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Aaron S.

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Cornell & Diehl - Carolina Red Flake with Perique 2oz
Exciting, dense, mature, seems really older than it is
2021's edition of Carolina Red Flake with Perique: I've tasted many bowls of this 2021's edition and I'm really excited: I rub out the flakes and give it 5-7 minute of dry time. I use a Peterson Green Spigot 606 or a Peterson Sherlock Holmes Mycroft with a bit a different chamber size and both go well. The tin note is sour-spicy. Tasting note: bready, umami, notes of fig and date, also meaty, a bit of nutmeg, spicy, and I get a hint caramel. I don't know if you know this experience: I would like 'to eat the smoke'. It's silky, well balanced. The room note is very pleasant. I love it!

Cornell & Diehl - From Beyond 2oz
Well balanced
Tin note: At first there is a predominant campfire-smoky note. A dry, warm and a bit sweet smell. After a while and while fanning the air by hand to the nose I get warm notes of exotic wood that reminds me of my trip to Africa years ago. It appears a subtle note of dried pear and some notes of fruits of the forest that reminds me of some kind of red wine. Cut: Ribbon cut. Aspect: Yellowish brown leaves, light brown leaves, chestnut coloured leaves, Mahagony coloured leaves, greyish-brown coloured leaves and black leaves. The leaves are coated with some fine crystals. The tobacco is a bit on the dry side. Taste: My impression during sipping the first pulls was that of an aged and nonetheless not really aged English blend. Certain small edges and corners are there. The smoky taste is lovely imbedded. There is a taste like the smell of an alpine meadow with some thyme and just a bit of rosemary. After a pause with cooling the pipe the relight revealed some chocolatey taste that surprised me. During the last third of the bowl the taste becomes more and more harmonious. Some nutty taste emerges and the smokiness becomes less and less. Overall impression: This is an excellent and balanced blend that I really love. On the way through the bowl it becomes smoother and smoother – even more like an aged English blend. Then it reminds me a bit of my aged Samuel Gawith Scotch Cut Mixture. I think the From Beyond will age well. I can't compare this blend with a really aged Dunhill/Peterson Nightcap. I never had the opportunity to taste an aged Nightcap.

BriarWorks - Back Down South 2oz
Robust but not exciting
The blend is supplied in a wonderful Mason jar. It smells dense with an alcoholic note (kind of whisky but I have to say it reminds me of a Navy Flake too). And there are some fruity notes. It's easy to pack the flake into the pipe. First third of the bowl: It tastes a bit monotonously, enclosed in a cocoa note that is too predominant for me. The Perique is there but I've expected more. There is a hint of vanilla. I've got some coating on my palate. Second third: Beneath this cocoa there is some oak barrel wood taste. To the end of the second third of the bowl there appears some little taste of fig, apricot and prune. It's as you would have some fruity dessert covered with cocoa. Last third of the bowl: I've got more typical Virginia tastes. The cocoa declines a bit. But where is the Perique? Strength: medium. Pipe: Peterson Sherlock Holmes Mycroft Dark Smooth

Solani - Aged Burley Flake - 656 50g
Woody-earthy-nutty
The flakes are very well arranged. They are quite wet. The taste is like a wet earthy wood bark. Mellow. The last third of the bowl was the best. There was a para nut or almond note and a creaminess. I‘m not the Burley lover but I imagine that Burley is an important player for several blends that gives body, fullness and nuttiness.

G. L. Pease - Spark Plug 2oz
Surprisingly good!
This is my first plug. I'm used to smoke ribbon cuts or flakes. I'm really surprised. I love this blend. At first smokey and leathery. But there are so many spicey and floral notes comined together, even a bit caramel, and not too much sweetness. I enjoy this astonishingly mild plug! dry time: 15 minutes pipe: Comoys Magnum

Peterson - Elizabethan Mixture 50g
One of the best !!
I love this blend. A beautiful blend, ribbon cut. Bright leaf, some darker leaf, chestnut leaf and some dark leaf. Tin note: overwhelming; I had to smell and smell ... A wonderful sweetness of dried sweet fruits, sweet dried hay and a bit nutty. Smoke: fuity sweetness, fige, dates, fresh baked bread with crusty bread crust. With time a bit spicy. Very well balanced. Never let go this blend.

Orlik - Golden Sliced 50g
Good Flake
This is a good balanced and mild flake. I don't find the Perique.

Cornell & Diehl - Bayou Morning 2oz
Wow!
What a wonderful blend. Visual aspect: I expected more dark leaf. The aspect is quite bright. Tin note: Sweet dried fruits and a bit vinegary. First third of the bowl: reminds me on pickled mustard fruits; sweet and sour and only a bit peppery. Later on: enormously sweet and that certain something of Perique. For me really not too strong. Just great!

G. L. Pease - Windjammer 2oz
A really interesting blend!
After opening the tin the first time I've instantly got a smell of sweet dried fruit notes and rum. The texture of this blend is like a broken flake. (Because of the description "cut cake" I had expected something else.) There are mostly chestnut coloured leaves besides darker and some brighter leaves. I my opinion the blend is a bit on the wet side. I smoked the first bowl with a "Lorenzo Flamme". That wasn't a goo idea! The tobacco sticked together. After this first bowl I've changed to my Peterson System Spigot Smooth (307) P-Lip. That was a perfect choice. You can really contemplate this blend on a long journey (more than 2h for a bowl; the blend burns slowly) - it's so interesting. I took this time, sat on my balcony and enjoyed it. Sometimes there was more a spicy and peppery note that tickles a bit at the back of the nose. Suddenly there appeared a more sweetness and notes of dried fruits. Sometimes there was some umami quality. In another instant I've got freshly baked dark bread crust. And dark chocolate notes were there. The Rum was pleasant in the background. More often than not it was not easy or not possible for me to describe what was going on from one flavour to the next, from one lit to the next. It was kind of mystery. The blend is quite smooth. I would rate this smoke on the rather strong side.

A & C Petersen - Escudo Navy Deluxe 50g
Definitely a favourite blend!
My pipe that I've dedicated to Escudo Navy Deluxe: Peterson Newgrange Spigot 408 Fishtail After having opened the tin the content shows very nice arranged thinly sliced coins of mostly maroon, dark brown, some really dark colored and some brighter leaf as well. The smell is deliciously sweet and figgy. Less then two coins are necessary to load the bowl. It's very easy to softly grind the coins between the finger. The blend burns easy and cool. After the first lit the tobacco needs some time to develop. During the first third of the bowl a sweetness and figgy taste and smell increases. Middle third of the bowl – delightful: more sweetness, more fig and a wonderful taste and smell of freshly baked crusty bread straight from the oven combined with some other roasted notes and a creaminess. Last third of the bowl: more creaminess around me and a more spicy taste. No tongue bite! The bowl could be perfectly finished leaving a grey-white ash with only little dottle in the heel. Hours after having finished the bowl I still have a very pleasant sweet taste on my palate. This is really one of my favourite blends. (I like VaPers anyway.)