Peterson Old Dublin

First of all, I don't know what it is about a lot of the reviews. It seems like a lot of English professors out there, so I'll be more to the point. I found this blend at the local tobacconists' while in the process of seeking out a good "anytime" English blend. I wanted something that was flavorful, but not so (as you professor types would say) "thought provoking".

Old Dublin fits the bill for me. The smoky Latakia smokes cool, and the sweetness of the Virginias isn't too pronounced. There are several other, nearly indeciferable, flavors that come through. But, everything is well balanced. The thing I like most about this blend is that it tastes the same at the bottom of the bowl as it does at first light. Many of you may think this is boring, but I don't. I've tried too many blends that give me weird flavor surprises halfway through a bowl, so I find a consistent flavor a big plus.

I do not know what it is about this blend that just does not click with me. It seems that the style of curing or some added components do not work well in this blend. It is not very flavorful... all I can taste most of the time is best described as thin. There is no billowing smoke as with many other good Englishes. Yet, it still manages to assault the nose and back of throat. There seems to be a noticeable alcohol-like twang in the two Peterson's I've tried, this and Irish Oak. With Irish Oak it works, here it does not.

I would recommend this to those starting out with latakia, but then again, if others experience the same thing as I did, I would not want it to spoil their first experience with this type of tobacco. 2 of 4 stars.

Just about a third of the way through my very first tin of Old Dublin and those first impressions are very favourable. This is a very solid, well balanced English-style blend with a pleasant, but not over sweet tin and room note that is a definite hit with me. Medium in strength, there's reasonable depth to the taste of Old Dublin. It is, I think, a good anytime of the day smoke, (although I prefer my bowlful of this in the evening when I have more time to savour the experience). Definitely recommended.

How did I come to this tobacco? I seem to be on a never-ending quest to find the philosopher's stone, the "perfect" all-day smoke. I was beginning to think that actually that may not be possible, or even desirable, and that I should instead be hunting down a variety of tobacco's each to reflect my mood, my pipe, the time of the day, the season... and so it goes on...

Having said that, I've just tried my first bowl of Peterson's Old Dublin and find that this could just be that perfect "all day" smoke.

My smoking tastes are eclectic, from almost sickly sweet top-dressed burley blends to Dutch aromatics and traditional English blends (I'll even smoke perique neat) I found this one after dabbling with Squadron Leader, Commonwealth Mixture, Dunhills My Mixture 965 and Nightcap.

This is a mild but flavoursome blend, quintessentially "English" with a goodly portion of oriental and latakia. The first taste is latakia, but the other tobaccos soon meld together perfectly, the orientals providing spice (never too hot or harsh) whilst there is an undertone of sweetness provided by the virginia. Wonderful.

I may have been lucky but mine burned right down to the bottom of the bowl straight out of the tin. The mixture radiates plumes of cool blue smoke and the tobacco burns down to a fine white-grey ash.

Although I have a tendency to devour my tobacco's (too greedy!) this one was extremely well behanved with no tongue-bite, heat or bitterness. The burn was cool and rewarding all the way down with no relighting necessary.

There is an enigmatic quality to this blend, it may be that no one tobacco dominates (no latakia overkill here) which creates a dreamy reverie as the mind plays with the subtle flavours much as the ear tunes in to one instrument in an orchestra and then another. With this analogy in mind the symphony is perfectly structured, although the finale does leave one wanting more.

Yes, this may just be the "all day" smoke I have been searching for....

old dublin was the 3rd tin of peterson tabacco i have bought, i think o.d. is not bad but its a little bit strong 4 me..., & i found that its strength & taste are quite similar 2 "davidoffs royalty" (just a little bit diffenent), so, why not take the similar tabacco with the cheaper price? but if u like those tabacco with aromatic, dont try this, if not, u will quite disappointed with it!

I love this- Though its a bit pricey and can (for me) be hard to get unless your buying on internet. One of the best englishes you can get. Primo latakia, Virginias and Orientals give great body, with the cav filling in the gaps. To me this is very much the grown up brother to Frog on the Town, the balsma in this makes it very distict and wonderful. Highly recomended.

Recently tried the new batch from the new blending house which I suspect is Danish... It is close, but the original is much smoother and fuller. Maybe age has something to do with it. I will look for old tins of this, but more than likely will not be purchasing the new tins...

Original Review:

To be respectful of the "Irish", I won't call this an english blend. Its "geographical" influence is noticable though. There is nothing in this blend that is outstanding for this genre, but is what I would call an "old faithful" blend. It smokes well in any pipe, especially Peterson's. It has a good medium complex flavor. I find that it leaves a very pleasant aftertaste in the mouth. It is smooth enough to smoke all day. In SoCal where I work and live, you can find this in just about every tobacco shop for a very reasonable price (6.95-8.95 a 50 mg. tin). So if you are in doubt what to buy, this is a trustworthy blend. It could be compared to Germain's "King Charles", but with a little more complexity. Enjoy....

As I smoke a bowl of this while writing this review, I appreciate the fragrance of this tobacco- pinecones and cactus juice with a faint stain of berry jam.

It is a good break now and then from the latakia, burley, VA/Periques. It's best when I open up my cabinets with no idea of what I am going to smoke. I pour over the labels of the mason jars and make my selection.

It's flavorable. It's easy. It's alright.

I won't buy a second tin, however.

At first light it had promise of being quite the tobacco. Now I suspect some insidious alchemical process is in place to hide and redistribute Patrician waste.

With all the negative sentiment going on these days about tobacco use, I might in-appropriately kick off my review with a little something Mr. Churchill said:

"I suppose if I had to relive my life I ought to eschew the habit of smoking. Look at all the money I have wasted on tobacco. Think of it all invested and mounting up at compound interest year after year....But consider! How can I tell that the soothing influence of tobacco upon my nervous system may not have enabled me to comport myself with calm and with courtesy in some awkward personal encounter or negotiation, or carried me serenely through some critical hours of anxious waiting? How can I tell that my temper would have been as sweet or my companionship as agreeable if I had abjured from my youth the goddess Nicotine?"

It was a very rough time indeed. Nations lead by tobacco users against a Nation lead by an anti-tobacco idealist. Many lives were lost on both sides of the fence. If we can learn anything from history, it would be so obvious the enemy of civilization is prejudice. And friends of civilization are tolerance and understanding. Since now all Peterson?s line is made by new company, it is hard for me not to compare the old new versions. And sometime the result is unfair since every product should be judge by its own merits. But for this one, I am without prejudice, as I had never had the chance to taste the old version. To me it is completely new. Old Dublin is an obvious Latakia blend. It is like a timid and well-mannered Englishmen. It is a young tobacco and freshness is a good word to describe it. The sweetness of the oriental and/or virginias is really sweet. But the spice of the Lakatia seems to lack the punch to satisfy hard core old school Latakia pipers. It is a mild blend but with enough flavors to be cataglorized as interesting. It is very good for aromatic pipers who are curious about the mystical ?English?. According to my habit, I find it hard to smoke English blend all day but this one, I can and actually had done so.

One note is that when a fresh tin is open, it feels to the touch that it is dry enough to smoke right away. But this was not the case. To produce a nice thick smoke, I had to leave the can open for 10 hours to dry.