Special Reserve 2011

 I purchased a tin of the latest Peterson tobacco offering , the Special Reserve 2011.
Here are my initial thoughts.

The mixture comes in the usual 100 gram tin with a black and white game board pattern as the main graphic illustration on the tin cover.On opening the tin, rather too easily,the tobacco mixture is contained in a clear cellophane pouch which is held closed by a simple sticky label.
The advertising information on the blend is as follows,quote:-


"Brown and black Cavendish together with red, orange and bright Virginia tobaccos melt together.
Then a sensational aroma of wild strawberries is added, combined with cream and the sweetish flavour of tonka beans, delicious in both scent and taste combine to create this fantastic mixture". Price: £20.50(UK)

I loaded up a great little Peterson Kenmare 999 pipe to test this one.
The air cured mixture is a broken flake mix of Black Cavendish and golden Virginia,which was not too moist and loaded up nicely in the bowl with little initial tamping being required.
The initial smells from the mixture are an aromatic smokers delight. With the scent from the Tonka (Tonquin) beans  being very much to the fore.
Tonquin is still used today to flavor some other pipe tobaccos like Dunhill Royal Yacht and Samuel Gawith 1792 Flake.
I had no problem lighting up and only gave a soft tamp to get the blend going easily.I would suspect that if your smoking cadence got too fast and greedy , that this could turn round and bite the tongue.My initial impression was that this is very similar to many of the other recent Peterson limited edition offerings. It is a reasonably good, competent aromatic,with a difference, brought about by the inclusion of the Tonquin .To my personal taste it was a bit like fast food,you feel you are missing something for complete satisfaction, in this instance too weak for my taste and lacking a stronger nicotine kick.