offering but on it's own merits this is a very pleasant tobacco and much recommended.

I was quite pleasantly suprised that I liked this mixture. I opened the tin with concern because I am not a lover of perique, and normally avoid that Louisiana produced weed. I was told tinned Lizzie was one of the best perique blends on the market, so, I decided to give the old girl a whirl, and I am glad I did.

Elizabethan mixture is flavorfull enough to satisfy without being particularly strong. It also leaves the perique far in the background (which I appreciated).

There was a variant of flavors as I worked my way down the bowl. At the final one third of the bowl, the perique did begin to show its face. So, I simply let the fire go out.

I think the return of Elizabethan Mixture is exciting. I hadn't smoked it since the late eighties. This mixture really has a simple tobacco taste, and my recollection tells me it's awfully close to the original. Like most tobaccos, so it's said, is cased, but E.M. doesn't appear topped IMO. That is why many reviewers recognize its dry earthy note. It is said that much of the sense of taste includes, if not requires, the sense of smell for the overall sensation. So that could be why, in some reviews, the piper scorns the blend due to it tasting like a cigarette (tobacco), when rather, the blend isn't heavily influenced by a topping. I've also been smoking plenty of University Flake and its topping effects the taste and room note. E.M. is bright and darker Virginians with a nice touch of Perique. It starts out monochromatic but as you advance through the bowl the flavors deepen with a pure tobacco taste. I don't feel that this is a nicotine bomb, yet it satisfies me. My go-to tobacco Royal Yacht is cased and topped to the bejeezus, but I love it. Compare R.Y. and E.M. by the tin note and mouth feel, and you'll see the smoke of Royal Yacht has an unnatural sweetness, whereas E.M. doesn't. As someone else said E.M. is similar to Pease's Tribute, I say a bit like Fillmore, by its earthiness and dryness on the palate, or as Pease describes Embarcadero being brut rather than demi-sac. When I search out a change of pace tobacco I always smoke at least a full tin to determine if the tobacco has merit. It took several days of exclusively smoking E.M. to really understand and enjoy the blend. Hard puffing ruins the beautiful smoke. I also prefer my tobaccos' to be drier, especially Virginians, to deliver pleasure. Anyhow, I like this tobacco for its simplicity- it satisfies me.

I've bypassed this tin for a while assuming it was a typical Dunhill English blend, but when I saw it was a Virginia-Perique blend I added it to my recent VaPer exploration. I love the colors. There was a great mixture of Red and Bright leaf Va. The Va hay smell was there and the bread smell of the Perique. The Perique gave it the pop. I did not detect any topping or additional flavors some pipers have reported, not in tin smell or taste. But the tin is still young. This is a nice blend full of flavor which is something I look for. It's not as strong as Kajun Kake but stronger than McClellands St. James. I quickly smoked three bowls before I knew it. I'm glad I bought this.. I'll be taking Miss Liza Jane for frequent strolls....

I'm always weary of hype so I avoided the Dunhill tobaccos when they were reintroduced. I wasn't a pipe smoker when Dunhill was previously available and had no fond memories to fall back on.

I finally took the plunge with Elizabethan Mixture (because of my love of VA/Pers) and am very glad I did so. I find this blend unique compared to the other VA/Perique blends I enjoy. The adjective that comes to mind is 'earthy'. I consider blends like Fillmore or St James Woods to be savory/spicy. On the other end of spectrum is Dunbar, which I strongly associate with citrus. EM is somewhere in the middle - the taste of mushrooms comes to mind.

The nicotine level is on the high side but just right and I've had no problems with bite. The only negative is that my my wife hates the room note.

This may ultimately become my favorite VaPer. Right now that honor belongs to Bayou Morning. Need to smoke more of this first though. This blend seems, to me, to be perfectly balanced. My only complaint is that it burned a little warm toward the end of the bowl. Could be due to the fact that I'm breaking in a new cob with this blend and have no cake yet. I also caught myself getting carried away with the wonderful flavor and puffing too fast. Slowed down a bit and it cooled right down. Great body and flavor. Not complex, but not expected to be. Just a great smoke.

UPDATE: 11/5/2013 It does not burn hot. It was a combo of the factors listed above. Still can't decide between this and BM so I'll do what I always do in these situations; get both.

The last time I smoked this mixture was back before the internet so it was the old Dunhill blend. So I thought I would retry it in today's version.

First impressions are pretty strong when opening the tin and smelling the tin aroma. Upon opening this fresh tin I immediately smelled the fresh scent of fresh cut hay that good Virginias have with the ever so slight tang of perique in the background. The cut is a thin ribbon in various shades of brown and khaki. The moisture was dead on perfect to just load in the pipe and not wait for it to dry for a day or so. I loaded it in a pipe that I use mostly for Virginias and is a good smoker. I did the light, tamp and then light method and my first impression was velvety smooth. I immediately sat back a and relaxed and slowly savored the smoke. It has the sweetness one expects from a Virginia and smoked slow this really came out and every now and then I would catch a faint whiff of the perique with it's spicy flavor. It was easy to light and stayed lit pretty well all the way down to the bottom of the pipe. It smokes at a good rate, not too fast and not too slow and very dry all the way down. Towards the bottom of the bowl I tasted the perique come out more and the strength of the flavor grew stronger. It leaves a dark gray ash at the bottom of the bowl and just a little dottle. The room note to me smelled wonderful, to my wife it smells like cigarettes. I don't see it as I don't like the smell of cigarettes but I like the note of this one. Oh well, to each his own I guess. I went on to smoke this blend in a variety of pipes, briars, meers, and cobs. Great in all.

In summary, for a Virginia smoker this is an excellent blend. The perique is subtle. For a VaPer smoker this might leave them lacking as the perique is so much in the background. But it is an exceptional blend, very smooth, tasty, does not bite if smoked properly, and I highly recommend it.

The last thing that is probably needed here is another review of Elizabethan. However, as I have now had both of the latest iterations (Dunhill and Peterson's) side-by-side in very similar pipes, that is what you are going to get!

First of all, and no real surprise, the Peterson's version is (in my opinion) unchanged from the STG Dunhill version. The tins are shallower and the branding is updated but the contents are identical.

All the Dunhill-Peterson's consist of a wonderfully easy to pack fine ribbon which is important as this makes for an assuredly consistent experience. The tin aroma is of rich fig and dried fruit base with complex Virginias and is wonderful. What you end up with when lit is a mild but rich dark Virginia flavour with a little sweetness and some grassy notes throughout, all enhanced by the perfect quantity of deep and peppery Perique.

The new Peterson's has, I notice, a lot more of the bright notes in comparison to the Dunhill that have been smoothed out over time, maturing in my Mason jar. This is the way I remember Dunhill Elizabethan smelling and tasting and I like it fresh. The taste is complex but consistent to the bottom no matter the pipe or indeed bowl size but I find it a little better in narrower, tallish Peterson. (But then I find almost all Virginia-based blends test best in this pipe.)

Both fresh and mature versions, if smoked gently, produce a cool smoke with no bite and remain fairly dry to the bottom with very little dottle. There is still however, a LOT of nicotine in this blend which is another thing that has remained the same and we are left with a light but distinct Virginia room note; pleasant if you like that sort of thing (and I do!).

So, Elizabethan Mixture is back and I no longer need to hoard all of those Dunhill tins. Anyone disagree?