Esoterica Tobacciana St. Ives

This is one tobacco by Esoterica that I can't really classify. Is it English? Aromatic? Virginia with additives? There are so many different flavors, with no one standing out, that it's difficult to say for sure. The smell in my sample baggie is rather mild, somewhat leathery and fruity and sweet without being musty at all. The leaf is dark, mainly medium and dark browns with some lighter brown strands also present. The cut is interesting, being a soft, partially rubbed-out cake mixed occasionally with hard, black flakes. The rubbed out portion is narrow in width and of varying length, short to rather long. The moisture level is about average, though the unrubbed cake is more damp, and the tobacco packs fairly easily. It lights quickly and burns very well, needing less than the average number of relights. In the first third of the bowl, the flavor is very mixed. I can identify the sweet, fruity casing, but it is rather subtle and quiet. I can also taste the Latakia, but only as a part of the mixture rather than a dominating factor. The Virginia and Cavendish flavors are also notable, mixing well with the other tastes into a rather pleasant, intricate blend. The smoke is very mild on the mouth, having no bite at all and a very smooth taste. I really can't decide what type of blend this is supposed to be: English, aromatic, adulterated Virginia...? In the second 1/3 of the bowl, the sweetness is not as obvious, becoming a more sour and less fruity note. The Latakia and other tobaccos are still mixed, with no one flavor being prominent. There are no bite or moisture problems to this point. In the last third of the bowl, the taste hasn't changed much. The sourish note is still strong, and the other flavors remain well-incorporated into the overall taste. That taste is good, not overly complex but mild, well-balanced and interesting. I would hesitate to call this an English blend, if only because the Latakia is so subdued. A bowl of this burns very quickly but smoothly, even in a large pipe, and is dry right to the bottom. Overall, this is a hard tobacco to categorize. No one taste is prominent, except the sweetness at the very beginning. A full blend this is not, but I could easily see this becoming an all-day smoke for me, or perhaps a morning Latakia treat. Not bad, and I'll consider ordering more of this in the future.

I don't consider Esoterica Saint Ives an aromatic; it is true that it has a coffee topping, however it is more accurately a crossover english. The Virginias are of fine quality and cured properly, they are in perfect balance with the smokiness of Latakia and the dry spicy orientals, unsweetened Cavendish rounds out the blend. The coffee notes come through without sublimating the tobaccos much. When smoked at the correct moisture level, St. Ives is quite enjoyable and pairs well with a mug of java. The low ratings this blend has received may be in part a disappointment that a robust aromatic component is not present, or not allowing to dry properly which can adversely affect the experience.