Peter Stokkebye English Opulence

A friend of mine purchased a tin of this delightful mixture awhile back, and I finally got around to getting a full sampling of it and must say that it was quite good. Let me start by discussing the tin. I LOVE this sort of tin, because I find that it keeps the tobacco very fresh, and after throwing back a half-used tin of this nature for about 4 months, and then re-smoking, I found it almost as good as new. In case you don't know, most (or all, I'm not sure) stokkebye tobaccos come in the paint-can style tin, with the lid you tap (or hammer) on after opening and using it. The aroma in the tin struck me as very "normal" for a latakia/VA/perique mixture, but that is a good thing, as I really enjoy the rich, spicy, subtly sweet aroma of said tobaccos. Packing is quite easy, its in a ready-rubbed form, moderately long cut, pieces were about a quarter to half-inch in length, so the gravity feed was easy. Upon first lighting, the charred tobacco turned a very dark grey color which sort of alarmed me (I'm used to a lighter colored ash), but that had nothing to do with the flavor, which is wonderful. After the tamp and relight, things burned smoothly, and two relights were only needed to finish up the dottles at the bottom of the bowl. In the first third of the bowl, the flavor was very rich in golden virginia flavor. The natural sweetness outweighed all the other flavors which came as sort of a let-down, but things quickly improved. About halfway through the bowl, the flavors all married nicely to form a very full flavored, rich smoke of virginia and latakia. Maybe the other tobacs were used in very small amounts, but I didn't detect either perique -or- orientals at any point through the bowl. Of course, that may also be due to my less-than-stellar palate, but I digress. The final third of the bowl was by far the richest and most enjoyable. I was very glad I chose my gourd calabash for this tobacco, because I simply didn't want the last part to end. A nice, full tobacco that is excellent for after-meal purposes, or a late evening lounging.