I don't write reviews often, but this one seemed to be a given. As is my usual practice, I opened a tin of Peterson EMP, the day after I got it, and the day before I smoked it. The introduction of air to a vacuum sealed tin always tends to excite the poor tobacco that has been deprived, and it gets it pretty excited. Well I must say I was incredibly happy to have EMP back. From the moment I opened the tin I could remember the wonderful scent of Dunhill EMP. From the moment of the 1st burn, everything was right in the world again. Thank you Peterson for picking this back up, and keeping it exactly the same!! Read Less

Ive smoke about a quarter pound of regular and special reserve plum pudding now and they share a common thread... they are absolutely delicious. I do prefer the special reserve for it's added smoothness and depth of flavor. Normally i just prefer to slice off a slab and loosely crumble it into medium to large sized chunks for a solid 1.5 hour smoke. A word of caution: only prepare what u intend to smoke for the next pipe or day at most. I made the mistake of preparing half the brownie since i was smoking so much of it and then i ended up putting it aside for a couple months. The plum flavor will dissipate during that time. Smoked fresh the plum flavor is absolutely fantastic and is a companion from first light to last puff. Rich, smokey, mesquite, spicy, smooth, and truly a melange of fine smoky and plum flavors that is intoxicating in the best way. I dont deliberate on the flavors im tasting here, i just lounge in my chair and drink it all in and relax. A little mesquite here, a lot of campfire and leather there, and some spicy perique and cavendish throughout. Make no mistake though, this is more enjoyable with the plum flavor present and accounted for. If you like a rich english smoke its hard to go wrong here. Medium in body and mild in nicotine from my experience. Even after several relights it maintains its flavor and body without getting harsh. Special reserve ages magnificently, and gets even smoother and more rich/complex in flavor. In my opinion this is the best that SPC has to offer hands down, being a true stand out blend. If I may be so bold... both this blend and the original are easily in the top 10 best blends currently in production and for my preference top 3( even over penzance). As a lover of pretty much all tobaccos, and a guy whose rotation and preferences are forever shifting and exploring new blends, PPSR always finds ito way back to the top of my rotation. If you like English tobaccos I highly recommend trying this one. It may be a little pricey but it's worth every penny. ADDENDUM: In the time since I first smoked these blends, I've learned that I largely dislike the processing done on most* Sutliff and McClelland blends. That being said, I still thoroughly enjoy PP Special Reserve and other blends from these companies. Generally speaking I do not, however, so I figured it might be a good idea to add this info in case there are people with similar likes and dislikes. My opinion of PP Special Reserve remains unchanged for now (I'm about.to pop a fresh tin and begin the journey side by side with aged regular PP), and that is to say that it is pretty awesome stuff and extremely smooth. It might be impossible to make this one bite, once dried correctly. Seriously. Read Less

Even though a piper of twenty-some years, smoking mostly English and Balkan blends, I was not prepared for the wonderful mysteries that awaited me i nthis blend. Intriguing! Read Less

This is an excellent smoke. I don't smoke blends with Latakia often, primarily because it usually overtakes all other components of the blend. This is not the case here, as the Latakia hangs out in the back from start to finish very consistently. The Virgina really shines in this blend for me, and it is high quality leaf. Nice sweet flavour, and dances just right with the Latakia. Visually a beautiful leaf and a very interesting cut, not quite rubbed not quite a flake. I don't rub it out anymore then it is and that smokes great for me. My favorite thing about this blend is it's smoothness. You can puff it like a locomotive and it won't bite at all. Moisture is perfect out of the tin. Smokes the best out of my old beat up grabow. Read Less

This is my favorite tobacco, it's absolutely perfect. It's perfectly balanced, lightly smoky, slightly sweet, nutty creamy, and a little incense like from the orientals. It smokes cool with no bite whatsoever and has a wonderful aftertaste, I'm stocking up on this. Read Less

This is my favorite of the various Cavendish/Perique/Virginia spun tobacco blends that I've tried. To me the flavor is richer, brighter and more varied than Stokkebye's LBF or Comoy's Cask No 7. Of course it's priced a lot higher too. The tin aroma reminds me of rich home-baked raisin bread. The flavor reminds me of Escudo, but tastes more natural to me. There's more perique flavor in here than in others of its type. I agree with the prior reviewer that it starts out more on the fruity side, but the spiciness builds, in fact the whole blend of flavors builds as the bowl goes on. It's got the right amount of sweetness and nice balanced Va flavor. If you like LBF or Cask No 7, try a tin of this for a treat. It's not an everyday smoke for me (mainly because of the cost), but it sure is good. Update: After looking up the tin code for Davidoff (YYhhMMmmDD) I've found I've been enjoying tobacco that was already aged over 2 years in the tin before I bought it. I don't know if this is typical, but it may account for the great flavor of this batch. In order to stretch it out, I often sandwich a coin of this between two of LBF, and the effect on the flavor is amazing. Read Less

<p>Now I'm the first to admit that this review may be quite subjective - but this tobacco has made it to the top of my list and has become my all-day smoke; to the extent that I'm hesitant filling my pipe with any of the other great tobaccos in my collection.</p> <p>I love everything about Presbyterian, starting with opening the tin, feasting my eyes on the coarsely cut mixture of bright and dark leaves. This is accompanied by the delicious musty, earthy, and spicy aroma. The cut is ideal for the way I fill my pipe (similar, but not identical, to the 'air pocket' method).</p> <p>The tobacco lights easily, even when slightly moist from a freshly opened tin. When it has dried out just a little, it can be smoked all the way down from the first light, although I would rarely smoke a bowl in one sitting; that is no problem though, as it maintains its delicious taste and aroma, even after cooling down and sitting for some time before a relight.</p> <p>As a lover of Orientals, I find these tobaccos to be the star of the show, perfectly complemented by the Latakia and Virginia. I have always loved Latakia, and still do, but these days I prefer its use as a condiment rather than a major ingredient (as found in many English and Balkan blends); and in this regard, Presbyterian really shines. The components combine to give the tobacco a somewhat sweet, almost aromatic note, but one can sense that it is all natural, without any casing or flavoring.</p> <p>I love retro-haling, and this brings out even more flavors, adding a delightfully pungent note to the smoke; and to me that must be Presbytarian's greatest achievement - providing so many delicious flavors without resorting to anything artificial.</p> <p>As a previous reviewer has mentioned, my main regret is the fact that it is not available in bulk.</p> Read Less

Another example of G. L. Pease's blending ability. It's a tasty Scottish blend that has some punch &amp; smokes mildly. I'd say it's perfectly blended... producing a subtle sweetness. Once you pop the lid &amp; give a whiff, you know you're going to like it... that is, if you prefer these types of blends. The Red Virginias are the main player in this blend &amp; the Cyprian Latakia is basically condimental. The mild, sweet Orientals lend some extra spice &amp; flavor &amp; play an important roll in this mixture. The Perique provides a subtle, sweet, fruity flavor. The strength level is very close to the strong threshold which surprised me because it smokes so mildly. Read Less

I haven't been smoking aromatics all that much lately but when this came out I had to give it a try; I'm glad I did. If you like vanilla aromatics, then, in my opinion, this is probably the best one out there. The tobacco comes in finely cut coins that are easy to rub out or stuff them in your pipe as-is. Mac Baren states that they use &quot;a subtle casing of premium, Madagascar vanilla&quot;. I will attest that the tin note is a sublimely rich deep vanilla. It smelled natural and not artificial. The tobaccos used are whole leaf Virginias, with additional Virginias and partially cavendished, whole leaf dark-fired Kentucky. I like dark-fired Kentuckys, and cavendished dark-fired Kentucky is something I really wanted to try. The tobacco came at the perfect moisture content (i.e., on the edge of being slightly dry) and I didn't need any drying time. I chose to rub out a several coins and lightly stuff my pipe. It was easy to light, burned well, I only needed a couple of relights. The smoke has a sweet rich vanilla flavor from beginning to end. It never faded away or burned off. There really was a nice sweetness to the smoke, which was likely from Mac Baren's traditional application of maple sugar. It really didn't have a maple taste, just a warm sweet taste that complemented the vanilla. The Virginias provided their usual sweet grass/citrus/tobacco flavors. The cavendished dark-fired Kentucky added depth to the smoke, as a condiment, and provided somewhat of a brown sugar flavor to go with the vanilla. Not knowing if this is going to be a regular offering from Mac Barens, I decided not to chance it and bought several tins to keep it in my rotation when I want a warm sweet rich vanilla smoke. Read Less

Much upset for the guys who cellared 100+ tins of Dunhill tobacco to flip, only to find Peterson bought the rights to Dunhill's excellent blends. Same factory, same blend, same process as Dunhill's Flake. The only thing that's changed is the sticker on the front. Great solid Brown Virginias, sweet grassy smoke which gets much better with age. Read Less

This, in my opinion, is a firmly "middle of the road" VaPer. Tin note of raisin bran, smokes sweet and vaguely fruity. No particular flavors stand out from the constituent tobaccos. The perique is barely noticeable and the virginias are very mild. I suspect the flavors will improve with age. EDIT: I smoked another bowl this afternoon from a cob after letting the tobacco sit in a jar for a few weeks. You know, this blend isn't too bad. I still think it's middle of the road, but it packs enough mellow flavor that I added another star. I could see myself going to this tobacco for afternoon smokes when I'm not craving anything in particular. Read Less

After repeatedly saying I wanted to try this someday and forgetting to buy it, a close friend surprised me one day with my first tin of Erinmore. I definitely think it lives up to it's "classic" status though I admit my own experience is of the more recent productions of Erinmore. I think for fans of a nice mild all-day VA flake, you can't do much better. In fact, this is the blend that made me a fan of flakes. And, after trying many other similar flakes available, Erinmore is the one I come back to as the watermark of a great Virginia smoke. I'd give it 5 stars, but I have noticed that the moisture content does vary from tin to tin and ranges from "just right" to needing to be dried out a little first, but it's always quality tobacco. As for taste and aroma, it has the lighter VA hay notes and is quite sweet. Any VA can bite if you're unfamiliar with how to smoke them, but personally I'd have to try hard to get a bite from this one. I'm not sure what the actual flavoring is, but it's a rather unique taste and never overpowers the Virginias, and while some may call this an aromatic, the flavoring is very subtle and balanced. I can't compare it to earlier incarnations, but as it is today, Erinmore is truly enjoyable. Read Less

This has been my go to blend since ever I opened up my first tin. The sweet smell of the “dressing” or topping initially entranced me to light up bowl after bowl. The complexity of Virginias and that sweet taste. It doesn’t disappoint! For me it does best in a smaller pipe. If you pick up a tin, get ready to set sail on the Royal Yacht. Read Less

This is one of the few English blends that I could smoke all day! Still, a generous amount of nicotine and a citrusy note to keep one interested throughout the whole smoke. Read Less

Upon opening, you are greeted with a block of beautiful, partially broken flakes dotted with a decent amount of sugar crystals. The smell is akin to McClelland virginias; sharp, with a vinegar like sourness. This is the dominant smell, but there are also dried fruits in the background. The delicate floral quality of this blend presents itself while smoking, though it does not mask the flavour of the leaves. Lightly sweet on the draw, and toasted on the finish. I wouldn't say this is a &quot;bright&quot; tasting tobacco; it carries warmer tones, and is not as harsh as some other Va/Bur or Lakeland flakes can be. Read Less