rickpal14, Pembroke is quite good (it's essentially Margate treated with Cognac) although it's rather rich. Germain is one of my two favorite blenders; they simply produce fantastic stuff.
It is the king of the English/Latakia blends in the minds of many. It works like this:First off being the rookie I am ... What is "penzance"? what kind of baccy is it? etc,etc,etc
lol Well said. In the mean time while storing it like precious gold, you elevate it in your mind to the point of where everything else is a kind of a disappointment despite the fact that we're living in the golden age of great pipe tobaccos. Penzance is extraordinary, but it is just one in a field of extraordinary tobaccos.It is the king of the English/Latakia blends in the minds of many. It works like this:
1. Someone sends you a sample of Penzance
2. You try said sample and are blown away
3. You search for months trying to find any and come across a tin in a local B&M
4. You purchase this tin, but do not open it, oh no, it is too precious
5. A week later you are shocked to find an 8oz bag at another local B&M
6. You purchase that and jar it up thinking how much you're going to enjoy it in the coming months
7. For the next six months you smoke everything but that Penzance, you stare at it and long for it, but it is like precious gold and not to be wasted
Well, that's how it worked for me anyway.
Including Penzance - I think this blend has become so over-hyped to the newer smoker that one expects the flakes to be like smoking a slice of heaven; and well it is a damned fine English, I just don't see it as the be-all end-all blend that some do (I also know I'm not the only one who feels this way). In all honesty, I found the blend to be slightly monotone, and really lacking the depth of flavour the more Oriental forward Lat blends offer. Of course, to each his own, as Mr. Pease says, one mans fish is another mans poisson; and hey, at least you know your not fighting with me to get that last tin/foil-bag!In the mean time while storing it like precious gold, you elevate it in your mind to the point of where everything else is a kind of a disappointment despite the fact that we're living in the golden age of great pipe tobaccos.