Tsuge Raijin, God of Thunder

[matchstickman]

Let me preface this by saying that I am a nicotine fiend. I regularly smoke Kendal Kentucky, Dark Birdseye, and Old Joe Krantz without batting an eye.
That being said, this stuff is potent. Like, seriously strong. Smells great in the tin, very chocolatey with some raisin overtones. Very coarse ribbon cut, needs a little dry time and packs and burns effortlessly.
Flavor is incredibly perique forward (Perique-y? Perique-ish?) Very peppery, and it almost has that cured meat quality that good vaperburs have, almost a sort of fermented quality.
The last half of the bowl mellows out some, leaving a darker, more caramel type sweetness from the Virginia's, but the perique still makes its presence known.
All in all, this is the first of Tsuge's God blends I have tried, and I'm anxious to try the others. It's very stout, very flavorful, but it packs a wallop, so beware.

 

[iamn8]

I bought a five pack when it came out, but haven't heard anything about it. Great review! I'll have to finally bust a tin open. Love perique! Thanks for the review! Did you like it though?

 

[cobguy]

Nice to see you around!
Blends like these usually trigger my "gimmicky" senses so I'm really glad to hear that the product is good.
Definitely let us know how the others treat you! ::

 

[matchstickman]

Nate, I enjoyed it immensely. Definitely scratched the Nicotine itch, and it's very smooth and flavorful. Definitely gets a spot in my permanent rotation.

 

[iamn8]

I love the packed rough cut ribbon.

 

[ericusrex]

Good to hear it's a good one. I've got some of each of the god series but haven't had a chance open any yet. So many blends, so few moments away from the Mrs.

 

[phred]

Ah - excellent timing! I'm heading out on vacation soon, and I'm taking along some Va/Per blends to introduce a couple of friends to, so I'll toss in the (currently unopened) Tsuge Raijin as well.

 

[matchstickman]

It's very tasty, hopefully your friends have high nicotine tolerance. Even with the stout blends I smoke it's pretty potent. I have to do small bowls or I get pretty dizzy.

 

[pipesinperu]

I keep hearing interesting things about the non-aromatic Tsuge blends, but then when I went to Smoking Pipes and Tobacco Reviews after reading your review, I remembered why I haven't bought any yet.
Tobacco Reviews says:

Raijin (the thunder god) is a classically-styled blend of choice, bright flue-cured tobaccos with costly and exotic Orientals with a nice share of rich, smoky Latakia. This is an ideal choice for the English/Balkan blend fans.

Smoking Pipes describes it as:

A classic English blend of bright, flue-cured Virginias, and exotic Orientals, this Tsuge blend is perfect for dark, stormy evenings as Raijin himself beats a tattoo against the night.

An English blend with no mention of latakia? And neither description mentions perique at all. There seems to be a lot of conflicting information out there on these blends. Seems like a terrible marketing job on someone's part (Drew Estate, I believe is responsible for these?).

 

[feloniousmonk]

So are these from Japan or is this more marketing?

 

[deathmetal]

It's very tasty, hopefully your friends have high nicotine tolerance.

That which does not kill me, makes me stronger.