Esoterica Tobacciana Dorchester

This review is from a blind tasting.

I don't know if it's because I've been smoking stronger tasting stuff today or if this blend just has a very weak opening but for the first couple of minutes I could just about detect the presence of a VA with a good character but which was doing nothing to distinguish itself. Like Sinatra humming within a crowd of football fans. A few minutes later and the scene has changed dramatically. There is now a lot of VA flavour present along with some kind of burley I believe. The VA impression doesn't last as the burley comes on really strong now. This is a most pleasant smoke. I could live with this one as a regular. Looking at the blend in the bag it has two basic colours. Light and dark brown. I suspect a VA and a burley and possibly a small amount of Perique might be present as there is a little spiciness but if it is Perique it is doing little for the VA if indeed there is VA here as the predominant flavours are all burley ones for me. But it is a good quality burley. In fact this is a really good kick ass burley. There is a great abundence of flavour here. Warm caramelised creamy nuts about describes it. There is a slightly toasted character too.

Another day another bowl.

Looking at the leaf spread over a sheet of white paper I see there are some fairly chunky sized black pieces. Reading about my last smoke with this stuff leads me to think these might be cavendish, a tobacco I have tended to avoid due to it being sweetened and widely used with aromatics.

I've loaded up a Lorenzo bent Dublin and this is the first bowl of the day. It is not a good first smoke of the day I'm finding. It lacks any distinctive sharp flavours that I like first thing. It's much more gentle than my usual kind of morning blend which is quite often something like Dunhill Nightcap with added cigar leaf.

Again it has quite bland beginings and slowly begins to reveal more flavour. It is taking it's time today though. I'm about half way through the bowl now and although it is pleasant it is too subtle for me right now. This would be good to smoke when you don't have much attention free to devote to it.

There are two kinds of pipe smoking pleasure for me. The first is just plain smoking. I like to smoke. I like to have a pipe in my teeth and draw smoke from it. The second is the pleasure that comes with the taste of certain kinds of leaf or combinations of leaf. This is a pleasure that is acquired by trying different blends and giving more attention to what we are smoking. When particularly good flavours are pouring forth I get a combination effect of both these pleasures and it becomes difficult to put my attention on anything else. That is what I consider to be "the zone". This blend is a good smoke but isn't pulling me into it to the exclusion of everything else.

I have enough left for a smaller bowl which I shall smoke later on today but right now my verdict is Not Guilty. If there were no other blends in the world this would be worth smoking as it is pleasant enough but I wouldn't advise anyone else to take up the pipe for it.

Last Impressions

For the last bowl I chose a small bent bulldog of no known name but stamped with the name of a good tobacconist in the West Country. Immediately upon setting fire to it I was rewarded with a nice strong shot of burley. It seems to like this pipe better than the last. The burley is more up front now. Less flowery and more savoury with a richer tobacco taste. But ultimately this is still pretty bland for me. I have no idea what this blend is but would be surprised to find it is anything more than a cheap drugstore burley blend!

This is the second Virginia/Perique blend I've tried, Escudo being the first. I did not enjoy Escudo very much, and this blend confirmed that I simply don't prefer this style of tobacco. It was not a bad smoke, however, and I'll likely finish the sample I have without difficulty. In the sample bag, the smell is very mild, sort of a medium "tobacco" smell with nothing standing out. The blend appears to be a mix of medium and lighter brown leaf in a long, narrow cut, with the occasional large black chunk thrown in. It's a bit tricky to pack, but with a fairly low moisture content, it does light easily. In the first 1/3 of the bowl, the main flavor is that of a medium Virginia, mild and uncomplex. The taste is darker overall than that of Cardiff at the start, and there is perhaps a hint of spice in the background. There is also some bite if I don't puff carefully. In addition, it seems to need more relights than usual at the very start, despite the dryness of the tobacco. Moving on into the second third of the bowl, the spice in the background has become more pronounced. This reminds me a lot of Escudo, but I find this blend somewhat more flavorful. The Virginia flavor, while still "medium" in body, is showing some signs of complexity. I don't notice any of the usual Virginia sweetness here, but the taste has matured somewhat. Into the final third, the spicy note is becoming more obvious. It adds nicely to the complexity of the tobacco flavor, forming a nice, light mixture. It finishes pleasantly, leaving a spicy taste on my tongue. Overall, while this isn't my favorite style of tobacco, I found this to be a nice enough diversion. It matures and develops best in a deep-bowled pipe. I actually prefer this to Escudo, as having a bit more flavor and fullness. If you like Escudo, I certainly recommend that you try this. It burns well without any moisture, and tongue bite is avoided through careful smoking. I'll likely keep a small amount around for when I'm in the mood for this style of tobacco, though I don't believe I'll buy a full tin.