Peterson Hyde Park

It's been a while since I've posted a review on here owing to factors outside of my control, so it's with some satisfaction that I post this.

I've recently taken to purchasing my tobacco from a B&M instead of the internet, partly because I've started appreciating the personal contact with the excellent staff there and partly due to it being a little more practical, even if the bus fare there and back is only a little cheaper than the postage. Anyway, that's only of import with regard to my selection of this as I went in to get to get a tin of tobacco without really being sure of what I wanted. Scanning over the tins on the shelves in front of me, I picked this one out at random, somehow getting the idea into my head that it was a VaP. On the way home, coffee in hand, I happened to check it out on here via my phone and found out it was an aromatic, and one blended by GH no less. I was a little disappointed with my own lack of research as I find aromatics can be a bit of a gamble, I find some are good, some are okay and some are insanely unpalatable, and the GH blending gave me some encouragement. Nevertheless, when I got home, I opened the tin to be greeted by a scent of nuts, dark chocolate and something woody, sounded ideal in the run up to Christmas. After packing in the pipe I usually put aside for aromatics, I found the smoke to be much the same and very enjoyable too. There are dim shades of the supposed rum and maple flavouring along the way but it's far from evident for most of the smoke. Absolutely lovely. The only thing that is missing from this smoke is an open log fire and a mug of Ovaltine. And it stayed fresh in that oh so strange plastic bag all the way down to the bottom.

This is a strange one to summarize as it doesn't pigeon-hole easily, I'm not convinced that it can be really held to be an aromatic as the casing rarely impinges on the smoke. Would I miss it if it wasn't there? I'm not altogether sure. Yet it's not like any other tobacco I've smoked, seeing as, as far as I'm aware, all the VaBur blends have been pretty heavily cased so I've no means of comparison. I'm not sure I'd say it was a GH floral with a Peterson badge on it, I've smoked quite a few GH tobaccos and this is unlike any of them, even with the casing. As for the nicotine levels, well, it's good a good dose of the stuff, certainly stronger than I'd expect in an aromatic and probably on a par with most GH stuff that I've had, but it's definitely not the N-Bomb of, say, Peterson's excellent Irish Flake or Mr Pease's Filmore or Haddo's Delight. Regardless of these factors though, this is an incredibly good smoke, and certainly suites the Christmas silly season. Whether I'd like at the height of summer, I don't know, but I will definitely be giving it a try. A most agreeable tobacco indeed.

I bought this on the basis of the recommendations on here, as I was looking for another all-day non-latakia blend (I love my latakias, but enjoy some variety).

Opening the tin, the smell is fantastic; sweet, but not overly so and fragrant in a slightly flowery, plumlike fashion. It needed a little drying for me but some might take it as it comes.

Sadly, this just didn't work for me. The flavour was just not there at all for me and came across as extremely flat. I was expecting deeper, round notes but found none.

Contrary to what everyone else has said, I find this blend unbelievably harsh. I've had quite a few others, but this one is, to me, bitey like an old, mean bitey thing.

Can the Irish do a Lakeland blend? Why yes, yes they can. Hyde Park emulates the genre perfectly.

We'll start with the tobacco. A healthy dose of high quality Virginia for sweetness? Yes. And some Burley for body? Check. And the topping? Rum and Maple, so it is said. Does this taste anything like Gawith and Hoggarth's Rum Flake? Yes it does. And it's fantastic.

Hyde Park will rival anything that Gawith and Hoggarth can put forth. It's full of body, it imparts a generous dose of sweetness and more than anything, it is something resembling an aromatic that doesn't gurgle or mask the true taste of what is an excellent blend of tobacco. It is a Lakeland style blend that delivers everything that aficionados of the genre have come to love.

In the tin, the tobacco unravels in what looks like a broken flake, dark brown and lighter strands. My sample, nearly three years old, affords what can be described as a chocolate raisin note emanating from the tin. Initial char presents a prominent Virginia note, the topping having faded over its time in the mason jar. The strength is significant for an aromatic, registering medium in scale, the burley affording a greater part of strength. One will find the scent predominates throughout, though never intruding on the leaf. Tasty.

Four of five.

I was curious when I found this tin at my local tobacco store and decided to give it a try, unfortunately. The smell is ok, but that`s it. The tobacco is stored in a plastic bag for some reason, but I won`t hold that against it. There`s good flavours here for sure, but they are overshadowed by a harsh, fume-like smoke. It`s not a tongue bite, but a thin and gas-like sensation that is all but nice. I`ve tried smoking it in three different pipes, but nothing can help this tobacco in my opinion.

Have Peterson started packing their tobacco in plastic bags now instead of the crimped paper/card deal?

Hyde park come in a plastic bag and is quite moist, so needed 10 mins drying time. Its a ribbon cut with a few busted flakes here and there.

Aroma before lighting smelt just like Christmas cake to me. Definitely an aro then.

Upon lighting and a few slow draws, I was instantly reminded of Rum Flake by Gawith & Hogworts. It was a kind of watered down ready rubbed version of the a fore mentioned flake (of which happens to be one of my favorites).

I did try and sniff out the nuances, and thought for a nano second on a couple of occasions that there was a hint of latakia (?) There was zero bite, but I did find that the stuff burns quite hot even with slow smoking.

It was pleasant enough, and vaguely more complex than most aro's I've tried, but if I want something similar again, I'll stick to Rum Flake which is richer and sweeter. Hyde park really is to me, a weaker ready rubbed version of Rum Flake.

(Connoisseurs choice remains my aromatic of choice when required)

However YMMV....

2.5 out of 4

Peterson's new offering, Hyde Park, greets the nose with a sweet, slightly soapy aroma. The blender chose to wisely use a plastic bag in the tin rather than the traditional paper lining. The tobacco itself is a blend of beautifully broken flakes, some of which are fairly long. Based on the strong tin aroma, my first thought was that Hyde Park would be a full on aromatic. The flakes are moist and will need some dry time, especially if you are not planning on rubbing it out. I generally rub out most blends and this one dried fairly quickly once I had done so. Upon lighting up, it is very apparent that Hyde Park leaves the majority of its tin aroma in the tin. The flavor is mainly of pure tobacco with the topping, somewhat Lakeland like flavor, in a supporting role. I associate the flavor with a light Lakeland more than a traditional (in today's terms) aromatic. It smokes very smoothly with no bite. It is easy to distinguish the Virginia and Burley. Unlike Rum Flake from GH, I find this to have less of a nic hit. HP is more medium in the strength department for my taste. It will be interesting to see what a few years in the cellar will do to the blend. I expect it to age wonderfully. Three and half stars.

Soap!

Ok, let me elabotrate. Upon opening, I found a small plastic bag inside the round tin as other reviewers had noted, but what I also saw was that the block of product was actually square, crammed into a round tin. Immediately, this gave me the impression that this was made under 'license' by someone who normally only uses square or rectangular tins.

The tin aroma was not the sweet, maple and Virginia leaf aroma I expected but was very subdued.

The tobacco, being a mixture of broken / partly rubbed flake and ribbon-cut, came apart easily and had noticeable moisture but didn't appear excessive. It packed well but was quite hard to light.

Upon actually getting it alight the dominating aroma and flavour was, unexpectedly, soap. Floral soap.

It basically screams "I'm a lakeland blend in a Peterson tin!"

Room aroma was tolerable, flavour was dominated by the soapiness and body was full. Nicotine level was medium tending toward the higher side for less experienced smokers.

Overall it was a disappointment because it didn't in any way match what reviewers said nor my expectations from the description of the composition.

Does Maple sugar smell and taste like soap when burned? Anyone out there know? Otherwise this simply has to be just plain wrong!

Oh. My. God.

The memory of the one and only pipe full of this horrid concoction is still seared onto my taste buds and into my brain. If ever I could give negative stars it would be to this travesty of a mix. I could smoke the dried droppings of a diseased elephant as long as it contained enough vitamin N, but not this.

I'm not one given to exaggeration nor hyperbole, but merely sighting a tin of Hyde Park induces sweating, hypertension, panic attacks and dropsy.

I bought a tin as I'm quite a fan of some of the Peterson range, 3P, Irish Flake, Old Dublin & Irish Whiskey in particular; and also as it was highly recommended on this site.

I'd never heard of, nor tried, anything with a lakeland scent before and thought to myself "how bad could it be". Well much to my detriment I found out. The equivalent of spraying a spectacularly awful perfume directly into your mouth and nasal passages; ruining your sense of taste and smell for days on end.

I enjoy trying new tobaccos, and generally try to fit a new tin in every week. To make my selection I avidly read the reviews on this site. If a tobacco has 200 reviews, all of them giving 3 or 4 stars, and just one of the reviews mentions in passing that the brew has a slight hint of lakeland floral - that's it. That tobacco is struck off. I t may be ambrosia, and the world's best ever blend, but I'll never be trying it; the scarring and the nightmares from my Hyde Park experience have seen to that.

There are claims that this is made by Gawith Hoggarth. I think not. I think this is a Chinese copy. It smells right, out of the tin. It looks right, rough and moist. Indeed, it is reminiscent of Rum Flake, as others have mentioned.But it's a crap smoke.

It's shallow. It lacks tlhe depth, decency and delicacy of a genuine Gawith Hoggarth product.

Like others in the Peterson range, it tastes of wood. Like Irish Flake. Although Irish Flake is a better quality twig.

Hyde Park should be half the price. You don't mind cheap and cheerful at a cheap and cheerful price.

It's a Eurotobak - and that is pretty damming!