After starting the day with Carter Hall in a Country Gentleman, trying Cornell & Diehl's new 2024 batch of Sansepolcro for the first time in a Morgan Bones Milan this afternoon, then kicking back with Mac Baren HH Pure Virginia in a Dr. Grabow Lark earlier in the evening, I just finished trying Peterson Nightcap for the first time in a Rossi Piccolo.
After 9 months of it sitting in a Ball jar on my shelf tonight I finally mustered the courage to try Nightcap... and frankly I'm not sure why I waited so long! I was already a big fan of Early Morning Pipe, which is one of my four most smoked blends, and Nightcap was very similar; just with more latakia smokiness, darker Virginias, and Orientals that are deeper and more incensy tasting rather than being bright and sour. I also appreciated that in spite of the inclusion of perique it was still very smooth and gentle on the retrohale.
The nicotine content was considerably higher in Nightcap as well, but considering it was a nicotine fit from cutting back on my cigarette consumption that drove me to finally try Nightcap, I was pretty darn fine with that. I went from wanting to pull my hair out to feeling very relaxed and peaceful in about 15 minutes with Nightcap, then set the pipe down and came back later to finish it in two separate sessions. I probably would have gotten nicotine sickness if I had tried smoking the whole bowl of Nightcap in one go, but thankfully English blends (and Virginias) seem to taste just as good when set down and relit later so I didn't mind taking my time with Nightcap.
All in all it was a really enjoyable smoke (or three smokes, as the case may be) and I can definitely see myself returning to Nightcap many more times in the future! Even though they're a little different in character it might be tied with Early Morning Pipe for the tastiest English blend I've ever had, and there are times when a hefty dose of vitamin N is appreciated.
