Miskatonic University Blend Reviews
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Baron.... Just got home and was pleasantly surprised to find a sample of Miskatonic waiting for me!!!!!
Thanks!! I will try it out tonight in both my meer and a Savinelli billiard..... Review to follow..
Thanks again and I am looking forward to it after reading these reviews!!!
Thanks!! I will try it out tonight in both my meer and a Savinelli billiard..... Review to follow..
Thanks again and I am looking forward to it after reading these reviews!!!
Thanks for the review! If I ever do a Balkan, you'll be the first on my list to try. I have a VaPer in the wings, too, but I need more money to make it happen.
Hey my girlfriend said she would actually smoke with me if I can get some more of your blend lol. If you decide to sell it at some point we will probably be buying some.
I'm sure I will at some point. I would really like it if a bigger blender could pick it up and sell it at a price point where it can be affordable to everyone. If not, once the R&D is done, I may do it in limited qualtities, like pipeinhand did with his (awesome) Halfling's Leaf.
Maybe Captain Bob could help you out with that. I'm pretty sure he doesn't make money off of his blends but I bet he has the right connections. If not him there has to be somebody on here that could help. Also tonight I was pondering my comment of adding more Perique to the blend. Honestly I liked it the way it was and am worried that the tinkering would screw it up some how. Maybe further testing with and without would be good.
For my first smoke of the Miskatonic University I loaded it up in my straight meerschaum billiard. Well, I fired it up and, wait for it, latakia. But not so much latakia that it turned me off from the smoke. No, to me it seemed just right. I could also pick up the perique, it lent a spicy fruitiness to the smoke, but in a subtle way. I could also pick up on the vanilla cavendish. It was in the background, like a thin vanilla lining but there. The burley and Virginia to me seemed to blend into this nutty, citrusy taste. All these flavors seemed to mingle and come and go as the smoke progressed. But to me, the latakia always seemed to stay in the fore.
Then this evening, I smoked it out of my Missouri Meerschaum Legend. Now I do realize that different pipes can bring about a different experience with the same tobacco. In the MM, I got more of the perique, and less of the latakia. The rest of the components tasted about the same. I think I like it better in the MM, than the meerschaum biliard. It should also be mentioned that I was drinking New Belgium Trippel while smoking from the MM. The meerschaum biliard experience was while drinking coffee or nothing at all.
All in all, I enjoyed this smoke. I feel that if it were sealed in a jar and let to rest for a while, it would mature into a better smoke than it is now. As it is now, it’s very good, but its flavors seem bright if not sharp at times. That is not a bad thing, but could be off putting to some. I don’t have any recommendations for you on tweaking it, except for letting it age some.
And one last thing, I avoided reading this thread as much as possible so as not to come in with any preconceived ideas when I did my own write up on it. In fact I typed this in word first and then copy+pasted it here.
Thank you again baronsamedi, and I hope you found this useful in your endeavor to make Miskatonic University.
Then this evening, I smoked it out of my Missouri Meerschaum Legend. Now I do realize that different pipes can bring about a different experience with the same tobacco. In the MM, I got more of the perique, and less of the latakia. The rest of the components tasted about the same. I think I like it better in the MM, than the meerschaum biliard. It should also be mentioned that I was drinking New Belgium Trippel while smoking from the MM. The meerschaum biliard experience was while drinking coffee or nothing at all.
All in all, I enjoyed this smoke. I feel that if it were sealed in a jar and let to rest for a while, it would mature into a better smoke than it is now. As it is now, it’s very good, but its flavors seem bright if not sharp at times. That is not a bad thing, but could be off putting to some. I don’t have any recommendations for you on tweaking it, except for letting it age some.
And one last thing, I avoided reading this thread as much as possible so as not to come in with any preconceived ideas when I did my own write up on it. In fact I typed this in word first and then copy+pasted it here.
Thank you again baronsamedi, and I hope you found this useful in your endeavor to make Miskatonic University.
Yes. I'm adding elements of your reviews to my blending notes. Though I like the way the flavor changes, I'm going to squash it into a jar for a month and let the flavors marry before I sell any. Maaaaaybe more Perique, but I may save the big Perique for when I do a VaPer.
I received my sample in the mail Thursday. I opened the bag with more than a little concern, not knowing what kind of vomitous concoction awaited within. The smell from the ziplock calmed me some as it was fairly mild with hints of smokey Latakia and the raison aroma of Perique, but mostly just a mild tobacco smell.
My sample needed no drying at all and I filled the bowl of a Canadian. Upon lighting, I would not have been surprised if my mouth and tongue had exploded, but no, quite the contrary. What I experienced was a nice mild smoke. I had to check the packaging again to make certain I had the correct blend, but it was indeed MU from the Baron. What I picked up on the most was a nice burley smoke that mixed nicely with the vanilla of the Cavandish. After smoking about a 3rd of the bowl the spice of the Perique and the smokiness of the Latakia showed themselves, but neither one dominated the smoke. Instead, they would wind themselves in and out of the flavor, sometimes more Perique and other times more Latakia was noticable. This was just enough to keep things interesting while never taking away from the Burley & Cavandish. Towards the end of the bowl everything smoothed out to a very nice finish. Smoked clean to the bottom, leaving a nice ash with only a few specks of dottle.
I smoked this in the above mentioned Canadian as well as a meer and a gourd calabash. The only real difference I found was in the calabash, where overall the flavors were smoothed out. In all three pipes I tried really pushing things at times but was never able to bring out any bite or burn.
I can see why Baronsamedi says this was inspired by Lovecraft. The Latakia and the Perique just kind of sneek by, much like something skittering by in the fog, that you just notice out of the corner of your eye.
I love both Perique and Latakia and my first instinct is to recommend increasing them in this blend but upon further thought I don't think that would be the right thing to do. Once you increase either of them, you can't remove them and I am afraid that if they were increased then they would no longer just slither in and out of the smoke as they do now. I would much rather see how this blend does as it is after some time to age.
As it is, it is a good, enjoyable smoke, and I would purchase it now. I am very glad to have gotten a sample and look forward to any other blends that the Baron might whip up. I say good job :clap:
My sample needed no drying at all and I filled the bowl of a Canadian. Upon lighting, I would not have been surprised if my mouth and tongue had exploded, but no, quite the contrary. What I experienced was a nice mild smoke. I had to check the packaging again to make certain I had the correct blend, but it was indeed MU from the Baron. What I picked up on the most was a nice burley smoke that mixed nicely with the vanilla of the Cavandish. After smoking about a 3rd of the bowl the spice of the Perique and the smokiness of the Latakia showed themselves, but neither one dominated the smoke. Instead, they would wind themselves in and out of the flavor, sometimes more Perique and other times more Latakia was noticable. This was just enough to keep things interesting while never taking away from the Burley & Cavandish. Towards the end of the bowl everything smoothed out to a very nice finish. Smoked clean to the bottom, leaving a nice ash with only a few specks of dottle.
I smoked this in the above mentioned Canadian as well as a meer and a gourd calabash. The only real difference I found was in the calabash, where overall the flavors were smoothed out. In all three pipes I tried really pushing things at times but was never able to bring out any bite or burn.
I can see why Baronsamedi says this was inspired by Lovecraft. The Latakia and the Perique just kind of sneek by, much like something skittering by in the fog, that you just notice out of the corner of your eye.
I love both Perique and Latakia and my first instinct is to recommend increasing them in this blend but upon further thought I don't think that would be the right thing to do. Once you increase either of them, you can't remove them and I am afraid that if they were increased then they would no longer just slither in and out of the smoke as they do now. I would much rather see how this blend does as it is after some time to age.
As it is, it is a good, enjoyable smoke, and I would purchase it now. I am very glad to have gotten a sample and look forward to any other blends that the Baron might whip up. I say good job :clap:
Thanks! And I'm glad you tried it in several pipes. It seems to be a bit of a Chameleon at times, but Just a smooth, cool Cav/Burley with some nice smells and flavors moving in aand out is exactly what I wanted!
I had some in a briar last night and I am confident the aging will do this blend good, too.
I had some in a briar last night and I am confident the aging will do this blend good, too.
My next plan (unless something crazy happens) is I'm going to get enough to make a small batch and age it for sale later. When that happens, you guys will be the first to know.
Just bumped this for anyone who's tried it but hasn't posted their review. Remember, I'm taking your comments to heart for my blending notes, so even if you think it tastes like someone washed a dead cat in it, it's OK to say so.
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