TOM September 07 Escudo

[kheffelf]

Place to put your reviews for Escudo.

[Big T]

Ok, I'll pop the cherry on this month's TOM review. So much has been written about this fine stuff that it's tough for me to add anything new. When it comes to VA/Per blends, this is about as good as it gets. The coin style cut may be a little tricky for new smokers-I just fold and stuff and that seems to work fine for me. It burns well and I get zero tongue bite. The flavors are mild and subtle. I think what differentiates Escudo from the other VA/PER blends that I've tried is a very pleasing chocolately after taste that I got after each puff. If you're a lover of heavy English/Latakia blends, then this may not be your cup of tea, but I think it's worth a shot regardless. The coins in my tin are rapidly disappearing.

[IHT]

my favorite tobacco... unfortunately, my current open tin doesn't taste the same as all the others. nowhere near as "sweet VA" as i'm use to.

i'll try some tomorrow if i get time.

[Big T]

Come on guys, I know I'm not the only one that's smoked Escudo this month...

[kheffelf]

Originally Posted by Big T

Come on guys, I know I'm not the only one that's smoked Escudo this month...

Looks like it, I finished my tin of it a couple months ago, I don't want to open up another right now, I want to see how much this stuff improves with age. But after all that this is definitely in my top five of tobaccos.

[Bruce]

Just smoked some out of a ten year old tin that I opened 5 months ago. Seems the flavor has diminished.....not as sweet as it once was. I should have smoked this stuff up faster.

That being said, I just scored a very old Cope's tin. I have a few tins of Copes Escudo, but this recent tin is VERY old. Looking forward to trying that. I will definitely post a review.

[IHT]

Originally Posted by IHT

my favorite tobacco... unfortunately, my current open tin doesn't taste the same as all the others. nowhere near as "sweet VA" as i'm use to.

i'll try some tomorrow if i get time.

i had some yesterday in a Sasieni 4dot bulldog. out of the same tin that i'm not happy with, it seems more heavily infused with perique than any other tin i've ever had of Escudo. the damn coins are nearly black instead of mostly bright VAs.

still rubs out well, packs well, smokes well, just too much perique in this tin and not enough of the sweet VAs.

if you don't know, this is my favorite tobacco of all-time, and i'm a little bummed that this tin must not have been seen by quality control and allowed out the door of the factory.

would i buy more? i've got about 10 tins now, some older, most newer (i bought some of Bruces old tins), but i still intend to stock up even more...

[kg6smx]

Originally Posted by Big T

Come on guys, I know I'm not the only one that's smoked Escudo this month...

I tried it...And I liked it; it's on my "Buy List"

[hamncheese]

Well I guess November 1 is a little late for the Sept TOM, but better late than never, right? I suck at reviews since I've only been smoking for a couple months, but here goes...

The aroma coming out of the tin is rich with some candied dark fruit smells being the most prominent along with the sweetness of the Virginias being the most powerful. The tobacco was relatively easy to pack once I got the hang of rubbing out the coins all the way. I'm still too noob to figure out how to pack this tobacco by just folding up the coins or balling them up or whatever. Anyway, the flavor is very well balanced. The Virginias are bright and sweet, but the Perique balances out the profile quite well. There's almost no bite and the tobacco burns evenly in the bowl. Good stuff. I can see why this is a common favorite. This tin won't last too much longer.

[Slow Triathlete]

Sorry I hadn't tried this as of September but I just popped a tin of it a couple of nights ago. It is a tin from 2004 that was gifted to me by a fellow brother of the briar who's been at this for quite a while. When I first opened it and sniffed it smelled dark and fruity, much like raisins or dried dates.

I was a bit confused by the whole coin fold and stuff method so I just decided to loosely rub this out. I packed it and lit it up. Man, what a treasure! This is the best VaPer blend that I've tried yet. Not sure if I'm spoiled by having the older tin but I'm definitely going to pick some of this up this weekend at Low Country Tobacco/smokingpipes.com when I'm driving through Myrtle Beach.

This blend produces a lot of smoke. It burns like a dream and it doesn't require a lot of relights. Not sure if it is the tobacco or the cut that causes this.

I would definitely recommend this to anyone who hasn't tried it yet. I now know why this is such a popular blend.

[paperairplane]

Plenty of info out there, but packs easy, lights easy, smokes well... one of my faves for certain.

[Alyks]

I have a tin of this sitting in my cellar. I'm trying to finish off my open tins before I start dipping into anything else. I can't wait. I'm tempted just to open it up though...must have...self...control...

[CigarGal]

As I stated in another thread, I opened my tin of Escudo and the seal had been broken by a dent in the can. I had this can for a year so the tobacco was really dried out. I pulled a few medallions out and tried to fold them but they just crumbled-I smoked it anyway

It was a great smoke! True-it burned a bit hot and fast-no relights needed-but the aroma was sure nice and I loved the flavor. I am going to order a new tin so I can try this one under better conditions. My order of vapers came in yesterday so I will open the Solani and try it next.

Anyway I can reconstitute the dried Escudo??

[EvanS]

Marianne, there seem to be many ways of approaching rehydrating tobacco. One I have ended up having great luck with is to take a piece of paper towel that is about 1/2 the area of the tin, get it wet and squeeze it out as best you can. Flatten the piece of paper towel and place it just under the lid of the tin and close it back up. Check it the next day and for most cases this has been enough for me. With your tin that has turned into IHT-dust you may need to do this for more than 1 day, or maybe other measures will be required.

I have found that this was allows the tobac to gently and naturally absob the moisture.

Give it a try and let us know how this works with tobac that is this dry.
Good luck!

[IHT]

Originally Posted by CigarGal

Anyway I can reconstitute the dried Escudo??

what evan said, or you can get those little "humi-disc" things that you dip into distilled water.
my ACP Curley Cut that i got off ebay was dried out as well. not totally, but a good bit past where i wanted it. i stuck a single humi-disc in the ball jar for a month, and the tobacco is now about perfect smoking humidity.