Esoterica Tobacciana Dorchester

This is a wonderful matured, naturally sweet and fragrant Virginia, with quite a bit of Périque.. It comes in an elegant tin, with a kind of parchment paper printed to make it look like it was hand written in old ink. The tobacco inside is rather moist, but it is very easy to pack and light. The leaf is beautiful and I believe of high quality grade.

Though I am not (yet) an absolute Périque fan, I have come to enjoy blends with this leaf thanks to Fox?s Dorisco, Petterson?s Irish Oak, and Solani?s 633. IMO, after a number of bowls of Dorchester, I believe this could be the rubbed out version of Solani?s 633: the Virginias are as sweet and winey, and the Périque is as juicy and piquant. Because of the ribbon cut, I find Dorchester easier to smoke than Solani?s, but I enjoy both very much. Neither are tongue biting, and they both offer a rich and fresh flavour, and a medium strength smoke. This is my first experience with Esoterica Tobacciana, and I was very impressed with the quality of this blend. I will be enjoying more of this in the future. Highly recommended, especially if already acquainted with Va/P mixtures.

Nice coarse ribbon cut with a few pieces of broken flakes left. Tin aroma smells of fruit liqueur. Moisture is not very high but I prefer to dry a little for a few minutes.

Takes easily to the light and my first impression apart from the added liqueur aroma which is subtle is the tell-tale sweetened taste of aged Virginias of many J.F. Germain tobaccos, like Uncle Tom or Plum Cake. It is an old school tobacco but not as much the aforementioned. Dorchester can appeal to a wider range of smokers, it’s not as sweet and has affinities in taste with the superb Tilbury. The taste is pastry-like and a little woodsy, more to the dark and aged side of the Virginia spectrum. Perique adds a nice darker element to it, not very spicy though but still it balances the sweetness nicely. It is very smooth and not too strong but with a good portion of nicotine. Very easy draw, very cool smoke, and generally very easy to handle.

A very nice tobacco, sophisticated and elegant if a little cloying, sort of like a desert tobacco. Glad to have tasted it but if I had the choice I’d prefer Tilbury to it.

Very good tin note. Smells of figs and hay. But it doesn't fully show those notes in the smoke itself. Still, this is a fine blend and am glad I smoked the tin. Not bitey. Leaves an OK room note.

Original Review 6-7-2012

This was the first VA/Per that I ever smoked and did so on the First IPSD that I have experienced as a pipe smoker. I am glad I did not review this when I first purchased it as I was not really getting the taste of VA/Pers then.

I have purchased two other VA/Pers since (or 1 1/2 if you really consider Old Gow'rie a Va/Per) I really enjoyed it, but feel too unqualified to give it a 4 star. I did like it better than the other I purchased (Anniversary Kake), but that one is becoming better with age and as it dries.

I will say that this blend really taught me about Perique and it is the only blend containing the same where I really smell raisins and can learn to appreciate the fruity smell to which so many here refer.

I love OG, but think it more comparable to straight Va's. Definitely recommended and I may repurchase at least to compare to some other notable Va/Pers I plan to purchase in the future.

Update 10/29/2021

I have not revisited this review since writing it 9 years ago and much has changed in both experience and my smoking style. Dorchester is a great VaPer and I have smoked through much of it in the last 9 years and have a few pounds aging in the cellar.

There is ample sweetness in this concoction due to the mix of Virginias used, and the perique is, IMO, a little more than the pinch in the description; albeit, in no way overpowering. As I said before it is great VaPer, but still not as good to my tastes as Escudo, St. James and a few other of my favorites. While I would write the earlier review differently today, my rating remains the same.

Very nice VaPer, smooth, bright, sweet with just the right balance of Perique. I smoked this outside next to the ladies and they commented how good it smelled. The smoke is very satisfying, no bite and not too spicy. It has been some time since I smoked " Dunbar" , which I like very much, and I can't remember the difference between these. I guess I will try a back to back comparison and update later. I do find that this is a little damp right from the tin and I recommend that you smoke it on the dry side.

Updated 8/18/2011 -A back to back comparison between " Dorchester" and "Dunbar" revealed the following:

Cut/ Moisture/ lighting: Same, very acceptable

Tin aroma/ Appearance: Similar but Dorchester had a hint of snuff scent and was a lighter color

Flavor: Similar, Dunbar was more mellow and matured where as Dorchester was brighter and slightly sweeter flavor

Tongue bite: Dorchester had a very slight nip at the tongue where as Dunbar had no nip and was an all day smoke

Overall: Both are excellent Vapers , I favor Dunbar only because I am very sensitive to Tongue bite.

I had a sample of this blend last summer that I smoked through. I would like to get some more of it at some point. I very much enjoyed this one. The blend took a liking to my Peterson Rocky Donegal Canadian, and that was the go to blend for this pipe until the sample ran out, I think it really shines in such narrow pipes with medium to longer stems. I nice stout VA with a bit of that peppery perique coming through, another blend that I compared it to was MacBaren's jokingly named Latakia Mixture, I found the two to be similar in flavor and enjoyed smoking them in tandem to get just that bit of difference. I can't give much information on the tin note since I only smoked a sample from a baggie and did not have a tin, but I would like to come back to this one and smoke through a tin as I very much enjoyed it!

The only other va/per blend I tried prior to this were escudo and mcconnels scottish cake - so my idea of what to expect was limited.. I found those two great blends to be perfectly balanced but I did not taste the spiciness that others associate with perique.. it was more like chocolate and nuts.. which are great flavor notes.. Dorchester is the blend which changed my perception.. while others say this is light in the perique department I found many of the spicy and vinnegary notes that were not so pronounced in the aforementioned blends.. in fact, this blend while it seems to contain some nice virginias, seems to be dominated by tangy high notes and maybe a little pepper.. the aroma from the tin reminded me of scottish cake.. and it seems to come a little on the wet side. It is also slightly difficult to light - but once it gets going it smokes just fine.. Dorchester, for me, is delicious and different - certainly not for everyone as it has a very strange and precise flavor profile.. It is strong but not overpowering.. maybe not an all day smoke. I found it to be spicy in a way I wasn't expecting.

note- some drying out time really mellows out the flavor for me.. much smoother overall smoke with hints of spice

another note- while i cannot understand the negative reviews of this blend.. I will say that after smoking it for awhile now i find it not as well balanced as some other va/per blends.. if you want something more balanced check out solani 633, escudo, mcconnell's scottish cake.. however, having said that for me the flavor profile of dorchester is interesting and different.. so I can still recommend it as a sort of alternative to the standard va/per taste - which is all too frequently the same from blend to blend.

12/18/08 - This is a "blue-collar" review from a long-time pipe smoker who is neither a connoisseur nor a gourmet. I like subtleties up to a point, beyond which I cannot detect them. There are very few aromatics that I like anymore. I love orientals, latakias, and Virginias, but burley gives me some trouble. Most of the time, I like stronger blends over weaker ones and in larger pipes than smaller ones. I have exceptions to all of the above. With that said . . .

This review is from a bagged sample given to me by a friend.

A dark brown fine ribbon-cut in the tin with a mild virginia aroma. Complex from the touch of the match! This has such a sweet & flavorful room note you'd think that it was flavored with something. Lots of high, sweet notes. Wonderfully complex dance of flavors that defy description. No bite. William Serad says to use a clean, small-bowled pipe to get the full effect. I'm afraid that most of the complexities may be beyond my simple palate, but I'll keep this around to challenge me. Recommended!

As I detect little of the perique, I'd place this only slightly behind the wonderful Red Ribbon!

I'll keep this on hand because it's a unique complex Virginia blend that challenges my palate!

Rated 8 out of 9 leaves.

April 2008: Well, I'm not smoking this anymore. Perhaps heavier blends with more Perique have become my mainstay. Super quality with a profile outside what I reach for nowadays.

July 2003: Dorchester in bulk has become a daily companion before dinner. It is faultless, flavorful, mature and complex. Only absent-minded smoking will make this bite.

I have yet to find its superior in the mild to medium flavored Virginia/Perique category. I have searched for years.

If you want to begin somewhere with natural Virginia pipe tobacco, Esoterica is a good place to start (and stay). If you have not yet mastered flake-form tobacco, again, try Dorchester's fill-friendly ribbons.