As I finished my old 2016 Ennerdale tin I opened yesterday the 500g Ennerdale box (production of February 2021) I purchased last September and kept in mylar since then. After reading the recent reviews claiming the new production was different with much less sauce I was worried that could be a single smoke before trashing the rest of the bag. This is what I found:
1. At opening the 500g flake bag was of the typical expected color for a fresh one, very compact, wet and oily which looked more like a plug (I had to use a knife to gently separate the flakes without breaking them) and already developing some nice white sugar crystals.
2. At smell there was the typical almond/fruity smell of Ennerdale. Difficult to say if it was reduced or not but it was clearly definitely there and not subtle.
3. At lighting and for the entire nearly 2 hours smoke it was a very typical Ennerdale taste, actually the baccy already started to mellow, the sauce was there pretty strong and surprisingly it remained there until the last puff and it never faded away or became bitter.
Bottom line if it looked like Ennerdale, smell like Ennerdale and quaked liked Ennerdale it was Ennerdale and it was a very surprisingly positive surprise. If you like the blend you won't be disappointed from this one.
A couple of caveats. First this is an 18 month old production (February 2021) so not sure if the claimed change of the blend happened after that or maybe subsequently there were some hiccups in production (G&H are known of not being completely consistent in production) or simple negative reviews are posted more easily than positive ones.
Second this is a 500g box, not a 50g tin and I think it might not be an apple to apple comparison particularly of the pack looked more like a plug which could favor better mellow of the baccy and better incorporation of the sauce compared with the loose flakes in the tin (which maybe could get some additional sauce sprayed at canning time which could result in stronger smell but not too much change in taste).
Whatever it is it was a very pleasant surprise given the low expectations and I think it will get only better with more aging.
1. At opening the 500g flake bag was of the typical expected color for a fresh one, very compact, wet and oily which looked more like a plug (I had to use a knife to gently separate the flakes without breaking them) and already developing some nice white sugar crystals.
2. At smell there was the typical almond/fruity smell of Ennerdale. Difficult to say if it was reduced or not but it was clearly definitely there and not subtle.
3. At lighting and for the entire nearly 2 hours smoke it was a very typical Ennerdale taste, actually the baccy already started to mellow, the sauce was there pretty strong and surprisingly it remained there until the last puff and it never faded away or became bitter.
Bottom line if it looked like Ennerdale, smell like Ennerdale and quaked liked Ennerdale it was Ennerdale and it was a very surprisingly positive surprise. If you like the blend you won't be disappointed from this one.
A couple of caveats. First this is an 18 month old production (February 2021) so not sure if the claimed change of the blend happened after that or maybe subsequently there were some hiccups in production (G&H are known of not being completely consistent in production) or simple negative reviews are posted more easily than positive ones.
Second this is a 500g box, not a 50g tin and I think it might not be an apple to apple comparison particularly of the pack looked more like a plug which could favor better mellow of the baccy and better incorporation of the sauce compared with the loose flakes in the tin (which maybe could get some additional sauce sprayed at canning time which could result in stronger smell but not too much change in taste).
Whatever it is it was a very pleasant surprise given the low expectations and I think it will get only better with more aging.
