Peterson Summer Time 2010 Blend.

Peterson Summer Time 2010 Blend.

“Black Cavendish,combined with golden and dark Virginia in different cuts and a large proportion of hand rubbed Virginia flake,make this a wonderful blend. Experience the summer on your palate with this superb pipe tobacco offering a rich aroma of delicious peach and a hint of vanilla and juicy melons. This blend has a lovely mellow taste and a very pleasant room note.”

I was recently reminded by my good friend Chuck ,that he was enjoying this blend, which both of us had purchased earlier in the year. I for one had not got round to trying it. Bearing in mind also that the summer was almost over,I thought it was time to indulge in this luxury 'special' blend.

Peterson have been coming up with some great tin art recently for their limited edition blends. This one is another in the production line, successfully evoking the summertime through both colour and image.

I love opening these specials, as you are hit right in the olfactory system. You are immediately opening the door to the joys of discerning the various elements in the marvellous cornucopia of blended ingredients. Appearance in the package inside its special tin is just beautiful and gives off an aroma like an expensive fruit tea. This one, in my opinion, is very similar to another great blend by Peterson, their Special Reserve limited edition 2003.

The cut of the tobacco, which is relatively large, will smoke differently in a large bowl pipe. I chose an older system XL302. Sometimes the lighter tobaccos will dominate for a bit, then the flavour will change. This happened a lot less when I used a pipe with a bigger bowl. The first few minutes of the smoke were very pleasant, with a pronounced sweetness that may not be to all tastes, but certainly was as advertised on the tin. Good friend Chuck reckoned that there was a hint of citric fruits,I would not argue,however would think more orange than lemon. Reminded me also of grass and hay The room note according to my wife, was exceptional,she thought it smelled of herbs!!. Then it began to burn hot for a bit, so I had to slow it down, and from about the middle of the pipe on down, the burning qualities were as good as any I've experienced. The blend had extra sweetness with a lot less casing than the usual Peterson aromatic. The tobacco taste and strength was minimal, it is essentially an aromatic, and so those who prefer English blends will find this probably a bit thin and lacking in fullness.

However to get down to basics, I would say that as a good change of pace aromatic blend, it certainly personifies the bold statement on the tin and does conjure up images and the ambience of the wonderful summertime months of 2010.