Escudo Experiance?

Sometimes blends are so over-hyped that it is next to impossible to live up to the expectations. While I like Escudo, there are other VaPers I like as much or better. On the other hand, I have some Escudo tins that I've cellered for about a year. I'm anxious to see what a little age has done for it.

For many Escudo may not the be "best" VaPer out there but for a large chunk of the pipe-smoking community it is a commonly accepted benchmark by which other VaPers are judged.

The thing with blends like Escudo it that people tend to have this idea when people describe it others that have preconceived ideas about them. I love Escudo, it's smooth, spicy, and creamy but when others try it they don't get all of that.
Good is a point of personal matter. Some people find that good is complex flavors that tromp all over your taste buds like a rick chocolate cake with raspberry icing and vanilla ice cream. While to others good is the flavors of a well poached egg on plain wheat toast. To me Escudo is the poached egg on toast with something the Frog Morton Cellar is the Chocolate cake.

It was magical my first coin. From tin note to exhale....later, another tin was still wonderful, but that first taste of perfect Virgina Perique was sublime.

Don't dry it, Smoke it right out of the tin for fuller flavor. In any case I agree with the above, any tobacco tastes different to different people, that being said, what I like about escudo is that it is consitently good, no bite, great smoke all through the bowl. I don't smoke all day every day like some folks, but I feel like if I wanted to I could do that with escudo and my mouth would still be happy. I had the opportunity to smoke a 10 year old aged sample the other day and it was a buffet of flavor in every puff. That creamy, sweet spicy goodness was the same, just richer.

You might want to try smoking Escudo in a briar pipe. Also sometimes the shape of a pipe can give you different tastes. I would also suggest smoking more than one bowl, there have been plenty of blends that did not wow me after the first bowl but after smoking multiple bowls, I was able to get to know the tobacco better and thereby enjoyed it much more.

Escudo was my first go at a VaPer blend and I enjoy it very much and plan to start cellaring it. I don't have a lot of VaPer experience to compare it to but I do really enjoy it based on it's own merits. ::

I bought my first tin about a year ago and wasn't overjoyed. I jarred it and just got back to it this past week and really enjoyed it! Since then I have ordered ten tins for the cellar!

I love Escudo, especially the presentation. It's currently the only blend (out of 15?) I have that isn't in a jar.

I greatly enjoy Escudo. Sweet, creamy, just the right spice. Love the tin note. For me. It's fantastic.

Escudo is one of those blends that really benefits from a few years age. IMO its great fresh, but with 2+ years its FANTASTIC! I've got a couple tins from the 90's............maybe its time! :wink:

Escudo is the standard to me. It is consistent and quite good. I like it fresh, but I just popped a tin that is almost 2 years old and I was dumbfounded at how smooth it was.

Count me in as a fan of Escudo.

Sometimes blends are so over-hyped that it is next to impossible to live up to the expectations. While I like Escudo, there are other VaPers I like as much or better. On the other hand, I have some Escudo tins that I've cellered for about a year. I'm anxious to see what a little age has done for it.

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Would you name a few that make your list? Curious. Thanks.

I think I was just ruined but the fact that my first VaPer was Beacon Extra.

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Well ... there you have it.
Escudo is a good smoke and good starting point into Va/Pers but there are much better smokes out there.
Here's a short list just off the top of my head:
McClelland St James Woods

McClelland Bulk 2015

4Noggins Prairie Wind

Low Country’s Waccamaw

Samuel Gawith St. James Flake

G & H Louisiana Flake

H&H Louisiana Red

H&H Viprati

In regards to aged Escudo, I cracked a tin of 11 year old Escudo 2 years ago and it was sublime. The tobacco turned all black and the smell was just loaded with fig and raisin smells. The Perique had mellowed so it was not as spicy as fresh, but it was a much deeper and rounded flavor. The creaminess was what really stood out to me as it coated my mouth and tongue to an amazing degree.
I am currently smoking a tin of 2008 Escudo and while it is certainly really tasty, it is not like the 11 year old tin. The creaminess is not quite the same and the sweetness of the Virginia's is not as pronounced. The Perique in the 2008 is more peppery and not as rounded as the 11 year old tin, but it is still pretty damn tasty. I also noticed the color difference in that the 11 year old tin was all black where as the 2008 you could see multiple colors still in it.
I still enjoy smoking fresh Escudo as the blend is at it's spiciest when fresh.
In contrast to Escudo is Solani 633. This is a blend that starts out honey sweet when fresh and the Perique is really in the background. When aged the Perique goes into overdrive as it becomes really spicy the more it ages, which is in sharp contrast to Escudo. I have some 2002 Solani 633 that is a pepper bomb, it tastes nothing like the fresh version. I cracked a tin of 2012 633 just a couple of days ago and even with only 3 years on it, the Perique had already become very pronounced and spicy, not like the 2002 version, but it is certainly on it's way. I highly recommend to anyone who likes a good Vaper to try the Solani 633.

That is an interesting observation regarding the differences in aged perique's impact on different aged blends.

Very informative posts. I thought I had sampled a fair amount of the VaPer field but have only smoked one of the eight cob guy listed.

I have only 4 Vapers in my cellar, Escudo, Dunhill Deluxe Navy Rolls, Solani 633 and SG St James Flake. I have tried probably another 15 or so vapers but all of them have some amount of red virginia's in them that preclude me from smoking them.

There are so many great Vapers out there for people who can smoke the reds.
Here is a short list of the ones I have smoked and really liked.
Haddo's

Hal O The Wynd

Two Friends Redwood

Dan Tobacco Treasures of Limerick

Ashton Black Parrot

McClelland St. James Woods

Rattray's Brown Clunee, Marlin Flake, Old Gowrie