Not for everyday use, but if you're sitting on your own in the evening in your living room or porch without having to do anything, Penzance is your best friend. I bought this based on the reviews seen here. 3. Since there have already been so many other reviews of penzance, I'll be brief and only cover things not mentioned in other reviews. The tin aroma, as noted by another reviewer, resembles used Band-Aids indeed. Germain & Son. The first thing one will notice about Penzance is the form and appearance - a dark, oily flake with flecks of brown and gold. Penzance produces a rich, velvety smoke in large volumes. The "soapy" taste subsided and the most wonderful smoke I have had to date took place. My conclusion.the 2014 Penzance I would rate @ 2.5 Stars and the 1991 Penzance a true 4.5 Star blend. Also i collect pipe,s from Eli Belgium a master pipe maker ( see his website ). I paid way too much for an 8 ounce bag of this because of the insane hype surrounding it. There are many great blends out there that I look forward to - three from Mr. Pease on the way right now. These days, I tend to smoke it in meerschaum, which calms down its tendency to nip and smoke hot. The tobacco world's own white whale, Esoterica tobaccos are manufactured by G.F. Germain. I wouldn?t discourage anyone from testing this blend. Peases Quiet Nights is perfection. I remember the moment I lit it and I could not believe how good and complex this stuff was. Happy camper! It burns slowly for me and has a nice room note to it. Something's missing for the top grade. J.F. Esoterica - Pipes and Cigars FREE Shipping on orders over $99! What a pungent smell! iannweeks@msn.com. Pipe Used: Chacom Billiard (Military Mount). This is a full english blend with the Latakia and Virginia being the dominant flavors. The depth of earthy flavors faded and were exchanged for flavors of nut and chocolate. The only thing that helped fight that horrible taste was a nice bowl of Mac Baren Mixture! I often find the tin itself to be insufficiently sealed -- closing the remaining tobacco back up in the tin isn't tight enough, and it dries out too soon. This is a classic for me.. absolutely spicy and interesting.. the flavor lingers and opens up your senses.. the room note is terrible so you might want to take this one outside.. but i promise that it is worth the price.. far creamier than most blends i have smoked.. this delivers latakia but in the most tasty way you could imagine.. Anyway, I have likely already said too much as there is a reason this is extremely hard to obtain. Even so, when I opened the cardboard, I could smell the latakia with the tin sealed and wrapped in plastic wrap. So, I will just go on the record as saying this is one of the finest tobaccos I have smoked. While I find it a delicious and refined blend, it is not worth the insane hype that surrounds it. Taste could be described as smoky with just a hint of natural sweetness in the background. If they were all this good though, we would get mighty bored and have nothing to complain about. Creamy campfire smokiness. Little slices of pure delight arranged in an orderly row like Redcoats on their battle line. There's a decent amount of Virginia present, so it ages better than many English blends. Penzance tobacco is tinned in a charming golden colored rectangular tin. I am smoking some more today and this is really good and can see why it has over 450 reviews. I didn't get much nicotine, and that's a good thing overall. Long matured and easily crumbled to facilitate pipe filling. After reading nothing but good things about Penzance I really wanted to try it. It is, though, a recommended solid three--and for good reason. I could attempt to add my two cents into the fray, however, I don't feel I could top the adjectives others have used to describe this smoke. I strongly recommend this tobacco to anyone looking for that dark, complex after dinner blend. I resist calling either Penzance or Quiet Nights an English or Balkan style tobacco. The tin aroma is not strongit is foul. So..PLEASE READ 4.5 Stars for the YEAR 1991. This superior blend is pure excellency! Nothing in the world wrong with it, but it doesn't deliver a single thing that you can't get elsewhere and for far less money. Like other blends, the strength of smoke getting stronger till the end. Treat it like all flake types (go slow) and you will be rewarded. Esoterica Penzance tobacco | Badger & Blade It also has a unique smell out of the tin and one of the best room notes IMO of any English I've smoked thus far! It's a silky smooth flavorful mottled flake that ages like a very fine Bordeaux. My life changed that day, and I no longer felt the need to have the best, seal away the most, smoke the best or be the "best". Similar Blends: Ten to Midnight is a decent substitute. I love the way the oils soak into the paper and is a joy to bring up to the nose for a long, slow wiff of it's deeply rich, dark and smokey aroma. Other reviewers have noted that age does not improve this blend and I'd agree. The blend isn't terribly complex, it's basically an ongoing duel between the sweet virginias and the rich smokey latakia, with some condiment tobaccos present to spice things up slightly. I usually don't like full English blends although there are a few that really hit the spot once in awhile and I can see this one sharing that trait. It might just be the fermentation process. If you like English Blends you're gonna like this one, I can almost promise it. It needed a relight but left the pipe dry. It was like they got married and was getting along extremely well. Penzance is a lot more sublime than that. But hold on thats in this pipe, today. The presentation is nice, however, the flakes crumble much too easily and once a few have been removed from the tin the remaining flakes become more or less rubbed out within the tin itself. It smokes cool & mild without any harshness or bite. Win some, lose others. 5/5 in my personal rating system. I bought 2 or 3 parcels of this tobacco from a friend, all of them over 5 years old. Industry. So you probably don't want to rub this stuff out all the way. A wonderful Oriental forward blend, and worth keeping a number of tins cellared. Long matured and easily crumbled to facilitate pipe filling. I hope this helps someone to enjoy this great blend. All pretty much the same as the first. I even tend to open the jar daily, or more, just to get re-aquainted with itdoesn't matter if I have plans to smoke it, or not. I could eat this stuff. Esoterica is a name owned by Butera but made by Germain. Similar Blends: McClelland British Woods. Was it the aging that made ALL the difference or in time has the quality of tobaccos used after the year 2000 changed that drastically?!?!?! Towards the heavy side of medium bodied, the finish is dry, musty, and deliciously pungent. Enjoy! I find this blend very hyped up. It seems that tinned Penzance smokes and tastes better than the larger bags. Never opened since. I guess there is no accounting for tastes right. This smoke has a strong menthol aroma in the tin and in the smoke. old, the Tilbury blend is a potent tobacco that may cause dizziness. it is all that i personally could ask of a leaf and more. I opened the Ziplock bag that my sample came in and trembled with humility. So what then is the difference? 4. The flakes are packed upright & sideways & occupy the full length of the tin. Penzance is one of these. This bulk stuff is like comparing a corncob to a Dunhill. I keep coming back to this blend so I can give a non-bias review. For all your Esoterica pipe tobacco needs, whether that be Penzance, or another blend, find them all, with Fast and Free domestic shipping included, visit TobaccoPipes.com. All in all, good stuff. I like many English blends, but this one, along with Chelsea Morning, Margate and Park-Lane's Knightsbridge, makes me salivate and enter a state of sedate delirium. gets better and stronger as you smoke it down.was so good that i picked up 2 more tins on ebay. Almost too easily. Been smoking pipes for about 2 years. First Impression: Where as this used to bowl me over with a Latakia punch, the first puffs are mellower and softer with the Latakia still present, just sitting in the background. The flakes come beautifully arranged in the tin and when I opened it for the first time I got a whaft of hickory smoke and bacon and pine campfire. Do you like your humble, simple easy to obtain english? Penzance is by far the worst tobacco I've ever encountered! I like what's there, but it's missing something important to me. Keep a pipe cleaner handy, as this can gurgle. No too strong, not too weak, just right for me. Tin Opening: I had the pleasure of opening a 5 year old tin of this tobacco and was greeted by the familiar wax paper, but the tobacco has turned darker than a new tin, though still mottled with flecks of bright here and there. And of course I wasn't disappointed. I'll certainty call it a four star, but I don't think I'll throw out my stash of other blends yet. A hint of sweetness and perhaps salt. It's an earthy balkan/English and in no way are the orientals nor the VAs at the forefront. Right down to the bare ashes at the end, it was a constant interplay of a well-balanced tobacco, with that chocolaty after taste. My bowl lasted nearly an houran hour of pure bliss. Kingsbridge is a mixture of dark and gold Virginias that are hot-pressed, sliced, and ready-rubbed for a mellow and slightly sweet smoking experience and pleasant room note. I've smoked this blend off and on since 2007, so this review is based on a combination of these experiences. Still not smokable. Like many I was struck by the tin aroma when it arrived in the mail. Penzance has become my yardstick and I can't see, so far any reason pack anything else when I travel. Someone recommended having a bowlful of Penzance with a glass of Laphroaig. This will become this generation's 759. Stokkebye Proper English - Full on power english! I KNOW that I'll go out tomorrow and buy a bagfull!!!! The pouch aroma is almost musty/earthy, and the room note, although strong, does not seem to be penetrating. Nicotine wise it is not a lightweight, but flavor wise it?s a subtle and sublime, dark and mellow on the tongue, the taste equivalent of a bassoon, with hints of other reeds harmonizing in the background yet never a discordant sip. And for hours afterward I still have that wonderful taste tickling my buds. Highly recommended!! Get your behind down to the store and buy as much as you can!!!!!!!! Through a lot of work and the generosity of friends, I was able to put away well over a pound before Id ever even tasted it. Beyond that, this is now one of my regulars, and is especially perfect after dinner. Margate is a maiden while Penzance is a matriarch. On a side note. Thanks to my favorite seller of aged tobacco goods, I got my hands on a 6 yr old tin of Penzance and now I've experienced all the pomp & circumstance regarding this blend. Creamy, nutty, pungent, and smoky are, at best,inadequate descriptions of this truly remarkable tobacco. Pipe Used: Moonshine Signature Devil Anse. This is not an everyday smoke for me only because I prefer not to taste my pipe the entire next day - a latakia problem for me nothing against the tobacco. I may stumble across a Virginia or English blend that I like as well or better, but for now, this is my favorite. Smoked Dunhill 965 right after a pipe yesterday and have to admit, think I liked Penzance better. One of the most complex blends I have smoked to date. My update to the review is more commentary on what I have read online and even in some of the reviews here. Similar to westminster but more round and fuller with more sweetness. It seems to me that all kinds of people pick up a can of one of these two tobaccos that wouldn't otherwise get near a good English or Balkan if it flew into their cellar. Penzance is probably the finest krumblecake on the market today! Quiet Nights just about reaches for that greatness, but gets muddled at the very end. Also, because it is just that good. I liked it. Very well balanced, but not full bodided. Even this confirmed Virginia smoker must make room in the rotation for Penzance! So, it was with much surprise and pleasure, when I found four ounces of bulk at my local tobacconist. My flakes were a lovely dark color with light specks and the sugar crystal formation of the aged virginias. There's much better to be had on a regular basis that is more satisfying. Be sure to give it a good half an hour of dry time, gravity fill your pipe and enjoy! Overall, there is a pleasing mocha / coffee taste throughout the bowl, with high notes of spice and sweetness here and there (especially in the middle third of the bowl) but many of the subtleties which I was expecting, based on the uber-hype, were simply not present. Penzance is an exceptionally good blend! Just hope to get it more easily in the future.and for the tin lover maybe a more appealing label more worthy of the content would'nt hurt either! Penzance smokes cool and dry with an easy draw. A beautiful flake that rubs out like magic, burns cool and evenly, and makes other tobaccos cry. As I smoked, the orientals started to appear with some spice but just a bit, completing the taste. In response to Steelcowboy: Virginia is a very complex tobacco and can be smoked by itself. Now that's what I'm talking about! It's easy to light, it stays lit well, it smokes cool and slow, or, if you prefer, it also smokes wet and fast, it makes a fine nice white ash. Since I think this a blend everyone should try, I will keep it at four stars and I will rebuy it any opportunity I get. It is so full of flavour that it demands your attention all the time. This is a nice, full bodied blend very similar to Smokers Haven Krumble Kake and both are made by Germain so there ya go. Maybe one day another blender will come up with something which is comparable to Penzance, but nothing comes close to the 2010 batch I hadaccording to 1,000 or more pipers' opinions who say the same. My first smoke off the tin was a disaster, horrid taste, hard to light, you should have seen the disbelief on my face. Hard to say as I smoke outdoors by myself, but I think it is better than most English lat-bombs. I don't care about the just-ate-an-old-shoe-smothered-in-tobasco-and-capers breath that it gives me. Similar Blends: Dunhill - Standard Mixture, Esoterica Tobacciana - Margate.