Va/Per Blends

[jazzlover]

I'm ready to try new va/per blends. Does anybody have any suggestions?

 

[moses]

I'm not sure what you've tried so far, but McClelland's St James Woods is excellent, as is GL Pease Fillmore, Escudo, and Hearth & Home Anniversary Kake.
Those four seem to work pretty well for me, pretty much taking up the VA/Per portion of my rotation. ::

 

[drrock]

There are so many great VaPers. Here are a few (among many) that I enjoy & come to mind immediately:

McConnell Red Virginia Superb

Solani 633

Orlik Golden Sliced

Reiner Long Golden Flake

McClelland 2015

Peretti Park Square

pipesandcigars.com Virginia Spice, Anniversary Cake, LJ Heart Virginia, & Louisiana Red

 

[cigrmaster]

I will have to respectfully disagree with my esteemed colleague roth. I say go for the gusto right off the bat and grab a tin of Escudo. It is the Vaper all others are measured by and it is the blend that opened my eyes to how great pipe smoking can be. Now granted I was a big time cigar smoker at the time and needed something with some serious flavor, but I don't believe the Perique in it is overpowering. It also ages beautifully.
The other 3 vapors that are in my rotation are:

Solani 633

Samuel Gawith St James Flake

Dunhill Deluxe Navy Rolls( very similar to Escudo but sweeter to my tastes)

 

[peckinpahhombre]

Let's not forget Limerick

 

[cigrmaster]

peck and roth, does the Limerick have red's in it? I have been trying to buy just one tin, but it seems to only be available in 1 pound bags and I never buy a pound of a blend I have never tried. Is it a must have vapor for the cellar? Is it on par with my list of favorite vapors?

 

[peckinpahhombre]

Harris, have you tried Dorchester? It is a bit like Dorchester (except in flake form) in that the perique is a teaser but does last throughout the bowl. I am the same as Roth in that I like that on occasion. In terms of the virginia, a sweet grass-like taste predominates, which I also quite like. If you like that combination, then go for it.
I don't notice any Red Vas - certainly if they are there they aren't noticeable to me.

 

[mso489]

I mixed up some McCellands Red Virginia Cake with some Cornell-Diehl Granulated Perique, and it

was quite respectable. Another round, I will go a little easier with the Perique and let the Red Cake

shine a little brighter, but it's not a bad blend, or mix. I guess a blend would be done under pressure

or sealed and aged. This was just impromptu.

 

[cigrmaster]

Thanks for the replies guys, I just contacted Steve. Sounds like I will like it.

 

[ghost]

I will have to respectfully disagree with my esteemed colleague roth. I say go for the gusto right off the bat and grab a tin of Escudo

I concur. I finally tried Escudo this year after smoking a pipe for over 10 years and immediately lamented not trying it right away. I'm now stockpiling virginias like no one's business and scanning these threads for recommendations. :D

 

[cigrmaster]

ghost, ten years with no Escudo, the horror, the horror. lol
I grabbed all 6 tins of the Limerick that pipestud had along with 6 tins of 2007 Astleys no 109. The Astleys is a mild Va but has some nice flavors and ages really well. I was down to my last tin from 01 on that one.
peck, I did use to like Dorchester very much. I have gotten away from any ribbon cuts preferring my flakes so the Limerick should be a no brainer for me, especially with the age on it now.
roth, thanks very much for the heads up on that, I really appreciate it. I have bookmarked his site and will be checking often, he has some very good deals.

 

[billbearcat]

I smoke Va/Pers 95% of the time. Here are a few of my suggestions:
Prairie Wind (4noggins)

Hal O' the Wynd

Haddo's Delight (favorite room note of the wife)
I may be about to get kicked off the site, but I didn't see what the big deal is with Escudo. It was a good easy smoke. Other than that I don't know what to really say about it. I guess I just thought it was just a safe neutral VaPer. I wouldn't turn it away, but at the same time I'm not going to chase it down.
Of course all this is opinion and may change like the direction of the wind.

 

[magoo65]

There's a Va/Per showdown on another forum and I took those suggestions and started trying things. I'm new to this but here is what I've enjoyed and am cellaring:
Escudo

Dunhill De Luxe Navy Rolls

McConnel Scottish Cake

Sam Gawith St James Flake

Orlik Golden Sliced
I want to try GL Pease Triple Play and Filmore and am really looking forward to the (supposed) return of Dunhill Elizabethian Mixture

 

[judcole]

I am not much of a VaPer smoker - only one I ever enjoyed much at all is Peterson Irish Oak. I smoked one tin. I might consider repeating that one day.
And if HotW is a Va/Per, it's very, very, very light on the perique.

 

[lestrout]

If you like Limerick, you might like another Dan: Tordenskjold Virginia Slices.
hp

les

 

[bobpnm]

H&H Virginia Spice and 4Noggins Prairie Wind. Both great!

 

[jah76]

I second the vote for Irish Oak. I like the back bone it has.
I shill for McCelland a lot, but Beacon is a fantastic smoke for me.

 

[allan]

Just read these posts and I'm too late to order the limerick from pipe stud
Oh well

 

[judcole]

Roth, you are completely correct on HotW being a fine blend. I like it because the perique is almost non-existent. I can enjoy perique in a latakia blend; I can enjoy it with burleys - e.g., H&H Beverwyck. But I have smoked a ton of Va/pers that I got samples of in box passes where the perique is quite noticeable, and it does not work for me.

 

[trailspike48]

I wish I had started this post a while back. I tried a Vaper on my last order (MC Beacon) and I'm not overly impressed, I'm hoping it improves with age. Next order I'll try Escudo and one of the otheres listed above. I currently enjoy various English, lat blends, and some burley blends. I want to start putting Virginias in storage because they age so well, and I read so much about Vapers here on the forum. I had already planned on a pound or two of GL Pease blends, so maybe I'll get Fillmore along withe the Escudo.
This forum, really is full of enablers, thanks.