I know there's oodles of info available all over the net about this, but I wanted to lay down a short diary of my experiences and thoughts.
As a standard statement, I know tastes and preferences are very subjective things, so please take that into account. As so many say, YMMV.
As I mature (with regards to pipe smoking) and my taste preferences change, I have found myself getting away from English blends, or anything containing Latakia basically, and have come to love VaPers. I love the spiciness of the Perique and find a good quality tobacco has a sense of black pepper, especially to the nose when retrohaled.
On my December trip to Vegas I picked up a tin of Escudo, a blend many believe is the optimum VaPer to compliment by current meager stash of that type of blend, mostly Dunhill Elizabethan, and Peter Stokkebye's Luxury Navy Flake and Luxury Bullseye flake.
For the purpose of this exercise, I left the Dunhill product out due to it's different cut and while some consider LBF not to be a true VaPer because of the Cavendish core in the coins, I included it for three reasons:
1./ I have quite a bit
2./ Except for the dark center, it's identical to Escudo
3./ For my tastes, I find the amount of Cavendish to be on a condimental level only
For the past few days, except for a small bowl of DBE or some Dark Kentucky as a last bowl before bed, I've smoked nothing but the 3 VaPers listed above, and have smoked them in Meers, Cobs, and Briars of different shapes and sizes in order to be as consistent as possible.
Regardless of what blend I smoked or what pipe I was smoking it in, I prepared it the same way; take a coin or 2, or a flake of the LNF, roll it into a ball in my fingers, roll it lightly between my palms and then separate the fibers with my fingers. I gravity fed and then tamped ever so lightly with a finger, and used some small bits left over from the rubbing to cap off the bowl as tinder.
ESCUDO:
On opening the tin for the first time, the scent of something of a fruit nature was definitely there, not as prominent as something like Erinmore Flake, but there nonetheless, and quite pleasant. The flakes were a nearly perfect humidity for smoking, but were stuck together, so sometimes the flake was shredded to get them apart. One single char light, a light tamp and then a true light brings an amazing quantity of smoke, sans the fruity tin note, and a light note of the Perique spiciness complimenting the Virginias. I find through the bowl, the amount of Perique you get in the smoke rises and falls, but never overwhelms the sweetness of the Virginias. Basically a great smoke, obviously made with high quality tobaccos, with an amount of Perique that would be thoroughly enjoyed by a smoker who doesn't want to be overwhelmed by the characteristics of that type of tobacco. Nicotine content I would put at or just a little above medium, something like a 5 or 6 on a scale of 10. Without a doubt, this blend has earned it's reputation.
PS LUXURY NAVY FLAKE:
This blend consists of uniform flakes of standard width, medium thickness and shorter length than most bulk flakes I've had. I get no sense of any fruit essence that is normally associated with Perique blends, just wonderful tobacco scents. I find this smokes and burns nearly identical to Escudo, but maybe because the "fibers" are larger when rubbed out, the profile is slightly different. That being said, they are so close to me, on any given day, I may prefer one or the other. Maybe it's different flakes, maybe smoking nuances on different days and at different times, maybe even slightly different body chemistry. In the vitamin "N" department, I would put this on par with Escudo.
PS LUXURY BULLSEYE FLAKE:
To the eye, this looks nearly identical to Escudo in shape, colour and size, except for the dark circle of Cavendish in the middle. Again, the smoking characteristics of this are nearly identical to Escudo, with the sweetness of Cavendish making the most significant difference, and slightly more Perique, hence more spiciness and pepper. Rubs out identical to Escudo. I did a test and rubbed out a couple of flakes but removed the Cavendish. In my opinion, it would take a seasoned smoker who is quite familiar with both blends to tell the difference between LBF (with Cavendish removed) and Escudo. As for nicotine, I would put this just slightly lower than the other 2. Maybe a 4-4.5 out of 10.
So, we have 3 enjoyable VaPer blends that for my preferences are nearly interchangeable. If you don't like Cavendish in your blends, even on a small percentage basis, you may not enjoy the LBF.
All 3 I enjoy, and as noted, on any given day, all equally so. However, the cost is the factor here, and being Canadian with "less than easy" access to tobacco, that is a big deal. Maybe it's not fair to compare costs on a blend only available in tins to blends only available in bulk, but "dems da breaks", that's what we have to work with here. A lb of Escudo will run you ~ $90 USD (9 tins of 50 gms each = 450 gms and a lb = 454 gms), while a lb EACH of the other 2 will only run you less than $80, or a 1.5 lb box of EACH for a total of $88.
While Escudo may get significantly higher ratings, to me, the 2 most reviewed blends by Peter Stokkebye wins hands down.
Thoughts or comments?
Jamie
As a standard statement, I know tastes and preferences are very subjective things, so please take that into account. As so many say, YMMV.
As I mature (with regards to pipe smoking) and my taste preferences change, I have found myself getting away from English blends, or anything containing Latakia basically, and have come to love VaPers. I love the spiciness of the Perique and find a good quality tobacco has a sense of black pepper, especially to the nose when retrohaled.
On my December trip to Vegas I picked up a tin of Escudo, a blend many believe is the optimum VaPer to compliment by current meager stash of that type of blend, mostly Dunhill Elizabethan, and Peter Stokkebye's Luxury Navy Flake and Luxury Bullseye flake.
For the purpose of this exercise, I left the Dunhill product out due to it's different cut and while some consider LBF not to be a true VaPer because of the Cavendish core in the coins, I included it for three reasons:
1./ I have quite a bit
2./ Except for the dark center, it's identical to Escudo
3./ For my tastes, I find the amount of Cavendish to be on a condimental level only
For the past few days, except for a small bowl of DBE or some Dark Kentucky as a last bowl before bed, I've smoked nothing but the 3 VaPers listed above, and have smoked them in Meers, Cobs, and Briars of different shapes and sizes in order to be as consistent as possible.
Regardless of what blend I smoked or what pipe I was smoking it in, I prepared it the same way; take a coin or 2, or a flake of the LNF, roll it into a ball in my fingers, roll it lightly between my palms and then separate the fibers with my fingers. I gravity fed and then tamped ever so lightly with a finger, and used some small bits left over from the rubbing to cap off the bowl as tinder.
ESCUDO:
On opening the tin for the first time, the scent of something of a fruit nature was definitely there, not as prominent as something like Erinmore Flake, but there nonetheless, and quite pleasant. The flakes were a nearly perfect humidity for smoking, but were stuck together, so sometimes the flake was shredded to get them apart. One single char light, a light tamp and then a true light brings an amazing quantity of smoke, sans the fruity tin note, and a light note of the Perique spiciness complimenting the Virginias. I find through the bowl, the amount of Perique you get in the smoke rises and falls, but never overwhelms the sweetness of the Virginias. Basically a great smoke, obviously made with high quality tobaccos, with an amount of Perique that would be thoroughly enjoyed by a smoker who doesn't want to be overwhelmed by the characteristics of that type of tobacco. Nicotine content I would put at or just a little above medium, something like a 5 or 6 on a scale of 10. Without a doubt, this blend has earned it's reputation.
PS LUXURY NAVY FLAKE:
This blend consists of uniform flakes of standard width, medium thickness and shorter length than most bulk flakes I've had. I get no sense of any fruit essence that is normally associated with Perique blends, just wonderful tobacco scents. I find this smokes and burns nearly identical to Escudo, but maybe because the "fibers" are larger when rubbed out, the profile is slightly different. That being said, they are so close to me, on any given day, I may prefer one or the other. Maybe it's different flakes, maybe smoking nuances on different days and at different times, maybe even slightly different body chemistry. In the vitamin "N" department, I would put this on par with Escudo.
PS LUXURY BULLSEYE FLAKE:
To the eye, this looks nearly identical to Escudo in shape, colour and size, except for the dark circle of Cavendish in the middle. Again, the smoking characteristics of this are nearly identical to Escudo, with the sweetness of Cavendish making the most significant difference, and slightly more Perique, hence more spiciness and pepper. Rubs out identical to Escudo. I did a test and rubbed out a couple of flakes but removed the Cavendish. In my opinion, it would take a seasoned smoker who is quite familiar with both blends to tell the difference between LBF (with Cavendish removed) and Escudo. As for nicotine, I would put this just slightly lower than the other 2. Maybe a 4-4.5 out of 10.
So, we have 3 enjoyable VaPer blends that for my preferences are nearly interchangeable. If you don't like Cavendish in your blends, even on a small percentage basis, you may not enjoy the LBF.
All 3 I enjoy, and as noted, on any given day, all equally so. However, the cost is the factor here, and being Canadian with "less than easy" access to tobacco, that is a big deal. Maybe it's not fair to compare costs on a blend only available in tins to blends only available in bulk, but "dems da breaks", that's what we have to work with here. A lb of Escudo will run you ~ $90 USD (9 tins of 50 gms each = 450 gms and a lb = 454 gms), while a lb EACH of the other 2 will only run you less than $80, or a 1.5 lb box of EACH for a total of $88.
While Escudo may get significantly higher ratings, to me, the 2 most reviewed blends by Peter Stokkebye wins hands down.
Thoughts or comments?
Jamie