Peterson Sherlock Holmes

The tobacconist in my new home town didn't have Briar Fox, which I tried and found quite good, with a nice complexity and occasional surprise sugary sweetness. So I thought I'd try another VaBur blend and decided on Sherlock Holmes.

The tin was well sealed, but on opening I found the tobacco to be so dry as to be crispy. Tin note was excellent, sweet Virginia. After patiently rehydrating I tried it out. It's not as good as BF, just a solid American style tobacco, not very complex, very mild sweetness and flavor. It's a good "taking a walk" smoke for when one doesn't have the time or inclination to sit and enjoy a pipe properly, but just wants to smoke and get some nicotine. It's the equivalent of the habitual cigarette. Not something I'll keep in rotation, but not bad.

Not a tin I’d normally buy, but purchased for a friend whose father used to smoke this blend as his go-to blend. This was trip down memory lane for my buddy and a first for me as we smoked away in a local lounge bar in European branded hotel in a country bar where smoking in public is still the norm. So what about SH? Maybe since it was a new tin or I was just beat, I got seriously buzzed from this tobacco, so much so that I actually vomited afterwards. It was a nice buzz, not complaining, and the nausea may also have been from just eating too rich of a dinner just prior to the smoke. The tobacco is a burley /virginia blend and I had since that initial smoke, smoked another bowl without the slightest hint of a buzz. It’s a decent tobacco and I can see how one could make it his or her go-to blend, has a good mouth feel and a fairly strong kick, nutty and sweet. Not particularly a unique character of a tobacco but decent and worth a try, just that we are spoiled with choices and if it weren’t for the famous detective on the tin it might get lost in the crowd.

Far be it from me to try teaching my pipe smoking friends how to suck eggs, never mind a pipe, but this blend does demand some care. I packed my first couple of bowls too tightly for the cut. Consequently I had to draw too fervently. The result, a mouthful of heat and no flavour. The necessary adjustments made I began to quite enjoy SH. The tin yields a lovely fruit-cake nose and the smoke is sweet, moist and peachy with the Virginias dominant over the Burley. Less complex than Dunhill's EMP it is nevertheless, in my estimation, a decent enough tobacco for earlier in the day, although I have smoked it with satisfaction in the evening. Hints of flavoring come through occasionally without being unduly intrusive but I do understand those who find it a little bland, particularly when the palette begins to demand something rather more robust. That is to say, it is pleasant enough but lacks the mystique of, for example, a Latakia blend. Therefore it falls short of a 3.

This blend has a good ribbon cut perfect in moisture without stems and very easy to load. The smell in the tin is of tobacco goodness along with an added mild fruity-citrusy scent, not strong but a bit pungent. Once lit the taste is linear with no surprises: mild Virginia traits and hints of chocolate from the Burley, not bad at all. So, what is wrong? Well, it smokes harsh to the mouth with a lot of bites! Believe me, I’m not at all a compulsive puffer but the cadence needed to properly smoke SH brings the sense of the adjective “slow” to a new level. It requires a lot of care in order to avoid bites and frankly it offers too little flavors for what you pay for. My guess was that the aforementioned casing (to be fussy it is citric, rather than citrusy) could be the guilty on the first degree for that unpleasant feel, so I left the tobacco in a jar to settles for some days. Then it was more tolerable indeed, but the taste (mild as itself) was watered down. A meerschaum is another good choice to tame those asperity, but (again) the taste that comes out doesn't fits my liking. Nope, I can’t handle this stuff, perhaps a matter of personal chemistry, who knows? Try yourself, regarding me I’m going to stop my fight with it.

This was recommended to me by my tobacconist as it's one of his regular favourites. We have different tastes but I thought I'd give it a go.

It's clearly a good quality tobacco and the smell from the tin is very inviting. Light, grassy and very sweet. I'm not sure if there's any flavouring, if there is it's very subtle.

The taste is less sweet than I expected from the smell in the tin but it's quite smooth and no hint of tongue bite (I see some reviewers find it bites, but not me). I find it can burn hot though and when it does the smoothness vanishes and can just leave a bitter taste, so it needs to be smoked very slowly and packed carefully to get the best out of it but I find it stays lit extremely well even on a slow smoke so this isn't a problem.

Overall if taken slowly, it's a smooth, undemanding smoke with a pleasant hint of sweetness. It's definitely not exciting and so for me this is one I like to put in my largest pipe and puff slowly on while reading a good book.

I quite like this light not serious Irish whiskey blend via Denmark (someone said a breakfast smoke and i'd agree), but Holmes wouldn't, not a three pie problem at all, not heavy but a lightish smoke and!! not very good at creating a miasma a thinker needs to solve problems. It's not a bad smoke just misnamed by someone who never read, I suspect any of the journals of the consulting detective Sherlock Holmes; told by Doctor Watson as reported in the Strand magazine..

With out the Holmes connection I'd have given this blend a three star but I love my literature too much to do so.. sorry i can't disassociate the name from the tobacco, so it probably isn't a helpful review; you would really have to know Doyle's books to understand both my references and slight disappointment. .

This is one Peterson offering I didn't care too much for. I can't really say anything bad about it, but it just didn't seem to float my boat. I've had the old stuff from the can with the picture of Sherlock on it, and I've had the new stuff. The newer stuff seems to have a bit more aromatic qualities to it, but neither one compelled me to finish the tin.

I like this tabacco, but in my opinion - this one it's not for everyday. The taste is great, but not that much to smoke it all the time.

I was smoking this in a Peterson Irish Second, and found the bowl getting really hot. I had rehydrated this and think I may have gone too far, but I'll say that if it seems moist on opening the tin, let it dry a bit. Will also make lighting it easier. I set the pipe aside for a while and then relit, and it was much cooler smoking. No bite as long as you take it easy. Not a lot of complexity in this blend, but could likely be smoked all day without a problem and without getting overwhelming. Overall a pleasant smoke, but nothing outstanding.