I just tried Esoterica's Penzance

[Behike54]

Bitter, much? After reading your previous post I was going to offer to keep an eye out for you, but being dead to you that wouldn't be very helpful, now would it.

I do live close to a couple of excellent B&Ms and will be going to one this evening for the Chicago Pipe Club. I'll keep my eyes peeled and will happily pick some Penzance up for you if they have any. My usual commission of 150% applies. :lol:

Seriously though, I'd be happy to pick some up for you if I find any. Shoot me a PM if you're interested.

I forget I am new here and people don't always get my sense of humor through movie scenes I post that capture, humorously, how I feel.


Thanks, brother! :mrgreen:


Btw, you DNR has been revoked. :cheers:

 

[alfredo_buscatti]

The old adage of "you haven't read it once until you've read it twice" can be applied to many things. When listening to music, I say, "You haven't heard it once until you've heard it thrice." Moods. Situations. Before. After. Everything plays into it on some level, so to get a good feel for things, you have to allow for variables to change. What I've eaten before hand alone changes everything in a smoke. Pipe. Humidity. Wind. Tobacco moisture. Bowl packing. Tobacco form (cake, crumble, ribbon, etc). I'm not sure how many times a tobacco should be chanced before it deserves a declaration. It's several at least. It's easy to say yay or nay, but to become truly acquainted with something of the flavors requires a fair bit of dedication.

Kyle does his "I Tried X" reviews. Absolutely nothing wrong with that. I good many of them reveal a nuanced understanding that I only attain after five bowls.

But as Zeno said so well, repeated smokes allow an understanding of a tobacco not otherwise possible. I don't see reviews based on smoking 2 ounces or 100 g. I think they would be helpful.

 

[dshpipes]

Bitter, much? After reading your previous post I was going to offer to keep an eye out for you, but being dead to you that wouldn't be very helpful, now would it.

I do live close to a couple of excellent B&Ms and will be going to one this evening for the Chicago Pipe Club. I'll keep my eyes peeled and will happily pick some Penzance up for you if they have any. My usual commission of 150% applies. :lol:

Seriously though, I'd be happy to pick some up for you if I find any. Shoot me a PM if you're interested.

I forget I am new here and people don't always get my sense of humor through movie scenes I post that capture, humorously, how I feel.


Thanks, brother! :mrgreen:


Btw, you DNR has been revoked. :cheers:

No problem!

I'll have to check the clip later as I'm at work and my computer's speakers suuuuuck.

Forgive the ignorance, but what in the world is DNR? I imagine it has something to do with the whole "dead to me" thing, but what it stands for I got no idea. Is it from the clip? Maybe I'll get it later...

Is it "Dead. Never. Return?" "Dance Nice Rat?" "Don't Notice Rattray's?" :scratch:

Until I hear different, I'll assume it's good and smoke a bowl of Penzance in celebration.

 

[Kyle Weiss]

*laughs*

I didn't know my little tobacco adventure posts were becoming a source of contention. :lol:

I try and convey my smoking adventures as just that--adventures. Nothing permanent, but a snapshot of the moment in honesty, learning, consideration and experience...something I hope other new folks can derive value, and more experienced folks can recall their adventures from however long ago.

If I visit the beach, it doesn't mean I have seen the seven seas--it just means I've visited the beach, and here is my story... 8)

 

[Behike54]

Bitter, much? After reading your previous post I was going to offer to keep an eye out for you, but being dead to you that wouldn't be very helpful, now would it.

I do live close to a couple of excellent B&Ms and will be going to one this evening for the Chicago Pipe Club. I'll keep my eyes peeled and will happily pick some Penzance up for you if they have any. My usual commission of 150% applies. :lol:

Seriously though, I'd be happy to pick some up for you if I find any. Shoot me a PM if you're interested.

I forget I am new here and people don't always get my sense of humor through movie scenes I post that capture, humorously, how I feel.


Thanks, brother! :mrgreen:


Btw, you DNR has been revoked. :cheers:

DO NOT RESUSCITATE

 

[dshpipes]

DO NOT RESUSCITATE

:lol!: :lol!: :lol!:

I like it!

 

[LPcreation]

Someone else may be able to confirm, but I was screwing around today and was checking our Cup of Joe's. They had 8oz of Penzance for sale (limit 1 per customer). I wasn't sure if it was legit so I put one in my cart and proceeded to check out. I only got to the "pay now" option and then I backed out (I already have 14oz in storage), I never saw anything alerting me they were out of stock.

Worth a shot for those looking for it.

 

[R.A.]

I would have to say Penzance is the most intriguing tobacco I have "never" tried. Since I have joined the boards I have read so many post singing the praises of this stuff. I feel like I am missing out on something.

Really its like missing out on some right of passage ritual or something, Like your first beer or driving a car. You know all those life changing events that we cherish for life,

You guys have me sold. I really want to try it I just haven't had or created the opportunity to do so and untill I do I will have this empty feeling I am missing something.

I may be wrong but it seems Penzance is mentioned more than any other flavor, or its just spoken so highly of it seems that way. Peer Pressure, no wonder it works

:lol: :shock: :roll: :bounce: :scratch: I really got to give this stuff a try

 

[Dutch]

Smoking a bowl of Penzance now out of my Peter Jeppeson Dublin! :face:

 

[szyzk]

I would have to say Penzance is the most intriguing tobacco I have "never" tried.

It's a wonderful tobacco. If you look to the left, I plainly say "I can never have enough Penzance"!

But, I think it's put on a pedestal a bit due to it's frequent unavailability. I have a wider berth of knowledge about cigars, but I notice quite a few similarities between hard-to-find pipe blends and vintages of some cigars or vitolas that are no longer produced... There are so many great choices available right now, there's no sense in lamenting a tobacco that you can't get or haven't yet gotten the chance to try.

Am I going to be happy when I can order another 8oz bag of Penzance? Yes. Am I going to be happier that I can also throw in Lancer's Slices, SPC's Plum Pudding, Meridian, Anniversary Kake and a few tins of irish Flake? Yes yes yes!

 

[hornalum]

Thanks to LPcreation I was able to snag an 8 oz bag of Penance from Cup o Joes this morning. It wasn't listed when I placed an order with them on Friday night. They're out of it again though. If someone is desperate enough, it looks like Uniquebriar.com has it in stock but they've marked it up quite a bit.

 

[szyzk]

If someone is desperate enough, it looks like Uniquebriar.com has it in stock but they've marked it up quite a bit.

That's robbery. $60 for 8oz.

They also have Balkan Sobranie for $40/tin.

Ridiculous. Free-market and all, but I could never support a business like that.

 

[Behike54]

<----- This bobble-head was too busy sharing the news with friends and when I woke up this morning (I fell asleep reading an academic journal, imagine that), and it was all gone. FML. :scratch:

 

[Kyle Weiss]

Part II: ...a return to the beach.

Penzance is a strange tobacco--not in a negative way, but in a curious way. I have to declare it is probably the most mildly Latakia "Latakia blend" I have sampled yet...but it remains balanced unlike any tobacco of this genre I have tried to date. I'll see if I can explain why, and why it just moved up another notch on my "favorites" list.

I like dark Virginias, quite a bit, actually. Fire-cured, aged, fermented--please, any or all of the above, bring it on. Penzance has somehow taken the rich, mellow darkness of the bulk of its body and managed to find the just-right amount of Latakia--just a kiss--to make it play along quite well with the Virginia without destroying or upsetting the balance at all. In a world where I also appreciate a fair amount of Latakia, it has shown me I can "have my tobacco and smoke it, too..."

May my smoking habits improve quickly enough to revisit a conversation with this chap.

...a closing statement from my original try a month ago. Well, wishes really do come true. Penzance has a dynamic nature that, once again, refuses to be classified or compared to any other tobacco I've tried. It's not a straight Virginia, but smokes and tastes similar to one--a dark one, at that. It isn't Latakia-heavy, but that small amount does it a great service. "Balance," is the perfect word for this blend at this point. You get the thickness of an aged VA, the toastiness of something brighter (presumably the Maryland stuff), and just a bit of earthy, woodsiness from some Latakia. You'll get everything from spiced butter to sight citrus fruit.

This is as close to a one-size-fits-all or perfect tobacco that I can safely suggest to anyone--Latakia lovers and those that like just a touch. Virginia Lovers that want something a little different. Beginners wanting to switch to something with a touch more naturalness than an aromatic.

Unfortunately, others happen to agree: this stuff is hard to find. Which is its ONLY negative mark.

 

[Harlock999]

The old adage of "you haven't read it once until you've read it twice" can be applied to many things. When listening to music, I say, "You haven't heard it once until you've heard it thrice." Moods. Situations. Before. After. Everything plays into it on some level, so to get a good feel for things, you have to allow for variables to change. What I've eaten before hand alone changes everything in a smoke. Pipe. Humidity. Wind. Tobacco moisture. Bowl packing. Tobacco form (cake, crumble, ribbon, etc). I'm not sure how many times a tobacco should be chanced before it deserves a declaration. It's several at least. It's easy to say yay or nay, but to become truly acquainted with something of the flavors requires a fair bit of dedication.

Kyle does his "I Tried X" reviews. Absolutely nothing wrong with that. I good many of them reveal a nuanced understanding that I only attain after five bowls.

But as Zeno said so well, repeated smokes allow an understanding of a tobacco not otherwise possible. I don't see reviews based on smoking 2 ounces or 100 g. I think they would be helpful.

Very good point...

 

[Kyle Weiss]

Penzance in a cob: interesting, but only a choice once in a while.

Penzance has this dynamic to it that I'm still amazed by, it's an all-points tobacco. In a cob, the smoke seems thicker and less...well, "Penzance-like." The cob material imparts a very slight sweetness that was distracting from the other mesmerizing bowls of Penzance I took from briar. All-in-all not a bad thing, but unexpected. I almost thought I was smoking some sweeter Virginia with a little Latakia in it rather than those playful notes of the Oriental that I found so appealing before. The cob seems to obfuscate the more delicate tobaccos.

I certainly didn't stop smoking it, just found it even more amazing the nature of Penzance in this case. It really brought out the "cobby-ness" of a Missouri Meerschaum.

Makes me wonder what my IMP meer will give me with this stuff... 8)

 

[Behike54]

Makes me wonder what my IMP meer will give me with this stuff... 8)

If it is anything like what Va tastes in my best pipe, make sure you smoke it private! :lol!:


I kid, I kid, I kid.......

 

[alfredo_buscatti]

I'm not sure how much VA is in Penzance. I've heard it classified as an oriental by those in the know (Vito). I have very probably not given it due consideration, but my repeated attempts to taste its ascribed glorious tobacco bouquet have not yielded much satisfaction. I would agree most definitely that it is not a latakia heavy blend, but where the latakia drops off, I taste some vague oriental hole. A blank. I'll keep smoking it as I have about 6 ounces and know I'm missing out, but such is my experience. Usually after a half-dozen bowls or before, I "get" the blend. I'm not getting it.

 

[R.A.]

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:

 

[Anders And]

I also got by a small amount of this legendary blend.
When I stuck my nose to the ziplock bag, my first impression was "Latakia"!
During my first smoke, I also found the Latakia being quite prominent. (When I compare it to Germain’s Special Latakia Flake from the same blender, I’d say there is more VA and less Latakia in that one.) But is was one of the coolest and smoothest smokes ever!