I got this on a whim visiting Sven Steinmann's amazing pipe shop in Basel. Saw "Escudo" on the jar and supposed it is a VaPer - it is not, but it somewhat tastes like one. Sven told me the backstory to the blend. Basel is a great little city, but any pipe-smoking visitor could do worse than checking out Sven's pipe shop on arrival!
Visually, it is made up of coins at various stages of disintegration, but the intact coins do hold up in time and have been sauced with something which at least keeps them together. The coins are mostly brown to dark brown, with a few very dark strands that look like Gawith's dark fired Virginia used in the brown ropes, but I don't get much of that resinous/oily flavour at all from this blend. There are some bright yellow strands here and there, but not in all coins, and likely had some age on it as the coins were pretty crusted.
The smell, which very consistently translates to taste, is sour/fermented, not very sweet or grassy, some spice.
Part of the reason it took me smoking through 50g to write a review is that its taste does not remind me of other straight Virginias, it tastes like a VaPer without being one, and it took me a while to figure it out. There's nothing to figure out in fact, just pleasurable bowl after bowl after bowl.
It has a sourness that makes me think of Perique, and it is a bit tangy, maybe it has a bit of red Va in it. There's some bread, very little grass, little sweetness, some nuttyness, pepper and spice, and the underlying fermented sourness which is always there. There may be a hint of Lakeland, but it is very very minor. The taste is rich, full and harmonious, the sweetness is just right for this blend in my opinion, more it would mask the rest of the nice flavours going on, less would make it harsh.
I note a few of the reviewers mention tongue bite, I got none from this blend.
Smoked through 50g fairly fast, and each bowl was very consistent and pleasant, making me think this is a good candidate for cellaring.
Needs some drying, incidentally, the best bowl I had was once where I was in a hurry and put a few coins on a plate and stuck it in the still hot oven right after cooking for 5 minutes.
Visually, it is made up of coins at various stages of disintegration, but the intact coins do hold up in time and have been sauced with something which at least keeps them together. The coins are mostly brown to dark brown, with a few very dark strands that look like Gawith's dark fired Virginia used in the brown ropes, but I don't get much of that resinous/oily flavour at all from this blend. There are some bright yellow strands here and there, but not in all coins, and likely had some age on it as the coins were pretty crusted.
The smell, which very consistently translates to taste, is sour/fermented, not very sweet or grassy, some spice.
Part of the reason it took me smoking through 50g to write a review is that its taste does not remind me of other straight Virginias, it tastes like a VaPer without being one, and it took me a while to figure it out. There's nothing to figure out in fact, just pleasurable bowl after bowl after bowl.
It has a sourness that makes me think of Perique, and it is a bit tangy, maybe it has a bit of red Va in it. There's some bread, very little grass, little sweetness, some nuttyness, pepper and spice, and the underlying fermented sourness which is always there. There may be a hint of Lakeland, but it is very very minor. The taste is rich, full and harmonious, the sweetness is just right for this blend in my opinion, more it would mask the rest of the nice flavours going on, less would make it harsh.
I note a few of the reviewers mention tongue bite, I got none from this blend.
Smoked through 50g fairly fast, and each bowl was very consistent and pleasant, making me think this is a good candidate for cellaring.
Needs some drying, incidentally, the best bowl I had was once where I was in a hurry and put a few coins on a plate and stuck it in the still hot oven right after cooking for 5 minutes.
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