Three on Tuesday

Another spot review...this time it is a post-lunch smoke of Hearth & Home Beverwyck.  No drying time required for this one as it comes fairly dry already.  Cut is interesting...lots of cubes with some smaller pieces of cut leaf, and the odd large bit of leaf.  The pipe of choice was a recently cleaned Parker Bark billiard and the smoke was accompanied by some Cafe Bustelo brewed in an Aeropress (in the style of an Americano).  I refueled the Zippo and this took the light easily - needed both a char/false and a second/true light to get it going but well worth it.  On the pipesandcigars.com website this tobacco is described thusly:

An interesting, old-time blend, named after the original Dutch name for the city of Albany, NY (our home). Three different cube cuts (a Burley, a Virginia and a hybrid) are blended together with smoky Latakia, and spicy-sweet Perique. One of our regulars compares it to some of the original NYC Wilke mixtures. If you like Barking Dog, Revelation, Walnut or Country Doctor, give this a try.

I had read this description and was intrigued and had corresponded with Russ O (the blender) in the past about it...never seemed to order it until recently.  Glad I finally did.  Russ seems to have a knack for developing very solid, popular blends, some of which have some nostalgia value to them.  I've never had one of the NYC Wilke blends and may not get a chance to try any of their current incarnations (through vtpipes.com) but if this is similar to some of the tobacco available in the 40's - 60's or 70's all I can say is "Wow!"  I will not hide my love of Latakia and Perique.  This blend puts them together very well - sweet, spicy, nutty, creamy...for cooler temps this could become a favorite...and it isn't so bad in the heat, either.  Anyway...review...first impressions were that this tobacco is similar to L.J. Peretti's D-7485, one of my all time favorites.  There are some noticeable differences though...this is a bit sweeter and definitely spicier that 7485, which sets it apart.  Burned evenly and fairly cool through about halfway.  It had picked up some moisture and didn't want to stay lit after that so I emptied the bowl (not a regular DGTer...never seem to get back to the pipe the next day).  A very positive encounter and I look forward to trying more of this as it ages (I have it in a Ball jar) and seeing how the blend matures.