Esoterica Tobacciana Penzance
(3.48)
A wonderful complex secret recipe of the finest Virginia, choice Turkish and Orientals and Cyprian latakia, all hand blended together, hard pressed and broad cut into thick flakes. Long matured and easily crumbled to facilitate pipe filling.
Details
| Brand | Esoterica Tobacciana |
| Blended By | J.F. Germain & Sons |
| Manufactured By | J.F. Germain & Son |
| Blend Type | Balkan |
| Contents | Latakia, Oriental/Turkish, Virginia |
| Flavoring | |
| Cut | Flake |
| Packaging | 50 grams tin, 8 ounce bag |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Production | Currently available |
Profile
Strength
Medium
Extremely Mild -> Overwhelming
Flavoring
None Detected
None Detected -> Extra Strong
Room Note
Tolerable
Unnoticeable -> Overwhelming
Taste
Medium to Full
Extremely Mild (Flat) -> Overwhelming
Average Rating
|
3.48 / 4
|
Reviews
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Displaying 91 - 94 of 94 Reviews
| Reviewed By | Date | Rating | Strength | Flavoring | Taste | Room Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
| Feb 25, 2003 | Medium | None Detected | Very Full | Strong |
Ah, Penzance... Where to begin?
The first thing one will notice about Penzance is the form and appearance - a dark, oily flake with flecks of brown and gold. The flakes do not so much rub out into ribbons as crumble. Care must be taken not to rub this tobacco out too finely, and to load the pipe with a light touch. Otherwise, you end up with a densely-packed, wet hunk of steaming, smoldering evil in your pipe. Rough-rubbed and lightly packed is the way to go for a satisfying Penzance smoke.
Very shortly after taking the flakes in with your eyes, you'll experience them with your nose. This blend is heavy on the Latakia, so much so that I use Penzance as a condiment tobacco in its own right and blend it with straight VA's to create milder and medium-bodied English mixtures. A hint of Virginia tang comes through in the smell.
Upon lighting, it's the Latakia that thunders to the fore. Oriental and Virginia flavors take up supporting parts, but it's the Cyprian leaf that demands your attention. Room note reflects this, and my wife refers to this tobacco as "The Wife-Beater". It does have a tendancy to smoke very wet if over-rubbed and over-packed.
If you like strong English mixtures, you will love Penzance. Treat it gently, and it will reward you with a very gratifying smoke.
The first thing one will notice about Penzance is the form and appearance - a dark, oily flake with flecks of brown and gold. The flakes do not so much rub out into ribbons as crumble. Care must be taken not to rub this tobacco out too finely, and to load the pipe with a light touch. Otherwise, you end up with a densely-packed, wet hunk of steaming, smoldering evil in your pipe. Rough-rubbed and lightly packed is the way to go for a satisfying Penzance smoke.
Very shortly after taking the flakes in with your eyes, you'll experience them with your nose. This blend is heavy on the Latakia, so much so that I use Penzance as a condiment tobacco in its own right and blend it with straight VA's to create milder and medium-bodied English mixtures. A hint of Virginia tang comes through in the smell.
Upon lighting, it's the Latakia that thunders to the fore. Oriental and Virginia flavors take up supporting parts, but it's the Cyprian leaf that demands your attention. Room note reflects this, and my wife refers to this tobacco as "The Wife-Beater". It does have a tendancy to smoke very wet if over-rubbed and over-packed.
If you like strong English mixtures, you will love Penzance. Treat it gently, and it will reward you with a very gratifying smoke.
| Reviewed By | Date | Rating | Strength | Flavoring | Taste | Room Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
| Jan 29, 2003 | Medium to Strong | None Detected | Very Full | Unnoticeable |
Being a fan of these latakia blends and of flake cut tobacco, I had to give this one a try. This is the first flake-cut blend of it's type that I've seen and I found it quite interesting.
In the tin it smells like a nice leathery english blend. The flakes are almost solid black, very crumbly, and a bit more moist than I expected. In the pipe this stuff takes like almost pure latakia, which is great if thats what I'm in the mood for. It does seem to be lacking a little something that I usually crave in english blends, though I'm not sure what exactly.
One nice thing about this stuff is that I don't feel like I need to worry about it drying out. I've been smoking this tin slowly over about 3 months and it's still in pretty good shape even with no humidifiers.
In the tin it smells like a nice leathery english blend. The flakes are almost solid black, very crumbly, and a bit more moist than I expected. In the pipe this stuff takes like almost pure latakia, which is great if thats what I'm in the mood for. It does seem to be lacking a little something that I usually crave in english blends, though I'm not sure what exactly.
One nice thing about this stuff is that I don't feel like I need to worry about it drying out. I've been smoking this tin slowly over about 3 months and it's still in pretty good shape even with no humidifiers.
| Reviewed By | Date | Rating | Strength | Flavoring | Taste | Room Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
| Aug 05, 2002 | Medium to Strong | None Detected | Medium to Full | Tolerable to Strong |
Since there have already been so many other reviews of penzance, I'll be brief and only cover things not mentioned in other reviews. Penzance comes in slices that break out nicely into a krumble kake form. Penzance burns particularly well, both very cool and very evenly. I recently have added around 20 pipes to my collection, most of which were not pre-carbonized. I previously had not bought a pipe in at least 10 years. Because of its cool and even burning properties, I broke in most of these pipes using Penzance.
This is one of the better English slices I have tried and I'm sure I will always keep this on hand as a change of pace.
This is one of the better English slices I have tried and I'm sure I will always keep this on hand as a change of pace.
| Reviewed By | Date | Rating | Strength | Flavoring | Taste | Room Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
| Jan 17, 2002 | Medium | None Detected | Medium | Tolerable to Strong |
Penzance is a wonderful tobacco for the hands (all that fun crumbling up the flakes) but less so for the tongue. Although I enjoy the taste--which is full, deep, and very tobacco-y--I find that this stuff often smokes wet and bitey for me. If I let the tin dry and age, the smoking characteristics improve, but the flavor declines. Quite a conundrum. These days, I tend to smoke it in meerschaum, which calms down its tendency to nip and smoke hot. This would be a terrific tobacco if I could ever get a tin at the proper humidity that had the full taste of Penzance at its best.
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