Esoterica Tobacciana Pembroke

I love the Esoterica series and most Germain and sons blends,but this one is not really as good as I have been told.The blend is a heavy English with cognac, which in theory ,should be outstanding, but alas, it falls a little short.This is a high quality tobacco that yields a good pleasurable smoke but I will stick with "And So To Bed". The blend is good. The aroma is nice.I will offer you the counsel that if you do not like Anise, do not try this.The other Esoterica offerings combine the Anise with the tobacco and they yield pure pleasure.Pembroke has the cognac and anise quarreling with each other. I would try it ,but there are others that are better.

As I have never gotten to like Latakia, I do not usually gravitate toward traditional English-type blends except those attenuated by the addition of some type of topping in the form of rum or, in the case of Pembroke, cognac. I prefer high quality aromatics, VA flakes, burley & Perique blends, etc. However, the reviews from Wm. Serad on down are almost universal in their praise of the Esoterica Tobacciana line of blends and, in particular, Margate. Pembroke is described as Margate with the addition of cognac. I haven't tried Margate, so I approached Pembroke uninfluenced by any prior experience with either Esoterica Tobacciana in general or Margate in particular. I smoked several bowls of Pembroke one night in a recently acquired 50 year old estate Kaywoodie that I had "opened up" by Jim Benjamin down in San Diego, CA (see Rick Newcombe's articles about proper air flow for pipes collected in his book, "In Search of Pipe Dreams"). Sufficient air circulation is absolutely critical, especially when smoking moist dense blends. A hot, wet, bitter, and generally unpleasant smoking experience is frequently the result in the absence of adequate air flow, which most pipes lack. Anyway, as to Pembroke, it has a Latakia-spicy, fermented aroma in the tin. Upon ignition, the flavor is also spicy with a tangy semi-sweet undertaste. The cognac is evident and, to to my way of thinking, nicely circumscribes the Latakia element. The flavor and aroma are rich, thick, and nicely rounded, with the edges softened by the cognac. I think this a great after-dinner or late night blend. It burns well for me and resolves to a fluffy mottled ash. I give Pembroke a grade of B+.

Upon opening the tin, I was hit with a very strong vinegar smell, from the cognac. The tobac also presents very wet. I tried a bowl, and the cognac was just too strong overpowering any tobacco taste. I left the tin open for a couple of days, then came back to it. The first day that the tin was open, the aroma/vinegar permeated the room, and I found this unpleasant, thinking that I would never enjoy this tobac. Upon the second day of air drying the tin, I was now presented with something much more tolerable. This is a very fine smoke, once dried, and the cognac offers its own smooth flavor upon the Margate blend. I find that it mutes the orientals that were so tasty in Margate, but causes its own unique addition, which I find quite nice. I enjoy this taste from time to time, perhaps late afternoon, before dinner. Just make sure you air dry the tin for a couple of days before use.

Pembroke is supposed to be Margate with a cognac casing. Margate is in my rotation, so I gave this a try. There are few English tobaccos available with a liquor casing, Pease's Mephisto is the only other that comes to mind.

Pembroke comes almost wet, far too damp to smoke well. The aroma is dominated by the casing. After letting it dry out some, I gave it a try. My impressions are that this is a very good tobacco, but that the cognac is just too much. I have had good success by mixing this down about 50% with some other English mixtures I had open. I did not have an open tin of Margate to mix this with, but I'll bet that mixed 50/50 or even less with Margate, that this would be a very good change of pace.

Pembroke is one of the more unusual smokes I've tried. I smoked my first bowl right from the tin "as is". It was hard to light and resulted in a fairly bad gurgle. Using the advice of previous reviewers, I fluffed the blend and left off the lid for a few days. The result was near perfect. The tobacco lit quite well and burned to completion with no relights or gurgle. The first half of the bowl has light smoke with a strong cognac flavor. I pick up on a certain musty flavor as well. The tobacco really comes into its own in the second half. The smoke volume increases. The full tobacco flavor starts to stand out. The blends finish is fairly strong. This blend is different, not the same song different verse. I plan to keep a tin around for something different. May try Margate (uncased version) in the future. UPDATE: I have downgraded my original opinion of this smoke to make room for a much better version by GL Pease. If you like this smoke, you'll love Barbary Coast.

A different mixture. The cognac topping remains practically throughout the entire smoke, although at the end of the pipe, as is usual in this type of mixture, it softens. One thing that surprised me was the earthiness, not of the flavor, but of the texture of the smoke as it entered your mouth. Despite there being many tobaccos on the market with the addition of some type of distillate, I would say that Pembroke is compatible with any of them, since its coverage, and therefore its flavor, is different from anything I have tried.

I enjoyed the Margate version of this tobacco and read some reviews for this one before buying. My expectations were high. When I opened the tin, I found plume on some of the components. This was new to me, but I was told that it is a good thing, so I smoked some and tinned the rest.

Overall, the tobacco is moist and needs to dry. Depending on the pipe I use, I get a lot of condensation and have to run a pipe cleaner through it several times during a big bowl. Drying more helps, but doesn't alleviate it fully. The shag cut may be part of why.

The smoke is very smooth. It's hard to get tongue bite. I like how smooth it is.

Flavor-wise, the Balkan flavor is muted when compared to Margate. This is a very easy smoke without too much flavor. It's an easy smoke for the hammock on a summer day, but not one I would go to for an evening pipe when wanting flavor.

Overall, I like this but probably won't buy it again - leaving time for trying new tobaccos.

A very light blend that makes for a pleasant smoke. The cognac topping is the star in this blend and makes for a delicate sweet smoke. Cyprian Latakia is there ever so slightly to leave the smoker with a smoky finish. Very perfume like roomnote with almost an incense like effect, which is probably a result of the orientals. Will certainly be adding this to my normal rotation

Ever notice how some blends sing out when the rain is falling? I live in northern California, in the wooded hills. It doesn't get too cold here but it does rain, and when it rains this is a wonderful blend to sit with out under the eaves while listening to the rain tapping a tattoo on the metal roof and watch those drops drip from the trees. The smoke is creamier then. It just is. An earthy flavor is there with that slight brandy topnote. (They say it's cognac but to me it hints at Spanish brandy.) Pembroke, in the rain, in a bulldog. You, under the eaves, in a turtleneck. Three stars. But when the sun is out this is a two star blend, and no bulldog or turtleneck will change it for me. The creaminess is gone and the topnote lapses to a slightly harse finish. Save it for a rainy day.