I just tried Esoterica's Penzance

[Kyle Weiss]

It's still funny how most people's tongues/palettes react to certain things.

Believe me, I wanted nothing more than to "meh" on Penzance. Who needs another hard-to find "needle-in-a-haystack" tobacco to chase down?

In any case, Alfredo, Vito is usually pretty spot-on with tobacco, I wouldn't doubt if it were a majority Oriental, but the nic-kick in the stuff suggest there's a fair amount of Virginia in it, too. Mind you, my experience with this stuff in a cob was suggestive of a sweetness of a Virginia rather than saying, "This brings out the Virginia in the blend." I was being vaguely metaphorical--my apologies.

Reactions to Latakia across the board, regardless of the blend or tobacco is also fascinating to me--Penzance is so subtly and elegantly mixed with Latakia sometimes I forget (while smoking it) that it's in there at all. Other times I'm pleasantly surrounded with smoky goodness of the stuff. Most of the time (to me) a tobacco with Latakia just...has it, or it doesn't. The flexibility factor kind of goes out the window, as Latakia isn't subtle, to say the least. So when it is applied as such, I'm fascinated by it--and people's reactions.

 

[Kyle Weiss]

Point of note, I noticed there's some tins of Penzance over at 4Noggins. I just grabbed a few. 8)

 

[tech2576]

I'm not getting it.

I agree with you I finally got to try some and it was ok, but I couldn't see the grand reputation which had preceded trying it.
I didn't dislike it nor did I think it was a gift of the gods. it was just ok, perhaps it will take alot more smoking to fully make a judgement.

But here is the kicker. If I am not strongly drawn to something why would I invest the effort to keep trying? There are so many I know I enjoy. Like reading a book if it don't grab me after a chapter or so I'm not going to read 3/4 and then say well its not a good book. :study:

I wanted to "get it" with such a resounding reputation I felt I was really missing out. Now not so much. :scratch:

Gentlemen, my first reaction to the stuff was very similar to yours.
Put it up for a couple weeks, forget about it, then get it back out. Put it in a different pipe and try it again.

I tried it in 2 diff. pipes when I first got some. Eh, can't see all the fuss but , ok.
Set it aside and figured I would get around to just "smokin it up" later.
Stuffed some in a different pipe I had picked up recently over this past weekend.
OOOOOOOOOOOO lordy, what a difference. I now have devoted that pipe to Penzance and can't wait for the rotation to get back to it!

 

[Boxerbuddy]

I bought a tin of this a couple of months ago, tried it right out of the tin....it was good, but not being a huge latakia fan, it just didn't excite me much.

I decided to give this another try tonight in my Boswell bulliard/billdog. Wow this stuff blew me away. It really has almost every flavor in there all mashed up in perfect balance. It smells like Lat out of the tin but the lat is kindof in the background during smoking. I'm tasting sweet Va along with another type of sweetness thats kindof of syrupy...the oriental maybe? Really I'm mostly getting the lat through the smell of this stuff. It's really a unique experience...the peppery, sweet, smooth taste along with the lat nose. I'm understanding why its never available. I'm gonna try to make my little 2oz tin last as long as I can.

Do you guys find this stuff is good out of a narrow tall bowl or a wide shallow one? The Boswell I'm smoking it out of has a tall narrow bowl.

 

[Kyle Weiss]

My Penzance has mostly gone in the narrower chambers so far, and the results have been good. The problem is, my pipe collection is varied in quality, and the other two narrow-tall chambers I have are my self-carved Tinsky and a GIANT Nording--with a Kirk Bosi being the last. The Bosi always delivers a great smoke--sweet, lots of Virginia, great "aged" flavor. The Nording, hit-and-miss. My Tinsky carving project, that pipe smokes wet sometimes, and irritates me.

When smoked in a mid-sized tobacco chamber (width and girth), it opens up the Latakia and meatiness of it, and reduces the sweetness, and smokes more like a true English.

When smoked in a wide and deep chamber, it can almost get a little out of control, and the flavors start to muddy up a little. I really dried out the bacca and this helped in this case, but with Penzance, less is more--I'd rather have a lesser amount and save a bowl for next time, as the flavor will be more even and I won't smoke up the precious little I have!

YMMV, as they say.

8)

 

[Harlock999]

I like medium width and shallow, myself.
I've tried this blend in different pipes, and I get consistently better results in when I avoid the taller chambers.
Having said that, I'll say that Penzance is one that has proven tricky for me at times.
Totally worth it, though. Totally.