Perique - you delivered a professional grade review here, no need to apologize at all, this is aged tobacco after all, we ain't inna sprint to the finish is we? :wink:
I'm glad you got over your cold, that can wreak havoc on tastings and I'm glad you didn't rush it or feel obligated to force yourself before you were actually in top performance mode.
I have not read this thread, prior to posting this. So hopefully these impressions are without bias.
I've read your review and I think you have met this goal, I really appreciate your gravitas and the seriousness with which you approached this sampling.
What immediately struck me about this blend was the tin note (or, in this case, the envelope note). An overt, grassy sweetness that was backed by a subtle cigar aroma. I didn't get the deep, stewed fruit Perique style scents from this flake. I would classify this as a Haylage aroma: freshly cut hay with alfalfa, with a cigarish backbone.
This is a bit different from many of the reports, but Joe spoke of hay as well, it really is striking how diverse our opinions can be when talking about stuff like this, yet one more reason to admire the great blenders of today, for their job is exceedingly difficult, to broaden the spectrum as far as possible so that a wide swath of folks may enjoy it, I'm sure it may take innumerous little tweaks of perhaps tiny proportions, but those subtle hints seem to go a long way in our determining what something tastes like, oftentimes it's those fleeting traces that capture our full attention and we home in on that flavor desiring to savor it as deeply as possible --- sorry, got offtrack there...
The flake was on the dry side and took a match readily. Throughout my tastings, there was no bite of any kind, not even a hint. This tobacco produced copious amounts of smoke, and was extremely smooth-smoking, if a bit dry. In all cases this blend left the pipe bone dry, not a hint of goop or mess.
Same here, no bite whatsoever, even with vigorous puffing, and readily to the flame indeed, effortless.
The smoke produced by this stuff is enough to make one take up poetry!
Smooth as silk, butter, or any baby's bottom!
I like the way you used multiple pipes with differing chamber geometry, it really is amazing what distinct differences it can all have, well, I guess it ain't really amazing, but it is something that can be used to ones advantage when one is mindful of such things.
Pipe 1: rubbed out in a Prince used for VaPers and VaBurs. Lately used mainly for McClelland VaPers.
First Third:
Initial light produced a brief hit of sweetness on the tip of the tongue. Some soggy flavor followed - like tangyness gone off. There is a mustiness to this blend. There is also an ashiness to the flavor. As the smoke progresses, the predominant impression is a damp, leafy flavor. (possibly past-its-prime Latakia?)
Funny you mention tip of the tongue, I was getting a pretty intense reaction from the tip of my tongue as well, it seemed to concentrate itself full force in that area most intensely, as compared to mid or rear tongue - it was an effect that so enchanted me that I smoked abnormally than I usually do in attempt to heighten the effect.
Mustiness yes, and ashiness as well, I got that too. It produced some of the finest ash I've ever had in fact, that is, like a very fine powder.
And Latakia?
That's now 4 votes, must be something there?
Syrian is something I know absolutely nothing of, so I'm in the dark. 8)
pun intended
Middle Third:
The sugars really shine through by mid-bowl. That damp leafiness is still there, now with a hint of raisin in the background. I can't discern if it's very old Syrian Latakia or very old Kentucky I'm tasting.
No doubt, shiny shugar! Again, I was amazed how the baccy progressed from initial char and kept building this slow growing profile like a huge swell carrying me off into a sea of total forgetfulness, it swept me away.
My opinion is in favor of dark-fired or Kentucky, but as I said, I ain't got no chops for distinguishing that old Syrian dark leaf.
Final Third:
Some harmony of flavor begins to come together. The mustiness is still there: damp leaves, an almost mushroomy flavor. Some raisin/date flavor in the background. And a hint of saltiness. Lowercast has asked if this tobacco might be past its prime. It's a difficult question to answer. Probably. But it provides an amazing flavor profile for the pipe aficionado. Alec Baldwin, when interviewed for Cigar Aficionado magazine, described the flavor profile of a cigar as 'the perfect combination of chocolate and horse shit.' I'm getting some of that here.
The melding was quite notable.
Here I think of The Harmony of the Spheres, also referred to in Esoteric Christianity as the place where the state of consciousness known as the "Second Heaven" occurs, and to play on that I'd say perhaps the leaf has delivered a
nicotiana universalis, because in a way, it was divine.
I'm glad the raisin showed up, this to me was its driving force on my palate.
And thanks for your honesty about it being past its prime, bluntness is often too rare a trait, but something I highly value. In fact, one of the reasons I needed help determining if it was past its prime is because it gave such a wonderful smoking experience yet it felt almost as if it was at half strength, hinting at a lost potential of incredible deep fullness, and it perplexed me as how to gauge it.
LOL
I got a little horse shit too!
...but maybe it was actually camel dung? Considering a possible Lat presence.
Pipe 2: rubbed out in a Dublin used mainly for Rattray's Marlin Flake, and the occasional VA flake.
First Third:
I get that same initial sweet note on the charring light. I expected the Dublin shape to concentrate the sweet notes, but it didn't highlight sweet as much as it reduced mustiness. That damp leafiness is still in the background.
The Stanwell 19 I used is a dublin, it served me well. I would like to try it in other chambers though, but ultimately I'm glad I chose a reliable carrier.
Middle Third:
Similar to my last tasting: sugars buried in the background. Ashiness prevails. Framed in that same damp mustiness. I didn't taste Perique. It could be that Perique doesn't age well past a certain point prior to losing flavor?
I was hoping you'd weigh in on this and give your opinion, after all, your namesake is perique and you seem to be an invigorated VaPer enthusiast. I think I'd have to listen to your verdict because you're so well familiar with such stuff, and I'm easy to fool once I step off into the wrong stream - unless you are correct about the possible perique having a diminished intensity, at this point I don't think there was any perique, at most it'd be a miniscule percentage if at all.
Pipe 3
Middle Third:
Lots of smoke, big 
clouds. A good, rich mouthfeel. Mustiness seems subdued compared to my previous tastings. A hint of raisiny/datey sweetness, felt near the back, rather than tip, of tongue. Towards the end of mid-bowl that saltiness reemerges.
Yessir, big
clouds! I'm reminded here of an old Orb track, "little fluffy clouds", I've never been much into the techno stuff, but an old friend used to always play this song and I really really duggit.
http://youtu.be/FHixChYgGRI
More up my real alley would be something like Yume Bitsu,
a soft expansiveness, yet intense,
this tobacco reminds me of them.
http://youtu.be/pSYaHIiAaAM
Final Third:
A little sweet begins to break through. Date and fig. Really glorious. Might just be my anticipation fooling my taste buds, but I'm liking it. Still some ashiness, and some saltiness. But that sweet date flavor, even though it's subtle, is divine. This tobacco rations out its sweet like a bad mistress.
Love that bad mistress quote!
Really glorious indeed I'd say, it makes me only want to smoke vintage stuff dammit! Too bad so many other people with deeper pockets feel that way too LOL
Perhaps it's the Kentucky mellowed and flattened a bit by extreme age, but the flavor profile is really unique: dates and salt and maybe the faintest hint of dark chocolate. Whatever Virginias are in here are smooth as silk, but have lost their more overt sweetness with time. You have to really sip this softly to get at the flavors. Longer draws bring an ashiness that overtakes the nuances. There's something about the color and texture of the smoke that makes me think "cigar".
Really unique to say the least, would something that matched be possible off the shelf new? Is this a unique profile that can only be achieved with longterm aging?
Pipe 4: fold-and-stuff in an MM Cob used for (non-aromatic) burleys and VaBurs
First Third:
Nice tang on the initial light that makes me think Kentucky. That initial sweetness is there as well. That mustiness is also there but buried deeper in the background.
Awesome call on the cob!
So glad you did this, and a revelation it turned out to be!
Middle Third:
This blend is really coming alive for me in a cob. The sweet of the Virginias and the tang of what must be Kentucky are interplaying nicely. Smokes very dry. There's some saltiness that I associate with African Virginias. The cob seems to soak up the mustiness and leave an even dryer smoke. Again, produces copious amounts of smoke and, despite some ashiness, tastes very smooth. You can really puff on this with zero tongue bite. A mellow, dried fruit sweetness behind the mellow tang of aged Kentucky.
You're the first one to mention African Virginias specifically I think, and you're probably right, this stuff was made in the heyday of Empire Leaf, so it's very very possible that that is one of the elusive elements.
I really dig this descrip:
A mellow, dried fruit sweetness behind the mellow tang of aged Kentucky.
Good stuff.
My overall conclusion is that this may be past its prime, but nonetheless offers an amazing flavor profile for any tobacco lover. A blend like this gives us great insight into how different tobaccos age, how flavors develop over time, and - to me, at least - illustrates the commonalities of wine and tobacco collecting. The infinite variables and complexities of constituent, varietal tobaccos are so fascinating to us, as pipe and tobacco hobbyists...
A most excellent summary and very well put, sir.
I heartily thank you for giving us these impressions and critical analysis - and for being patient and taking the necessary time to do it justice.
Well done!
:puffpipe:
