Esoterica Tobacciana Ramsgate

(2.96)
Selected dark and golden Virginias are hot pressed until black, with added licorice essence and a pleasant aroma enhancement. A savory, slow burning, non-biting tobacco with lasting fragrance.

Details

Brand Esoterica Tobacciana
Blended By J.F. Germain & Son
Manufactured By J.F. Germain & Son
Blend Type Aromatic
Contents Virginia
Flavoring Licorice, Other / Misc
Cut Ready Rubbed
Packaging 8 ounce bag
Country United Kingdom
Production Currently available

Profile

Strength
Mild to Medium
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Extremely Mild -> Overwhelming
Flavoring
Mild to Medium
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
None Detected -> Extra Strong
Room Note
Pleasant
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Unnoticeable -> Overwhelming
Taste
Mild to Medium
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Extremely Mild (Flat) -> Overwhelming

Average Rating

2.96 / 4
6

14

5

1

Reviews

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Displaying 1 - 10 of 26 Reviews
Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Nov 10, 2014 Mild to Medium Mild to Medium Medium Pleasant
Lo and behold, for this piper the perfect aromatic. Ramsgate is exceedingly mellow and amazingly delicious. I absolutely love this blend.

I remember reading a while ago about the use of licorice as a flavor enhancer for tobacco and how it noticeably sweetens tobacco without imparting much flavor in the finished product. Germain uses licorice in quite a few of their aromatics. For example like Ramsgate, Plumcake, Blackpool, Hastings, & Woodbridge are all laced with it to a certain degree.

Compared to its cousin blend Blackpool, Ramsgate seems to have a bit more licorice in its topping. When lit, I do get a very slight licorice flavor but more prominent is a sweetness that's redolent of dark fruit with a subtle honey flavor that lingers on the tongue as well as in the side-stream.

This is a delightful smoke that gives a wonderful spicy retrohale sensation and a midbowl flavor that I find reminiscent of spice cake. It burns nicely but remains cool in the bowl and is quite forgiving of heavy puffing. The flavors strengthen nicely as the bowl progresses but it still remains sweet and spicy with delicious stoved Virginia flavor.

Fragrant, smooth, and spicy with zero bite. Excellent room note. Strangely, this fine tobacco reminds me a tiny bit of McClelland's Dark Star only without McClelland's signature fermented Virginia flavor and the fuss in preparation.

Superb.
16 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Oct 23, 2005 Mild to Medium Mild to Medium Mild to Medium Pleasant
I have been meaning to review Ramsgate for some time now. It was quite unique yet seems similar to some of the other Esoterica offerings that are similar in added flavoring and stoving (Blackpool comes immediately to mind.)

I smoked a nice sized sample sent by a friend over the course of a week and enjoyed it mostly in the evenings when a lighter, sweet smoke was in order. It is quite nicely stoved and certainly Licorice like in taste.

For some reason, this tobacco does not stay lit well and produces a whale of a lot of smoke. But, if semi-sweet Virginia leaf that is heavily stoved meets your requirements, then Ramsgate may be your ticket to paradise.
14 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Oct 18, 2015 Mild to Medium Mild to Medium Mild to Medium Pleasant
The licorice topping sublimates the tobaccos without totally drowning them out. The Virginias have a dried fruity sweetness: figs, plum, and dates with a little earth and a hint of grass here and there. It's kind of stewed fruit-like, too. I also perceive an occasional slight honey note that could come from a topping or from how the Virginias were processed. The nic-hit is very mild, and both strength and taste is mild to medium. No bite. May need a slight dry time, but I smoked it as it is, and though it did require a few relights, I was able to smoke it to the finish with just a little moisture in the bowl. If you like a mild licorice taste, you'll like this. Has a nice after taste. Though it isn't a strong tobacco, I don't classify it as an all day smoke as the topping is filling enough to the senses that you'll need a break after a bowl or two.

-JimInks
12 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Feb 12, 2015 Mild Mild to Medium Mild to Medium Pleasant
Jet black ribbon with traces of white - kind of a dusty grayish color, with a fairly heavy bag aroma of licorice. I was not expecting much of this. Quite honestly, Esoterica's line doesn't excite me much, with the notable exception of Stonehaven.

In the bowl this turned out to be better than I anticipated. The licorice smell became more of a moderate sweetener rather than actual licorice flavored. This stayed lit easily and burned well. I did find that smoking two bowls back to back was problematic and wore me out, which is common with flavored tobaccos. The sweetness was more plummy than sugary confection, dark but not heavy, mellow but not boring. The room note was very pleasant and inviting. I'd call this an aromatic but it's a long way from a gooper, as it smoked very dry without a trace of excess moisture. I'm sure I'll never buy this again and it'll probably take me a good long while to finish the 8 oz (review is based on 2) but it's a very decent smoke and will satisfy me when I'm in the mood. Recommended for those who like a sweet aromatic that doesn't require filters or multiple pipecleaners.
8 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Nov 14, 2014 Medium Strong Very Full Pleasant to Tolerable
I've smoked this for a number of years and seem to be appreciating it more and more. Perhaps the perfect tobacco flavor...a deft balance of molasses, raisin, fig and mild licorice. In addition, the tobacco flavor is allowed to shine through. Easy to work, easy to pack & light, burns well and clean with no bite or harshness. Very, very high quality. This is a UK scented flavor bomb gift to smokers everywhere. And if you try some of this right next to Stonehaven, you'll notice a very close flavor similarity. Interesting, that.
Pipe Used: Various briars, middle size do well.
PurchasedFrom: Various e-tailers.
Age When Smoked: Fresh to well aged, all good.
6 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Feb 04, 2016 Medium Mild Mild to Medium Tolerable
Well, Germain has yet to let me down and this Esoterica offering is no exception. I was given a pretty good sample of this from a friend and enjoyed it very much. It is kind of an oddball offering that is good for the changeup, but I think may get a little old if smoked too often.

The blend is very black as the description would lead one to assume. The licorice flavor, to my tastes, was kind of light. I also picked up a citrus taste, but am not sure whether this is from a topping or part of the natural sweetness of the Virginias. It was really quite pleasant. I received and smoked this in the winter, but imagine this would be a fantastic hot weather smoke.

So impressed with this was I that I immediately bought an 8 ounce bag while making one of my frequent calls annoying B&Ms while looking for Stonehaven, Penzance, Dorchester, Dunbar & Tilbury. At the rate the latter three have become nearly impossible to find, it is only a matter of time before this and a few others join them. I say stock up now.
5 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Nov 26, 2015 Mild Mild to Medium Mild to Medium Pleasant
This is a Virginia that has been stoved within an inch of its life. Think Dark Star. It looks a little similar and shares the quality of being damper than might appear and being tougher to keep lit than you might expect. The tin note is a heavy, sweet licorice. I smoked this fairly dry, and I crumbled it as best I could with my fingers.

This is interesting and good. There is a heavy full quality to the aromatic that is not cloying or overpowering. The stoved Virginias are sweet and slightly tart when puffed. The fruit taste had no citrus, and maybe the best flavot to describe it is a ripe plum. For my palate the licorice in the topping barely appears in the smoked flavor, but it is part of the heavy. sweet profile.

It burned clean and smoked well in a variety of pipes.

I enjoyed this, but I am not going to have my name put on a list to be notified when someone gets a few sacks.
5 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Mar 25, 2011 Mild to Medium Medium Medium Pleasant
Wierd cousin to Blackpool, but stronger topping. I'm not a big fan of this cut as it reminds me of the bottom of a tin when all you have is that last 1/2 a bowl of flake scraps left. The initial light gives off a licorice/Lakeland/Juicy Fruit flavor and room note, I found this not unpleasent but somewhat over the top. After about a quarter of the pipe, the topping is almost 90% gone and a sweeter caramel flavor develops. This is very nice, if you like very sweet Virginas, again I found this over the top. The bottom 1/3 of the bowl turns bitter with a bite, I only wanted the pipe to be over. This tobacco was only cellared for about two months and smoked in a cob. Better than a drug store brand or it would have got one star. I will not buy again and I might not buy Blackpool again as it now reminds me of this.

Updated 1/28/12 After almost a year of cellaring I found that the bitterness has gone away. You get a very sweet smoke after the Wierd topping burns away, quality Virginias. Maybe I can bump this to 2 1/2 stars
5 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Dec 29, 2015 Medium Mild to Medium Medium Tolerable
Each to his own! All of the Esoterica tobaccos I have tried do no disappoint.Their blending tequnique is superb and they obviously test their products before release,which is a must. I love Penzance, but, I fear,due to supply and demand,I will never taste again. Margate,I really like.It asks nothing of you .It just gives what it is...a great tobacco. I managed to get hold of some of Ramsgate from the States. If an Esoterica tobacco is easy to get hold of,then you worry slightly. It's a very dark ribbony tobacco,which has a pleasant fruity aroma from the packet. It lights easily and is quite tasty all the way down,except that I find it burns a little hot for my liking. That,I do not like,so will not resupply...sorry. Interesting tobacco to try out,but would not recommend as a regular smoke,due to the vast amount out there,at a much cheaper price,I may add.
Pipe Used: Dunhilll
PurchasedFrom: Cupojoes
Age When Smoked: New
4 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Feb 08, 2011 Mild Mild to Medium Mild to Medium Pleasant
Dark, heavily stoved, juicy broken flake. Fragrance of licorice???, I don't know about that. It is something sweet and tasty but I wouldn't call it licorice. I really don't know how to describe it, but it is pleasant. Definitely required the full three light method, but once it got started it was on for the duration. It provided a sweet, mild and pleasant smoke. No bite. For me it worked best in a smaller bowl, maybe a #3 or #4. I will finish the rest of the 4oz in my Peterson Dublin, 999, with a Savinelli 9mm balsa filter. That worked best for me. I will probably buy more.
4 people found this review helpful.
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