Savinelli Essenza Cipriota

(2.88)
Exhibiting a fragrance redolent of the exotic mysteries of the east, a blend of well-aged Virginias, cool burning burleys, alluring latakia and Macedonian leaf, form a fascinatingly nuanced, medium bodied smoke.
Notes: The Italian name Essenza Cipriota means "Essence of Cyprus," referring to the Cyprian latakia.

Details

Brand Savinelli
Blended By  
Manufactured By Mac Baren
Blend Type English
Contents Burley, Latakia, Oriental/Turkish, Virginia
Flavoring Other / Misc
Cut Ribbon
Packaging 100 grams tin weight
Country Denmark
Production Currently available

Profile

Strength
Mild to Medium
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Extremely Mild -> Overwhelming
Flavoring
None Detected
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
None Detected -> Extra Strong
Room Note
Pleasant
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Unnoticeable -> Overwhelming
Taste
Medium
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Extremely Mild (Flat) -> Overwhelming

Average Rating

2.88 / 4
6

5

4

2

Reviews

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Displaying 1 - 10 of 17 Reviews
Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Mar 12, 2015 Medium Medium Medium Very Pleasant
The first thing I notice when I start smoking this blend is how sweet it is. The topping must be a very fruity red wine. I believe a floral essence is added, too. The toppings sublimate the tobaccos a tad more than moderately. The Virginias offer a lot of tart and tangy citrus, grass, bread, some tangy ripe dark fruit, earth, wood, sugar, mild vegetation, light tart lemon, and slight floral and spice notes. The earthy, woody burleys are minor players, and at times, barely noticeable beyond a little nuttiness. The lightly musty Cyprian Latakia is also a minor player, and offers smoke and wood more than it does any other flavor. The earthy, woody, vegetative Oriental/Turkish is fairly floral with a very slight dry and spice notes. Though evident in every puff, it, like the other components, takes a back seat the sweetness of this mixture, which never weakens. The strength and taste levels are medium. The nic-hit is in the center of mild to medium. No bite or harshness. No rough edges. Can use a little dry time. Burns cool, clean and slow with a very consistent sweet and floral, mildly savory English flavor from start to finish. Leaves a little moisture in the bowl, and and certainly requires some relights. It has a fragrantly sweet room note, and a lingering after taste. Probably too sweet to be an all day smoke. As sweet an English as I have ever smoked, it is an English-aro.

-JimInks
16 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Nov 04, 2014 Medium None Detected Medium Pleasant
I had a chance to sample this at a local tobacco shop. In the tin, the note is somewhere between apricot and red wine. The tobacco itself was a bit moist out of the tin. It is a log, medium-fine, shaggy tobacco that packs very well. On the light, a fair amount of sweetness came through. After the tobacco was lit and I had settled into the smoke, I realized that the scent from the tin is similar to the scent and flavor in the pipe. Not nearly as strong as the tin note, however, and there was an added smokiness that joined the flavors nicely. The Virginias and I believe the Macedonian leaf seems to take the lead in this blend with the Latakia adding a pleasant non-typical smokiness. The bowl was pleasant and easy to keep lit. Some moisture did accumulate (probably due to me not letting it air out before packing.) The flavor swirled nicely along a continuum of sweet smoky floral...just enough to keep my attention with all the notes coming to the front from time to time (but none dominating or disappearing.) It wasn't quite an aromatic and not quite what I would consider a full blown English. I would consider it a nice balance between the two.
Age When Smoked: new
13 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Aug 15, 2014 Mild to Medium None Detected Medium Pleasant
First of all, if you love heavy English blends as your steady diet, you probably will find this blend unsatisfying. This is "English Lite". I enjoy strong English tobacco. That said, I love this blend as a morning tobacco with my coffee. Open the tin and a wonderful aroma enters the nose. LIght and fragant, with an almost citrus odor. I'd swear i'd smelled this before, but it might be (sing it boys!), "just my imagination, runnin way with me." This blend packs easily and when smoking, needs no relights. A masterly blended tobacco, its different leaves mix wonderfully for a nice, smooth smoke. There is absolutely no bite to this blend. I could easily see this as an all-day blend, leaving the heavy artillery for night smoking. This blend will be in my rotation as long as they make it (and DO NOT change it!).
Pipe Used: Ashton bent billard
PurchasedFrom: Smokingpipes.com
Age When Smoked: 2 months
12 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Oct 20, 2014 Medium Very Mild Mild to Medium Very Pleasant
Today I was buying from barclay rex NYC where there had some tobaccos you could try. I decided to try essenza cipriota just for curiosity because when I opened the tin the smell wasn't great or astonishing or nothing that could call my attention. But, I decided to give it a try anyways and was pleasently surpised. It was a very easy mild, nice smoke. It lights up easily and stays that way throughout. The room note is really nice and the flavour is simple and easy going. I am including this one in my favorites. The only downside at least for me was that i would have thought to be more on the mild strenght. I could feel the nicotine (i regulargly smoke squadron leader or nightcap). A tin of surprises!
PurchasedFrom: Barclays Rex
9 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Oct 21, 2016 Mild to Medium Very Mild Mild to Medium Pleasant
Popping a new tin of Essenza Cipriota, one smells first apricots and plum over the slightly musty (not dusty) blend. The ribbons range mostly from orange/gold to medium brown, with some darker bits I suppose are Latakia. The initial smell from the topping fades pretty fast, but it remains for the smoke. After a day or two, rose (or rose geranium) comes up, and it all unfurls quite nicely in the smoke, when it’s dried before smoking. The VAs are flue and air cured, along with a little stoved. In the tin their overall, sweet grassiness is more or less swamped by the loamy Macedonian leaf and the woody smoke from a small portion of Old School, Cyprian Latakia. I don’t smell the Burley here. Because of the topping and the fine, ribbon cut, I prefer EC dried some before I smoke it. Otherwise, it can be slightly acrid and a trifle "oily", which I dislike. Once it's dried, I pack it tightly into a number 4 briar and tamp and smoke it gently, to keep its fine ash out of my mouth. Again, the originally prominent toppings fade quickly a short while after the tin it’is opened, but they and the rose are present during the smoke, Though smelled and tasted top to bottom, they are properly restrained and wholly complimentary to the well-met, well-melded tobaccos, to the point where I’m not sure I’d call EC a “crossover”, like Brunello Flake. Smoked, the sweet VAs are grassy, rich, and slightly earthy, and they are well melded with the loamy/mossy, slightly sour Macedonian leaf, which also features some fairly faint, exotic spices. The Latakia is woody, sour and “smoky”, sans incense. The Burley seems to add a little cashew, and it smooths and rounds out what might otherwise be a sharper blend. As a well-melded whole, EC smokes like a trouble free, first quality, Oriental-forward, light/medium English blend. Strength is closer to mild than medium. Tastes are closer to medium than mild. Room note is nice. Aftertaste is a sweet and sour, smoky best of the smoke, provided enough dry time before smoking it.

IMO, Essenza Cipriota deserves 4 stars for quality and relative merit as an interesting, original, light/medium “English”, based on what’s available today. So far, the more I smoke it, the better I like it, and it’s muscled its way toward Penzance in my rotation.
Pipe Used: settled on a group 4 Ashton used for English
PurchasedFrom: 4Noggins
Age When Smoked: Fresh from the tin and from jars.
7 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
JEM
Jan 26, 2017 Medium None Detected Medium Very Pleasant
This tobacco has become my favorite and I dedicated a pipe to it. I packed my bowl, gave it char light and tamp, and it stayed lit all the way through, with an occasional tamp. This tin was over two years old when I bought it, so the flavor was sweet Virginia, my favorite blend. There is Latakia in a supporting role, but it's not at all in the way of the Virginias. The room note is very pleasant, almost as much as an aromatic, and I always receive compliments from those around me when they smell it. If you like sweet, Virginia forward blends with an almost aromatic aroma, this is it.
Pipe Used: Savinelli
PurchasedFrom: The Humidor, Murfreesboro, TN
Age When Smoked: 2 years
6 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Nov 08, 2016 Mild to Medium Very Mild Medium Pleasant to Tolerable
The Latakia is light, but provides an ample enough smoky note. The Virginias and Orientals lead with the Virginias providing some fruit and tang and the Orientals providing a woody herbal/floral note. The sweetness seems to be a little more than the Virginias normally can provide and must be coming from a topping. The Burley can barely be noted in the background giving a hint of nuts. Overall a pretty good English blend. Solid 3.

Mild to medium in body. Flavoring is very mild. Taste is medium. Burns fairly well, needs a few relights.
Pipe Used: MM Little Devil Cutty, Little Devil Acorn
PurchasedFrom: Mars cigars and pipes
Age When Smoked: fresh
6 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Aug 08, 2014 Mild Mild Mild Pleasant to Tolerable
I made my first review VERY lengthy, but I reconsidered all the details and figured this review could be shortened up a lot. It's an English Aromatic, so expect just that. Smells fruity, specifically like grapes to me, maybe fake, maybe not. Doesn't actually taste fruity, but there is a sweetness. Latakia is very muted, VA's as well. I don't get as much out of burleys as others, so I think that's what dominated this blend, and why everything else was not as prominent as it usually is (strong english blends have tons of lat, strong VA blends have tons of VA). Altogether, the combination was fine, just not strong enough or distinctive in any way for me. Lat barely came through, VA is even less so, and I assume the burleys weren't cooperating? I don't mean to say it's a boring blend, it's just fine for an everyday smoke. Not too heavy, good for the morning, good for after dinner. If you like "stout" in your tobacco like me, this will not be the blend for you.
Pipe Used: Savinelli, Klodt Freehand
PurchasedFrom: Gifted from Reddit
Age When Smoked: New
5 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Sep 19, 2014 Mild to Medium Mild to Medium Medium Very Pleasant
The floral note to it is strong, and for a second I thought it was a lakeland. But I was surprised at the flavor and room note. It's a very good smoke, breakfast or lunch! The orientals in this flourish throughout the whole bowl, and while there is some latakia in it I'm told - I don't notice it at all.
PurchasedFrom: Trade
Age When Smoked: 2 months
4 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Nov 25, 2020 Mild to Medium Mild Medium Pleasant
Summary: a subtle take on an aromatic American English, this delivers the experience that the Frog Morton blends and Presbyterian do.

No one can talk about an aromatic English without mentioning the Frog Morton blends, which took the light English formula -- more sweet Virginias -- and added a slight topping to make an entirely different formula. Similarly, "Presbyterian Mixture" uses a high proportion of Virginias (and possibly white Burley) to frame Latakia tips, which ironically makes the Latakia flavor stand out more instead of becoming lost in an overwhelming deluge of smoky flavor. "Essenza Cipriota" mixes up white Burley, golden Virginias, Orientals, and just the right amount of Latakia to be the backbone of the flavor without overwhelming everything else, and then crests that with a very gentle floral and orange topping. This creates a light English with a slight twist that does not make it to full aromatic status, but has the benefit of an aromatic, namely a gentler flavor and much improved room note. Over the course of the bowl you get a "Bob's Chocolate Flake" effect where the sweet topping and Latakia combine to form an almost cocoa flavor. In my view, the star here are the Virginias, but they make the Latakia stand out as a condiment. You can smoke this all day without getting nicotine spins or having your wife throw you out of the house.
3 people found this review helpful.
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