Help with VaPers

[dryseason91]

Hello all, hope you're doing well and your briars are dry and your tobies mellow and your tongue-tips clean and cool.
To date I've sampled, generally speaking, aromatics, Englishes and straight VAs. I favour Englishes and while I do like VAs, I'm also interested in trying something more robust, and I think a VaPer might fit the bill. Both my budget and TAD access are limited so here are my options:
PURE VAPER

Dunhill Elizabethan Mixture

Dunhill Deluxe Navy Rolls
VA-BUR-PER

Peterson Irish Oak
VA-LAT-PER

James Fox Dorisco Mixture
I can only afford to get one. I'd be leaning towards either of the Dunhills but I'd very much appreciate some guidance.

 

[jgriff]

From your list, I'd suggest the Dunhill Navy Rolls but I'm surprised you can't find Escudo. It's generally as available and less money. I think the Dunhill version is almost identical (I can't tell the difference and there are multiple threads about it floating out there). Escudo is pretty much the gold standard of VaPers. People may prefer something else but it always seems to come back to Escudo as a comparable.
While the "variants" are interesting, I'd go for something classic to get your feelings about the Va-Per mix first and then branch out if you feel it needs something else.

 

[dryseason91]

Thanks jgriff, I would like to try a straight-up VaPer before anything else. Due to taxes and shipping issues I'm limited to buying from B&Ms, and I've not seen Escudo locally. Any experience of Elizabethan Mixture? I have to admit to being seduced by the lovely tin art :P

 

[jgriff]

It's good and I love Elizabethan too. The main difference is the roll vs ribbon cut but there is also a bit more Perique in the Navy Roll (but not too much I assure you but you'll pick it the Perique flavor much more cleanly). Personally, I find any Virginia or Va-Per is easier to smoke in flake or roll form just because it forces you to smoke a little slower and let the flavor differences shine. Obviously, if you don't like pressed tobacco, then go for the ribbon cut Elizabethan by all means and don't look back.

 

[wayneteipen]

Dunhill Deluxe Navy Rolls would be my pick. I'm one of the weird ones that doesn't think it tastes like Escudo. I think Deluxe Navy Rolls is far better for my tastes. I find it to be more smooth and the flavors better melded. Age of the Escudo vs. Deluxe Navy Rolls may have played into my experiences although they are consistent of several tins of each. YMMV.

 

[easygoer]

Welcome to the forums dryseason. Their is a lot of good Vaper choices in bulk and tins. I don't factor in price myself but if your on a budget James Fox tins would not be the best choice as they are some of more expensive tins around.

 

[dryseason91]

Thanks for all the help, I'm liking the sound of the Navy Rolls more and more.
@ easygoer - Thanks for the welcome! As for price, taxation here in Ireland means that all tobaccos are so expensive that a difference of a few quid doesn't matter as much. For example, in my local B&M a 50g tin of a given Fox blend costs 19 euro/26 USD while a tin of the Navy Rolls is 22 euro/31 USD. It sounds paradoxical but if I'm going to be spending a minimum 19 euro I'm inclined to say 'Screw it, what's a bit extra at this point?' Which might be why I'm perpetually broke :P
NB. I'm almost salivating looking at the prices on annonces.de, a German tobacco vendor. Unfortunately I think I'd still get hit by Irish taxes even if I was buying it from Germany.

 

[easygoer]

Sorry to hear that on the pricing. I see the Dorisco Mixture gets a solid 4 stars on tobaccoreviews.com from forum member Jiminks who contributes daily to the what are you smoking forum.

 

[sfsteves]

dryseason91 wrote: "Any experience of Elizabethan Mixture?"

I have Escudo, Dunhill Navy Rolls and Elizabethan and love all three ... my take would be to suggest you get whichever is the least expensive of those three, given the prices you're having to pay ...
Coincidentally, my ancestry is Irish and I've always had the notion that I might enjoy not only a visit to Ireland, but might find living there appealing as well ... but, with the prices you're citing, I'm thinking that a visit might be nice, but that I should bring my own tobacco with me along with a return ticket to the US as well ...

 

[dryseason91]

@sfsteves - Judging from the prices I'm seeing on P&C and 4noggins I might have to buy a one-way ticket to the US :P I hope for your sake that toby taxes stateside don't catch up with ours any time soon.

 

[JimInks]

Dorisco is a really good blend, but as much as I like it, I like the Navy Rolls even more.

 

[james80]

I opened a tin of Germain Royal Jersey Perique mixture earlier, it was good, but the Perique was barely detectable. It is a 5 year old tin so maybe that had something to do with it. I'm an Irish Oak fan, but it is not as smooth as Elizabethan mixture.

 

[auslander]

I bought Elizabethan with my first tins of Tobacco.I smoked a couple of bowls and I liked it but was more impressed with a aro that I had also bought (7 seas). I jarred the lizzy and went back to it yesterday and today. The bowl I has today was great! I really enjoyed it great flavours and strength. I have found that in a relatively short time I'm liking the non aro's way more than aro's. Nightcap and Lizzy being right up there in my very small experienced list.

 

[johnparker]

Because I have never tried a VaPer and may be putting in a tobacco order relatively soon, how does Anniversary Kake fit into this mix? I could get an ounce of it instead of a tin of one of the above.

 

[rebornbriar]

@dryseason91 I haven't tried any of the blends you have mentioned, but have tried some of the other suggestions. My go to VaPer would be Escudo and for that reason would opt for the Dunhill deluxe Navy Rolls as they come in the same coin cut fashion.
I don't know if you have it available locally, but another one I would throw into the mix if available is Samuel Gawith St James's Flake. A beautiful VaPer using the highest quality Va leaf

 

[dryseason91]

Oh boy my TAD glands are salivating and my pipes are in a different county...how to get through the night...

 

[tarak]

Go for the Dunhull Navy Rolls.

 

[cigrmaster]

I would go for the Dunhill Deluxe Navy Rolls, it is a great Vaper and smokes very well even fresh.

 

[dryseason91]

Rolls it be. I'll let ye know how I go with them when I get the money together.

 

[dragonslayer]

AK! AK! AK! You can't go wrong at $23 a pound it's worth the buy. It's a red VaPer and some people have a problem with that, but you can't go wrong with a tin or 5 (smokingpipes.com $7.84) as a starter.
Craig