Got me one of these the other day, Peterson's Irish Oak, as I came across this name in a forum thread perhaps a month or so back. Curiosity paid out this time, especially since my expectations of VaPers is pretty low since my bad experience with Elisabethan's by Dunhill. I must admit that the tin note was one of the most intriguing that I have tried this year. The nose is sweet ... earthy is the first thing that comes to mind, a wee wet grassy and finished by a scent of somewhat raisin. The latter doesn't particularly hit you when smoking, unlike for example the plum in the Royal Yacht, which is definitely there with you throughout the smoke. They say black cavendish ... sure there is some, as one can observe with the naked eye, but in quite a low proportion and it also doesn't impact the smoking experience as much in as far as taste. I suppose that the black cavendish mellows down the other components, tones down the sweetness of the virginia and the pepperiness in the perique. Overall I would say that this is a fantastically balanced blend. Sweet, but not too sweet, peppery but subtle - unlike other blends that I shall not name, which in my experience were so peppery that they burst you in tears. I truly appreciate the fact that when you draw you have that single level sweetness in the forefront, and a few seconds after a bit of peperiness tickles your tongue. It's an every day smoke for me. I tried it in several pipes, no bite, and interesting enough it yields a legendary gray ash in the end with no major effort. A satisfying experience I would say ...
