Jim's C&D Sansepolcro 2024 Small Batch Review.

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Bengel

Lifer
Sep 20, 2019
3,415
15,607
Thanks for the review. I went ahead and committed to a couple of tins. Can anyone reassure me that it's not just going to be a flake cut Toscano? The cigar leaf has me worried.
I found the “cigar leaf” to just give it a little “tooth”. Very balanced blend
(referencing ’16, ‘19 as those are what I’ve tried)
 

rmcnabb

Starting to Get Obsessed
Feb 19, 2024
112
582
Fantastic review, and it convinced me to get some. I wish I had a palate like that. It must be like having a sense of smell like a coon hound. I don't even know what "vegetal grass" tastes like.

And then again, maybe not. Seems to be out of stock already.
 

JimInks

Sultan of Smoke
Aug 31, 2012
64,493
646,533
Fantastic review, and it convinced me to get some. I wish I had a palate like that. It must be like having a sense of smell like a coon hound. I don't even know what "vegetal grass" tastes like.

And then again, maybe not. Seems to be out of stock already.
Having a sensitive palate has drawbacks. I can't eat spicy foods at all. For instance, it kills me to smell curry, and unless the spice is incredibly light, I can't eat it. I can't eat peppers at all. A lot of salt is too much for me, too.

Grass is vegetation, but so is other plant life. I make a singular distinction in mentioning grass seperately from vegetation because it's the most obvious aspect of plants in tobacco in my opinion. I do the same thing when describing nicotine content as a particular aspect of the overall strength level of a blend. That's mainly because a lot of people want to know what the nic-hit is.
 
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Singularis

Part of the Furniture Now
Sep 11, 2019
618
3,039
Wausau, Wis
This goes on sale Tuesday, February 27th at 6 p.m. EST.

The double fermented Italian dark fired Kentucky provides a lot of earth, wood, floralness, smoke, vegetative grass, toast, some herbs, spice, nuts, bitter sourness, peat, leather, mild mesquite, light cigar and vinegar notes as the lead component. The 2022 and 2021 red Virginias offer an abundance of fermented tangy dark fruit, earth, wood, bread, tart citrus, grass, some sugar, mild floralness, and a touch of spice in a full support role. The aspects of the 2019 bright Virginia are a fair amount of very tart and tangy citrus, grass, sugar, bread, floralness, vegetation, some bitter sour lemon and spice. It is a couple of steps behind the red Va.s. The unsweetened Dominican black cavendish produces very mild tart and tangy citrus, vegetative grass, earth, wood, peat, sugar, leather and light smoky cigar. It’s barely a condiment. The fruity, creamy casings have a very mild effect on the proceedings. The strength and nic-hit are a couple of slots past the medium threshold. The taste is a rung past that mark. There’s no chance of bite or harshness. There are a few small rough notes. The easily broken apart, mildly moist flakes require no dry time. Well balanced with a little complexity and nuance, it burns cool, clean and a tad slow with a very consistent fermented, fruity, sweet, floral, spicy, smoky, mildly creamy, mesquite, lightly cigarish and sour, moderately zesty, savory flavor that extends to the long lasting, pleasant after taste. The room note is closer to pleasant than it is to tolerable. Leaves very little moisture in the bowl, and requires a few more than an average number of relights. Despite its depth, the sweetness makes it a little more comfortable than one might expect from my description. Not an all day smoke, but it is repeatable. This production is much sweeter, and not quite as strong as the original production. I recommend a wide bowl for this one. Four stars out of four.
©Jim Amash 2024.
Thanks for the excellent review, @JimInks!

In case anyone missed out on buying this in the usual places, I just scored a two tin maximum purchase of 2024 Sansepolcro from 4noggins. Picked up a Chacom Nougat bent dublin for a steal and some Weybridge and Britt’s Balkan while I was at it. Will report back over at TAD and/or PAD when they arrive.
 

Skippy B. Coyote

Can't Leave
Jun 19, 2023
455
5,632
St. Paul, MN
An excellent review as always Jim! I'm on my third bowl of 2024 Sansepolcro right now and it's... nice. I'm definitely a fan of red Virginias though I don't usually care for dark fired Kentucky, but this Sansepolcro DFK is actually rather pleasant to my palate. To me DFK usually tastes like little Suzie accidentally dropped her Barbie doll in the barbeque pit and I'm smoking the fumes coming off it, but the Sansepolcro DFK has a really mellow and subdued clove-like spice to it that works well with the fancy red Virginias and the little bit of bright in there. It's still got that "burn your nose hairs off on the retrohale" quality and the tin note smells a little too much like chewing tobacco for my liking, but I can forgive it that since it's pretty good otherwise.

I suppose the best compliment I can give it is that Sansepolcro makes dark fired Kentucky reasonably enjoyable to me, and I think I'll probably smoke the whole tin without complaint.puffy