Esoterica Tobacciana Brighton

Moving on to the nest tobacco in my sampler pack, here we have an interesting Virginia blend. This reminds me of cut, dry grass; the color is nearly identical, and it even smells a little "grassy"! My sample seems to be flakes that have been almost totally rubbed out. The smell in the bag is, as noted, very mild, almost grassy, without the sweetness I usually sense in Virginia tobaccos. It is lighter in color, light and medium browns making up the mostly rubbed-out flake. The cut is fairly long, making packing a little tricky, and it is on the dry side. It lights easily and burns well, needing a below-average number of relights; actually, it burns a lot like grass, too. I chose a Stanwell bent bulldog for the first bowl of this tobacco. For the first 1/3, I'm getting a very light, airy smoke. There is no strong flavor, but I am noticing a very subtle sweetness and a bit of a "bright" Virginia taste. The smoke is very light and refreshing, not at all heavy or dark as with some matured Virginias. Moving on to the second third, and the flavor now is very similar to the first part of the bowl. I'm noticing that the light smoke is somewhat astringent in the mouth, like a strong tea; this is not unpleasant overall, but I find myself drinking more often than normal while smoking. The taste has changed somewhat, becoming a bit darker and more mature, but it is still fairly airy. There is a hint of tongue bite if I don't take care in puffing. Forward with the final third of this bowl, and nothing much has changed. The flavor is perhaps a touch darker and fuller than at the start, but it remains very light. Aside from a subtle sweetness and a touch of spiciness, there really isn't much to this tobacco. Maybe I'm spoiled by Latakia, but I keep asking myself, where's the rest? Is that all? It reminds me of those "Where's the beef?" fast food commercials. It does burn dry, right to the bottom, and the tongue bite is fairly mild. Overall, I find that there's nothing much to this one. It is refreshing, in a very mild sort of way, and it's about as far from a full English blend as it is possible to get. The room odor is also mild, almost like cigarette smoke (without the foul "after" smell), and is does burn very well. But I believe I would get about as much satisfaction and flavor from dried grass clippings. If you enjoy REALLY light, subtle Virginias, you may want to try this. Myself, I'll stick with Dark Star and VA #24 when I'm in the mood for a Virginia tobacco; they at least have some body, even if I do have to fight the tongue bite. UPDATE: This tobacco does have a bit more body and taste when smoked in a deep bowl; I would recommend doing so to maximize the flavor. It is still, however, no where near as full as I usually prefer.

12-03-2004 And now, for something totally different!

Appearance and Tin Aroma: Light Va ribbon, beatiful leaf colors! I detect a light licorice casing.

Packing and Lighting: Easy, just a few long ribbons giving a fuss. Lit easily, two lights.

Initial Flavor: Lightly cased Va, smoothness of the Va immediately noticable.

Mid-Bowl: I really like this blend! The leaf flavor is slightly oatish, but smooth. the casing is delicately there.

Bottom of Bowl: Slight build up of strength, casing never gets bitter or overpowering.

Overall: This is a mild VA blend that has been delicately cased in the Lakeland District style. Because of its uniqueness, I will continue to puff this blend in my VA rotation. Tongue-bite is pretty much impossible with this delicate mixture and even though it is not as rich as many other VA's that I have tried, the flavor, keeps me coming back. Give it a try.

Rating: 4 out of 5 points

Appearance: Mostly light and medium red tones, medium width ribbon

Aroma: Mild to medium matured Virginia aroma. .

Packing: Packs well into any size bowl from group 3 through 5.

Lighting: Lighting is quite ordinary. Not too slow to burn, nor too quick to catch.

Initial flavor: Well rounded Virginia flavor of moderate strength. Good sweetness from the Red leaf, balanced by the tangier Lemon colored leaf.

Mid-bowl: This is a simple blend, which has complex layers of flavors. The blending of sweet and and tangy keeps the blend from being monochromatic. The blend is gentle on the palate, with a good range of middle notes, some high and only a few low, but no extremes. A cool smoke,if puffed slowly, but stays lit rather well.

Finish: Finishes smoothly, leaves a fine gray ash. Tastes good right to the end.

Summary: A superb blend for the fancier of milder Virginias. Could be an all day smoke for the gentle puffer, but it really needs a relaxed moment to savor the nuances.

A friend of mine had two Esoterica blends that I got to try today. The first was this one dated 2/12/20 and is extremely sweet smelling out of the jar. He believed and I am prone to agree that is has an Apricot casing on it though it says it is unflavored. This is a high quality smooth, sweet smoking Virginia that only seem to get better the more I smoked it. Did not bite or burn the tongue. Like pretty much all Esoterica blends if you are lucky enough to get them and can afford the price tag go for it. Glad I got to have a couple of bowls of this one. If it fell from the sky and landed in my lap, great but as good as it is for myself, I would not make it a quest to find.

not a very experienced smoker. This was one of my first purchases and being the inexperienced smoker that i am i initially didnt like it. after a few months of smoking under my belt i decided to give it another try. Man was i glad i did. i love it as a good afternoon summer smoke paired with a citrusy beer such as Blue Moon or shock top. pairs perfectly! I prefer the spicier english blends but this one ill make an exception. great mid-day relaxing smoke.

I got 2 and 1/2 pounds from a friend the other day. He purchased it in 2013 and decided he's done with the pipe and passed 5 unsealed bags onto me. What a lucky guy I am. I've never smoked the Esoterica blends before and I'm not a real Virginia smoker. HOWEVER!!!! what a treat this tobacco is. Perfectly moist right out of the bag, smooth and creamy. Easy to pack, stays lit and has, what I consider a wonderful room note. It's a little one noted, however my nose picks up Coconut, mango and some stone fruit in that first whiff. It's an unusual fragrance to me but I like it. Lit up well and stayed burning, only 2 relights. What an interesting aroma, my wife even said she appreciated it and being that I'm a dark fired Kentucky guy I have to agree with her. If I could get this, I'd order more but I tried to find it on the most shopped websites for pipe tobacco and it appears no one has it. I would definitely give it a try.

At some point while smoking Margate I realized I like the virginia tobaccos in it, and as more dark flakes were remaining in the jar of Margate I decided to gamble and get more virginia. 70% Brighton and 30 -50% Margate mixed and smoked produced and "ice cream cone" experience from my childhood. I am as jolly as can be, as I did not think I could fix deep notes of Margate to make them lighter as I usually smoke my tobacco too wet. Highly recommend both Margate and Brighton tobaccos mixed together.