Esoterica Tobacciana Margate

Strong, full, well balanced, creamy smoke! Top ten in my rotation. This is not for the faint of heart! Margate's Latakia and Orientals play off each other as you progress through the bowl. First hit is Latakia forward. Smoky and deep. Half way through the bowl, the other Orientals take center stage with a spicy sweetness. Bottom third is a very nice balance of the two. The shag cut burns easily and evenly. Keep a firm tamp on it and you won't have many re-lights and the flavors will stay in balance. Very nice mid-day smoke!

I love this tobacco. It's less smooth and creamy than Penzance. The latakia is more campground campfire vs. deck built-in campfire. I'm new to pipe smoking, so I'm looking forward to Margate with some age on it in the next few years.

As a lover of English Blends, Balkans and pretty much anything with Latakia in it, I was intrigued by Margate... a blend without Va? Wow? Really? Also, having chanced upon several tins of Penzance several months ago and LOVING it, I was curious to try another Esoterica blend.

A couple of initial thoughts... I've read comparisons between Margate and its sibling Penzance. There is simply no point in comparing them. They are apples and oranges. The second thing to address. According to the literature, there is not a shred of Virginia leaf in Margate. Judging from the taste, I believe it.

Margate is high on flavor with the enormous amounts of Latakia and Orientals involved. Everything is pretty straightforward to my palate. No surprises here. The absence of Virginias strikes me most in the depth/structure department. When I puff, I get all the smoky goodness of the lat and the more exotic notes from the Orientals... which I love so much that I don't miss the sweetness some VA would lend to this. But without the grounding leaf, the flavors have nothing to cling to and are fleeting.

This is not a bad thing, necessarily. In fact, I find this superb blend to be perfect for the warm days of summer, as it has that "airy," unstructured quality which gives me big flavor without too much complexity or weight. Moreover, the simplicity of the flavor profile makes it a nice smoke for those more casual smoking expreriences. Sometimes I don't want to think about what I'm smoking, but still enjoy it.

Margate is a pretty shaggy cut, but I found it just right for packing and lighting in terms of moisture and cut. It can burn a little hot, especially if you puff too hard. It also gets very acrid and harsh... more so and more easily than other tobaccos when smoked too hard.

All in all, I like this smoke. I'll come back to it when my tin is finished, but probably not cellar any, as I've read that time is not good to Latakia in the absence of Virginia leaf. It appears to be in ample supply and I'll look forward to buying my next tin.

Update 8/29/11: Ok... just smoked a rather large bowl of Margate outside on the patio... possibly the coolest night I've felt in 2 months or more. This blend is rather magical. The latakia is a dark, oily canvas on which the Orientals in Margate positively danced. Again, I'll say that this blend is not subtle. It doesn't work like, say, Squadron Leader - where everything is perfectly integrated and balanced. Margate sets you down a smoky path with densely swirling exotic notes Dried herbs, church incense without the cloying perfume - all moving across the charred, woodsy landscape of the Cyprian weed. The lack of sweetness is completely un-missed. I really like this stuff. I'll keep it at three stars, but much more assuredly.

A good straight ahead English. Another reviewer liked it to Squadron Leader or Artisan's Blend - right on! The cut is however, very different and may put some off. It is a stringy shag, you have to be real carefull not to over pack this blend. To do so leads to a hot non-enjoyable unflavored smoke. Give it some room and you will be rewarded. For me it is also way too wet from the tin. Dried and fluffed out some it become a wonderful full english smoke. This blend develops as it goes down the bowl, strength increases a little. This is mature aged leaf - you can celler it but its ready now. A savory smoke - take your time with this. No harshness, no bite, takes to the light. If you are having problems finding SL this is a good sub. you might just find you like it better. I find this a much better overall smoke than the other crumbly one. A "change" you might believe in - ha!

One very important note about this blend is its apparent total lack of any humectant such as glycerol / glycerine. Rather unusual as most pipe tobaccos do indeed have humectant - yes, even most English blends. I think this is a major plus as the tobacco is in a more natural state.

Margate dries VERY fast and will turn "crunchy" if you air it out too long. Because the cut is stringy, it does have a tendency to burn slightly hot. On the other hand, said cut also makes it easy burning with few relights.

Margate use to have an interesting salty / briny flavor that seems to have disappeared as of late. What a shame, as the saltiness really made this blend stand out - very tasty indeed. It was also somewhat "sour" but not in a bad way. It may be possible that the flavor profile diminishes as it dries. I suspect that it would be best to smoke it somewhat moist if you want to experience the aforementioned flavors.

Even so, Margate is still a world class tobacco. I would have given this blend 4 stars if it were more consistent. As it is - a solid 3 stars.

I "moved up" to this tobacco from Dunhill's Standard Medium. I really like the Dunhill's and bought two tins of Margate to expand my English choices - one to smoke, one to cellar.

The aroma from the tin is fantastic. I load a pipe using the three pack method. I initially really enjoyed the smoke, it was very full and rich and does have more "body" (not sure what that really means) than the Dunhill Medium.

After finishing off the tin, I must say that I prefer the Dunhill's. Not to say that Margate isn't great, I think it is. However at this point in the development of my tastes, the Latakia level may just be a bit too much for me. The only "complaint" I have is that as packaged, the tobacco is a bit to moist for me and I have trouble finishing a bowl without a relight. To those of you just trying it you might want to let it sit a bit before packing.

For you Latakia lovers this may be just what you're looking for. I will sample a few more Orientals and then give this another try. It's very good, perhaps too good for me at this time. For every day use I prefer the Dunhill Medium.

now... margate is good, there's no doubt... powerful latakia booming in stereo with spicy/sour/sweet orientals that kick in toward the bottom of the bowl. it is undoubtedly the same basic stuff as the great king of all english blends -- penzance-- but it think the fact that it's already rubbed out or cut or whatever kind of makes it about a quarter of a notch milder. the cut of margate is interesting; it almost looks like you could roll cigarettes out of it. i do love it.

All together, a very nice medium English blend. For me, Margate tends to be a little too heavy in the oriental category; a little too spicey. I noticed myself going for different blends when I grabbed my pipe, until I tried it in a Nording freehand which tended to mute the spicey ovetones.

All good English smokers should give Margate a try.

Margate is a full flavored latakia blend but somehow falls short as far as having the full body that a balkan should. I have to say this is more of a English blend, however that is not a negative in any way, Margate is indeed a fine smoke. I enjoyed this blend, but G.L. Peace Odyssey suites my tastes better. If you find Balkans just a bit to much, then Margate should please you!