Tried 3 New Blends, All Interesting, One Esoterica

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agnosticpipe

Lifer
Nov 3, 2013
3,332
3,413
In the sticks in Mississippi
I've been talking about getting some Esoterica Blackpool for sometime now, but couldn't force my self to shell out $35-$49 for an eight oz. bag having never tried it before. Well I was looking at some other tobaccos that had been mentioned in the forums before that I was thinking of trying that are sold by Just For Him. While browsing their tobaccos I noticed they listed some tobaccos by Esoterica. Low and behold, they had them in bulk! One of them being Blackpool, (sorry no Penzance) and selling for $5.25 an oz. Happy to find Esoterica tobaccos in bulk so as to order a small amount to try, I put a couple of ounces in my cart, and continued my browsing.
In past posts here, I've read about a couple of other blends that sounded interesting, namely "Shortcut to Mushrooms" and "Whiskey Biscuit Gravy". Seems like the names alone would be enough to try them out. But the blends themselves sounded interesting. Both are said to be an unknown blend type, using black cavendish and latikia, with one having a whiskey topping and one with other/misc. So I had to get a sample oz. of each of those too.
The Blackpool was pretty much as I expected, maybe a little better. I like the flavor of licorice, and this is supposed to have that flavor in it, or on it, whatever. The bag note, was very rich, sweet, with a slightly licorice fragrance but something else too. When lighting up, I noticed a little of the licorice taste too, but not as much as I would have expected. What I noticed more was the something else I had smelled earlier, the taste of molasses. This surprised me a little, but it was a good surprise, as I like molasses too. The nice thing about this aro blend, is that for me the tobacco flavor did not get lost in the toppings. Another plus, unlike some aro flavors, the taste lasted through the whole bowl. I notice that some aros lose their flavor after about halfway through the bowl, and the remaining taste is not always pleasant. This is another reason why I only smoke aros about 1/3 of the time. Like the way they start, not always happy with the last half. So far this is one of the best aro tobaccos for me, but time will tell as I smoke more of it.
The two blends that are store blends from Just For Him, were not a disappointment either. To me Shortcut to Mushrooms is a lot like the Frog Morton blends. I was expecting a noticeable mushroom fragrance, and taste. I wasn't sure I wanted that to be the case, as even though I like eating mushrooms, I've never found their smell to be that great, until cooked. Frankly, I couldn't detect a mushroom smell or taste to this blend, but I still really enjoyed it. The latakia is in the background, but is there, especially after the first third of the bowl. Like the FM blends, it is an easy way to enjoy a little latakia flavor with out it over powering you.

The Whiskey Biscuit Gravy, was less successful a blend to me. I actually liked the bag note better than the Shortcut to Mushrooms, but when smoking it, it seemed to lack a little character. I couldn't taste much latakia in it at all. The whiskey topping seemed more like coffee to me, which was not all that much of a bad thing. After trying a couple of bowls, I wouldn't say I was displeased, it was pleasant, I just was not impressed. My remedy: cut up a small flake (1"x1/2") of Blakeney's Best Latakia Flake and rub it out and mix it with enough of the WBG to fill a bowl. This was much better! Not enough to be latakia forward, but it was making itself present. All in all two good blends that I will probably order more of.
So there you have it, another one of Little Orley's adventures. :puffy:

 

dervis

Lifer
Jan 30, 2012
1,597
1
Hazel Green AL
Nice write ups. I enjoy the two Just For Him blends you mentioned. I have several ounces myself. They both get better with age, Shortcut to Mushrooms really starts to shine after a year. Glad you liked them. If they get mentioned much I must miss the posts.

 
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