To be fair in light of my previous post, the 2013 Escudo I'm smoking is indeed tasty. But it isn't great, it isn't legendary, it's not even memorable. To put it into perspective, it's nowhere close to the 2013 SG SJF I have nor would I trade tins of WCC Old Dominion 25th Anniversary Flake 1 for 1 for it. The aging has dulled the Perique to where is mostly in the background. A little pepper spice, a little fruit but not what you get from a legendary VaPer.
Unfortunately, that's the case. Actual Escudo didn't mute. It sort of transmuted, with the Virginias becoming darker and richer, and the Perique taking on a wonderful fruitiness while losing its pepper.
I was so taken with that Perique that I spoke with Mark Ryan about it at the WCPS, I think in 2016, which is when he reached into a box and pulled out a tub of the Blenders Bench 10 Year Aged, popped the top and asked me to take a sniff.
I bought a couple of tubs, and ordered more later from him. This is the stuff that's in Cringle Flake 2020, and in a couple of other blends featuring "18 year old Perique". Though the tub said 10 Years, Mark told me it was actually 15 years in the barrel. That's what the Perique in actual Escudo was like.
You can print anything on a label, but it's what's inside that counts. People may enjoy the STG version, but it's not Escudo. It doesn't have the components. Actual Escudo was a very distinctive blend.