Esoterica Penzance [Archive] - Club Stogie Cigar Discussion Forum

DrStrangelove

12-11-2005, 05:00 AM

Estoerica Tobacciana - Penzance

Let me go ahead and say this is a very complex tobacco and you'll have to excuse me if I misidentify any of the flavors.

I first smoked some of this baccy a while ago when Croatan sent me a sample of it. I liked it alot then but didn't really put much thought to it. Today I was at a local B&M and picked up a tin.

Penzance comes in a small rectangular tin which is plainly labled. Immediately I thought to myself, how the hell can they fit so much tobacco into such a little tin? I got home poped it open and immidiately saw how. The tobacco is crumble cake, but not like C & D crumble cake. Just imagine a whole bunch of flakes pressed together into a tobacco brick. This tobacco brick is wrapped in wax paper (a nice touch), and has a really pleasant semi-sweet English smell. The tobacco breaks down easy, you can practically rub some off of the top, no problem.

I've smoked two bowls of it today, what a great flavor! I'd say this tobacco is medium bodied but with a very deep flavor and creamy texture. The Latakia is delicious and smokey and the Oriental Tobacco has a really unique flavor, it sort of reminded me of light soy sauce without the saltiness or the sharp fermented soy bean flavor (I know that didn't make any sense, but its really good). Occaisionally the Virginia peaks it's head through and you catch a delicious sweet note. Whatever virginia they use to mix this tobacco I would be happy to smoke on its own.

This tobacco smokes very dry and cool right out of the tin. I'm a habitual over puffer and the smoke remained cool and flavorful. When I made myself slow down (usually the flavor of singed tongue makes me do it), I picked up even more complexities. The nicoteine buzz was present, but not substantial.

This is a brilliant English blend. It might not be something everyone would want to smoke everyday/all day, but this will definately become more of a staple in my smoking rotation. Give this one a try, it's complex, delicious, cool smoking... it's great!

IHT

01-14-2006, 06:41 PM

well, my SPS sent me what was on my wish list, and this was my most highly sought after tobacco that i had yet to try.

today, i tried it.

not a "formal" sit down, smoke and type, type of review... just a brief review.

Penzance (http://www.tobaccoreviews.com/blend_detail.cfm?ALPHA=P&TID=498) is one of the most highly rated tobacco's out there, which is why i wanted to give it a whirl. i did not know that it was a "flake (http://www.mac-baren.com/sw3855.asp)" tobacco, and that would have semi-scared me off.

having never packed a bowl w/flake tobacco, i was a little skeptical at how i'd do, but since ScottM posted a link on how to pack flake tobacco (http://www.mac-baren.com/sw3805.asp), i realized that the author knew types like me. i am just like the ppl he describes that are scared off.

the article shows how to pack your pipe w/flake tobacco, and i tried to do it that way instead of hand rubbing it. the article also shows it being done with larger flakes from the MacBaren line.

the Penzance was a lot smaller, and didn't just fold like the article shows, not to mention it was still pretty darn moist in comparison to many english loose cut blends. as i tried to "fold" it, it simply broke apart and i thought, "fug it, time to rub it out." so, i only took 2 flakes and broke 'em apart, then filled my bowl a little past halfway.

like the article stated, was hard to get started, but didn't stop once it was going.

smoked cool, minimal tongue bite. i don't recall what tobaccos are in there, but it has a minty type of spice on the finish. most tobaccos i smoke don't change as they're smoked, but i found this one changed about halfway through the little bit i packed into the bowl.

it's been a good 20+ minutes, and i can still taste the spice. very nice and smooth smoke.

i would easily recommend this, and the article ScottM linked for us has now kept me from shying away from flake style tobacco's. i might have to look up some more to give a whirl.

croatan

01-15-2006, 12:29 PM

brado

09-03-2006, 09:24 PM

Glad you're enjoying it so far, Greg. Penzance is one of my favorite tobaccos and, honestly, I like that it's a flake. I enjoy playing with the consistency of the flake tobacco because it allows you to pack the bowl just the way you want it and control the burn a little better than most tobaccos (or at least that's the way it seems to me :)).

Gotta tell ya, Because people on the list were talking about Penzance I went and bought a tin today. I paid twice as much for it as I had for blends from the store I go to. I took it home and loaded up a bowl....and regretted it from the beginning. It had a "funky" smell. But I thought this would go away when I lit it up. No, instead it turned into a "funky" taste in my mouth. I tried to enjoy. I really did! But about half way through I had to get rid of it. But then, I couldn't get that chemical, almost vomit-like taste out of my mouth. I went to ANOTHER tobaccinist and got 2 oz of a blend they had, called "IQ". THAT helped to get the taste out my mouth. Very good, and it only cost 2.50/oz, as opposed to 6.50/oz for the Penzance.

Sorry. I HATED it.

mr.c

09-03-2006, 10:05 PM

I smoked penzance after smoking a couple bowls of vanilla cream. almost puked.

Love the stuff though, just learned not to mix bacckys lol

IHT

09-03-2006, 10:26 PM

Gotta tell ya, Because people on the list were talking about Penzance I went and bought a tin today. I paid twice as much for it as I had for blends from the store I go to. I took it home and loaded up a bowl....and regretted it from the beginning. It had a "funky" smell. But I thought this would go away when I lit it up. No, instead it turned into a "funky" taste in my mouth. I tried to enjoy. I really did! But about half way through I had to get rid of it. But then, I couldn't get that chemical, almost vomit-like taste out of my mouth. I went to ANOTHER tobaccinist and got 2 oz of a blend they had, called "IQ". THAT helped to get the taste out my mouth. Very good, and it only cost 2.50/oz, as opposed to 6.50/oz for the Penzance.

Sorry. I HATED it.
not all tobaccos are for everyone. i love it, and i love that "funky" flavor i get from som Samuel Gawith flakes (like Bracken Flake)....

what tobaccos are you use to? do you normally smoke store bought blends? are they aromatic, etc, etc? <--- usual questions.

when i was new, i smoked aromatics and couldn't understand how someone would smoke an "english" blend... now i'm pretty much reversed on that.
--------

finally cracked my tin of "Squadron Leader"....
mild is an understatement. so far, after one half bowl 15 minutes after opening the tin, it's not something i'd buy again. it wasn't bad, it just wasn't anything. smooth, yep. packed well, yep. lit alright (for being moist), yep. looked like quality tobacco cut very well, yep. flavor, eh... there's some there.

brado

09-03-2006, 11:18 PM

I have been smoking store blends from my local. I just bought some "IQ" which smells great, but is milder than I thought it would be. I bought a Latakia blend form the store that was pretty good also. And, yes, they are all aromatic blends. Right now, that's what i like. Maybe I'll change someday. When I first started smoking cigars, I only smoked ACID's. Now, however, I like many different kinds of stogies.

volfan

01-09-2007, 03:09 PM

caskwith

01-09-2007, 03:14 PM

Penzance is one of my absolute favs, also ages extremely well. I was lucky enough to be gifted a tin from '99, and i can tell you if you thought fresh was good, the mellow sweetness of aged is even better. Personally i love flake tobacco and normally smoke whole or lightly broken up rather than rubbed out.

Penzance is quite simply one of the best out there.

Great reviews guys.

IHT

01-09-2007, 03:28 PM

Personally i love flake tobacco and normally smoke whole or lightly broken up rather than rubbed out.

hard to rub that stuff out. this flake is what i consider "crumble cake". i know there's definitions of it out there somewhere... i an't lookin for it though.
it's good stuff, that's for sure. when i tried to rub it out, it just fell apart into chunks. i quickly learned to get out some sharp scissors, cut the "flake" into thirds (across, not lengthwise), then gently crumbled 'em up and stuffed the pipe.
it's been so long, i've forgotten how good it is. i have 1 tin left and want it to age... like that's ever going to happen. :rolleyes:

caskwith

01-09-2007, 03:39 PM

hard to rub that stuff out. this flake is what i consider "crumble cake". i know there's definitions of it out there somewhere... i an't lookin for it though.
it's good stuff, that's for sure. when i tried to rub it out, it just fell apart into chunks. i quickly learned to get out some sharp scissors, cut the "flake" into thirds (across, not lengthwise), then gently crumbled 'em up and stuffed the pipe.
it's been so long, i've forgotten how good it is. i have 1 tin left and want it to age... like that's ever going to happen. :rolleyes:

Your certainly right about this stuff, if you tried to rub it out as you might Dunhill light flake (a long ribbon cut flake for those who dont know) then it would just make a pile of dust. My persoanl method for penzance is to take a flake and break it into 6 peices with my fingers, i then stuff 5 of these into a small bowled pipe (i have a small Dr Grabow Duke which smokes this stuff perfectly) the final peice is crumbled on top to make a bit of tinder to help with lighting. Other flakes i like are 1792 (in moderation, and only after stoving) Dunhill Light flake, Peter Stokkebye Luxury Bullseye flake, Peter Stokkebye Luxury Navy Flake, and of course Christmas Cheer. As these are all ribbon cut flakes i usually take the flake and tear it up into a few peices before stuffing into the bowl. For bullseye i have a special packing technique but it is too long winded to explain here, lol.

IHT

01-09-2007, 04:04 PM

..... Peter Stokkebye Luxury Bullseye flake, Peter Stokkebye Luxury Navy Flake, and of course Christmas Cheer. As these are all ribbon cut flakes i usually take the flake and tear it up into a few peices before stuffing into the bowl. For bullseye i have a special packing technique but it is too long winded to explain here, lol.

ironic, i just sent someone a PM talking about splitting some Bullseye Flake, Luxury Navy Flake.... lol...

please explain how you pack the bullseye coins, i want to know. i assume they're similar to Escudo "coins/curly cut". i fold mine in half then gently rub 'em out.

caskwith

01-09-2007, 04:21 PM

ironic, i just sent someone a PM talking about splitting some Bullseye Flake, Luxury Navy Flake.... lol...

please explain how you pack the bullseye coins, i want to know. i assume they're similar to Escudo "coins/curly cut". i fold mine in half then gently rub 'em out.

Ok then Greg, just for you :p

basically i sort of push it out into rings, much like you would with an onion. I then pack a layer of Va in the bottom, the cavendish goes in the centre and then more Va on top, with some crumbled for tinder. This means that when i smoke i get the flavour of the Va and spiciness of the perique, followed by a sweetness hit in the centre from the cavendish. Then once more onto the VaPer at the bottom. i find this makes for a very interesting smoke that keeps changing flavour. Much more fun that simply rubbing out and packing.

hope that helps greg

IHT

01-09-2007, 04:28 PM

you're like the owl in the "tootsie roll pop" comercials over here... how many licks til you get to the center of a tootsie roll pop?

caskwith

01-09-2007, 04:39 PM

you're like the owl in the "tootsie roll pop" comercials over here... how many licks til you get to the center of a tootsie roll pop?

Lol, thanks (i think :confused: )

try the method when you get some bullseye, i think you'll like it, i love the stuff. Let me know how you get on.

EvanS

02-19-2007, 09:01 PM

I tried Penzance as my first bowl ever in a pipe and it was a little funky and different. It reminded me of that smell coming off of a smoker when it has 10-15 beef briskets cooking. I am set to try some other things to see if I like the pipe or not.

scottie

funny how folks will taste things differently, and I notice that I myself am developing different tastes as well as noticing how especially tinned tobacco can change after it is open for a bit.
I tried Penzance 1st time about 3 weeks ago and my first thought was "yuk, orange rind and overcooked liver....not cool". But now I have had my 2nd and 3rd bowls of it this weekend and am enjoying it pretty well. Be interesting to see if I end up liking it well enough to pay for it again though. So far I would take any number of McClelland bulks (2020, 2015, 5110) over Penzance. But I did like it. Now I'm not comparing McC and Penzance...just my obsevations. In fact I already am pretty sure that I will not buy and smoke this on a reular basis...but I may buy a few tins to cellar and open them at five year intervals.

Now on the other hand I also tried my first chunks of Esoterica Stonehaven this weekend. Now THAT has some funk to it. By the smell I figured I'd love it but truth is I smoked 1/3 bowl, picked it up again 4 hours later for another 1/3 and finally scraped it out. Tasted like beef jerky soaked in watered down cheap scotch with more than just a hint of the oooold kilbasa grease from the bottom of the BBQ thrown in for good measure. :BS Yep, looking forward to trying that again :r .

we'll see......

TimB

02-19-2007, 10:17 PM

Penzance is my absolute favorite. I haven't been smoking a pipe that long, but I keep coming back to Esoterica. I bought a tin of Margate a couple weeks back and I'm in love with that too (Margate is Panzance in ribbon form).

I won't get long winded on the flavor profile here, there are tons of reviews and detailed descriptions here:

http://www.tobaccoreviews.com/blend_detail.cfm?ALPHA=P&TID=498

I will say every bowl is completely satisfying, rich and creamy. It is like nothing I have ever smoked (in a pipe or a cigar)

Mister Moo

02-28-2007, 04:56 PM

Penzance is, to me, the pipe tobacco equivalent of a rich, aged maduro cigar with some plume showing. I like the funky depth and smoke-house nature of the blend as much as anything I've smoked that wasn't discontinued in 1996.

Noons call on the $35 Tsuge stacked billiard for Pe'z was a good one; it takes two flakes, gently twisted into the chamber, just right.

Hoplophile

03-01-2007, 08:20 AM

Penzance and Margate are my go-to English blends. :pp

Fumioso

03-29-2007, 12:08 AM

Just smoked my first bowl of Penzance and I have to say it's one of my favorites ever. I like English blends, but this one smokes so smooth and so rich that if I had discovered this five years ago I might not have ever picked up a cigar. (Which would have been a tragedy, but now I can enjoy the best of both worlds!)

I can't be equivocal about this tobacco. Lovely leathery gently spicy perfection. Wow. I was planning on an LFD torpedo tonight, but ran short of time and thought I'd try this pipe baccy instead. I'm VERY glad I did.

:tu :tu

Foz

03-29-2007, 01:16 PM

I have to join in the chorus and say Penzance is quickly becoming one of my favorites as well

TimB

03-29-2007, 01:38 PM

If you guys like Penzance (which I love) try Compton's Macedonian - it is rich and fantastic as well

EvanS

03-29-2007, 04:10 PM

Penzance is, to me, the pipe tobacco equivalent of a rich, aged maduro cigar with some plume showing. I like the funky depth and smoke-house nature of the blend as much as anything I've smoked that wasn't discontinued in 1996...

ok, ok - after getting my pipes broke in and getting my techniques down I am also on the Panzance bandwagon. VERY nice. And guess what? I actually like Stonehaven even better.

NOOBs shouldn't be allowed to comment on tobaccos for the first 3 months :r

ghostrider

04-09-2007, 08:03 PM

I just smoked some of this last night. WOW. Looks like I may be stocking up on some extra tins to set aside for awhile. May not be an every day smoke, but definitely something I'll be keeping handy.

mudd

04-12-2007, 01:16 AM

Penzance is one of my all time favorites. I just take the flakes and gentle push them into the bowl then sprinkle a little of the shake on top. I buy in bulk from smokingpipes.com

http://www.smokingpipes.com/tobacco/by-maker/esoterica/moreinfo.cfm?product_id=2197

TU09

04-12-2007, 04:49 AM

I only started smoking pipes in November of last year but Penzance has had a constant place in my pipe. Still familiarizing myself but I feel I could be content with Penzance for a very long time.

fireman43

10-09-2007, 01:29 PM

I just finished a small bowl of Penzance. It is my first bowl of what I would call real tobacco. Not the one dimensional aromatics from CVS I have been smoking. The smell upon opening it reminds me of spicy molasses. This smell brings back memories when I was a kid and went to the Dr. It smells like that Doctors office, and not in a bad way, but different if that makes any sense. Once I got it lit up, the taste is very similar to the way it smells. Not too sweet really, but like molasses with a little spicyness mixed in. The finish is slightly bitter to me, but still very good. I am just getting started, so I can't pick up on certain flavors or type of tobacco yet. It was good though, and I am sure I'll pick up another tin when I finish this one.

agony

10-09-2007, 04:35 PM

So far in my very short pipe-smoking career, Penzance is my favorite. So much so that I threw out all of my half-filled pouches of cheap drug-store aromatics, and only want english blends from now on.

Penzance was my first true English. I picked up a tin of the Early Morning Pipe today at the local shop, and hope it's as tasty and complex as Penzance.

Any suggestions on other 'must-smoke' Englishes out there before I order only Penzance?

Alyks

10-09-2007, 04:51 PM

This stuff is awesome! It's my favorite. I can't smoke it everyday, though. It overpowers my palate. I smoke it on special ocassions.

Thanks TimB. Will surely give Compton's a try.

mcdevster

07-06-2008, 01:30 AM

Very delicious.. and creamy somehow.. One of my new favorites.. I would not recommend smoking it indoors though - it does leave behind quite an aroma that is very hard to get rid of despite its pleasant smell during the smoke..
I try to sneak outside and enjoy it at during the quiet nightime hours - it tastes good at that time for me - and you can avoid the crowds that way..

Alyks

07-07-2008, 03:31 AM

This stuff is awesome! It's my favorite. I can't smoke it everyday, though. It overpowers my palate. I smoke it on special ocassions.

Interesting how tastes change in just a few short months. I cannot smoke any blend which has more than a hint of latakia now.

Samsonite

07-08-2008, 08:37 PM

I just had my very first bowl of Penzance. I rubbed it out loosely because it was too crumbly to try the stuff method. I gravity fed the crumbles and then pressed down a bit.

I must say, I really enjoyed it. It stayed lit fairly well, had almost no tongue bite, and tasted great. Although I can't discern the nuances of tobaccos, as long as I enjoy what I'm smoking, I'm happy.

I do recommend it for anyone that is a fan of Englishes, despite my slim experience.