Esoterica Tobacciana Pembroke

This tobacco has confused me no end. Thie first time I used an old meerschaum, packed lightly and found it, as most reviewers did, like Margate with a light lacing of brand. A little to mild for me, but nice nevertheless. I suspected the meer had stolen a bit of the flavor and my next try was with an old Dunhill #5 briar and boy was I surprised.

The brandy leaped into the foreground - overwhelmingly sweet, even a bit biting. I was well into the halfway of the pipe before I could even taste the latakias. And at the finish I was even slightly woozy.

It did burn smoothly to a fine ash, but a little hot. But I think it needs airing out before it goes into a flavor concentrating pipe like that Dunhill. For reference, it came out of a 2 year old bag so I have plenty to experiment with. I'll update this review when I get it tamed and a bit predictable.

My first thought of Pembroke was that the strong tin scent of Cognac was more than I expected. Once lit, the flavor of the Cognac was there, but not overwhelming compared to the way it smelled. It married nicely with the smokiness of the Latakia. There is a sweetness from the Cognac and the Virginias that was very nice. There is also a slight sourness that I think comes from the Orientals. For me, the Latakia is the most dominate flavor. There is somewhat of a harshness toward the end of each bowl that I don’t care for. I think that there are lots of pipe smokers that could like this blend, but for me, it isn’t a blend for my rotation.

Evidently my tin was aged, as the tobacco had several sugar crystals and the paper was stained brown: good!

The cognac casing can be felt, but it is not intrusive: its presence simply adds a "darker" and sweeter tone, both to the tin aroma and the taste. Actually, the empty bowl after smoking this has a faint alcoholic smell...

The taste is dark, deep, musty: similar to Margate, of course, but darkly sweet and richer. The overall effect is a bit cloying in its dark sweetness, although it is not a very full tobacco.

As usual with this brand the moisture level is excessive, resulting in a wet and difficult smoke and in the formation of rust inside the tin after a few days you open it. Bad!

Wonderful straight out of the bag, smooth, tasty smoke that keeps lit perfectly, easy to pack shag cut, no bite or bitterness, pleasant room note and great retro hale. No real dominatnts on the whole, a real all day smoke. The topping coming through as a perfect partner. My first esoterica tobacco...now a waiting game to see when their other blends come into stock. Definately a buy again

Having sat in the jar now for a couple of years age has not been kind to this blend, the flavour now comes across as being rather bitter cavendish, further advice is to smoke it fresh before the casing flashes off and due to that reason I’ve had to downgrade my rating.

People tend to rave about Esoterica blends, but they often are hard to come by. I found a tin of Pembroke at a local B&M and grabbed it up.

Apparently this is Esoterica's Margate blend, only with a Cognac topping. I do like tobacco with a touch of booze on it, be it rum, whiskey, whatever. But with this blend I think the topping is too much for my taste. The latakia comes through when smoking easily, but the topping overpowers anything else. Because of that I'd move this blend out of the "English" category and firmly into the "Aromatic" column.

It's not bad stuff really; the tobacco is high quality and it packs easily and burns well. If you enjoy aromatics you'd probably like this. If you're looking for a different kind of English, this might be worth trying too. I liked it okay and put it on my "might try again" list. 2.0 stars.

Light yet complex overall flavor profile. Light to medium in strength and taste. Cognac flavor complements the base tobaccos well. Lit and burned well. A marked contrast, for example, to Mac B's HH Syrian, which offers offers a smoother, stronger and tastier blend of somewhat similar tobacco components. Solid 2 stars.

I haven't got a bloody clue about this one.. Seriously!

Initially it tasted to me like a ribbon cut version of Penzance. Orientals definately present, I'd say over the Latakia. The flavouring is there, but done subtly. I just don't know. What it DOES lack is a creaminess which I have also failed to discover in other Esoterica blends.

Presbyterian mixture is creamy, and this isn't. I like PM more if I'm honest but this is a decent enough tobacco to give it a whirl. As someone has previously commented, if this is the 'Slutty' sister to Margate (which I've not tried to date), then I can only say that Margate must be a pretty unexciting date.

I was expecting a hair cascading, full on bright red lipstick, sultry goddess. What I actually got was a tightly pony tailed, thinned lipped, civil servant worker who'd donned a bit of 'lippy' for the day.

Damn you Esoterica with your catchy arty labelling. Blatant Terry Pratchett plagiarism if ever there was!!!!!!!!

6/10 overall rating from me.

Notes: This needs to dry out a bit before you smoke it to allow it to burn well and optimize the flavors. It also benefits quite a bit from aging, and gets much better with a few months in the tin. I have smoked a few ounces of various vintages of this and have found it best in a Dunhill Group 3-4 briar.

Appearance: A thin-cut golden and brown to black ribbon, fully rubbed out. It comes quite wet in the tin, almost sticky, and benefits enormously from allowing it to dry out substantially. Without this, you will likely not fully appreciate the flavor.

Aroma: Fruitcake, frankincense, stewed plums and autumn fruit. French cognac, honey, Brie.

Taste: Can nip the tongue a bit if one is not careful. After allowing it to dry out to a proper moisture level, it burns quite well to a fine grey-white ash, leaving no dottle at all. Plum pudding, Christmas cake, myrrh, frankincense, cognac, honey, raisins, stewed fruits, citron. Very soft, very subtle flavors. Rather subdued and very quiet on the palate, demanding attention to obtain full enjoyment.

Comparisons: Similar to Esoterica's Margate, but with added complexity and sharper cognac notes, which make it a markedly different blend. Much darker (but not heavier) in overall complexion than, say, Dunhill My Mixture No. 965.

Bottom Line: For those who enjoy tobacco blends imbued with spirits, a must-try. Those seeking a mild, subdued English blend with the added complexity of cognac will be pleased.

Ho hum. Whereas Margate is distinctive and an instant personal fav, Pembroke is just ok. Yes, tin note is Cognac and leather, and yes, it made me want to scare up a drink of good cognac, but in smoking Pembroke is unremarkable. Yes, it’s smooth, but lots of tobaccos are smooth. “Subtle?” -maybe, but for all the hype and expense, I say “underwhelming” instead.