Received 8 0z yesterday. I live in Boston and have been smoking Peretti blends for over 40 years, so I am very familiar with almost all of their roster of blends. I love virginias and most often smoke Wessex fragrant virginia, Rougaroux, sutliff red crumble, ashton goldrush and similar blends. Sutliff 2019 cringle flake is one of my very favorites, and i only mention the foregoing as i generally prefer the vinegar tang of red virginias rather than the citrus note of others. Ampersand is a bit of a different blend which might well appeal to those wishing to try a virginia blend or those who want to supplement a more steady virginia routine with a slightly aromatic virginia crossover blend.
The tin note on the blend is beautiful, virginia with a fruitcake touch. This is not an intact flake, but really very much a broken flake. Medium brown with some lighter flecks. The moisture level was really fine right out of the can, although you may wish to dry it further. As a broken flake it packs easily and, after the charring light required only a minimal number of relights to reach the bottom of the bowl.
Those of you who have smoked any number of Peretti blends , especially their Burley based blends and aromatics, have probably noted a soapy note in some (e.g. No Name, original, Crown and Thanksgiving Day amongst others). Not quite a Lakeland assault but certainly noticeable. Usually it recedes as the bowl progresses. Ampersand has a bit of a soapy note, less than some others, but it is certainly present and it does recede. The smoke is sweet but not cloying. There is definetely a topping of some sort, probaby honey. The flavor remains mostly steady throughout the bowl with an ongoing virginia sweetness with an extra dollop of sweetness ( sweeter, for example, than Goldrush). The flavor does deepen nicely as the bowl progresses. I did not perceive a chocolate note but saw that others did. Ymmv. No tongue bite when sipped and a bit of a tingle when pushed a bit harder.
I was thinking of a blend which might be similar for comparison and keep coming back to Sun Bear Black Locust. In any event, Ampersand is a worthy entry into both the Peretti catalogue and the area of virginia and crossover blends.
If you order 8 0z you will likely be surprised a how compact the packaging is how carefully the Peretti guys wedge their paint can into a cardboard box!
The tin note on the blend is beautiful, virginia with a fruitcake touch. This is not an intact flake, but really very much a broken flake. Medium brown with some lighter flecks. The moisture level was really fine right out of the can, although you may wish to dry it further. As a broken flake it packs easily and, after the charring light required only a minimal number of relights to reach the bottom of the bowl.
Those of you who have smoked any number of Peretti blends , especially their Burley based blends and aromatics, have probably noted a soapy note in some (e.g. No Name, original, Crown and Thanksgiving Day amongst others). Not quite a Lakeland assault but certainly noticeable. Usually it recedes as the bowl progresses. Ampersand has a bit of a soapy note, less than some others, but it is certainly present and it does recede. The smoke is sweet but not cloying. There is definetely a topping of some sort, probaby honey. The flavor remains mostly steady throughout the bowl with an ongoing virginia sweetness with an extra dollop of sweetness ( sweeter, for example, than Goldrush). The flavor does deepen nicely as the bowl progresses. I did not perceive a chocolate note but saw that others did. Ymmv. No tongue bite when sipped and a bit of a tingle when pushed a bit harder.
I was thinking of a blend which might be similar for comparison and keep coming back to Sun Bear Black Locust. In any event, Ampersand is a worthy entry into both the Peretti catalogue and the area of virginia and crossover blends.
If you order 8 0z you will likely be surprised a how compact the packaging is how carefully the Peretti guys wedge their paint can into a cardboard box!
