Virginia/Perique (VaPer) Showdown

[Slow Triathlete]

Dan Tobacco's Tordenskjold Virginia Slices

Hmmmm, the tin states that there is Perique in here but I just do not smell it or taste it in the blend. Even with most blends that claim to have a “whisper” of perique you can still detect it in there but not in this one. Therefore this will be a short review.

I apparently have had a tin of this laying around for almost a year but it was hidden in a stack of Scottish Cake tins. One night I was digging through the cellar looking for something different when I came upon it. I popped the tin and a figgy, straw-like aroma met my nose. It smelled like a great Virginia but like I stated above I could not smell any perique.

This is a flake blend with an appearance and size very similar to Stokkebye’s Luxury Navy Flake. The moisture amount was great and this broke apart very easily. I still let it sit out for about 15 minutes before loading it into the pipe.

Lighting this blend was extremely easy and once lit this blend did not need much help. The taste and aroma throughout the whole smoke was pure Virginia. While not as flavorful as Full Virginia or Best Brown this blend definitely came in 3rd for my favorite Virginia blends for right now. However, this is not a Virginia Showdown (although this is a great idea. Someone should start one) it is a VaPer Showdown and this blend failed miserably in the VaPer realm.

In summary, this is a really, really good Virginia. It actually surprised me with how good it is versus how much a tin of this blend it. It is currently less than $7 at smokingpipes.com. I will be stocking up on this for my Virginia fixes. I would not recommend this as a VaPer to anyone however. Therefore it is down to the bottom for this one.

******Edit********
When I spoke about the blend having the appearance of Stokkebye's Luxury Navy Flake this apparently only applies to the tinned version. I ordered a bulk pound of this and it arrived in a miss-mash of long flake and broken up flake. Please see the pictures to see what I am talking about.

1)McConnell Scottish Cake
2)Samuel Gawith’s St. James Flake
3)Escudo
4)GL Pease Filmore
5)H & H AJ’s VaPer
6)Low Country’s Waccamaw
7)Peretti’s Park Square
8)John Patton’s Cool Hand Fluke
9)H & H Rolando’s Own
10)H & H Anniversary Kake
11)G & H Louisiana Flake
12)Dunhill Elizabethan Mixture
13)C & D Night Train
14)H & H Louisiana Red
15)Reiner’s Long Golden Flake
16)Treasures of Ireland - Limerick
17)Dorchester
18)Solani #633
19)Luxury Bullseye Flake
20)McClelland Bulk 2015
21)GL Pease Telegraph Hill
22)Kajun Kake
23)Luxury Navy Flake
24)Dan Tobacco's Tordenskjold Virginia Slices