Watch City Cigar Old Dominion

One of the fattest flakes I've seen but also one of the crumbly-est. Kind of dirt colored with a heady pouch aroma of basic Virginia and perique. Rich smell, with a little something beneath - kind of a spice. This was best rubbed out.

Old Dominion started for me with a burst of perique, complete with nose tingle when I smoked it in a bent pipe or when I snorked. A mellow sweetness but more tang in the first half of the bowl, with that feisty perique nature. The 2nd half of the bowl showed off more of the sweetness while the perique receded, but it still had that underlying spice. This transition was kind of sudden as I noticed no subtle merger - it just kind of changed around mid bowl. The perique content seemed almost perfect! I don't have a lot of VaPers in my regular rotation, but this one demanded to be added. It fits in nicely between the heavy flavor bomb of GLP's Telegraph Hill and the lighter and sweeter G&H Louisiana Flake. This one was so expertly balanced that it would make a wonderful all-day smoke. As SteelCowboy says, this is pretty straightforward but it is far from ordinary. It brought old Escudo to mind before the multiple changes to that blend. Not as complex, perhaps.

Once again, Ernie Q shows that he bows down to no blender and can certainly show a thing or two to a lot of them. Highly and hugely recommended to all VaPer fans.

The red Virginia is tangy dark fruit sweet with some wood, earth and bread with light floral, sugar and spice notes, and takes a small lead over the other components. The bright Virginias provide some tart and tangy citrus with a little grass, sugar and floralness as a second lead. The matured Virginia has provides a little fermented tangy stewed dark fruit, earth, wood, bread, and light sugar in support of the other Virginias. The earthy perique is moderately present, and is mildly spicy with a fig, plum and raisin character. Sometimes the perique shows up more than it does at other times. The same goes for the red Virginia, though you always notice it one way or another. I recommend you fully rub the fat flakes out to aid in the burn rate of the tobacco. Otherwise, you may have a hard time with the bottom quarter of the bowl. The strength is a couple of steps past the center of mild to medium, while the taste is a slot short of the medium threshold. The nic-hit is a rung less potent than the strength level. Won't bite or get harsh, but it does have a few rough edges. Needs a little dry time. Burns cool, clean and slow with a mostly, deeply rich, mostly consistent, sweet, spicy and savory flavor that translates to the pleasantly lingering after taste. It requires some relights, but leaves very little moisture in the bowl, unless the pieces you rub out are big and chunky, and then you'll have a moisture and a relight problem. Can almost be all day smoke with some punch that wears well during your smoking day. Three and a half stars.

-JimInks

Another delight from Watch City Cigar. I haven't tried all their house blends, but I haven't gotten a bad one yet.

The Virginias are lightly citrusy and quite sweet and there's just the right amount of Perique to add some spice and a bit of plum flavoring. Thanks to not being overloaded with Perique, the nicotine strength is on the mild side of medium. The cut is listed as a flake and I suppose it technically is, but this is more of a crumble cake really; you won't be folding and stuffing this one. It breaks apart effortlessly, packs easily and burns with no fuss, just like it should.

This is a first class Va/Per. I'd put it up against anything from the big vendors any time. If you haven't tried WCC blends, you really should.

Old Dominion is another flake created out of the imagination of Ernie, the owner Watch City Cigar. Made from Bright, Red and Matured Virginias with Perique. This is a pretty straight forward VaPer, but not boring at all. The pouch scent is offers a mix of tangy and sour scent. The color is medium tan with some light flecks. The flake, like the other Watch City flakes, is cut on the thick side. I find this blend works best for me fully rubbed out. I prefer it in a smaller bowl and fairly dried out. At first light, OD shows off its peppery side before settling down into a nice, smooth, slightly sweet smoke. The bright Virginias are what make this blend for me as they are added perfectly for my taste. The sweetness increases as the bowl progresses. I think this blend is good now, but has amazing potential for glory after a rest in the cellar. All in all, another fine flake from Watch City.

Received this as a sample with an order from Watch City...kudos gentlemen for observing my purchase patterns and discerning my taste preferences...and boy am I glad they sent it. I was underwhelmed by Watch City Slices, I like it but I think I set my expectations too high from reading reviews, or maybe it needs a bit of age. I think the latter is most likely. Old Dominion is one of the best VAPer blends I have smoked. I normally never smoke more than 2 bowls of one blend in a day, but I went through several in a day and then made short work on the sample the following day...time to re-order. The pouch note is what you would expect: figs, prunes sweet hay and earth...awesome. The flavor profile is sweet and spicy. The perique is applied with a moderate hand, not too little or too much. It is really spot on. The smoke is reasonably complex as well, it starts with the perique in the lead, spicier up front with dark fruits and at about the 1/3 mark it becomes toasty and bready with more VA sweetness but the pepper is ever present but in the background. I think there is a topping of some kind, apricot maybe, but it is so lightly applied that it only enhances the flavors of the component tobacco. Great stuff in a beautiful crumble cake. Well done Watch City.

Shredded in a small coffee grinder, and left to dry down for about 45 minutes. There was a pleasant sweetness, and a dark molasses and plum flavor on the charing light.

A nice volume of smoke, fullness from the Red Virginia and Perique, a melange of dark fruit, molasses, citrus tangyness; the Perique provides a rich plum and raisin flavor.

As the bowl progressed, the spicyness of the Perique began to assert itself. At mid bowl it reaches a peak, however the other tobaccos are well represented in a supporting role.

Required a minimum of relights, leaves a fine white ash, little moisture.

My new favorite VaPer...

The spiciness of the Perique subsides in the last third of the bowl. Perhaps I have acclimated to it. The tobaccos are working well together, and the sweetness of the Virginias doesn’t diminish.

The burn is somewhat slow, and the flavors mellow a bit. Still provides a nice rich volume of smoke.

Thick, beautiful, soft, meaty slices that smell harmoniously of bright and red Virginias and fruity perique. Rub out easily and burn well with a couple of relights; some dry time is probably warranted, at least for a fresh batch.

The smoke seems extra thick and creamy for a VaPer. The sunny and golden toasted flavors of the brights were out in front, nicely complemented by the other VAs. The perique was really well behaved; definitely present, but in a supporting way mostly; danced out in front a few times, but in an enjoyable way.

At a few points I worried that it was veering into cigarette territory, but it always pulled back to that nice toasty VA flavor, all the while with that sharp, slightly fruity edge in the background.

This is my new favorite VaPer alongside H&H Viprati. Not as sharp and tangy as the latter. They should complement each other well.

Bag note is quite tart and musky the presentation is very nice in large thick strips of crumble kake. Rubs out very easily. I let mine sit in the jar for many months and the moisture was perfect. I smoked quote a few bowls before providing a review as I felt the flavor would change after some time in a jar. Indeed it did . It has much more sweetness after sitting for a year or so. The muskiness faded into the back. The Virginia's are sweet and a bit floral. The perique is still there but not to the point of making your tongue tingle. This really ages very well and becomes quite mild after some time. Initially it was quite strong and the perique was a bit overwhelming. Extremally well balanced with age. Nic hit is a bit more than medium. Not sure I would smoke it all day but its a very nice change of pace. 4 stars

Sweet experience, literally. Standard bready, red Va. tobacco taste with a plummy Perique. This is a must try for VaPer lovers, and any non-aromatic smoker seeking something a tad more sweet than the usual VaPer offerings.

(I am a newer and irregular pipe smoker. My reviews are subject to my preferences and tastes and pipe smoking habits)

I have been smoking this blend from Watch City off and on now for a few months. SteelCowboys review is pretty spot on for this blend.

It comes in the familiar 'Crumble Flake' fashion from Ernie and is a dark rusty brown overall color. The smell is rich and heavy of Virginia, very similar to SG FVF, but with that extra little note of dark fruit/figs from the Perique, but it is very faint. I am not sure of the age when I purchased this blend, but after several months 'whole' in a mason jar before being rubbed out, I noticed a plume developing on the tobacco. I pack relatively light when I smoke and try to keep a slow pace, and this tobacco was perfect for that. Of the three VaPer blend I have from WCC (558, Hampton Rd and Old Dominion) this is by far my favourite. The overall character of this smoke was Virginia sweetness and some mild vinegar notes. The Perique was very light, to me, and could only be detected occasionally when I noticed little black pepper tingles. But there was a rich, dark, rounded 'note/taste' present that helped add a little oomph to this blend. When I return to Watch City I will be ordering more of this and cellaring it, with SteelCowboys recommendation. This blend comes well made and at a great price, for me. A 'light on the Perique black pepper' VaPer that I am really happy with.