Esoterica Tobacciana Margate

Oh my Lord... How i say this without offend anybody here...? First: this is a good English Blend, but is far away of is the best English blend of the Esoterica... this taste is smooth, at same time are complex (this is a trait for esoterica's tobacco, no doubt about this) I have smoked this mixture for these days and I've seen this smoke bites a lot, generally in the half to the final, and I smoke so slow... i really never seen this in one English blend. This is a only negative point in this tobacco. And I cant leave to say about your flavor is so rich and complex at same time smooth (regarding the power of nicotine). In the portion bulk the smell is amazing. I have about 20gr, more or less, and for to evaluate best I will change all pipes, who I have used in these days. If change my opinion, I edit this review.

I'm a new pipe smoker. I have recently tried some mcclellands, some of the middle earth blends from justforhim, and a pipe of afternoon delight. This was my first latakia blend. I thoroughly enjoyed it. I found it to be the most flavorful tobacco I had smoked yet. It was smooth and left a really nice lingering flavor on the pallette. The gentlemen around me in the smoking lounge at my local shop noted that the aroma was very nice. There was a gentleman next to me smoking some afternoon delight. I had heard of that and we decided to share a bowl with each other. I do not think he enjoyed the margate as much as I did. I got the feeling it was too strong for his tastes. If I was going to try to make a comparison, if you like strong coffee and fancy beers, you will love and appreciate the flavor of this blend. If you are more of a lite beer guy, stick with afternoon delight. I give this tobacco a rating of very enjoyable. Not an everyday smoke, this flavor will stay on your palate for quite some time afterward.

Good, solid, medium-bodied English blend. Very reminiscent of Squadron Leader or Sutliffe's Blend No.5. I prefer the shag cut of Margate out of the three and of course the quality of the tobacco used is superb, as can be expected from Esoterica.

If your looking for a nice, classic English blend, look no further.

I'm all about variety, I'm all about quality and my palate is wider than many. Tobacco moisture, tongue bite, mood, smoking circumstances and other controllable variables won't be covered. This review is based on multiple bowls over time.

Margate delivers great taste in a very unassuming package. The Orientals have the smallest bit of tang, but plenty of sweetness as well. They balance the Lat easily. Not the fullest smoke, the most complex flavor, or the biggest body...but I'm not always looking for those things.

This a very good tobacco.

First class English that is a bit too potent for me currently. I suspect that I will grow in to it.

Definitely needs some drying time and aging out of the 8 oz package. I like the fine ribbon cut that behaves on the pack. Makes it very easy to pack, if not over pack. I appreciate what a little burley can do for a blend, so I miss that a bit here, just a personal preference. Not a lot of taste, so it lends to spiciness. If you can get this one to keep producing smoke, the flavors increase after the first third. I really had to work at it indoors with my Stanwell Canadian dedicated for latakia. Not real complex, but a good quality. It did compliment my morning coffee nicely, but didn't shine standing alone. We will see how it improves to make the rotation. 2.8

This is Dunhills EMP with a touch more Latakia. Both have that lemon background, probably from the orientals. I love EMP as my first of the day rotation and I could see myself substituting Margate on occasion.Both EMP and Margate have that ribbon (hair texture) cut that I find very easy to pack and sometimes over pack. Margate's Latakia comes through a little stronger, but this does not overpower the orientals. I find EMP to be a short smoke, just when your getting into it, the pipe is done. On the other hand, Margate, seems to burn slower, has less smoke (but a slightly hotter smoke?)and you get more satisfaction from the overall pipe full. This will be my mid-morning tobacco.

Highly recommended

UPDATED 5/6/11 I have found some problems with this tobacco,it bites because it comes a little too damp to smoke and needs some drying. Second, it doesn't burn evenly in the bowl and actually becomes difficult to tamp.There are two diffrent cuts of tobacco a shag ( hair) and a broken flake, these have two diffrent burn rates and are difficult to control. I've reduced my rating to SR

Update 7/6/11 After letting this breath and dry some, this has improved and most of the bite is gone. You must smoke this slow. Doesn't produce a lot of smoke, best smoked at a smolder. Bumped back up to "recommended". This would be a 4 star if it wasn't so hard to deal with the diffrent cuts of tobacco in the blend.

As a previous reviewer stated, compared to Odyssey, this might taste like air.

Unfortunately, I tried Odyssey before I tried this, and because it said "Full English" on the tin, I was expecting something quite, well, full. I know that an english shouldn't bowl you over with latakia, but I was having difficulty trying to pinpoint the subtleties of this blend with any proficiency. Don't get me wrong, there is nothing inherently bad about the blend: it is pleasantly full and luxurious, burns nicely to an ivory ash, and has all of the characteristics of a quality enlgish. But my thinking is it needs good cellar time to fully appreciate. I hate to say it, but I probably won't buy this one again. Pembroke, on the other hand, is a different story, and if I can ever get a hold of Penzance, I'll keep you posted.

For now, Margate failed to astound me. I really wanted to love it, and I do appreciate it, but there just wasn't enough of a wow factor to really dazzle me and make me want to smoke repeat bowls. Perhaps my palate is still developing. Still, three solid stars for quality -- it does embody a well rounded, straightforward english.

For not having smoked a pipe for a long period of time, it's curious to me why I would be so willing to call this a very straight forward, "old school" English blend. I mean, come on, I don't really know what Old School is. I guess you'll have to trust me on that prognosis. The tin is positively PACKED with very thin ribbon-cut, lighter va's and a good amount of smoky latakia. I bet if you let this age for a few years, you'd see a solid cake once you opened the tin -- that's how densely it's packed. The thinness of the cut is something I really like about it because it burns very consistently if you are careful not to pack it too densely in the pipe -- which is the pitfall of this style of cut. It seems like it's on the lighter side of English fare. Something like Odyssey will make Margate taste like pure air in comparison. But Margate is still a very good blend in it's own right. Perfect morning or warm weather english. Not too exotic, just Va and Latakia predominately (to my palate anyway). I think a lover of English blends could find room in his or her rotation for this fine blend.

Very much in the neighborhood of a 3 to 4 star blend depending on individual preferences. There are others I like more, but this one is just fine.