Butera: "Kingfisher".

[Deimitori]

I am happy to have smoked this fine blend. It has a gentle and also full creamy taste. The tobacco leafs mixed in this blend are of the best quality. A nice natural tobacco aroma comes out when the tin is opened. This combination of Virginia, Burley and Perique is a very nice one. The taste is mostly a nutty one comes from the Burley and keeps in a very great harmony with the Virginia's sweetness and Perique's peppery touch. Easy to pack and light it and there is no tongue bite, just a fine smoking experience. Goes so well while drinking a coffee. It has a medium nicotine level. The crumble cake flakes of Kingfisher are giving a complex smoking experience that gives pleasure to the pipe smoker who will smoke it slowly and calm. Since this blend is no longer in production, I just hope one day to be back again. It is a lovely tobacco, a Kingfisher "tobacco bird" that with it's excellent and tasty pipe smoking "colors" will keep you happy while smoking your pipe with it!

 

[babysinister]

Thank you for your review, Deimitori. I concur with your appreciation of this blend. Haven't smoked it in a while, since I've been careful not to open my last two remaining tins, but your review brought its virtues to mind and I may have to revisit it. Cheers.

 

[Brewdude]

Ah yes, the ever elusive Kingfisher. Never in stock at any of the US e-tailers for years now. But didn't know it had been disco'd. Or has it been? SP still has it listed on their site as oos. Been wanting to check this out for some time now (blatant mooch attempt).

:?:


Cheers,

RR

 

[JimInks]

Ah yes, the ever elusive Kingfisher. Never in stock at any of the US e-tailers for years now. But didn't know it had been disco'd. Or has it been? SP still has it listed on their site as oos. Been wanting to check this out for some time now (blatant mooch attempt).

:?:


Cheers,

RR

Don't blame you for the mooch attempt. I never tried it either. The only time I ever saw a tin was in 2003 at a local pipe shop and the guy said it was worth $12.95, which I thought was too much at the time. I'm not even sure he wanted to sell it by the way he talked. Very strange.

 

[DrumsAndBeer]

I ran into a tin about 3 years ago, but I was smoking a lot more Englishes at the time. I knew it was a bit of a rarity and almost bought it, but opted for a tin of Penzance instead. Interestingly, it seems like Kingfisher never got bounced around like Pelican did. I know Pelican was originally blended by Germain and then went to McClelland and ultimately ended up with Stokkebye, and as a result seems to be still in production. According to TR.com, Kingfisher is no longer produced. This begs another question. Does Germain no longer have access to quality perique? When was the last time anyone saw Dorchester, Dunbar or Jersey Perique hit the shelves?

 

[babysinister]

I ran into a tin about 3 years ago, but I was smoking a lot more Englishes at the time. I knew it was a bit of a rarity and almost bought it, but opted for a tin of Penzance instead. Interestingly, it seems like Kingfisher never got bounced around like Pelican did. I know Pelican was originally blended by Germain and then went to McClelland and ultimately ended up with Stokkebye, and as a result seems to be still in production. According to TR.com, Kingfisher is no longer produced. This begs another question. Does Germain no longer have access to quality perique? When was the last time anyone saw Dorchester, Dunbar or Jersey Perique hit the shelves?

I only know the Esoterica Tobacciana Dunbar It's one of my favorite vapers and I still have several tins cellared. I hope it's not discontinued. I'm not up to the latest speed on these developments concerning the longevity of blend productions.

 

[DrumsAndBeer]

I only know the Esoterica Tobacciana Dunbar  It's one of my favorite vapers and I still have several tins cellared.  I hope it's not discontinued.  I'm not up to the latest speed on these developments concerning the longevity of blend productions.

One of my favorites is their Dorchester, and trust me, I hope the same. The only reason why I bring this up, is that I remember reading that the Gawith's were having trouble sourcing quality perique for their blends, and that Gawith & Hoggarth was discontinuing Louisiana Flake as a result, but keeping the bit that they can get for St. James Flake, which is a far better seller. This, coupled with the fact the vendors have not seen the Germain perique blends for a few years. A bit of speculation? Sure. But it is concerning.

 

[babysinister]

I only know the Esoterica Tobacciana Dunbar  It's one of my favorite vapers and I still have several tins cellared.  I hope it's not discontinued.  I'm not up to the latest speed on these developments concerning the longevity of blend productions.

One of my favorites is their Dorchester, and trust me, I hope the same. The only reason why I bring this up, is that I remember reading that the Gawith's were having trouble sourcing quality perique for their blends, and that Gawith & Hoggarth was discontinuing Louisiana Flake as a result. This, coupled with the fact the vendors have not seen the Germain perique blends for a few years. A bit of speculation? Sure. But it is concerning.

Concerning indeed! I like Louisiana Flake and down to my last jar of it. I would also miss ET Tilbury, along with Dunbar. But since Tilbury doesn't contain perique (I think), it should still be around. Tarnation. Glad I started that cellar decades ago.

 

[JimInks]

As we've veered off target, I'll join in on it. There was no Tilbury (which has no perique), Dorchester or Dunbar available in 2015. One does wonder why and lack of perique may well answer why two of the three blends were not made. Or if they were made, they weren't sold in the USA. It may be that these three don't sell as well as we think, so they didn't worry about them last year, though I find that a little unlikely. With the feeding frenzy for anything with the Esoterica in full bloom, I believe they could sell Mixture #79 and sell out. Sad to see that it has come to this for those of us who aren't hoarding or flipping to make a profit.

 

[hobie1dog]

I've never got to try any of the Butera blends

 

[babysinister]

Gee, I didn't know that Esoterica made Mixture 79. If so, they have fallen in my estimation. Even a small tobacco-aging cellar is a "hoard" in the eyes of the unprepared. When pipe tobacco is either taxed completely out of purchasing ability or outright banned then even some modest cellaring will be seen as prudence - only in retrospect of course - like the fable of the grasshopper and the ant. But it will probably see a lot of activity by envy-filled informants. :cyclops:

 

[eklektos44]

Gee, I didn't know that Esoterica made Mixture 79.  If so, they have fallen in my estimation.  Even a small tobacco-aging cellar is a "hoard" in the eyes of the unprepared.  When pipe tobacco is either taxed completely out of purchasing ability or outright banned then even some modest cellaring will be seen as prudence - only in retrospect of course - like the fable of the grasshopper and the ant.  But it will probably see a lot of activity by envy-filled informants.  :cyclops:

Like the government could afford the loss of revenue from tobacco taxes.

 

[JimInks]

Gee, I didn't know that Esoterica made Mixture 79.  If so, they have fallen in my estimation.  Even a small tobacco-aging cellar is a "hoard" in the eyes of the unprepared.  When pipe tobacco is either taxed completely out of purchasing ability or outright banned then even some modest cellaring will be seen as prudence - only in retrospect of course - like the fable of the grasshopper and the ant.  But it will probably see a lot of activity by envy-filled informants.  :cyclops:

I make a distinction between cellaring and hoarding. The hoarders have more in mind than just smoking the tobacco, e,g., I have it and you don't, or let me sell you a bag for Penzance for $170. I heartily encourage cellaring what you want to smoke because the future for tobacco isn't looking good. I don't like some of the other things I've seen. For instance, a certain person elsewhere was intensely pumping up certain Esoterica blends like crazy and stoking the feeding frenzy, and once he accomplished that, tried to sell his stash for a highly inflated price to those he was priming for the fleecing. He deservedly took a real beating for that. Selling because you need money is one thing. Doing what he did was not, at least in my eyes.

 

[eklektos44]

Well somebody was willing to pay through the nose for it! I had bids in on two tins. The one from 06 went for $52, 80 went for $66, plus $8 for shipping. For two oz. tins! No way!

 

[Brewdude]

Well somebody was willing to pay through the nose for it! I had bids in on two tins. The one from 06 went for $52, 80 went for $66, plus $8 for shipping. For two oz. tins! No way!

Ya, that's nutz!

:x


Cheers,

RR