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Old 01-16-2009, 09:07 AM   #7
Slow Triathlete
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First Name: Scott
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Default Re: Virginia/Perique (VaPer) Showdown

So, I decided to bundle all of the remaining bulk blends together into one post because only one of them really knocked my socks off. These three include McClelland’s Bulk 2015, Hearth & Home Anniversary Kake, and I just recently got some Stokkebye Luxury Navy Flake so I thought that I would include it in here.

I’ll start off with the ones that didn’t really impress me. First off is Stokkebye’s Luxury Navy Flake. When I put my nose down into this one I didn’t really smell much and what I did smell was more like buttered popcorn than any kind of Virginia or Perique. Weird, but that's what I smelled. This comes in small flakes that are a bit smaller than Orlik’s Golden Sliced flakes. It had the right amount of moisture right off the bat so I rubbed some out and packed it in.

To summarize the whole smoke I would say that it was bland. Bland to the point of monotony. I kept hoping that maybe, just maybe the taste, strength, or spiciness would develop somewhere but it didn’t. Nothing stood out to me with this blend. Oh and it had a bite like a rabid dog when I smoked it a bit too fast. This one is going to the bottom of the list.

Up next was McClelland’s Bulk 2015 blend. Originally this blend was a pain in the butt because it came extremely wet and no matter how much I rubbed it out it never seemed to dry out. Finally, I put my sample on a cutting board and minced it as I do garlic. It finally broke up small enough that it was able to dry out. I did smoke a bowl before it was dried out enough. I was extremely disappointed because I had to relight so many times that I couldn’t take notes well enough to give a proper review. After chopping this blend into oblivion I was able to smoke it almost to the bottom of the bowl. Even though this blend is pretty good for a bulk blend, I feel that the amount of prep work just isn’t worth it to me. However, if you are very patient with this then you will be rewarded with a fine bulk blend. The different Virginias taste very good against the amount of Perique that is in this blend. Taste-wise this was a very good blend but like I said earlier the amount of work to get it there just isn’t for me. I put this one just above the Kajun Kake blend because the taste was a lot better than the Kajun Kake.

And finally, Hearth & Home’s Anniversary Kake. This blend is made for pipesandcigars.com by master blender Russ Ouellette. I had never had any of his blends before this one but everyone raves about his skill. After tasting this blend I believe them. I ordered 4 ounces of this about a month ago. I spoke with someone there before I got my order and he stated that when they make this, they make it in a 3 lb cake and then split it out from there. He also stated that they run the machinery that makes this blend pretty much 24 hours a day to keep up with demand. My sample was about an inch thick and looked like it had been ripped off of the larger block. It was extremely dark brown and smelled wonderful. The only way to get this blend smokable is to rip off a hunk, rub it out and then rip off another hunk. By the time that I got done my hands were a bit stained but I didn’t mind because it was fun rubbing it out. This is a hard blend to describe when you rub this out. It just kind of falls apart and packs into the pipe extremely easy. I went to do my false light and soon realized that this was all I needed to get this blend going. From there this blend never stopped surprising me. This bulk blend was better than a lot of tinned blends that I have tried so far. The description on their website states that there are many different Virginias in this blend, from Brown to Lemon and it has a healthy dose of Perique added in. Although I’m not experienced enough to know that difference in taste between a Brown or a Lemon Virginia, I can say that this blend is delicious. The flavors change throughout the smoke and the Perique really kicks in towards the end of the bowl. I thoroughly recommend this blend not only as a good, cheap bulk blend but possibly as an everyday smoke. I plan on grabbing a couple of pounds of this, separating it into smaller samples and cellaring it. I want to see how this blend changes over time. This blend has now taken over 3rd place.


Okay, here are the results so far:

1) McConnell Scottish Cake
2) Escudo
3) H & H Anniversary Kake
4) Treasures of Ireland – Limerick
5) Dorchester
6) Luxury Bullseye Flake
7) McConnell Bulk 2015
8) Kajun Kake
9) Luxury Navy Flake

After several people requested this be added, I was finally able to pick up some Solani 633. In addition, I grabbed some Gawith’s St. James Flake as well. I also have Dunbar and Bayou Morning Flake to add as well.

I never knew how many good VaPer blends were out there until I started this. I hope that these reviews are helping everyone out because it’s been a lot of fun reviewing and judging these.
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