James Fox Dorisco Mixture

As a rule, I don't review tobaccos that are "ok". I'll either review the ones that "WOW" me or the ones that I think are horrid... an "ok" doesn't deserve my time.

Normally when I receive tins of tobacco in the mail I'll code them with marker on the bottom of the tin so that I'll know how old they are. On this tin of Dorisco (or rather, this batch) I did not mark the tin. So let me say that I ordered 10 tins as soon as Dorisco became available on the US market, I believe it was 2 to 3 years ago (2000).

I'd wanted to open a tin of this since receiving it but didn't. Today is a special occasion so I pulled a very trusty KKK sized Castello Sea Rock bent bulldog out and decided to celebrate with Dorisco.

Upon opening the tin I found that the waxed paper was just beginning to brown. The tobacco itself was a bit moist with about 40% of the blend being black leaves and the rest a brown/golden brown. The aroma of the tin made me want to eat it - there is no mention of latakia anywhere on the label or description of the blend but there is a waft of latakia here. The Perique I could not smell but my nose doesn't work as well as most folks.

I spread a good bowlfull out on a plate and let it sit for about a half hour. The Castello pipe I chose is one of my favorites - being one of those magic pipes that never smokes wet and always leaves me trying to light the dottle at the bottom of the bowl, only to realise that all of the tobacco, every strand, is burnt. Yes, a favorite.

This tobacco is easy to fill and easy to light. I noticed at once that the Virginia here had that well cured, "leathery" taste..and that the Perique outweighed the latakia. Never harsh, the virginia stayed up front with the perique playing in the background and the latakia adding a bit of roundness into the mix without ever jumping out to say HELLO - I AM LATAKIA.

The ash was a fine, fine grey and the flavor never really changed much down the bowl. The tobacco smoke did get a bit stronger but never strong, this is a full blend.

All I can say is that this is a MASTERFUL blend, subtle and fine in a way that most blends today aren't. Greg Pease's SAMARRA blend is this way but not many others that I've smoked.

Highly recommended, please order a few tins of this and put it up for a couple of years. I'm ordering more - this is a classic!

I have read somewhere that this tobacco is one of the biggest practical jokes in the pipe tobacco world, due to its description of the old tin depicting it as a Virginia / Perique blend without mentioning the Cypriot Latakia it contains. The new tin, with a more sober and classic design, does not describe the ingredients that make up this mixture, but on tobacco sales pages and in this same, it is presented as a Virginia / Perique / Latakia mixture. However, as some user here has mentioned, I would say that it also has some oriental flakes that are visually appreciated with their classic greenish yellow color, and also seem to be subtly appreciated during the smoke.

Beyond labels and the actual composition of its ingredients, it is a fine and elegant tobacco, well balanced in the combination of its ingredients, which makes it smoke with pleasure, and so smooth that it can be smoked at any time of the day and even repeat.

When I first started smoking a pipe, not long ago, I liked blends with plenty of latakia. Now I appreciate the seasoning with other ingredients and I prefer that the latakia does not overshadow the other components of the mixture. Dorisco is undoubtedly within this description. I smoke it every day with great pleasure, and have already provided myself with some spare tin.

Simply smashing stuff with Perique that is readily identifiable as it supports the Latakia and Virginia. Lots of smoke comes out of the pipe when this one is burned, and the ripe and sweet Virginia interplay with the Latakia and Perique is what mesmerizes me most when I smoke this classic.

James Fox - Dorisco Mixture.

My tin contains an equal measure of black, light brown, dark brown, pieces. Mine had a perfect amount of moisture to enable quickly lighting it up.

To me it tastes a little different to what I'd expect from something labelled English. It isn't only a smoky taste, there's more depth. The Perique's answerable for this: sharpness, spiciness, and it gives my tongue a cold sensation, becoming spicier as the bowl burns. Rather than just smoke, the flavour from the Latakia, although it does have a slight smokiness, is buttery, woody, and savoury, as well. The Virginia gives a hay like taste for the initial quarter but gets masked by the other two as the bowl burns down. I notice no added flavourings, it seems natural. It burns brilliantly.

Nicotine: medium. Room-note: pleasant.

Dorisco Mixture? An easy for stars:

Highly recommended.

Looks similar to a lot of "English" mixes with latakia - mostly brown ribbons with a small amount of black thrown in. I smelled latakia first and foremost in the tin aroma, but I have a very high sensitivity to its aroma and taste. It wasn't too strong. In fact the blend smelled good but like it was missing something (the pungent sour and delicious aroma of orientals, perhaps).

Once again, this tobacco shows that reviews based on one or two bowls are usually worthless. This one changed a lot from bowl to bowl, and after an entire tin, I still don't feel like I have a handle on it. The latakia started off the show each time but each bowl seemed to showcase a different strain of tobacco. Sometimes this was a typical English blend with perique in place of orientals, sometimes it was chewy Virginia (yes... chewy! thick tasting), and sometimes it was a VaPer with the emphasis on Per. In this sense, it was an interesting blend because I never knew what was coming next. I loved the Virginias used here. As I mentioned, they were juicy and thick tasting but not heavy. Reminded me of what's in EMP. They did not cross over into typical adjective territory, and the best descriptor I can find is "chewy". The latakia was light but always present, sometimes running the show and sometimes just adding a light spice. The perique was not heavy on the pepper but leaned in that direction. I think the omission of orientals was what kept this one from 4 stars. Really good blend but not a rotation maker. Even so, a tin of this left me with more questions than answers and I believe I'll pick up a few more tins to see if I can better figure it out.

A friend insisted that i should try this blend.when i read reviews about this blend i couldn't wait!once you crack the tin a tense smell comes out.coals ,fire ,dark fruits and pepper notes.the tin moisture is ok,packs ok and lights easy.a few relights needed though.while burning the flavours are strong combining dark fruits a few citruses,coals and a muddy flavour that was very tense.the peppery notes where in the backround with some sourness.burns slow and medium hot.the nicotine level is medium.leaves a bit moisture at the end of the bowl.no tongue bite for me.the room note is unbearable.it was the first time my wife complained about a pipe tobacco room note..definitelly not an all day smoke.this muddy flavour ruined everything,i believe the flavours do not combine well each other .

This Latakia has been only lightly smoked allowing for some of the finer nuances of it's Oriental origins to come through, specifically a nice note of sour butter as well as the usual notes of woody smoke and a touch of salt. A very tasty Lat. The Virginias give sweet hay and the Perique more spice than fruit. Overall a pleasant and delicious English. If you love English blends you can't go wrong with this one. It's a very smooth smoke as well.

Mild to medium in body. Medium in taste. There is an extremely mild, almost undetectable flavoring that I think is vanilla. Burns very well.

This is a decent English blend. The Latakia in it is mild, and the Perique adds an interesting spiciness. Personally I find the combination of the two is a little odd, but still interesting and enjoyable.

A word of caution, I find it can be rather bitey at times, especially if you don't let it dry a bit first, or if you puff with too much enthusiasm. I suspect this blend would do well with some age.

Not one of my favourite English blends, but definitely a decent blend worth trying. Maybe I'll update my review after I've let it age a couple of years

For me, Dorisco is one of those blends that wasn’t on my radar screen, but it shouldn’t have been. Dorisco is a really well blended English with the pepper side of perique, but not too peppery. The Latakia is and Virginias balance each other nicely with the Virginias offering a small amount of sweetness. My tin is four years old, so the Virginias may not be as sweet in a fresh tin. I believe that there is an extremely light topping on this blend because there is a unique flavor it that I can’t put my finger on. As each bowl progressed, I found the perique to play a more dominate role. I agree with Jiminks that there is a “dryness” to the Latakia. I never had the chance to smoke the original, so I have nothing to compare it to. The only thing that keeps this from being a four star blend for me is the last third of the bowl, which isn’t bad, but loses some of its luster for me. Overall, IMHO, Dorisco is an English blend that lovers of EU style English blends should definitely have a spot for in their cellar.