Upcoming VaPer Showdown

[RJpuffs]

Originally Posted by IHT

i don't agree with that. there are plenty of McC tins at the local shops (here around KC) with dates from '07 and '08 on them. i just don't think that Oriental #14 is all that popular. i found one recently from '97.

next time i see Mike i'll ask him if they hold onto tins before they ship them out.
last time i talked to him about tin dating, he explained the coding on the bottom as being three two digit codes: product #, batch #, year made. so, 140401 would be blend 14, 4th batch of 2001.
but i will ask if he holds onto them for a while after they're made, which i doubt, if you ever check the dates of his "new" product lines that come out.
will be an interesting question.

IHT is right, I have gotten 05, 06, 07 and even 08 (a month before purchase date). Its possible their warehouse is shipping FIFO, causing older tins to get left behind until stock dwindles?

[Hermit]

Originally Posted by Slow Triathlete

Just an FYI,

Once this site turns into Puff.com I will no longer be posting new reviews to this thread. I will, however, keep up with it on the other forums that I belong to.

Thanks

¿Por que?

[Bent Stem]

Originally Posted by RJpuffs

IHT is right, I have gotten 05, 06, 07 and even 08 (a month before purchase date). Its possible their warehouse is shipping FIFO, causing older tins to get left behind until stock dwindles?

IME, the ones I've ordered a few years ago, and then again more recently, were always about 2 years prior dated (maybe 20 tins or so total). Just stating my experience as I thought that's the way it usually must work. Don't have local shops to comment on that part of it.

[WWhermit]

Originally Posted by Hermit

¿Por que?

I would like to know the same. Why not?

[Slow Triathlete]

Just not interested in being in the mass media. Plus I don't believe in the fundamentals that Puff is portraying. I won't go into details because it is my opinion. Not bashing the site, it's just not my cup of tea.

I didn't join a marketing tool, I joined a cigar/pipe forum. And in my opinion this is now a marketing tool that is only interested in making money. If you don't believe me, remember how much advertising was on CS. Now count how much is on Puff."

[IHT]

Originally Posted by Bent Stem

IME, the ones I've ordered a few years ago, and then again more recently, were always about 2 years prior dated (maybe 20 tins or so total). Just stating my experience as I thought that's the way it usually must work. Don't have local shops to comment on that part of it.

i thought you could've meant that as well. in that case, you're probably right. i haven't had that experience personally...

[Slow Triathlete]

In the interest of all of the PMs that I have gotten and the feedback that I have gotten for this thread, I will continue it on Puff.com. I now realize that this thread has helped out a lot of people and for the overall good I'll keep it going.

Thanks everyone.

[Slow Triathlete]

[SIZE=3]Well, it’s now 2009 and it is time to start this thread back up again. I have a few more blends that I have added to the list and I will put out a full list of what I have left to review in another email. I appreciate all of the feedback that I have received about this thread. I started it as just a way for me to get to know that wonderful world of VaPers but I have noticed that it has helped out quite a few people. Let us delve back into this and see what kind of fun we can have.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=3] [/SIZE]
[SIZE=3]This review is going to focus on a relatively new tobacco. It is Low Country Tobacco’s Waccamaw blend. Now for those of you who don’t know, Low Country Tobacco is the actual store for smokingpipes.com. It is in Little River, SC which is about 40 miles from where I live. Yes, I’m that lucky. These blends are the result of a collaboration between Sykes Wilford (owner of smokingpipes.com) and Craig Tarlor (owner of Cornell & Diehl Tobaccos). As of right now there are 4 blends in this series.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=3] [/SIZE]
[SIZE=3]Now for those who are VaPer purists I will warn you that this blend has some Izmir leaf in it, which is another spice tobacco that lends itself to this blend. However, since I cannot tell the difference between the taste of Perique and the taste of Izmir I thought that I would go ahead and throw this blend in the Showdown. Here is the actual description of the blend from their website:[/SIZE]
[SIZE=3] [/SIZE]
[SIZE=3]The WaccamawRiver meanders through the eastern Carolinas, part of the Pee DeeRiver basin, a region intertwined with the history of tobacco for three centuries. What finer homage to this heritage than a rich, hearty Virginia flake? Bright leaf serving as the base is typical of the tobaccos grown in this region, while beautiful Red Virginias lend it sweetness and structure. Perique and a dash of exotic Izmir leaf complete this complex, satisfying flake.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=3] [/SIZE]
[SIZE=3]Now for the review. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=3] [/SIZE]
[SIZE=3]When I popped the tin of this blend I was greeted by a wonderful smell. Sweet and sour with a lot of spiciness in there. I will warn everyone that I will compare this to GL Pease’s Embarcadero blend quite a bit for reasons that I will explain in the summary below. This blend smelled a lot like Embarcadero when I whiffed it the first couple of times. This blend comes in flake form and the flakes are about the same size as Orlik’s Golden Sliced. The blend arrived quite moist in the tin and all of my flakes were stuck together. I just dumped the whole thing out on a few paper towels and rubbed them all out so that they would dry out a little more thoroughly.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=3] [/SIZE]
[SIZE=3]I filled the pipe with this blend using the 3 pack method all of the times that I smoked it so far. This worked out quite well. After drying the tobacco a bit this blend took to the first light and never stopped. After the blend got going my nose was greeted with the most intoxicating aroma of sweet Virginia, spicy Perique, and a sourness that I can only guess comes from the Izmir. It was delightful![/SIZE]
[SIZE=3] [/SIZE]
[SIZE=3]The first third of the bowl was pretty spicy and kept things interesting. There is A Lot of Perique in here. All of the components were playing off of each other and going in and out of the taste. The second third of the bowl all of the flavors and aromas seemed to blend together and really come to the forefront. It tickled and burned a bit from the spiciness when blown through the nose. Truly amazing![/SIZE]
[SIZE=3] [/SIZE]
[SIZE=3]The last part of this blend was more of the same. It settled down a bit towards the very end of the bowlful with the sourness taking the drivers seat near the end.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=3] [/SIZE]
[SIZE=3]This blend is truly a great blend right out of the tin. I can’t wait to see what a little age does to this tobacco. As I stated above, there is a ton of Perique in here and it lends to quite a bit of Nicotine as well. Now as most of you know, C & D makes all of the blends for GL Pease. I cannot help but think that this blend is Embarcadero with some Perique added into the mix. The tastes and smells are almost identical. However, the Waccamaw is about $1.50 cheaper for a tin than the Embarcadero. I’d be interested to hear from everyone on this one about whether they think there are definitely similarities or if I’m just imagining all of this.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=3] [/SIZE]
[SIZE=3]If you like Perique bombs, then this blend is definitely one to try out. I believe that this one is definitely taking over the #6 spot because I love the amount of Perique they went with this one.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=3] [/SIZE]
[SIZE=3]Here’s the ratings so far:[/SIZE]

[SIZE=3]1) McConnell Scottish Cake
2) Samuel Gawith’s St. James Flake
3) Escudo
4) GL Pease Filmore
5) H & H AJ’s VaPer [/SIZE]
[SIZE=3]6) Low Country’s Waccamaw
7) Peretti’s Park Square[/SIZE]
[SIZE=3] H & H Rolando’s Own
9) H & H Anniversary Kake
10) G & H Louisiana Flake
11) C & D Night Train [/SIZE]
[SIZE=3]12) H & H Louisiana Red
13) Reiner’s Long Golden Flake
14) Treasures of Ireland - Limerick
15) Dorchester
16) Luxury Bullseye Flake
17) McClelland Bulk 2015
1 GL Pease Telegraph Hill
19) Kajun Kake
20) Luxury Navy Flake[/SIZE]

[mcdevster]

i have heard that rmc's scottish cake contains burley - does anyone know if this is true?
this might explain why from time to time i get a flavor, all be it slightly, not unlike peterson's sherlock holmes from it..
but yeah a very great blend - with the choclatey escudo like virginia perique- meets something tangy.. almost fruity..

[Thisisme]

I enjoyed this thread very much. Being a brand new pipe smoker, it looks like I have a lot to look forward too

I wanted to make it easier on myself to reference your reviews with your ratings in the future, so I added links to your reviews in your ranking list:

[SIZE=3]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
H & H Rolando’s Own
9) H & H Anniversary Kake
10) G & H Louisiana Flake
11) C & D Night Train
12) H & H Louisiana Red
13) Reiner’s Long Golden Flake
14) Treasures of Ireland - Limerick
15) Dorchester
16) Luxury Bullseye Flake
17) McClelland Bulk 2015
1 GL Pease Telegraph Hill
19) Kajun Kake
20) Luxury Navy Flake[/SIZE]

[selleri]

Originally Posted by mcdevster

i have heard that rmc's scottish cake contains burley - does anyone know if this is true?

At least Kohlhase & Kopp's website says it's made out of virginia, kentucky and perique.

ROBERT MC CONNELL
(dunno if this works, and if it does, it's in german).

[hagen]

Originally Posted by selleri

At least Kohlhase & Kopp's website says it's made out of virginia, kentucky and perique.

ROBERT MC CONNELL
(dunno if this works, and if it does, it's in german).

i'm getting still more skeptical about those descriptions, really. though i'd agree that there might be "einer Prise Perique" (which translates, i believe, to "a little bit") in it, they also want us to believe it contains kentucky. i'm almost over-sensitive to the presence of kentucky in a blend, and i do not notice as much as a slight whiff of dark fired there. it might, of course, be some variant with very weak flavours, i can't say for sure.

anyway, my immediate impression of scottish cake is that it contains virginia - and a bit of fruity flavouring. imo, it's a very fine blend (though very mild).

[Slow Triathlete]

Originally Posted by selleri

At least Kohlhase & Kopp's website says it's made out of virginia, kentucky and perique.

ROBERT MC CONNELL
(dunno if this works, and if it does, it's in german).

Keep in mind that they didn't have "Perique" in the description until just recently.

[hagen]

Originally Posted by Slow Triathlete

Keep in mind that they didn't have "Perique" in the description until just recently.

that, too. it's rather confusing, really

[mcdevster]

i guess i'm not all that familiar with kentucky.. maybe i'm tasting that..