Haddo's Delight - Aged

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DrumsAndBeer

DrumsAndBeer

Well-known member
Joined
Apr 4, 2012
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10
Haddo's
9 years old

Charring light is lovely and a forward sweetness hits the tongue along with the undeniable bold perique pepperiness. A tangy wine like flavor is immediately noticeable and intertwines perfectly with Haddo's sweet round bottom note. The beginning bowl shares a somewhat similar flavor profile to Peterson's Irish Oak, however Haddo's is much more refined. In Comparing the two, it soon becomes apparent how important the addition of the brandy is. It deftly softens the smoke, enhances the room note and adds a buoyancy to the chutney like sweetness naturally inherent in the infamous stewed leaf.

The flavors and strength build quite nicely down the bowl. By mid-bowl a slight bitterness comes forth and as the sweetness deepens a harmony is struck that both softens and elevates the spice kick like no other perique forward blend on the market with exception of perhaps Escudo. End bowl flavors are sharp yet symmetrical, intense, briny, complexly layered, voluminous and extremely satisfying.

This is a sweet, stout, spicy mixture. I would call it spirited and I am not just referring to the topping. However having sampled both fresh and aged versions, I can confidently say without any doubt that aging dramatically tames the rowdy acerbity that I experienced in a fresh tin. I think a few years of age pushes Haddo's out of the "For Perique Lover's Only" realm and into that of the piper who enjoys a rich, strong smoke regardless of a mixture's components.

This one of the few blends that has left me feeling pretty woozy. I enjoy it after a good meal and because I eat lightly during the day, I reserve this blend for the evening after dinner.

Obviously a few more tins for the cellar are required. 8)

Thanks to Shane Ireland for plying me with a generous sample of the mixture in its well aged glory. :D
 
Great review D&B.

Quite enjoy Haddo's myself, and had the rare privilege of an aged tin gifted to me a while back. It still kicked my lil' arse too!


Cheers,

RR
 
:cheers: :cheers: :cheers:

I'm glad you enjoyed the sample! I still have several 10+ year-old tins put away including one from the first release of the blend.

The last few guys who dealt with me over in the Trading Post, received samples from a 12-year-old tin of Haddo's... It would be cool to hear them chime in
 
Shane gifted me a sample of the 2001 Haddo's when I purchased a pipe from him. As I wrote to him, it was a revelation. My only other experience with this blend was with a fresh tin, over 10 years ago. At the time I thought it was a bit harsh and overly scented. The aged sample from Shane was rich and dark. I've purchased 3 pounds of Haddo's in the past month.

Oh yeah, Thanks Shane!
 
Brewdude":h3aq320p said:
Great review D&B.
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Thanks Brewdude.

s.ireland":h3aq320p said:
:cheers: :cheers: :cheers:

I'm glad you enjoyed the sample! I still have several 10+ year-old tins put away including one from the first release of the blend.
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You lucky dog! :D

drben":h3aq320p said:
My only other experience with this blend was with a fresh tin, over 10 years ago. At the time I thought it was a bit harsh and overly scented. The aged sample from Shane was rich and dark. I've purchased 3 pounds of Haddo's in the past month.
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drben, I totally agree. In fact the transformation in color is quite telling as to how dramatically this blend changes with time. I need to pony up on some tins, HD will be on my next TAD strike for sure. By the way, not that it's really any big deal but the more memorable experiences I have had smoking the aged stuff from Shane have been in a cob. The flavors comes through with incredible clarity in this MM Diplomat I have. Not quite as much in the briars that I use for Vapers..

 
s.ireland":4jki6h5i said:
The last few guys who dealt with me over in the Trading Post, received samples from a 12-year-old tin of Haddo's... It would be cool to hear them chime in
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Funny you should mention it...I have some of that Haddo's lined up for later this evening. I'll be sure to pop back in and report back later tonight.
 
I had the 12-year old Haddo's last night...it was so good I had to have a second bowl. I'd have posted last night, but after back-to-back bowls of HD, I'd pretty much melted into my recliner and lost all control of motor skills.

I'd had Haddo's with a bit of age, but never quite this much age. At 12 years, this stuff is magic. The sinus blast that accompanies the fresh version is fairly well tamed by five years, but by 12 it's virtually non-existent and you can really appreciate the perique for what it is...you can taste the peppery-ness without necessarily "feeling" it. The perique does build, though, and by mid-bowl it really comes into its own and plays fully off the Virginia. By the end of the smoke, the spice started to back down in favor of that deep, dark kinda-sorta-fruity flavor.

I'd commented in another thread that aging Haddo's goes a long way in rounding out the edges...aging it this long does a whole lot more. For me, it becomes a sweeter blend. When I say sweet, I don't mean from the topping - in fact, the topping which is so blatantly present in the tin aroma mellows to the point that it sits waaaaaay in the background (In fact, there were periods of ten minutes at a time where it was virtually non-existent). By sweet, I mean that the natural sweetness of the virginia really starts to shine, fitting in with the burley, perique, and whatever else.

All in all, it blows away any other VaPer I've tried, but you've gotta have a particular fondness of perique (it still gets quite strong about halfway through the bowl, though no where near as strong as the freshly tinned version). I have a few tins aging that I planned to open at the 5 year mark...I'm now planning to delay that for an additional 5-7 years - it's definitely worth the wait.


Many thanks to Shane for sample! (and btw, the pipe you sold me is terrific. It was a pretty easy clean-up job, and it smokes like a dream!)
 
idbowman":sggvv6c0 said:
All in all, it blows away any other VaPer I've tried, but you've gotta have a particular fondness of perique (it still gets quite strong about halfway through the bowl, though no where near as strong as the freshly tinned version). I have a few tins aging that I planned to open at the 5 year mark...I'm now planning to delay that for an additional 5-7 years - it's definitely worth the wait.


Many thanks to Shane for sample! (and btw, the pipe you sold me is terrific. It was a pretty easy clean-up job, and it smokes like a dream!)
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Good to hear! It is a really nice pipe, simply too large of a chamber for my tastes... I'm pleased it found a good home!

I agree with you completely, Ian, about the 12-y/o sample... But I really think TEN is the magic number of years for Haddo's, after that the blend begins to loose a bit too much (IMHO) of its 'oomph'
 
Wow.
I've got some aged from 2005 that is soooooooooo much better than fresh. I bought a fresh tin and almost punched the guy that had recommended it. But the 2005 is magic.

I can't imagine 12 years on a tin.
Well done, sir!
 
mattia76":l78f4jfe said:
Wow.
I've got some aged from 2005 that is soooooooooo much better than fresh. I bought a fresh tin and almost punched the guy that had recommended it. But the 2005 is magic.

I can't imagine 12 years on a tin.
Well done, sir!
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Agreed. Haddo's has to have age to be thoroughly enjoyed, no doubt. I have a tin of Haddo's dated 8/29/00 that I have opened and dip into it on special occasions (at least for the sheer joy of smoking thirteen year old tobacco!). I also have an eight ounce tin from 7/07 that I'm currently working through. For me, I prefer five years over the old dog thirteen years of age, although I wouldn't kick her out of bed. At five years, she's in her prime. Everybody is dancing. At thirteen years, a few components are nearing retirement, although still collecting a paycheck.

What I want to see happen is Pease come up with a Haddo's Flake, as talked about in older threads. Imagine that with a couple years on it! :cheers:
 
s.ireland":mlmcdxlq said:
:cheers: :cheers: :cheers:

I'm glad you enjoyed the sample! I still have several 10+ year-old tins put away including one from the first release of the blend.

The last few guys who dealt with me over in the Trading Post, received samples from a 12-year-old tin of Haddo's... It would be cool to hear them chime in
Click to expand...
Shane sent me some from 2000. Thanks Shane! :D

If the only Haddo's you have smoked is fresh, you have no idea what Haddo's really is all about. Aged Haddo's is an entirely different animal than fresh.

I really liked the stuff fresh, and still do. I just cellared 2 more tins and the plan is to add a couple more every chance I get so I always have an aged supply later.
 
Don't get me wrong, I loved the aged Haddo's. I disagree, though, with all of the posts that suggest it has to be aged to be good. I think fresh Haddo's is still fantastic, but in a completely different way.
 
Ian, I love Haddo's fresh.

But, I like it even more aged, and it so different aged.
 
I find fresh disinteresting but aged very fine. I wouldn't smoke any with less than 2 years as every time I have the taste does not measure up to that intoxicating aroma.
 
Fresh Haddo's for me was a bit overwhelming. I couldn't hang with what it was bringing. Comparatively aged Haddo's is just superb, plain and simple. Now I just have to figure out how many years on a tin works for me. :)
 
I'm pleased you enjoyed it so fully, I tried some fresh a while back, very enjoyable smoke indeed, the aged must have been quite sublime. :cheers:
 
And here I'd almost given up on Haddo's, after fighting my way through a solid 2oz or so. I can tell that it's really good, deep down somewhere, but it's just so harsh. Snaps like an angry Rottweiler. I'll have to try leaving it in a jar for a few years and come back to it then.
 
ajpl":jjgd9dou said:
And here I'd almost given up on Haddo's, after fighting my way through a solid 2oz or so. I can tell that it's really good, deep down somewhere, but it's just so harsh. Snaps like an angry Rottweiler. I'll have to try leaving it in a jar for a few years and come back to it then.
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You'll be glad you did. Another option would be check out Flea-Bay or Pipestud for aged tins. They pop up occasionally, but you'll have to beat the lovers of it to the click of the mouse.
 
I was able to purchase one of those taller, more narrow gl pease 2 oz tins of haddo's awhile ago and it was sublime. Many years of age on it. I was so pleased with it that I bought some 8 oz tins exclusively to forget about. I hate to make the market even more competitive for these aged tins but I must in good conscience highly recommend it.
 
Aged Haddos is the only way I can enjoy this. When young the nic is just too much for me. Age seems to temper that and mellow the components.

Even after many years of tin age it still kicks my arse!

:monkey: 

Cheers,

RR
 
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