Esoterica Tobacciana Pembroke

This blend is a nice solid medium strength / medium complexity English with just a little something 'extra' from the cognac, which seems to be in just the right proportion - not overpowering, but delightfully present and lending a dry sweetness to the taste and the room note. Mine came out of the tin just a wee bit moist - easily solved with a few minutes spread out to air before packing. In a large Wellington it burned almost completely to a fine gray ash and required exactly two matches for the whole adventure.

If this were a car I would call it a 'classy ride'. A keeper for sure.

Update 6/23/2011: Still a decent blend, but going a little flat on me with time. Dropping to 3 stars.

I'm having this in a churchwarden right now (no, this is not my first bowl!) with a beverage that complements the tobacco beautifully, and even seems to be a pretty good analogy to this blend. This tobacco is a well-known English blend, doused in cognac. My potable accompaniment is Earl Grey tea, with rose petals added. Hey, it was cheap! So that is not a perfect analogy, but just as the familiar Earl Grey scent is changed or even overtaken by roses, the cognac treatment in this tobacco for me tends to overtake the Latakia. I am also smoking a twelve year old tin, so what I get is a very sweet aged cognac taste that is very nice. Not much body or depth, just the same mellow but unusual flavor throughout the bowl. That's really all I can say. I waited a while to write this review for "new depths of expression" to make themselves known, but it is no go. No problem, this blend's one dimension is a pleasant one. Remember, this is an old tin. That cognac has been sinking in and aging for 12 years. (I don't know how old it was when they poured it on the tobacco, but they probably wouldn't waste Hennessy Paradis!)

This is essentially like its elegant twin sister Margate, but tarted up with cognac to seduce you with its intoxicating flavor. You suspect it's wrong to despoil such a dignified blend with the casing, but it is so deftly applied that it adds something special and unique to the flavor that complements it rather than overpowers. This is Margate with its hair down and corset on, a classy, alluring aromatic you can take out any time without fear of embarrassment.

This little number really puts out and leaves you satisfied without making you feel dirty or like you're cheating on your beloved english/balkans.

An interesting blend, Pembroke marries a great English blend with cognac; the result is surprisingly quite impressive. Allowed to dry (as Pembroke is simply too moist straight from the tin for my tastes), the latakia is barely noticeable yet is nevertheless complemented by the slight tang of the cognac.

Margate is a better blend overall (and Penzance is my favourite of Esoterica's offerings), but there are times that seem to call for Pembroke.

If you a smoker of non-aromatic English blends, you most likely won't like this. If you are an aromatic smoker, you still may not like this! It's somewhere in the middle and definately an acquired taste. I have tried it new from a tin and purchased some in bulk - cellared and aged nicely. It mellows nicely with 5+ years of age and I prefer it this way.

It was a little moist in the tin and needed some drying out. I found this blend to be tempermental, it smoked differently in different pipes and can certainly bite. Be careful not to smoke it too moist. I use a high intensity light for a few minutes to dry out wet blends and flakes.

I thouroughly enjoy the cognac and although it's strong, not too strong on the nicotine ~ no jitters. For me it's comparable to Stonehaven in the nicotine strength, yet stronger than most aromatics I normally smoke.

This is another fine blend from Esoterica, one I enjoy occasionally. Pembroke is a pleasant English style (aromatic) blend, as others have stated this is Margate with Cognac; same cut same mixture. The Cognac is not overpowering but only adds some extra sweetness, depth of flavor and a room note which my wife finds pleasant. A worthy smoke: 8 stars out of 10.

Pembroke, along with Margate are 2 tobaccos that I have in both bulk and tinned as they`re both in my rotation for early evening smokes though, can be puffed all day if one chooses. This works well for me when dry and does DGT very well! It is 1 tobak that can take you above the clouds as the cognac-taste will settle down once in cruise. Always an extremely dry smoke and provides a nice ride for the trip! Grey ash at the bottom lets you know your journey has ended much too quickly! This tobacco will always be in my hanger!

January 2006. This is pretty good stuff!And I like it,but I definitely would not smoke it all the time,as we can't get it in Australia anyway. The flavour's were great for a change,as I prefer V-perique,Straight-V's,and latalika blend's. After airing out a portion of this tobacco on paper for 20 min's,I filled my Peterson bent & it only required 2 to 3 light's to get going with a few tamp's along the way to bowl's end. This blend is very tasty & most pleasant all the way through,leaving a nice clean grey ash at the bootom of the bowl. I'm not a fast puffer,& did not suffer any tongue bite at all. Recommended,to those who enjoy a splash of alcohol in their baccy.

Let me preface this review by saying that I've yet to try Margate, which is supposed to be the untopped/cased version of this blend.

The cognac casing is in the forefront but isn't overpowering; seems to mix well with and even amplify the latakia in the blend. I only smoke aromatics a couple of times each week, and this is one of the three I've been keeping stocked. The musty orientals, the cremey latakia, and the light cognac do play well together and never seem to run with scissors towards the tongue.

Drying out a bit will help decrease the typical aromatic gurggle and need for relighting. I usually take a bowl's worth out of the tin to dry for about 30 minutes before packing the pipe, usually a 4/5 billiard. And often this only needs a single relight during the smoke, mostly out of neglect on my part.

I have yet to try an Esoterica blend that I didn't care for. Like everything they do, Pembroke is good material, handled well, reaching for something unique.