Peterson Nightcap

UPDATE: I've been dipping into this same tin (now in a jar) for a while now and the spices from the Orientals and the Perique are certainly more noticeable. Drier, it burns much more evenly and predictably. Flavors are more discernible and it's still an excellent tobacco.

ORIGINAL: This is based on a brand new Orlik tin that I just received from Germany.

In the tin, the sweet Virgina aroma predominates, with a very present but subdued Latakia smokiness. The weed is lighter than I expected, a nice mix of golden colors with the darker Latakia. Moisture was close to just right. Next time I may dry it for a little while before striking the match.

Upon lighting, it was less sweet than expected. It never really develops as much Virgina sweetness as some English blends, but the balance is impeccable. I can't perceive the Perique at all. The smokiness is the main player but the flavors blend so effortlessly that you can't help but just sink into a contemplative mood and smoke away the afternoon. I would characterize this tobacco as smooth, smooth, smooth.

I was surprised to find the room note toasty and pleasant, unlike most heavy Lat mixtures. The flavors intensified during the last third-bowl. I re-lit a couple times near the end to take advantage of the dregs, then allowed the final dottle to just burn out. A nice smoky aftertaste reminds you for a while of the pleasure you just experienced and makes you anticipate the next time you open the tin.

Disclaimer that this is my 2nd English-style pipe tobacco. I might compare it to Squadron Leader more than once.

Apparently, despite this not showing up on tobacco reviews as being available in bulk, Edwards carries bulk Nightcap. I'm glad because they were charging over a twenty for a tin of the stuff.

Baggie smells a lot like other English, woodsy, a little campfire, barn-y, a little sweetness of rum raisin... but not much.

I may be an odd duck, but the same thing came to mind on first light as what came with Squadron Leader. Bread. Although this time the bread was much more specific... rye with excessive caraway seeds. Really strong in the rye department. Room note, mostly tobacco with a sneaky bandit whiff of charred campfire marshmallows.

This blend is exceptionally balanced. Nothing stands out as a prime player... I get a mild spiciness, a bready/toasty burley that reminds me of warm rye bread, and a little pickled beet at the end from the Virginias. Everything plays exceptionally well with each other.

I smoked two huge bowls of this, and didn't notice the nicotine until halfway through the second bowl, but when it hit, it sunk my freaking battleship... it hit hard, and despite my choice of a particularly spicy bourbon to pair it with, left my head aswim with Vitamin N flush.

I am very surprised with this tobacco. The balance is incredible, nothing plays solo here, but everything works well together.

Due to the flavors, I strongly recommend a rye-heavy bourbon like Beam Devil Cut, Wild Turkey, Four Roses, etc.. with it... it's a perfect pairing.

I really like this English blend.

Appearance: A slighly broad ribbon cut, mostly dark colors. Ribbons are quite uniform, typical Dunhill attention to detail

Aroma: Lots of Latakia, not much else to my nose.

Packing: Packs easily in most pipes, group 3 and up.

Lighting: Typical lighting procedure, not too quick or too slow.

Initial flavor: Just like it smells, lots of smokey Latakia, with some slightly sweet Va flavor.

Mid-bowl: Not very complex, just the two flavors changing intensity slightly as they interact. Dry and cool, and not too sensitive to puffing rate. There is some nicotine strength here, so it?s best in the evening.

Finish: Nice, clean finish. No tendency to get harsher at the end, and no wet dottle.

Summary: An excellent blend, if you?re a Latakia junkie. If you need more latakia than this, try either Penzance or an IV drip.

This is a pretty well reviewed blend and I cannot compare to other Dunhill ownership or previous versions ( never understood how comparing old to new was relevant, old is gone) but this is a very nice blend in its own right. This is a strong Latakia blend but has some complexity and is not unidimensional. There are way bigger lat bombs out these days so I think some of the hype of the blend is old news.

Dunhill blends have some of the best looking ribbons and the dark ribbons mixed with the lighter browns set the stage for a top shelf smoke. It also makes packing and burning qualities just about perfect.

I also have not experienced the nicotine rush that has become lengendary, but I don’t inhale or puff to fast so that may be a factor with me. Everyone should have a tin but I will say that this genre is in a packed category and they are all good, so it is not irreplaceable

It took me a while to finally get around to trying this classic and it did not disappoint. I had already knew to expect a stronger smoke and this is pretty much always to be expected from Dunhill in my experience, but it is amplified with Nightcap as it is known as one of Dunhill's bigger nic hitters.

Part of the reason it took me so long to try is that I bought a bag of bulk nightcap from a shop called Jovan's in Cleveland and it turns out it was not Dunhill Nightcap. I needed to compare it to the real deal, so my buddy invited me over as he had some new and old (murray) NC to compare this bulk offering to. It turned out I was hosed. Shame on this shop who's owner assured me it was Dunhill. The experience of that coupled with wanting to finish off the impostor nightcap kept putting it off for me. I did smoke a bowl of each the old and new at my buddy's, but having smoked other tobaccos there and drank several beers would not have made for a very good review.

On to the actual Nightcap. The blend is pretty unique in tastes due to the addition of a goodly amount of Perique that both bolsters the strength and gives it a nice spicy punch as well. Otherwise this is a medium to full lat blend with that one major twist. I don't think I would put this in my top tobaccos, but I did enjoy it. Just not as much as many others do. This doesn't really surprise me too much as I have yet to be really taken with a blend that contains both Lat and Perique.

Maybe it is something about the way those two flavors combine that, I do enjoy, yet never feel the compulsion to buy more. That is what Nightcap was to me. Something that is good, but I just probably won't buy more. Of course, I say that until the next time Dunhill tins go on sale and I just end up buying more anyway.

Zowie... I consider myself an experienced smoker. Then, I opened a tin of this English blend for the first time and loaded up a smallish briar. The immediate aroma from the tin was spicy and woody. My wife thought it had aromatic tree bark in it! After lighting up, she remarked how nice the room smelled. This is not the usual response I get when smoking an English blend. Now, I had read the previous reviews, so I was planning on being slow and careful with this tobacco and also kinda expecting tongue-bite galore. Well, happily no tongue bite, but I think I smoked too fast and too long, a bad habit of mine...I'm gonna change. So, after 30 minutes or so the nicotine rush and nausea started and lasted for about an hour or more. Ruined a new episode of "Monk" for me. I'm gonna have to follow my smoking plan a little closer from now on with this tobacco. I want no more of the "velvet hammer". This, of course, is not to say it wasn't a good smoke. It certainly was. But I couldn't think about it while I had my head over the toilet. Needless to say I will be more careful of this powerful English blend in the future. Tread carefully.

As the weather here has been a touch cooler here over the last few days - I thought something with a bit of weight might be nice and rummaging through the tobacco cupboard I came across a tin of Nightcap which has probably been maturing here for a year or two. I haven't smoked this blend in some time, but after smoking a bowl or two I wonder - why did I leave it so long, for this is a very fine tobacco indeed. When I smoke Latakia blends the one that I always use as the yardstick is My Mixture 965, because this for me is the definitive English blend. I have to say that Nightcap comes very close. It does not have quite the superb balance of 965, or it's softness or super tin aroma, but it is a very satisfying smoke, a touch fuller than 965 and with a little more harshness in the bottom third of the pipe, perhaps due to the Perique. The Perique never dominates however and it is perhaps this ingredient that gives the extra fullness and weight to the blend. The thing that always strikes me about these Dunhill blends is simply the high quality of the leaf used - especially the Latakia and in this respect Nightcap is no exception, the tobaccos here are straight out of the top drawer. As usual my wife hates the room note when I smoke Latakia and after her fussing around with plug-in air fresheners for a bit, I moved onto the back porch and have just spent the most relaxing and satisfying hour that I have experienced all week. Thanks Dunhill, thanks Nightcap. If you like "English" you'll love this one.

The Dunhill Tripple

I have the day fairly free (a rare occurrence), so I decide to smoke Dunhill EMP, 965 and nightcap to see how they compare. This will be the inaugural smoke of all of the blends for me, and they are all bulk from Pipes and cigars.

Again with the Nightcap as with the EMP and 965, the aroma and look of these tobacco's (at least in bulk from smoking pipes) is remarkably similar, I certainly couldn't tell you which was which from aroma alone in a blind test. The nightcap is perhaps darkest of all, but they all look very similar.

The Nightcap packs well, I have found all three blends to be of a good moisture content straight out of the bulk bags.

Before I go on I should say that I am smoking the nightcap in one of my favorite pipes. It's only a cheap Briar, but it's well broken in and has been predominately used for English blends.

It lights well as do all three of the smokes today, but the Nightcap starts smoking just that little better (perhaps the pipe). It perhaps reminds me more of the 965 than the EMP, but is certainly different again. I don't get the Perique as much as I imagined, but it is there hiding, waiting to be coaxed out helping balance the blend.

Overall these three English blends are far more similar than I imagined. Each is certainly it's own, but surprising similar never the less. If I had to pick just one it would be the Nightcap hands down. I enjoyed them all, but the nightcap just seems to have the best of the other two and deliver it in a superior manner. It's a very easy smoke, even more so than the others, but that doesn't detract from it. It just seems very comfortable with itself, and some of that nonchalance rubs off on me as I smoke it. Perhaps because it's the end of the day, perhaps I've fallen for the name, but regardless I find it a very relaxing smoke. Not the best English and I doubt it could ever be my favourite, but because of this it's very relaxing. I don't have to think about it but I can if I want, it's not too strong, not too weak, it isn't difficult, but it does reward with an exceptional understated smoke.

Out of the three I'm really struggling not to give it 4 stars. I pondered on all three, as all are very good indeed, but the nightcap shines. For now though I have to go with three as I prefer other blends. I'll revisit in the near future and if it continues to perform as it has with this smoke it'll get a very solid four.

Note: This is my first review. I thought I would start with a popular blend and one that I felt was easy to review. This is a great tobacco from char light to the bottom of the bowl.

Upon recommendation from my local tobacconist, I chose to jar this in a mason jar and expose to air and let rest for a month.

Out of the tin, I picked up notes of leather and gentle smokey aroma, but not overwhelming. This is not the strongest english I have tried, but one of my favorites. If I'm looking for a real bomb, I lean toward Maltese Falcon or Kasimir.

Room note has a gentle smokey aroma. Not overwhelming, but not a "wife tobacco" in my rotation.

I've read about the nic hit on this one, but I just didn't feel overwhelmed, but probably because I've enjoyed his younger brother: Dunhill's Royal Yacht

This is a pleasant smoke. I appreciate the delicious smokey flavor from the Latakia gently balanced with Virginia and a very small amount of spice from the Perique. This is a great after dinner smoke (but I'm affected by the name). I would probably call this an outside smoke in my rotation and my wife doesn't appreciate the lingering aroma on my beard/clothes.

Slow hour long smoke right to the bottom of the bowl with a gentle ash. If savored, I did not get a bite or the mouth/tongue coat that others have reviewed.

Like EMP and Apertif, it's definitely part of my rotation.