Hearth & Home Derby Club Aromatic

The burley is lightly molasses sweet, earthy, woody and nutty, and is the star component in regard to composition. The perique offers a bare hint of spice with more plum and raisins in the background. The Oriental/Turkish provides slight notes of earth, wood, and is barely floral and herbal. It's really less than a condiment as is the perique. The Virginia is a little grassy and mildly citrus sweet in a support role. The topping is a little fruity, and avoids the chemical note of the original, otherwise it’s the same in both. In both case, they moderately sublimate the tobaccos. The differences between the original and Derby Club is that the original is a little sweeter, the burley is a shade deeper in flavor, while Derby Club is a little smoother. The look and cut of the tobaccos are the same in both. Some say the original had a tendency to bite, but I did not notice that in either version. The strength is mild and the taste is a couple of steps past that mark. The nic-hit is very mild. Derby Club burns cool and clean at a reasonable pace with a very consistent flavor from start to finish. Leaves very little moisture in the bowl, requires few relights, and makes a pleasant all day smoke, as did the original. Has a pleasant, short lived after taste.

I rated the original at two and a half stars.

-JimInks

What a fine surprise. It’s an aromatic, they say. It’s unlike any aromatic that I’ve ever encountered. Would that there were more like it.

Just think, it has burley and Virginia and that’s well enough, but there’s Turkish in there, too and, what’s more, Perique. Perique. Who would have thought? In an aromatic, and an aromatic directly based on an old drugstore tobacco, no less.

The burley is dominate. It is in all of the Hearth & Home Midtown Series. It’s good burley. Well cut. Well blended. Not overly treated. It’s soft and round and direct. Cool smoking and consistent. It’s probably like the burley of yore that the entire series of blends is inspired by. I wouldn’t know. I wasn’t around to smoke those, but it’s nice to think about.

With that very nice burley base in Derby Club, there is a fair amount of yellowish, bright Virginia. It’s sharp and sweet and grassy. It’s nicely balanced with the burley and never dominates or overheats. It makes the otherwise straightforward, woodsy burley just a little bit more interesting. But wait. There’s more.

That Turkish tobacco is bitter and herb like. There’s not very much of it, but it’s enough to kick things up a notch. And then there’s the Perique. It’s the Perique that really makes Derby Club my favorite of the Hearth & Home Series. The Perique deepens and darkens this blend. It makes it like a good dark chocolate or a very ripe, dusky stone fruit. It makes the blend soft and velvety, but rich and bodied.

There is a top dressing, an uncomplicated, unobtrusive one; slightly fruity, which complements the Perique and makes the rest of the blend sing just a bit more. It smokes cool throughout and doesn’t fatigue the palate. If I were to have any complaint, it would be that I always wanted another pipe immediately after finishing the first.

I am smoking through a 2 oz sample from P&C. This has been a very pleasant smoke. I have smoked the original Kentucky Club, but never the Mixture, so this review is not based on any comparison to Kentucky Club Mixture Aromatic.

The blend presents as a mild VaBur on the Buley end of the spectrum. It has some condimental perique and Turkish, and a mild fruit topping. The effect is slightly sweet and nutty with a few Virginia notes and some grassiness in the sweet. The perique adds a plum to the fruit flavors and the Turkish provides a little spice - maybe the perique is part of the spice too. The perique and Turkish are a light touch and are most evident when puffed and exhaled through the nose.

This is not what most people would characterize as an aromatic. It is a great mild smoke with tobacco flavor and a little "salt and pepper." This is easy to recommend to anyone who likes a mild VaBur and thinks a little variety (but not too much) might be interesting. This is easy to recommend.

Another sample from an internet friend (as was the Chatham Manor and Presbyterian match). This was a bit darker in color than those two and had a headier pouch aroma. Deep and uninhibited, if lacking a bit in refinement. I could smell orientals but not perique, which is typical of my own lack of refinement when it comes to perique!

Earthy is an oft-used term to describe burley and it fits here. This was a robust burley rather than a nutty version and the minor inclusion of orientals provided a bit of welcomed bitterness and brine. The perique was barely noticeable and then only really in the room note. The topping, perhaps of an alcohol base, was fruity at times and bitter-sour at others, but never overdone. I've never smoked the original this is based on, so I can't comment on how close of a match it is. This one is definitely recommended to those who prefer a robust blend, yet it desperately wanted to fry my tongue and roof of the mouth at every opportunity. I had to fight off that phenomenon regularly, and this loses a star as a result. Then again, it's not the tobacco's fault, I suppose. Sipped slowly, the flavor of this is beyond reproach and I would buy again but for that biting quality. Try this if you enjoy fullness of flavor without flopping into brute strength for its own sake. I sincerely doubt the original was this good!

I'm not sure that I could taste much Perique, but the Burley, Virginia and touch of Oriental elements came through just fine. It has been so long since I smoked a bowl of the original that I don't know whether to indicate that this is a good match or not. All I know is that I liked it. Very light in overall presentation and an easy all day smoke.

I never tried the original Middleton Kentucky Club Aromatic, but after reading so many great reviews for Derby Club Aromatic, I had to try it. And I am so glad I did. This isn't a typical aromatic. I found the flavoring to be a subtle enhancer to all of the great tobacco flavor in this blend. I would say it's a bit more Burley forward, but all the tobacco flavors are there. It's balanced perfectly IMHO. The Virginia and Turkish are evident and come and go throughout the bowl, but it's the Perique that really drives this one home for me. I knew from part way into the first bowl of Derby Club Aromatic that I was hooked. This is now in my daily rotation. I even stocked up on this one. If you like the old school burleys, but with way more flavor and complexity, I would give this one a shot. Perfect moisture level, one relight and burns to a fine white ash. No tongue bite at all. Like I said, I never tried the original, but H&H made a fantastic blend with this one.

I find myself liking this a lot. Never had the original. I get a nice Burley mixed with Oriental and the Virginias in the background. Just a slight touch of spice from the Perique. The topping is fruit, but seems to have something else I can't identify. Whatever it is tastes nice. A very good anytime smoke,

Mild in body and flavoring. Mild to medium in flavor. Burns perfectly with no harshness or bite.

This is a good smoke and much better than I thought it would be. I got this with several other baggies in the Mid-Town series. Frankly I'd never been a huge fan of the original KC Aro so I put this one off for a while. Long story short: this is a good, solid burley blend, using good leaf that is mixed with other "stuff" to create a smooth, slow burning comfortable smoke. Just enough topping that melds well with the tobacco, to give it a bit of aroma but never over the top. The flavor develops nicely deeper into the bowl. Cool, no bite, easy to keep lit. Nicely blended to create, or re-create, the kind of blend that was so popular with our fathers and grandfathers. For me best of the series so far. Simple is good!

First off I am absolutely delighted to see that A. Morley Jaques has started reviewing again! In 2004 when I first started smoking a pipe he was one of four reviewers that I took their tobacco opinons seriously and found that their preferences were very similar to mine. Pipestud, Prison Chaplain and Eulenburg being the others, I had kept in touch with Eulenburg via email and Christmas Cards up until say 2010 and have not been able to locate him 🙁 Mr. Jaques on the other hand I had seen as Edgar Allan Poe at the Old Stone Church around 2010 and was blown away by his performance... Not only a great reviewer of tobacco but a master actor as well..

Anyhoo H&H Derby Club is another wonderful Mid-Town blend that puts the original blend it is supposed to replicate to shame. The perique is not too strong which is good since I cannot take it in excessive amounts and the slight topping gives it a pleasant room note. Anything with Turkish, perique and burley is going to be a stinker that will cause women, children and pets to flee with the haste of a passenger exiting a burning aircraft but Derby Club manages to deliver strong delicious flavors with a pleasing aroma. Russ really has a nack at creating top shelf boutique blends that resemble OTC Drug Store blends, it's really amazing what he can create! I am quite happy with this offering and would not hesitate to recommend it to others, the price is refreshing at a time when others are raising their prices while the quality drops, Hearth & Home continues to amaze me with their creations! Great job on this one too Russ!!

I really enjoy this blend. If I'm looking for something to smoke which I know is going to treat me right every time, I reach for the Derby Club. For me, it checks all the boxes as an every day tobacco: It has a great burly base which burns nice and cool, enough virginia for that sweet tang in the back of the mouth, and just a bit of perique and turkish to amp it up when puffed a little hotter for a change of pace as desired throughout the bowl. The retrohale is pleasantly spicy.

To round it out, I've never yet been bitten by this blend. I smoked a pouch of Kentucky Club Mixture before buying Derby Club as its replacement in my rotation. KCM could leave the roof of my mouth a bit beat up if I pushed it. This stuff doesn't. As a replacement for KCM it works great. The only noticeable difference I can detect is more cocoa in the pouch aroma. Flavor, to me, is equivalent.

Nicely done with this one, Russ. First old school blend I've felt was worth the tub.