Esoterica Tobacciana Margate

I have been smoking pipes for more than 40 years now, and I am part of the legion in search for 'those' English mixtures: the advertised "old style". I must say that Margate is one of the closest Moderate flavor, quite British, but nothing memorable. I would compare to the second line oldies, like Four Squares, for example. I would say it is OK for the current standards. However there is a big problem, in my experience, that prevents me to recommend Margate to my friends. This mixture burns extremely hot, to the point of putting the pipe and my fingers in danger. Only a Meer can be smoked safely. And I felt the consequences in my lips too. Now that summer is coming, smoking Margate may become hell.

Got this in my pipe tobacco of the month club offering and am wondering who I angered to get sent this vile substance. I now know why esoterica is so hard to get, as superfund sites are cleaned up and closed down the toxic soil needed to grow the tobacco used in making this horrid blend becomes more scarce by the day.

Ok that may have been a bit of an overstatement, but i have never had a worse tasting tobacco, and I have sampled many dozens in my pipe smoking odyssey. Starting from first light my entire mouth felt like it was on fire, and the most peculiar bitterness settled on the back of my tongue. I tried to persevere, thinking it would pass, but this strange bitter oily smoke only got worse, to cool things off I tried sipping on some iced tea and it was like throwing gasoline on a fire, I was literally gasping in pain.

I gave up. Emptied the bowl, threw out the bag, and it was almost two days before I could smoke anything again. Thankfully it did not ghost my pipe, and I am not one of those drugstore aro smokers, I like a strong English blend as much as the next guy. But there was just something about that blend that my body chemistry rebelled against. Good on ya if you can get along with it. But be warned, for some folks out there it'll blister your tongue and peel the lining from the inside of your mouth.

Vapid - a waist of money and worthless. I cant believe people actually PAY for this stuff!! I did...I have thrown it in the garden!

This is the worst tobacco I have smoked since the day I started smoking.

Who ever suggests trying this one first and then Pembroke is right. If you taste this ghastly thing, you might spare yourself from trying Pembroke. It injured my throat and it took me three days to smoke.

This was a first! When I do not like a tobacco I usually mix it with others so as not to waste it. This one went straight to the bin.

Summary: A mild English with plenty of flavor, strong internal sweetness and nicely balanced extremes.

Esoterica blends remind me of the death metal band Immolation. When listening to it, most people like it, but then forget about it when it is not there. Similarly, I can appreciate these blends at the time, but then turn toward something with more personality. "Margate" offers a mix of Virginias that spans the range from sweet to bready, then adds in a fair dose of Latakia and Orientals. Somewhere in here the extremes of the Latakias have been muted and the bitterness of the Orientals tamed, with the Virginia present but mostly absorbing those flavors into its own. This smokes exceptionally well good burn and a mild, gentle flavor, but beyond that offers nothing to distinguish itself from other medium Englishes.

This is a tobacco grown, cured and packaged in the British Isles. So I suppose it should come as no surprise to find the overall aroma and taste is one of dried grass clippings. Upon further investigation I was able to pinpoint the aroma to Lucerne Grass, which is used in the manufacture of Rabbit pellets (by the makers and the rabbits). This tobacco rates alongside a good Welch Claret, or a fine Scottish cigar. I don't know what the other reviewers have been smoking but my tin has already been assigned to the city dump. Strictly a one bowl smoke, who can be bothered to persevere when it's made out of grass?

On the plus side, it doesn´t offend upon the match, it is clearly complex developing and alternating various flavors through out the smoking experience, it burns well, unlike Penzance it has some body that however at times wanes considerably, and it smokes cool without threat of tongue bite. On the minus side, it doesn´t taste good.

Additionally this product is clearly cased, which offends my sensibilities when considering an english blend. So many other companies can concoct a pleasurable smoking mixture in this genre without any apparent extra sauces. Tobacco smoke suposedly has enough noxious chenicals, why add more unless you have to? ¨Different¨ isn´t necessarily better, and after one gets over the initial intrigue, it can in many cases prove tiring. Such is the case with this tobacco starting at about a third of the way through the bowl.

Tried this based on the overwhelming positive reviews here. Smells good in the tin, like fermenting Virginia. Unfortunately, to me, does not smoke like it smells. I must be quite sensitive to whatever flavoring agent they use, and there definitely is one. The tobacco just has a very peculiar flavor that I can't readily identify.

Can see why it is popular though. Don't think it would bite if you tried to get it to. Very cool and smooth smoking.

I did this backwards, and by that I mean I tried Pembroke first, which was a big disappointment. (See my review on that if you wish.) Apparently, Margate is Pembroke without the gimmicky cognac thrown in to spoil whatever tobacco taste there is. Margate is definitely better, but with or without spirits, it doesn?t do a whole lot for me. I can see why this tobacco would have its fans, but I guess you have to be a loyal Esoterica aficionado to appreciate it. Other than in Stella Doro biscuits, I?m not crazy about anise. Except for Penzance, none of their blends do much for me. I will be trying the Stonehaven, which I hear is beyond words, though I probably won?t like that one either. There?s simply too much good full English out there to waste any time with Margate.

Two of five stars