Esoterica Tobacciana Blackpool

The hot pressed dark and gold Virginias offer a range of familiar characteristics known to those tobaccos: some tart and tangy citrus and grass along with a little fermented tangy dark fruit, earth, wood, bread and a bare hint of spice. There’s more gold Virginia than dark. The mild licorice topping has a tame quality that reduces its importance. There’s a very mild fruit topping, too. Has a mild nic-hit at best. The strength is mild, while the taste is just short of the center of mild to medium. Won't bite and has no harsh or dull spots. Needs some dry time. Burns cool, clean and a little slow with a very consistent, smooth, sweet taste, and requires some relights. How much moisture is left in the bowl depends on whether or not you’ve dried it, but no dottle is likely, unless you are also a wet smoker. The flavors (and lightly lingering after taste) are very mild with little depth or body. Has a very pleasant room note. An all day smoke for those wanting a gentle sweet smoke. Two and a half stars.

-JimInks

Blackpool was not at all what I expected. This blend contains "a dash of licorice extract." And boy, does it ever enhance the leaf with a flavor presentation that is 'to die for." The Virginia itself is top-shelf with the special secret processing that Germain is famous for. And the flavor presentation changes dramatically all the way down the bowl. One of the delights of this blend is that you never know exactly what you are going to get with each puff, but you know that whatever it is, it'll be good!

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Interesting stuff. I can taste the licorice, even in my over ten-year-old sample, but it is not overpowering. The blend is indeed jet-black, and a very mellow smoke, and if it has a fault, it is that it burns a bit fast. I will go to this when I want an easy smoke, because there really isn't much complexity here, but still, another great offering among the less well-known Esoterica blends.

11-1-2022 Still have about 3 ounces left, and it is 20 years old by now. Smoking some now (though have smoked the occasional bowl through the years), and can't add much. Like it, but won't smoke it every day. I'm getting more complexity than I seem to have when I first reviewed it, and nice to have some 20 yo Esoterica in my collection.

Blackpool is a soft, dark ready-rubbed mixture with an understated fruit and licorice scent. The flavor is quite mild and the aftertaste is lightly sweet, at times carrying with it what I can only describe as a faint curry like flavor.

Honestly, this blend tastes & smokes like a substantially toned-down version of Ramsgate. I would imagine that this is by design as the lighter application of licorice certainly makes Blackpool less of an acquired taste. However, this comes with a price, as Blackpool lacks the flavor depth & character of Ramsgate.

To sum it up, Blackpool is not a bad tobacco mixture and if I hadn't already had the pleasure of smoking Ramsgate I might have enjoyed it more. Pipers who prefer smoking milder aromatics may very well enjoy this but I found the flavor of Blackpool to be softer & more timid than I prefer.

Upon opening the bag, it smells like a stoved VA, like Dark Star or Dark Fragrant, without the vinegar tang. Dark fruit is the main note, with undertones of fruity black tea, like a Keemun. Licorice is there, but mild. The cut is leathery little ribbons, and in my case were covered in bloom. Damp out of the bag, but correctly moist after 45 minutes in dry Colorado air. Loads and packs well. Lighting is a bit more difficult than the cut would indicate, but still easy compared to a flake. The taste on lighting is sweet, mildly tangy fruity stoved VA, with a hint of saltiness and grilled meat. Licorice is hard to notice initially, but comes through in the retrohale. Even then it is hard to single out, and provides more licorice aftertaste than up front flavor. It reminds me of an herb tea that has been sweetened with licorice root, whose licorice you don’t notice until after swallowing and the primary flavors fade. It gains sweetness through the bowl, and more stewed plum flavor builds, with enough tang to avoid cloying sweetness. Hints of molasses and grilled meats fade in and out, with the consistent licorice sweetness providing base notes. Requires a few relights, and burns down clean. Provides lots of thick smoke, and a relatively strong lingering room note for a milder blend. Overall recommended and enjoyed.

Tasting Notes: Esoterica Tobacciana Blackpool

Component Tobaccos: Pressed Virginias with a licorice topping

Cut: Ready rubbed

Tin Note: Raisin, very sweet

Body: 3/10

Strength: 5/10

Nic: 3/10

Mechanics: I have had flakes stay lit better than this. It doesn't light well, doesn't stay lit.

Taste: First light is the dark, deep moldering grass Virginia flavor with some bread in the background. The retrohale is reminiscent of Granny's cinnamon, raisin bread. I notice the topping but just barely, it adds a bit of sweetness and some fruity quality to the blend. It doesn't change; Blackpool gives it all to you up front and remains steadfast through to the end. It's a nice dark Virginia with a bit of sweetness thanks to that licorice topping.

Thoughts: Okay so I like it. It's a very straight forward blend. Nice and dark with contrasting sweet notes. I find it hard to call an aromatic but there is a noticeable topping. My problem is that this is an Esoterica blend. They are hard to find and honestly over hyped. Is Blackpool good? Yes, absolutely. Is Blackpool mind-blowing? No, absolutely not. If it were a readily available blend it might be a daily smoker for me but as it stands Dark Flake is easily gotten and has a similar profile. If you can find it, pick up a bag. But I wouldn't go out of my way for it.

Overall: 5.5/10

Love the flavors here, but it has some minor faults. A fairly strong citrus flavor with lesser notes of dark fruit. The licorice is barely noticed. Has a moderate sweetness and a bit of spice. A little too much earthiness shows later in the bowl and that dulls the flavor a little. Needs an above average number of relights. I can't go more than 2 stars on this one.

Mild to medium in body and taste. Flavoring is extremely mild. Burn is fair at best.

Had a small sample of this sent to me by a very nice fellow who sold me a pipe. I think it was well aged. I did enjoy it. High quality, jet-black baccy, with a nice, mild flavouring added.

If you like strong aromatics, you will probably be disappointed with this one. The mild licorace flavouring stays in the background as it should, since, as with other fine Esoterica offerings, the quality leaf itself is the star here, I will definitely get more, if I can ever find any... :-/

I was able to smoke a good three bowls of this compliments of our Honorary Vice President of our pipe club who was able to get this from a company that sold it online. Licorice, I guess for most either you love it or hate it. As for me I love it. The tin note reminded me of licorice ropes that you buy. The tobacco was a mostly dark ribbon cut with some brown scattered throughout. It was moist but not wet like some aromatics tend to be. The licorice flavor lasted from start to finish and was a fantastic smoke. The description says the blend type is Virginia based but if it tastes like an aro then it is an aro. I could smoke a lot of this but herein lies the rub. Esoterica tobaccos are as elusive as finding the Tasmanian Devil, the Ivory Billed Woodpecker and the Carolina Parakeet all in one day. I searched over a half dozen or more online tobacco companies and all were out of stock. I just to not have the energy to try and obtain this elusive tobacco. Of course, if I ever get the chance to buy it I will but am not going to actively hunt this down. Lucky to have tried it. It reminds me of the old adage, ‘Is it better to have loved and lost than to not have loved at all”. Not sure. Anyway, if you like licorice this is an excellent blend and is not goopy but more naturally processed with the flavoring

Esoterica really does a good job at making excellent tobaccos and Blackpool is no exception.

This tobacco reminds me almost exactly, but not quite, like Kingsbridge.

The way the tobacco looks in the bag is identical to Kingsbridge, but perhaps a shade darker and a few less sugar crystals. The smell, again, is almost a perfect match to Kingsbridge, but just a tad sweeter with more black licorice scent. Loads and burns well without troubles. Light but firm tamping keeps it going and a sipping method is preferred rather than heavy puffing.

The flavors remind me of Kingsbridge, but there is slightly more licorice flavor and one doesn't get the tongue tingles (antiseptic) feel from this one like I did with Kingsbridge. The flavor profile reminds me of blackwoods flake a lot, but sweeter and deeper like darkstar. The sweetness is a natural sweetness, not from any toppings or additions. The topping is quite nice but again doesn't seem to be a sweet topping. Just some good licorice from time to time mixes with the natural sweet, woodsy, aged and deep virginia flavor. From time to time there was a bit of spice that reminded me more of cloves than pepper. Consistent flavor all the way down the bowl, and it burns quite slowly. Excellent tobacco!