Esoterica Tobacciana Margate

One of a couple of "four star" reviews I have to give despite having a serious problem with it. Let's start with the problem.

This is a "workhorse" tobacco, meaning it is obviously the kind of thing meant to be smoked day in and day out all day. This is normally a wonderful thing, but unless you're a violent shopper or very well connected, you will have a hard time keeping it in stock.

Now, the tobacco itself. It comes in the characteristic esoterica ribbon cut. Easy to load, easy to keep lit, also a bit easy to burn through a bowl with a couple of minutes of heavy puffing so watch out!

You wanna smoke this one slow and let it play out.

Esoterica must source their latakia differently from other blenders, because the smokey, piney stuff they use is a bit more subdued and "vintage" tasting than some others. If you're near the bottom of your jar or bag, the latakia seems to settle there and it will become more pronounced as the jar wears on.

In terms of flavors, if you stuff it in the pipe and go to town, this one may come off as a classic, but boring "English" style tobacco. If you are sitting down, and letting it come to you slowly, the flavors erupt. Hints of hay from the Virginias will intersperse themselves with whiffs of vanilla, but by far the coolest aspect comes, I think, from the orientals. The old Balkan Sobranie is said to have had an "unflavored soda" component to its flavor profile, and folks-- it's here.

After having tried all of Esoterica's major blends-- this one, I think, is the best. It is usually one of the easier ones to find, so I think it is probably their marquis or showcase blend. Snap this one up if you get a chance, preferably by the bag and not the tin. Keep it around, enjoy it, hope it doesn't go away.

This was my first time trying an Esoterica product. My nose thinks the tin aroma is mostly Latakia. The cut is very fine, and it took a couple tries for me to pack it properly. after that it burned very nicely.

The only thing I want to add to the flavor descriptions submitted by others is that I get a little "soda" flavor in Margate. I've read Jiminks mention this in his Balkan Sobranie review as a characteristic of yenidje leaf. When I read this I couldn't imagine what that flavor would be like in tobacco, but when I smoke Margate it pops out enough for my not-the-most-refined palate to recognize it. So, maybe Margate has some yenidje in it and I like it.

Overall this is a fine blend with top-notch components, but I personally don't understand the Esoterica hype if Margate is a fair representation of their products. I'm on the fence about the cut. The flavor is somewhat complex, but very subtle. Maybe some aging will deepen the flavor.

After a few bowls, my pallet was telling me there is a very mild fruit topping here. When I dry it correctly, it’s almost unnoticeable, but if it’s a bit wet still, that fruit will come through. Margate starts sweet and mild. As the bowl burns, the Latakia kicks the body up a couple notches and keeps it interesting, but it never overwhelms. The sweetness never fades, and the taste just improves the longer you smoke it. I almost detect a mild perique. I wouldn’t be surprised if there was a touch of it in here. Approaches full flavored, but doesn’t quite get there in my opinion. Margate is sweet, tangy, rich, a bit spicy and slightly smoky. Burns great, enough nicotine to satisfy me, and the room note for an English is exceptional. This might be one of my favorite blends. Better than Penzance in every way. Not that Penzance is terrible. I just think this blend is more suited for experienced, seasoned smokers than Penzance.

Margate.......

First, I usually prefer oriental forward English blends, or Balkans, as I've come to think of them, but this has me not so certain, at least when it pertains specifically to Margate. This is some great stuff.

I pretty much agree with a lot of the previous reviews. I suppose 965 is pretty close to this, or BB1938. But, I'd never say I prefer them to my favorite Balkan's. This one.......is better than those.

I wouldn't say the orientals in this are forward as much as what i would call a Balkan, but they are right there. I taste them along with this flavor from the Virginia's and the Latakia that all combines into something of a perfect melding of them all, without any one being "dominant". I actually like it quite a lot. This is by a decent margin the best English I've ever had. The orientals add enough to this melding of flavor that I do know they are there every puff, just never enough to dominate the other flavors. Wow, this is really, really nice. This is definitely now in the top of my rotation for English/Balkan type blends. I'm glad I got the 8 ounce bag.

The tobacco itself is the most perfect cut of some high quality looking stuff. It smells really nice and loads like a dream. It's a fine ribbon cut. As fine as I've ever encountered. I still recommend a bit of loosening it up a bit before packing as the ribbons are long and winding and might stick together otherwise a bit. It burns perfectly in the bowl.

Every puff tastes the same, but I can really notice each player in the mix contributing. I've never had a better English blend. I have the Balkan Sobranie by Germain which does have the oriental slightly more forward and normally, I'd think I'd prefer that, but I don't.

I've never had an english that was as perfectly mixed of its constituents as good as this as I can taste the orientals for sure, but everything else too. If that sounds like something you'd like, I'd say get your hands on some Margate. I sure am glad I did.

Like one other gentleman said in his review, "what else can be said that hasn't already been said. Unaware of the popularity of Esoterica, and how difficult it is to get a tin or bag of any of their blends, I first bought a tin of Dunbar over the summer. Which at first did not really get me too exited. Then I allowed it to dry just a bit and it was one fine tobacco. The shop on Long Beach Island N.J. where the owner had several blends, is where I purchased Dunbar, and shortly after learned about it's elusiveness. I needed to return to the Island for a court date for a traffic ticket. I planned to stop at the shop immediately after I saw the Judge. Court ended and I headed to the south end of the island praying they still had something left, any blend was fine with me. I enter the store and the women who works there said they were closing early for a funeral. I told her no problem, I am after one item that I hope you may still have. Surely enough, my prayers were answered, an 8oz bag of Margate sat nestled in with the rest of the tins of tobaccos. It was the one and only bag left in their shop, I asked if they had anymore in the stock area and she said that was the last of it, completely unaware of what a gem this was to have on the shelf. For 45.99 I walked out of the shop with a big ol' smile on my face anxious to get home to smoke this highly sought after tobacco. ****REVIEW**** (Just in case you don't care about the little side story) I have a Peterson system pipe hanging out of my mouth now filled with this amazing blend of tobacco. I must say that this tobacco needs to dry, I smoked it straight out of the bag and it is just too moist. I wasted a bowl by doing this, I allowed it to dry over night and all I can say is WOW!! This is an English blend that truly puts many others to shame. It has such a consistent flavor, the lat and Orientals put out a balanced flavors of smoky, spicy, and woodsy while the VA's add a sweetness and a richness that is just abundant from start to finish. After the bowl got going, I was able to smoke it down to basically nothing but a fine white ash, with a couple of relights and a few tamps. This would not have been possible without drying it out, literally overnight. In my opinion, if you really want all this tobacco has to offer and not waste it, give it time to dry and you'll experience all it has to offer. I have been smoking Peter Stockebye, Balkan Supreme which I have grown to really love. This is not as powerful with regard to the heaviness of the latakia. By way of comparison, to give readers an idea of what to expect, it has more of a mellow feel to it. If you are a English lover or looking for something where the latakia is not too, too heavy, this is the one. Is it just well rounded, with steady promising flavor that will not disappoint; well, until there is no more left-that is.

*****UPDATE: I do have to say that I have a small issue with this blend. As I stated above the blend comes in the bag very moist, so it needs to dry out to fully enjoy it. However, the latakia or at least I believe that is what it is, is cut very fine like a confetti cut or a fine cut. Not like a shag, but small, slightly thicker pieces. The problem is, once it dries out a bit it falls to the bottom of what ever you have it in. So the other tobaccos are a much longer cut ribbon cut, and then you have the short cut of the others that do not mix well when it dries out. Even when it is moist, I found the problem still occurs, but not as badly. This is probably something that I should inform the company on, but I figured I would include it here as well.

I could live with this mixture if it was the only one available; great tobacco, it ages well also. Superior fresh or aged, top quality leaf...

I often feel as though these smaller blends take on a status that is perhaps disproportionate from their relative merits, driven in part by their 'exotic' quality, and particularly because of the scarcity of their availability -- which thus makes them seem somehow more desireable.

Margate is certainly in that category for me. It's and English, period; a sort of "meat and potatoes" type blend.

Is it worth the hype? I don't personally think so. You'd be as well off to just focus on easier to get Englishes like Plum Pudding or GL Pease Westminster.

Quintessentially english. This and Murray's era London Mixture set the bar when I started smoking non-aromatics. The perfect balance of latakia, virginias and orientals. Here's the rub (at least for me); all Germain made tobacco's I have smoked leave me with the worst, ashy aftertaste. Margate, Penzance, Best Blend, Exotique, Krumble Kake, Cognac, it doesn't matter, they make me feel like I just ate an ashtray. I can smoke things like Westminster. Smyrna or Squadron Leader and get the "quintessentially english" vibe and with a great aftertaste. That said this is probably my favorite Germain tobacco and while it might be sacrilege I'd take this over Penzance given the choice.

This is as English as they come. Good full latakia taste which is well balanced by the orientals and underlying virginia. A full smoke which is sure to please most. The two word review: well balanced.

As an aside Peter Stokkebye's Proper English has a very similar taste profile but is lacking in the refinement that Margate has but is a lot cheaper and is always available, which is not the case for Esoterica products.