L.J. Peretti various oriental/english blends
Aug 15, 2019 22:22:55 GMT -5
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BrunoT, zambini, and 4 more like this
Post by Stearmandriver on Aug 15, 2019 22:22:55 GMT -5
So I've finished trying all the samples I brought home from Boston. Tashkent already got its own post, which it deserves. These are more "first impressions" considering I've only had a couple bowls of each. I've never been motivated to write a review of a tobacco before, and I apologize for sounding fanboy-ish, but I'm kind of excited to have stumbled on these blends.
Royal - Margate but better. Not sweet, but dry, spicy, leathery, musty, smoky/woody... and overall, BALANCED. As complex as anything I've tasted, a wonderful blending of flavors where you can still tease out individual tastes. I don't get sweetness from the Virginias, but hay and dark fruit or a pile of dry leaves. The orientals are wonderfully musty and incensey in my nose, and the latakia is applied perfectly but not overdone so it dominates. DAMN GOOD.
Oriental 40 - Tashkent's lighter, brighter sibling. Still all Orientals (including latakia), but where Tashkent seems blended to emphasize the spicy, leathery, creamy, darker side of these tobaccos, this is incense, floral notes, and Jimink's "unflavored soda" notes of Yenidje. Reminds me of White Knight (which I really like), but without any Virginia to dilute the oriental flavors.
Cambridge flake - mechanically, beautiful. Soft, velvety flakes. I like to cube cut flakes and just gravity fill, but Cambridge crumbles so easily when cut with scissors that it does require a little actual packing. I appreciated that even though it crumbles apart easily, it doesn't crumble to dust the way, say, SOTE flake can. Cool, flavorful smoke. The Virginia reminds me of that in GLP Quiet Nights but maybe better; that soft, dark fruit slightly sweet feel. Enough lat to make me happy, but the star of this one is I think the oriental that I can't pronounce, xanthi. It lends a nutty creamy flavor, and either has its own sweetness or partners perfectly with the Virginia. Really really good.
D-7485 - interesting for its history alone (originally blended for Ramsey MacDonald), but an interesting blend in its own right; an English with Burley. I'm not a big burley guy, so I wasn't sure I'd like this. The first half of the bowl was great though; a more classic English with the virginia and lat in the front and a subdued oriental mustiness in the back, but all laced with a nutty cocoa note that I assume to be from very good burley. I know Peretti's is known for their burley and I can see why. This would be another favorite, except the 2nd half of the bowl started tasting ashy to me, with cigarette tones. I don't think that's any indication this is poor tobacco, it's just an indication that I'm really NOT a burley guy. Every burley I've ever had hits me that way. But I'll give this more chances, based on the 1st half of the bowl flavors. If you like burley blends and English blends, you'll probably love this.
Omega - a completely classic English, I'd consider it less oriental-forward than any of the others I tried. There's enough oriental there for some mustiness in the nose, but this one's more about the lat and Virginia. I left it till last because I'd read reviews of a pretty good nic hit from it, which I don't love. I didn't get that though. But this IS a strong tobacco in flavor; the 2nd half of the bowl is just strong, well-blended tobaccoey goodness, all leather and smoke. I've always been an oriental fan, and after sampling the likes of Tashkent, Royal, Cambridge Flake, and Oriental 40, this takes a back seat to all of them for my personal taste. But it's still a great, full English... feels like smoking a dark heavy cigar. If your tastes lean more towards classic English than what I guess we call "Balkan" these days, then this is for you!
All of these burned wonderfully and left no real moisture. Cambridge benefits from a little drying after rubbing out or "cubing".
Since I took the pipe back up, I've enjoyed sampling many blends and jarring them up and so building a cellar of sorts, though unintentionally (I've just enjoyed sampling a bunch of blends). But I've yet to find a blend that I was compelled to hoard, lest they go away... and here now I have found 3 or 4 of them from one little tobacconist. Tashkent, Royal, Cambridge Flake, and probably Oriental #40 are gonna get stockpiled. I've been lucky to try a lot of enjoyable blends in the last few years, but these 4 may honestly be my favorites.
Royal - Margate but better. Not sweet, but dry, spicy, leathery, musty, smoky/woody... and overall, BALANCED. As complex as anything I've tasted, a wonderful blending of flavors where you can still tease out individual tastes. I don't get sweetness from the Virginias, but hay and dark fruit or a pile of dry leaves. The orientals are wonderfully musty and incensey in my nose, and the latakia is applied perfectly but not overdone so it dominates. DAMN GOOD.
Oriental 40 - Tashkent's lighter, brighter sibling. Still all Orientals (including latakia), but where Tashkent seems blended to emphasize the spicy, leathery, creamy, darker side of these tobaccos, this is incense, floral notes, and Jimink's "unflavored soda" notes of Yenidje. Reminds me of White Knight (which I really like), but without any Virginia to dilute the oriental flavors.
Cambridge flake - mechanically, beautiful. Soft, velvety flakes. I like to cube cut flakes and just gravity fill, but Cambridge crumbles so easily when cut with scissors that it does require a little actual packing. I appreciated that even though it crumbles apart easily, it doesn't crumble to dust the way, say, SOTE flake can. Cool, flavorful smoke. The Virginia reminds me of that in GLP Quiet Nights but maybe better; that soft, dark fruit slightly sweet feel. Enough lat to make me happy, but the star of this one is I think the oriental that I can't pronounce, xanthi. It lends a nutty creamy flavor, and either has its own sweetness or partners perfectly with the Virginia. Really really good.
D-7485 - interesting for its history alone (originally blended for Ramsey MacDonald), but an interesting blend in its own right; an English with Burley. I'm not a big burley guy, so I wasn't sure I'd like this. The first half of the bowl was great though; a more classic English with the virginia and lat in the front and a subdued oriental mustiness in the back, but all laced with a nutty cocoa note that I assume to be from very good burley. I know Peretti's is known for their burley and I can see why. This would be another favorite, except the 2nd half of the bowl started tasting ashy to me, with cigarette tones. I don't think that's any indication this is poor tobacco, it's just an indication that I'm really NOT a burley guy. Every burley I've ever had hits me that way. But I'll give this more chances, based on the 1st half of the bowl flavors. If you like burley blends and English blends, you'll probably love this.
Omega - a completely classic English, I'd consider it less oriental-forward than any of the others I tried. There's enough oriental there for some mustiness in the nose, but this one's more about the lat and Virginia. I left it till last because I'd read reviews of a pretty good nic hit from it, which I don't love. I didn't get that though. But this IS a strong tobacco in flavor; the 2nd half of the bowl is just strong, well-blended tobaccoey goodness, all leather and smoke. I've always been an oriental fan, and after sampling the likes of Tashkent, Royal, Cambridge Flake, and Oriental 40, this takes a back seat to all of them for my personal taste. But it's still a great, full English... feels like smoking a dark heavy cigar. If your tastes lean more towards classic English than what I guess we call "Balkan" these days, then this is for you!
All of these burned wonderfully and left no real moisture. Cambridge benefits from a little drying after rubbing out or "cubing".
Since I took the pipe back up, I've enjoyed sampling many blends and jarring them up and so building a cellar of sorts, though unintentionally (I've just enjoyed sampling a bunch of blends). But I've yet to find a blend that I was compelled to hoard, lest they go away... and here now I have found 3 or 4 of them from one little tobacconist. Tashkent, Royal, Cambridge Flake, and probably Oriental #40 are gonna get stockpiled. I've been lucky to try a lot of enjoyable blends in the last few years, but these 4 may honestly be my favorites.
