Peretti Blend DD

I found this Peretti burley mixture to be very similar to their Thanksgiving Day. Side by side they look and smell practically identical. The biggest difference between the two comes in the form of Blend DD's big honey-sweet floral note on the finish, and its fuller flavor profile. It burns cool and smokes slow, producing plumes of smoke and layers of toasty, nutty, deep burley flavor. As advertised, this is a sweet blend, but it's sweet in all the right ways. The floral note is balanced perfectly with the strength of the tobacco flavor and the overall result is down-right tasty. Much to my chagrin, Blend DD is an excellent mixture for a cob.

Very few blenders do burley as well as L. J. Peretti.

Peretti's DD Burley Blend is just that. A real 5 star winner. One of the top three Burley blends out there I'm thinkin'. I just got a can in and popped it tonight. When you do an 8 oz order it comes in a totally cool paint can thing with a fairly heavy plastic bag liner. Arguably the best presentation ever. As with other blends that have more or less scented or flavored content I think this smokes better fresh...very, very tasty. The scented aspect is well in the background, not pronounced at all, but is a significant element of its goodness. Subtle and very top shelf. Do I get an Anise flavor? No. To me it's a honey Graham cracker sweet tinge with subtle floral & spice tones...and very, very Burley.

At present I find myself engaged in focused exploration of Burleys blends. Why you might ask? Like all pipers I feel somewhat restless by this overwhelming and compelling desire to experience the joys of the various tobaccos on the market. Although I have my “present” favorites, I’m would be remiss not to sample all those wonderful mixtures waiting to tantalize my senses. Burleys, other the usual OTC brand that I smoked when I first took up the pipe, are unchartered ground for the most part. Doing my research on the assorted personal reviews and elaborate writes-up on the collections of brands and blends, I opted to set my test group to those products and particular blenders that, as a matter of fact, rose to the top consistently.

With this review, my subject blend of interest is a classic Burley-based tobacco put out by L.J. Petteri. In specific, it is their Burley Blend –DD. One of the things that I like to do a initial trial smoke of a specific blend in both a cob pipe and briar. As you can appreciate, sometimes a particular blend can be more suited for one or the other. In this case, it was very apparent to me that Blend-DD was meant to be smoked in a briar. Not that I am poo-poing using a cob on this one, as one does definitely gets a real solid feel for the nuisances of the blend with that. But let me tell you there was stark difference once I loaded the briar. The tastes, depth, character and therefore overall experience imparted burning this blend in the briar were much more impactful. To the point that I would rate this blend higher coming through the briar versus the cob. It was that significantly richer in my opinion. Generally speaking the flavor and aroma notes were much more pronounced with my briar

This is a ribbon cut tobacco. It’s touted as a straight Burley. Although I suspect that there is some casing of some sort. Some say anisette? It has this perfumy, soapy quality under note. At first light it’s very pervasive but tends to ease off and fall in line with the dominant Burley flavor the more one smokes. I have noticed this particular element present in all the Peretti blends that I have tried. Again, having sampled other Peretti burleys, there is something to be said about the quality of the particular leave that is used blend to blend. Comparing to other products on the market, Peretti’s burley strain is exceptional in its own right.

Deep dark rich graduated brown in color. Sweet, woodsy and very nutty. The tobacco itself came to me fresh in a poly bag versus tinned. I jarred it for 2 week before smoking. The level of dryness was spot on in my estimation. It loaded easily and uniformly in my pipe. Springy and full within the bowl.

The tin note was definitely that of raisins and that classic Burley sweet woodsy smell. Very nice. The room note that followed with it’s smoking, I found to be pleasant and characteristic of that classic pipe store smell. Reminds me of my grandfather who was an avid pipe smoker. It burns really cool and required only a few re-lights.

Tastings: really nice rich toasted nuts reminiscent of almonds/cashews, aromatic rich woodiness, sweet, sutble tang occasionally, earthly, consistently leathery mid-note, floral, hints of occasional cinnamon, at times a well controlled and subtle spiciness. Just an overall rich well balanced blend deep in character and smooth to smoke. The flavor stayed true all the way to the bottom of the bowl. At mid-bowl I feel that this particular blend came to full fruition of the recipe Peretti crafted. Very nice, rich, pleasant, and lively smoke to me. Not too heady nor too intense; just right. Great with morning coffee.

Strength: Being a cigar smoker, to me this would rate medium in my books. Nic-hit is rather mild-medium.

Bottom-line: I would recommend this blend to all to try, especially Burley nuts. As my own palette is becoming more refined to the true character of the Burley class, in my book, Blend-DD is a winner. I will purchase this again and it may very well end up as one of my additional “present” favs for the Burley strains. 3.5 stars.

A lot of Cocoa flavor with a little Molasses. It tastes like of a cup of Hot Cocoa, burns slow and cool thick smoke. No tongue bite

this is my favorite burley from Peretti. And Peretti has the best burley available, IMHO, by a wide margin. DD is pure burley (unlike say, blend 100 which has virginia, and is my second favorite, I think). This is listed as ribbon cut, but its a very wide thick ribbon. The taste is toasty burley, with probably deer tongue and maybe tonka bean. Its got that old timey Peretti quality, a sense of floral and old school flavorings, and in this blend its perfectly balanced. Nic hit is around medium. Burns slow for a burley and has a nice secondary taste that starts to surface half way through a bowl. A sort of almost cashew like hint. Just a first rate blend-- if you want a great burley, you found it here.