finally got around to trying this. I had been turned off to vapers by escudo (I know... how could I not like escudo?) anyway, this was a pleasant surprise.

The perique was there, but I felt it added some richness, rather than a lot of pepper. The prelite note is chocolatey cakiness, the room note (although I was smoking outside, so the backyard note) was pleasant, typical VA scent to me.

the first half of the bowl was sweet, chocolate/figgy-raisin, etc. really good. I enjoyed it. The second half of the bowl was more typical perique to me, I got some pepper in addition to the va flavor. It was still somewhat muted though, and not offensive to the pallate.

I plan to add this to my regular rotation when the mood strikes me. And next TAD attack I will be ordering more
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Here's a review that I did for this blend as part of the VaPer Showdown found here:

http://www.clubstogie.com/vb/showthread.php?t=135387

And finally, Hearth & Home’s Anniversary Kake. This blend is made for pipesandcigars.com by master blender Russ Ouellette. I had never had any of his blends before this one but everyone raves about his skill. After tasting this blend I believe them. I ordered 4 ounces of this about a month ago. I spoke with someone there before I got my order and he stated that when they make this, they make it in a 3 lb cake and then split it out from there. He also stated that they run the machinery that makes this blend pretty much 24 hours a day to keep up with demand. My sample was about an inch thick and looked like it had been ripped off of the larger block. It was extremely dark brown and smelled wonderful. The only way to get this blend smokable is to rip off a hunk, rub it out and then rip off another hunk. By the time that I got done my hands were a bit stained but I didn’t mind because it was fun rubbing it out. This is a hard blend to describe when you rub this out. It just kind of falls apart and packs into the pipe extremely easy. I went to do my false light and soon realized that this was all I needed to get this blend going. From there this blend never stopped surprising me. This bulk blend was better than a lot of tinned blends that I have tried so far. The description on their website states that there are many different Virginias in this blend, from Brown to Lemon and it has a healthy dose of Perique added in. Although I’m not experienced enough to know that difference in taste between a Brown or a Lemon Virginia, I can say that this blend is delicious. The flavors change throughout the smoke and the Perique really kicks in towards the end of the bowl. I thoroughly recommend this blend not only as a good, cheap bulk blend but possibly as an everyday smoke. I plan on grabbing a couple of pounds of this, separating it into smaller samples and cellaring it. I want to see how this blend changes over time.
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sounds good, think I might have to spring for some. time to buy some jars....
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I would, it's pretty dang good, 4oz for 9.99 I believe at pipesandcigars.com
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The buy button has already been clicked..... :-)
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you sly devil! :-)
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When I was a pipe smoker, this was a favorite of mine. Russ Oulette is a crazy good blender and a total nutjob (I know him). This makes me want to take up the pipe again. I spend way too much on pipes when I do, though and can't smoke too much because of sinus infections.

<MCS
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just get a course of augmentin and pipe it up!
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sorry to hear. maybe you could "accidentally" load a pipe and light it?
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maybe you might like it?
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Spam.
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Hate for the last reply in a thread to be a spam. I just ordered up a half a pound of this
since it was available again. I like what I heard, and I liked that the Va-Per king ranked it so
high, and then it slipped and slipped, lol. I have to start reading the rest of threads. But I like
Escudo very much, and if this has a similar quality and taste, I know I should love it. Like the man
said, time to get some mason jars.
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I recently tried the Anny Kake thanks to a botl from another board, will definitely pick some more up for my rotation. :-)
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I yanked another half-pound, I want to stash another jar, plus I want to monkey around with it some.
I HATE AJ's VaPer, I find it ridiculously harsh, though some swear by it. I have cellared some for a year and still
find it to be just awful. However I think I could make something I like much more by combining half and half of
the AK and the AJ. We'll see. But no matter how much the AK may change as materials for copying the original
become difficult to find, I'd like more than on jar on hand. So clickez vous.
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this 1/2 lb batch I got last week of AK was crumbly loose tobacco and not a cake and had a different taste than what it had when it came out over a year ago.
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Yeah, I have heard it's always a crapshoot. I think it's kind of like the secret stash of ultra-old wrapper that
they made those Partagas Air Rockets out of, the 150s. It seems like they never run out of those cigars.
You have to wonder how a pipe blend that supposedly started with an exceptionally fortuitous delivery of bulk
virginias could go forward without an ever-lasting supply of exceptional virginias. That said, I AM SAD that you
just got yours a week ago. That means that I will either be getting the same tobacco, or you got the last dregs
of a previous batch and mine will be awesome, lol.
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My 2 cents....

Anni Kake is now my everyday smoke.
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Hey guys. Glad to see everyone seems to like the Anny kake. I work right next to Russ and the press that he uses to make the Anny kake. Yes we usually have to make it just about every day to keep up with the demand.
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:-)...That's good to know Andy. Keep up the great work and QC:-)
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Well it's been over a year since I tried AK. Still loving it, so much so I have almost 2lbs cellared and it's still growing! Might have to pick up tins now that they are available too! :-)
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