Frederick Tranter Scholar's Mixture

Opening the pouch of this mixture, the aroma is stunning, fresh citrus notes mixed with a freshly-baked bread scent. It is a beautiful scent indeed.

Appearance-wise, this tobacco is again very impressive, a mixture of cuts including bits of broken flake & coarse-cut tobacco, predominantly brown (a range of brown shades), with a hefty admixture of black (the Cavendish, I assume) punctuated with plenty of bright yellow Virginias, too. It is very attractive.

I loaded this into my oversized Illenhall freehand & it loaded easily. It can be loaded straight from the pouch, but I rubbed it out a bit to make the cut a bit finer & smooth out the bits of broken flake - with hindsight,this was perhaps a mistake, and I should have left it more intact. It packed with ease, no problem at all.

The light was taken easily, and maintained itself with little maintenance throughout the bowl.

The taste is zesty & fresh, this is a great summer tobacco, with the Burley strength playing second fiddle to the sweet & fruity Virginias. The Cavendish makes itself known throughout & the Perique is, for me, the least prominent of the tobaccos, it does complement the Virginias with a nice spicy hint, but never really shines on its own. There may be some added seasoning (honey, perhaps), but it may just be expertly blended tobaccos. The mouthfeel is full & the smoke is thick, but still has a lightness to it. It did bite me a couple of times, but this is perhaps because I rubbed it out too much.

The nicotine is mild/medium, I think as I smoked it in a massive bowl, but never felt any negative effects from the Vitamin N.

The room note is pleasant, sweet, fruity & not overpowering.

I really like this blend, and will but some during the spring/summer months every year for as long as it's available, I will give it 3 stars, as despite i being nice, it did bite me once or twice (as I said, though, this could be my fault for over-rubbing it). I would recommend this tobacco to anyone, and goes well with almost any beverage, barring spirits.