The twelve grades of the fermented, very floral Virginias from several continents are spearheaded by reds and brights as the lead components. They offer a wealth of tart and tangy citrus, vegetative grass, bread, some very sour lemon, tangy ripe dark fruit, earth, wood, sugar, hay, spice, light smokiness, peat, and a touch of acidity. The peppery St. James perique produces a lot of earth, wood, sweet plums, raisins and figs. It plays a support role. The sweet, earthy, nutty, woody, bready burleys are a couple of slots behind the perique. A tangy, fruity topping/casing very mildly tones down the varietals. The strength, nic-hit, and taste levels are a couple of steps past the medium mark. There’s no chance of bite or harshness. It does sport a few very small rough edges as is typical of blends in this genre. The crumble cake is mildly moist and as is my usual custom, I did not dry it nor did I see a need to. Your mileage may vary on this point. Deeply rich, and well balanced with some savory, piquant complexity, it burns cool, clean and slow with a very consistent fermented fruity sweet, floral, spicy, mildly nutty, sugary, lightly sour, fairly smooth flavor that extends to long lingering, pleasant after taste. The room note is a notch stronger. Leaves little moisture in the bowl, and requires some relights. It is not an all day smoke, but it is repeatable. I suggest a small to medium, wide bowl for this blend. Four stars.
