Esoterica Tobacciana Dorchester

Like many of the tobacco's in the Esoterica line, Dorchester is made from good quality leaf. It is also pretty high in nicotine, which is not a problem for me. The tin aroma is excellent. The reason why I am reviewing this as a "somewhat recommended" is because while I like perique, it lacks the fruitiness I prefer. This blend is a three or four star blend if you like a the pepper side of perique. Dorchester packs well, but because of the cut, I would recommend not packing it too tightly so it doesn't burn hot. Dorchester should age fairly well. Somewhat Recommended.

10/27/04 - Dorchester (new, tinned)

Tin: This long shag cut shows a nice-looking variety of leaf - medium brown VA's are most prominent at maybe 60-70%. There is a noticeable dark-fruitish aroma in the tin, typical in character to other VA/Per's but stronger. I suspect there's some kind of topping going on here, but in itself it's not offensive. My tin was very moist. The rest of the review assumes substantial drying time before smoking - fresh out the tin, the moisture level made this unsmokable for me.

Pack: The long ribbons are a minor fuss to pack evenly and definitely present a risk of overpacking, but just a little bit of caution should avoid any problems. No real issues here...

Light/Burning: The tobacco lights easily and burns cleanly down the bowl. In several bowls, I found that I had actually smoked the tobacco almost completely to ash when I emptied them. For smokers or situations that demand a low-fuss burn, this could be a major plus.

Flavor: Here's where I start having problems. The first half of the bowl or so is dominated by a sweet Virginia taste, though the Perique's influence is noticeable. But the flavor is muddy and unremarkable. Not unpleasant, but just not very interesting. I'm not sure whether this is a result of the topping I suspect to be present, or is simply the taste of the base Virginias. The second half of the bowl sees the Perique pick up considerable strength, but again just not in an interesting way. There's no bite to this tobacco if smoked relatively carefully, but I do get an odd astringency in my mouth from the smoke that is vaguely unpleasant.

Pipe Choice: I found this smoked best in medium (Group 4 size) bowls. Bigger pipes only increase the muddiness of the flavor, and small pipes just don't give me enough of it.

Overall: Virginia/Periques are my favorite blends, but this one just doesn't do it for me. Escudo or Haddo's are far more interesting, as is Esoterica's own Dunbar. For a new VA/Per smoker, I'd rather recommend Astley's #2 for a medium-weight yet approachable introduction or Haddo's for its complexity and depth. I could see Dorchester being a reasonable all-day smoke, due to its excellent burning properties, medium flavor, and bulk availability. But for me, this just isn't entertaining enough. Aging could very well tame the sweetness of the VA's and bring out some more sparkle, but with so many worthy competitors why bother?

The review below is part of a VaPer Showdown that I conducted between several VaPer blends:

Well today was a Dorchester day. I went through the whole sample that Ultramag sent to me last month (Thanks again!!). And after my enjoyment of this blend I've decided that it is now in 2nd place.

Like most people who reviewed this blend, I found that this had the least amount of Perique in it compared to the others that I have smoked so far. However, the taste was still great and somewhat creamy. The perique and the virginias were seperate in the beginning and it was a bit spicy when I finally got it going. After about a third of the bowl the blend settled down and melded together well.

I did have an issue lighting this one. I dried it correctly but I had one clump of tobacco sitting on top that refused to light. After two attempts I scooped that piece out of there and it lit perfectly. This blend stayed lit better than the other two so far. It required two relights but I believe that it was more my fault because my brother called and I was trying to smoke, review, and talk to him all at the same time.

I would recommend this blend to anyone who is just getting into VaPers and doesn't want to get blasted with Perique right off the bat.

The standings so far:

1) Escudo 2) Esoterica Dorchester 3) Stokkebye Luxury Bullseye Flake

Somewhat disappointing. Encouraging, classic tin label, pleasant, although maybe a bit cautionary open tin aroma, and really nothing special, when smoking. Aroma, which is nice before smoking, is almost insensible in smoke itself. I was surprised, how distinctly biting and choking is a smoke of this mixture. I am afraid, that it is feature of poor quality tobacco. Strange. I can't recommend it to nobody.

After a month: all right, I don't like to be too cruel. So be it: upgraded from one to two stars. Perhaps somebody will like this.

Good tobacco constiiuents, I'm sure but for ,me ,personally nothing remarkable in the combination they are in.The perique is nice but in my opinion kinda whispy. Others have complained about it being heavy but to me it is at best medium.Tried this blend because the suppliers were out of the "Nirvana" tobacco - Stonehaven( which I have not tried as of yet).I do hope it is beter than Dorchester when I finally do(if ever due to near permanent undersupply)

I'd sooner spend the money on Orlik Golden Sliced or a couple of the Stokkebye Virginia/Perique mixtures-(except that nasty Luxury Twist stuff).

Oh Well, there ya go - Somewhat Reccomended only- especilly considering the price!

Dorchester is a mild Va/Per blend consisting of six types of Virginia leaf - mostly bright, and a modest amount of dark brown perique. Twisting open the circular 50g tin reveals a lively, fruity tin aroma that I wish could fill my house. The cut is mostly a very thin ribbon with a small amount of what looks like ready rubbed perique flake. I really like the burning quality of this thin ribbon and also the way it packs in the bowl. To me, it has a very light citrusy flavor. The sidestream is nice due to the high quality va and that mild citrusy thing, creating a very tolerable room note. I think it's probably a great warm weather smoke. Over all, this Esoterica offering is extremely mild. That may be it's Achilles' heel actually. Who knows, perhaps with age this blend could develop into something more majestic, but with so many other va/pers in the market offering terrific returns right out of the tin, it may be hard for me to buy this one again without long term cellaring in mind.

Esoteric's Dorchester is a very good blend that is a little too mild for me.

3 of 5 or 2 of 4 Stars

This is a good VAP blend that is flavorful. The virginias really stand out here, which is a good thing.

If you have a few extra dollars, though, try Reiner's Long Golden Flake. It is much more refined and smooth.

This blend brings to mind one of Chaucer's narratives in 'Canterbury Tales.' In the portion of this famous tome you read that a particularly greedy priest is made to promise that he will share out equally that which he is donated. Then instead of receiving monetary gains, the individual in question proffers the gift of flatulence to the surprised, newly wordbonded priest who must now go to his peers to give them their portion...

September 2004

This is the first Esoterica tobacco that I really didn't care for much, even though I am a confirmed Va/P smoker. Although the body was plenty full and the taste was plenty flavorful, the flavor is one that didn't set particularly well with me. I can't tell for sure whether this tobacco is actully cased, but the disagreeable flavor was one I recognized from some of the araomatices that I have smoked--kind of a weird off-sweet flavor that I can't quite put my finger on. Some of the previous reviewers have described this a a "musty" tobacco--perhaps the "must" is what I am detecting? For me, the disagreeable sweetness eventually disipated, leaving nothing but a blast of Perique.

So strange was the flavor of this tobacco that I thought perhaps that one of my wonderful Bjarne Freehand plateaus, reserved only for Va/P blends, was the culprit. Subsequent use of the pipe, however, indicated that the weed, and not the wood, was responsible.

I'll stick with Dunbar if I want a good Esoterica Va/P blend, or one of my "unmusty" favorites--Haddo's Delight or Escudo.

There are a number of Va/P blends on the market that I smoke far more often than this one -- but none of the others are shag cut, and that, and it's mild personality, sets this one apart for me. If you like Va/P, you should try it -- if St. James Woods, Solani 633 or some of the other powerhouses provide to much nicotine for you but you still like that spicy/figgy taste, this is most certainly worth a try.

For me, the Perique barely asserts itself until midway, if not the bottom of the bowl, but make no mistake, it lingers just below the surface at all times. I prefer more flavor and more nicotine in my Va/P than this one provides.

The shag cut of this blend is a blessing and a curse -- it can pack great and burn all the way to the bottom of the bowl just as easily as you can overpack and hardly keep it lit -- be careful packing!

I suspect that in a year or so, I'll want to break open another can, but in the mean time, I'll likely stick with something else.