Peterson St. Patrick's Day 2015

I bought it - then red the reviews and saw it was like Belle Epoque. I have reviewed Belle Epoque years ago (did not like it) and feel similar with St. Patrick's Day. The tobacco comes in small cubes. They are so easy to light that they tend to make a very hot burn: I almost damaged a pipe. Regarding the smoke, not very interesting...

It's a unique chunky cube cut blend. For me it was a bit awkward to pack and took a few char lights to get going. When it did though it seemed to smoke itself. A nice cool smooth smoke.

The Virginias were nice and sweet. The Burley was a bit noticeable and helped cool down the smoke down. I didn't really detect the Orientals/Turkish.

The room note is really good. I had many compliments on it.

Overall it's a great blend that I'm glad I got a hold of a tin. I'm hoping they make this either a yearly offering or we get lucky enough that Peterson adds it to their current blend lineup.

2015 St. Patricks Day blend by Peterson. This blend is very unique in the presentation of the tobacco as well as the taste. The tobacco is cut into fine cubes and really makes this blend easy to work with as well as maintaining a slow burn. This tobacco is an aromatic and for that the tobacco note is of mango and vanilla. There is also passion fruit used but I have never had a passion fruit so no clue what that smells or tastes like. The initial light gives you a nice mango taste and makes a good room note. This blend does shift gears about mid bowl giving you a nice vanilla rum taste and pretty much runs until the bowl is complete. I did not notice much of a good tobacco flavor to this blend, but the tobaccos used are Virginias, burley and little strands of black cavendish. Overall this is a good blend to change up with and doesn't leave you with a grueling ghost like most fruity aromatics do. So no need to designate a pipe to this one. I would reccomend this blend, but for St Pattys day where is the good whiskey flavoring?

The tobacco is an exact replica of Peterson Founder's Choice.

The tobacco was a little dried out, so I put it out to moisten for a couple of days. I must say that this tobacco has a pretty rare cut: Orientals, Virginia and Burley are dried, pressed and diced with about 8mm sides, then topped off with cavendish. Exactly the same cut is found in tobacco produced by W.O. Larsen's Belle Epoque. Moreover, these blends even have similar flavor composition, which gave reason to malicious tongues to say that the "Belle Epoque" is also a clone of blends from Peterson. I have tried this blend as well and I can definitely say that it is different - stiffer, more "chemically" or something like that. Anyway, unlike the Peterson mixes, it burns my tongue and feels more sour. But enough about Belle Epoque. Back to Founder's Choice/St. Patrick's Day.

As the tobacco became more moist, I opened the can and inhaled the smell. It had vanilla, plus mango, a little bit of something exotic, and rum. There was substantially more vanilla than fruit, and the rum was barely noticeable. As for the tobacco, its own smell was well hidden under this sauce. Only a faint nutty note and the tiniest bit of bread were found, but that's about it.

Each cube of this mixture has to be kneaded to get individual leaves, then stuffed into a tube with them. The leaves are thin, so I already knew (and remembered from experience) that the tobacco smokes hot enough. I took a large pipe without denying myself the pleasure, although I had to work hard to fill it.

The flavor in the beginning is a sweet tang of Cavendish, some Virginia bread and quite bright nuttiness. All tobacco notes are well masked by a dose of fruity sauce, in which, there may seem a slight artificiality. Also, there is some roughness in the flavor in the beginning, but the tobacco does not bite. As you smoke, the tobacco becomes softer, leaving a distinct nutty note, a subtle spiciness from the oriental and the sweetness of the cavendish (together similar to a hint of cinnamon). As I said, the tobacco smokes quite hot, which rules out tight puffs or shallow pipes. So fill up your largest, well-smoked, pipe and be patient - the tobacco is light, and you're definitely not in danger of a nicotine hit. Towards the end of the pipe from the concentrated sweetness there is a slight note of prunes in it.

The tobacco burns into a fine loose ash of a light gray color, leaving a little moisture in the pipe. Nevertheless, I do not recommend filters - they will nail the taste of the blend. In addition, the filter provokes you to inhale more tightly and you can burn the pipe.

The smoke is light, sweet and very pleasant smelling. It dissipates easily.

Bottom line: this is a really pretty good dessert tobacco that calls for unhurried. It can be enjoyed for hours if you have a large enough pipe. It's a shame that it's on sale less and less often.

Beautifully cube cut and neat arrangements are in this brilliant blend. It seems handpicking and compilation had taken a long time to make each tin ready. With flavors of tropical aromas, it would be a good soothing time after your have got dinned to enjoy your before-bed pipe. Relights are needed due to shape of cubes but it will slowly burn without rush after falling motion and the reminder is fine ash. Room note is pleasant and admirable.

The most intense aromatizants are mango (first of all) and honey (just second), but there are also something like liquor and ripe fruits. For me, the aromatizants are too strong, overhelming (overall, in the pipe after smoking). However, if you like these kinds of tobacco, try it.

Having just opened the tin, and having my first bowl the fragrance that hits you is pleasurable.

However, upon smoking, it became a very harsh smoke, a lot stronger than other Peterson aromatics I've tried before. Half way through the bowl, it did seem to mellow out a little, and the harshness seemed to die down a fraction.

After reviewing the description across other websites, I was at a loss and couldn't seem to detect any mango, exotic fruits or vanilla, but there was a definite taste of rum that ran throughout the whole smoke.

I wouldn't say this was my favorite Peterson blend, and I'm really hoping it gets better with time and mellows out a little.