Peterson Aran

Hints of toasted pecan on a base of Sumatran coffee and pomelo spritz -- just joking!

Honestly, I cannot taste all the things other smokers taste. For me the taste of pipe tobacco is fairly binary: it's good, or it's not. This is good -- mild and good.

For me the most pleasing part of smoking a pipe is the smell of my exhaled smoke. (I don't mean a retrohale; that is too overpowering for me.) Aran is very nice -- not super strong, but very pleasing.

When I opened the pouch, the scent reminded me of MacBaren Mixture Scottish Blend, which disappointed me a little because I bought it as an alternative vanilla to MacBaren Classic Loose Cut. But when I open the Scottish Blend tin to compare, there was indeed a lot more vanilla in the Aran. Likewise, when you smoke it, the vanilla comes through stronger than the fruit. There is also a spiced rum scent to it.

It smokes very consistently right down to the dottle--none of the ashy-ness I get with some blends towards the end of the bowl.

If you are looking for a mild vanilla with a bit more to it than vanilla, this is worth a try.

This comes in a pouch. Upon opening the pouch I was greeted with the old fashioned aroma of good old fashioned tobacco. Smelled like my grandfathers Half & Half I used sneak sniffs of from his pouch when I was a whipper snapper. The cut is a combination of ribbon and flakes. And the moisture level was just right. Not to damp...not to dry. I think if it was any drier it would burn hot and taste harsh. Packed well and only needed the charring light and it stayed lit. It is burning very well. I am enjoying a bowl as I write this. It has a nice medium to full bodied taste. It gives a bit of a tang to the tongue but it doesn't bite or burn. As I mentioned previously, I think it might if it gets to dried out. If you inhale it is smooth on the throat. Nice spicy tingle to the nostrils when released through the nose. Although it does not state that there is any spice in the blend...it tastes like there is. I taste a tiny hint of vanilla. Nothing flowery but something I can't quite put my finger on. Perhaps a hint of orange. It is faint...but just noticeable enough to add a plus to the taste. Nice taste on the tongue. And it has a respectable amount of vitamin N. All that said...I think it is quite good. I think it would make a wonderful morning starter with the old cup of java and a good before dinner or prior to bedtime smoke. I myself would not consider it an all day smoke for myself but I believe a lot of guys and gals out there would. I think Peterson should tin it. I am very wary of "pouched" tobaccos but this one is a winner.

Now of this, I can give you nothing but an honest opinion of its flawlessness for a newcomer like me. After my first tobacco, from which I couldn't taste anything, a true surprise was when I got to taste this one. Although looking back I can not say it's aromatic, but overall pleasant taste. Perhaps because it's made of virginia, purely. Friends of mine informed me that it's a nice smell, almost scent-like.

Now, I tried a few aromatics by that point, but I got to taste some English and I almost surely know that I will move in the latter's direction, but I'm gonna get some more of this Aran if I ever need a break between some English. Not saying it should be on everybody's palette, but I do and I will always strongly recommend it to anybody asking about it.

It may have a little 'flat' taste compared to other aromatics or heavier stuff, but I think it is because it is intended to be a little less strong. As far as I can tell, it's not your Morning day starter tobacco, nor is it for to smoke it on your terrace on a rainy day, but rather what I'd smoke on a warm summer evening, within the circle of my friends around a campfire, after a day of walking.

The pouch was labeled "May 2021," so I got my hands on some pretty fresh tobacco. Appearance: a mixture of fairly neat ribbon-cut light Virginia (I discerned lemon and orange), a little of red virginia, plus some dark cavendish. The moisture content of the blend in the sachet is perfect, which is not surprising given its freshness.

Flavor: A rather bright vanilla note mixed with a note reminiscent of rum-soaked prunes. If you sniff the mixture a little longer, in the background there is a slight flavor of hay, but the feeling is that the manufacturer has done everything so that the natural tobacco notes in the flavor disappeared.

Taste: initially harsh, can bite your tongue when provoked. This is more than likely, as the strength of the tobacco is almost minimal. Nevertheless, if you smoke it slowly, it smokes quite cool and quite dry. As for the taste, the vanilla not only overpowers the herbal and bread notes of Virginia, but also overpowers the flavored Cavendish, the wine-plum notes of which only play to support the flavor, making it even more pronounced. As I smoked, the tobacco became a bit softer, and the vanilla weathered a little - but just a little. Its flavor remained fairly persistent until the very end, and the pipe after tobacco left in the air smelled like vanilla for several days. The tobacco burned into a fairly nearly white ash with significant flecks of dark gray, indicating the heterogeneity of the blend.

A sweetish, almost weightless, vanilla smoke with a slight hint of smoldering grass is all that is left of the tobacco in the room. Unlike the smell in the pipe, it dissipates easily.

What's the bottom line? "A classic light vanilla flavor from Virginia with dark cavendish" - it's hard to add anything to this definition, but I can say that in terms of softness, lightness and balance of flavor towards vanilla, the blend loses to the same Mac Baren Vanilla Flake. However, taking into account the fact that it is half the price, Peterson Aran plays in a completely different league, although even here it has enough competitors from the budget series of the same Scandinavian Tobacco Group - Borkum Riff and Alsbo, and from Mac Baren side the 7 Seas and Amphora are pushing. And one more question that occurred to me: why did I have to work so hard on this mix mixing several nice Virginia varieties with Cavendish to later pour a lot of flavoring on it? A couple of varieties of Virginia, chopped up with a knife would have been enough. Some people do that...

I guess it was only a matter of time before I was truly let down by a Peterson Aromatic. With Aran, that time has arrived. I found this blend to be too light for my tastes. And by light I mean light on all fronts: body, nicotine and even the topping is too light.

I would say it is this lightness that leads to the severe biting that some reviewers experienced with this. Blends this light tend to cause me to overpuff when I am not paying much attention to my cadence, and this will certainly tear the tongue up if this goes on too long.

I usually love Peterson aros, but all the others I have tried have a decent amount of burley and perhaps stronger virginias as a base for the topping. These stronger leaves help temper my cadence by giving me a fuller smoke. It is against that kind of backdrop that a lightly applied topping really shines. Aran, by contrast, consists of a light Virginia paired with a cavendish (likely made from a light Virginia) that has had the life sucked out of it, what's left is a nearly insipid base. the light topping just leaves it flat and boring to my tastes.

With the other Peterson aros I have tried I have liked them even if the particular toppings were not to my liking. Aran is advertised as a vanilla/floral type topping. You can definitely tell there is vanilla in it, but the floral topping (which is far from overpowering) kind of takes Vanilla in a direction that it should not go IMO. Fortunately, it is so lightly applied you barely notice the topping at all. lol

I can't imagine that someone who enjoys a lighter virginia or aromatic could actually prefer this to the many other offerings out there that could scratch that itch. To me, this is a failure. I would never recommend this blend.

very classic blend with Black Cavendish and Virginia reveals sweet smoke and little Vanilla flavoring. nice quality with good price. another daily tobacco from peterson. recommend.

I truly believe that this blend is under appreciated, but then again ... I am an odd ball when it comes to Aromatics. The nose of this blend out of the pouch is sweet vanilla, although it is a bit misleading. Once you spark it, the main flavor is floral. Sort of like rose water, but not with rose petals, but rather some spring flowers. The vanilla is there, it's subtle at first, but its taste gets a bit more pronounced after the second half of the bowl. Sweetness, sure, all the way, but one feels the the hint hay-ish Virginia as well - so this is not entirely a candy aromatic. The pipe smoked cool all the way, no relights, no tongue bite what so ever. pretty good tobacco in my book.

This Peterson Mixture is extremely similar for me to Special Dublin Original Mixture. The scent in the pack is almost equal, Virginia hues with black cavendish in ribbon cut is similar and taste / aroma when smoked is pretty much similar. Which one I prefer? Well, I think Special Dublin wins by a finger... The smell out of the pouch for me has nothing to do with Vanilla. It smells a bit sweet and fruity, more on the dried fruit side. It burns well from charring light and burns a bit quick to a fine gray ash without goop. The taste and flavour is of a mild to medium Virginia based blend and the topping gives a good retrohale experience. A fairly decent blend for me.

The aromas from the pouch are very intense of vanilla. When you lit it stays burn in a very good temperature. The flavors are very vanilla and a hint of spicy like white powder pepper. It has low to medium body and intensity. The bitterness is low and the sweetness is medium. At the end the vanilla flavours remaing. A good tobacco, not wonderful, recommend for begginers.