First off I would like to say thank you to Curly Cut for the sampler he sent me of this tobacco. Second I would like to let everyone know I still consider myself a newbie when it comes to pipe smoking. So here goes on the review.
This tobacco has a big sweet VA smell to it. The smell reminds me a lot of the 2010 Mcclelland bulk minus the catsup smell. The tin says its a VA / Perq ribbon cut blend. It has strands of light brown baccy in it, speckled into them are very light brown strands of baccy. Its ribbon cut so it packed very easily into my pipe. After a few charring lights, I gave it a whirl. It first starts out very sweet. That VA taste and smell is moderate, but tastes great. No perique noticed so far. At about the mid point of the bowl I start to get a little of the spice from the perq. Its very moderate, almost like a ghosting. At this point I try to puff rather than sip on the pipe to maybe get the perq to waken up a bit. Not much so to note on that. The smoke finished just as it started sweet va. But at the end the perq seemed to waken up just enough to let you know it was there. Sometimes I had to really think about it to notice it in the blend. The smoke stayed cool and gave me no moisture issues at all, as do some VA blends for me.
Overall this was a good blend. I would recommend this blend to a new pipe smoker much like myself. First off, its easy to pack and stays light well. Second it has just enough perique in the blend to force you to look for it so to speak. I enjoyed this part because VA/Per blends can be very unforgiving to new pipes smokers. It also does not bite, despite myself trying to get it too. This blend does not require much attention to be honest. Its a load in the pipe light and go about your business. The only drawback is the price tag.
If you like a lot of perique in you blends, TH will not be your cup of tea. If you are new to pipes, and dont want to end up with a sore tongue like I did the first few times I smoked VAper blends. This is for you.
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wow. glad you liked it, but this one has always seemed strong in the perique department for me.
i'll light up another bowl tomorrow and see if my taste buds are just screwy (or it was a heavily fouled w/ perique pipe).
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i stand corrected:
drove back to work today, grabbed a freshly cleaned Rad Davis, filled w/ Telegraph Hill, and i could taste a lot of the VAs and not as much Perique.
i still feel there's an average amount of perique in there, as i was getting all kinds of peppery notes in the smoke, but at least i could find the VAs a lot easier.
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