Peterson Hyde Park

Original Review 6-29-2013

Not what I expected. Not to belabor the point of it being called an english amidst the most conventional understanding of that term, I was most expecting an Irish Whiskey (the Peterson blend, not the libation) type backdrop with the flavoring of the rum and maple as that was the topping indicated on the tin.

I was highly surprised to get blasted with Lakeland scents. It now makes sense that this would be made by GH as the plastic bag did throw me; it is not what one would suspect when opening a round tin from Peterson. I bought this tin last November as is customary for me to do at Ash tobacco in Gaylord for the opener of the Whitetail firearm season. They always have something new there, it's a great shop.

The surprise taste left me disenfranchised at first and I don't think I smoked any more of it until later when I returned home. I really don't get anything maple in this at all. My only experience with maple before was C & D's Autumn Evening where I found it too heavy (and which I now love.lol). This is not like that at all. I also don't really taste the rum. It is pretty much a Lakeland. If you don't like that type of thing, don't buy it.

Based on all of this, you may think I didn't like it. Well, five months later it started tasting pretty good to me. Granted I did not enjoy it as much as GW Best Brown #2, which leads me to believe this might be too heavy in Lakeland essence as the aforementioned is quite light. Nor did I enjoy it as much as Irish Whiskey as that has a little more of a burley taste that I enjoy.

I will add that the plastic bag, albeit crude and inelegant in comparison to other Pete offerings, did a fine job; in the 8 months I had this open, I never needed to transfer the contents to a jar as the leaf never got crunchy.

In terms of smoking properties, it burns well, smokes cool and provides a pretty good hit of the nicotine. It can be a bit monotone, but overall, it is a good tone. It will definitely ghost a pipe, so if you have some to spare, dedicate. Also, this can be smoked all day without a problem, I just did so at a golf outing yesterday and I enjoyed that so much,

Overall recommended to those who are intrigued by the idea of Lakeland aromas on Peterson Kentucky, Va base of tobacco.

Update 8/12/2019

I just finished a tin of this recently and my impressions and rating pretty much stick. The only thing I can add to this is that in the 6 years since I first reviewed this until now, I have finally had the opportunity to try both Rum Flake and Maple Twist by GH. I will say given the choice, I would reach for either of those before Hyde Park, but I still find Hyde Park to be a three-star blend.

Of the three aforementioned, I found Rum Flake to be the best; it is easily worth all 4 stars I have given it. I find it more Virginia forward than Hyde Park and that Virginia sweetness just melded well with the components in the topping (which I feel is pretty much the same for all three).

I have also rated the maple twist as a three star and would only prefer that to HP by a hair. It just comes down to the depth of body that all the twists inherently have, which surpasses what the burley in HP has to offer. All three are great, bite free and tasty.

Nice looking sand colored broken flake with an inner baggie, a la G&H. Tin scent is reminiscent of G&H as well, with a malty, tobacco-y base and a slightly soapy undertone (no florals). I'm not sure if this is blended by G&H, as per the rumors I've heard, but it does share some characteristics. It's kind of a heavier Rum Flake but the flavor of this one is much cleaner and more focused. The rum and maple sugar taste is very much in the background on this one and the aroma of same even more so. That kind of maltiness lasts down the bowl. It's been years since I've smoked Sam Gawith's Kendal Creme Flake but this one reminded me of that. I should try that one again.

The nicotine in this one is very sneaky. At first I was careful but noticed no issues, then I got caught up in the robust but slightly sweet flavor and let my guard down. The nic hit reminded me to pay attention. Overall, my experience with this one was very positive. It's far from the best "Lakeland" blend I've ever smoked, and it doesn't make my regular rotation, but it's definitely good enough to have around. Worth a try if you're an anti-Lakeland but just want to dip your toes in those waters.

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.

This is a burley-virgina, lakeland style, broken flake. It cool, steady burning, and quite sweet, to my taste. It is similar to Kendal Cream Flake (creamy but sweeter) and Rum Flake (essences but not as dark tasting), and has that rum essence recently favored by Master Pease. However, it is the maple that I believe gives it that lasting sweetness. Unlike most American style aromatics -- not wet, etc. -- but you do need a sweet tooth to favor this baby. It is excellent in its delivery of flavor a plenty.

One of the first blends that I can say has an identity crisis. The tin says it's a "traditional English" and this site says it's a Va/Bur. Some people call it a lakeland and I could see a strong argument for a Scottish, given that it reminded me of Sail - Regular and that's what it's listed as. As is established in pipe smoking long before I was born, none of the agreed upon definitions seem to mean anything anyway and smokers and blenders alike just seem to make stuff up as they please.

I suppose if I wanted to be granular about it, I'd say it seems like it is primarily a Virginia and Burley blend with some lighter dark fired leaf (as opposed to dark fired Kentucky) and condimental oriental. I'll further complicate things by saying how the flavoring is stated to be "rum and maple sugars to pressed mahogany tobacco" which makes sounds kind of like it was topped and pressed virginia and not cased which I believe most cavendish's are (but I'm not sure as there is such a thing as unsweetened cavendish). So it sounds like the flavor is achieved via the pressing before it is presumably cut into flakes and then made into a nice ready rubbed, a cut of which I'm growing more fond of. I tend to really enjoy lakelands, and I don't perceive any floral notes (some say soapy to their nose) which I tend to associate with lakelands, so I'm thinking this is just a nice flavoring of rum and maple as far as I can tell. Either way, it's a light enough topping that you still get a full tobacco flavor but strong enough to hold up to the bolder tobaccos.

So with all that preamble out of the way, how the heck does it smoke? Well, I'd say this is a beautiful and sophisticated smoke that has some backbone to it. It's a bit of a mélange with a great range of depth and flavor. The main player seems to be the bright and dark virginia's while the burley gives it some good amount of body and the oriental weaves in and out with bright woody notes. The sweetness from the rum and maple deepens as the bowl progresses and makes for an enjoyable and complex aromatic that plays well with the other tobaccos. After trying SG - Hansom Flake and Sutliff - Eastfarthing, I've started to grow very fond of crossover and non-traditional aromatics and this fits in with that group for me. I feel like this would be a decent but boring tobacco without the sweetness from the rum and maple, and the flavorings add to the experience rather than take away. I feel like the rum and maple would make this a great fall blend that would stand up well to the cooler weather and work as a transition into the colder months.

I would say that if you're the type of pipe smoker that knows what they like and how they like it (thank you very much!) then possibly stay away from this one, but if you consider yourself and adventurous pipe smoker that likes to see what the more diverse and interesting offerings are, then this should be right up your alley. I was a bit worried about the strength when I purchased this, because I don't tend to seek out stronger tobaccos on purpose, and orientals can sometimes add a bit of nic-hit IMO, but I didn't get that from this blend. I think the top note helped sublimate everything and make it a bit more uniform of an experience even though I'd say this is a fairly complex and varied smoke.

Note: Hyde Park is in a category of its own, but I wanted to include Sail Regular and Irish Dew as being similar in presentation and overall experience. Sail and Irish Dew are very different in flavor, but I was reminded of them while smoking. I've never had the aromatic version of Sail but it might also fit into this category.

Edit: I've bounced around from recommended to highly recommended and so I'd say it's more of a 3.5/4 than a solid 3 or 4.

The rum & especially the maple are lightly applied, and the tobaccos are by far the major players. The N really pops up in the last third of the bowl or so (at least in larger pipes). The tobaccos are nicely balanced and kept it an interesting smoke. To me, this combination is a bit 'rustic' -- no bite but you will remembering you aren't smoking a regular aromatic. The aftertaste strikes me as rather cigar-like -- not a bad thing, but I wasn't expecting it the first time, but I appreciated it as I got used to it.

I was gifted a half tin by a friend. It came at a good level of moisture. Baggie note was a little rum and stewed fruit. The broken flake was somewhat rubbed out. I rubbed it out some more to smoke.

I get a medium VaBur with a slightly floral note and a little rum if I am thinking about it. It is slightly sweet. One of the odd qualities for me is that I picked up a little caraway seed taste from time to time. It is very smooth in terms of flavor and "mouth feel."

I don't have any reservations recommending this. It is more of a 2.5 for me in that I am not likely to ever buy any, but I can believe it would suit someone else and it won't be a problem for me to smoke it up.

Peterson
Hyde Park

Hyde Park is a classic Va/Bur with some very mild casing, but not enough to call this an Aromatic. There is strength here and good old fashioned tobacco taste. Hyde Park is consistent, stays lit easily, and is a basically mild smoke.

Among other Virginia/Burley blends, I like MacBaren’s HH Old Dark Fired (strong), McConnell’s Scottish Cake (moderate), G&H’s Broiwn Irish X (strong), or John Cotton’s Double Pressed Burley (more burley forward). For a mild expression of a classic Va/Bur, Hyde Park is an exemplar.

3 stars out of 4.

This is based on the Gawith & Hoggarth-produced Hyde Park.

Presentation is rustic and nice, broken flakes with some stringy pieces. It looks old school. My tin, as many GH produced products do, had plume and crystals all over. I think they pre-age their tobaccos. There is that Lakeland, sweet smell. Reminds me of peonies. You get it in GH Rum Flake as well. Again, I think the Lakeland scent is due to cross-contamination.

The taste starts off mild and mellow and sweet. Tea notes, sugar notes, some bread. It evolves into a creamy, nutty, sweetness (which is slightly floral) similar to GH Rum Flake. The burleys in Hyde Park remind me of Irish Flake and University Flake, and even Bosun Cut Plug. To me, Hyde Park is not an aromatic. The tobacco flavors are forward. You just taste something enhancing the flavors.

Strength is maybe medium, yet mellow and refined and suave. Nicotine is medium. Taste is medium.

I would recommend this to the Lakeland smoker, the Virginia smoker, and even the burley smoker. There is something there of great interest. This tobacco has some lovely flavor nuances, and it really surprised me. It has mixed reviews on TRs. I would say don't deny yourself the opportunity to try the Lakeland blends. They are interesting, unique experiences. This blend also hasn't seemed to ghost my briars.