Peterson – St. Patrick’s Day 2015

For one reason or another, we all look forward to holidays.

Some look forward to seeing family. Others look forward to having fun and partying. Everyone looks forward to getting off work (well most of us). But for me, I look forward to the limited release holiday pipe tobacco’s that finally come out of hiding.

Every holiday has its own feeling. Thanksgiving is warm and gluttonous, Christmas is loving, July 4th is hot and fun. Meanwhile, St. Patty’s day is a day of friendship and stress free relaxation.

What I look for in a holiday edition pipe tobacco is this: does this blend emotionally take me to the feelings of that holiday?

One holiday pipe blend that is superb in doing so is the Peterson St. Patrick’s Day (2015).

Without a doubt, this is one of the best pipe smoking experiences I have had in a long time. I expected to be given a quality tobacco that was decent, but not really unique. Peterson proved me quite wrong on that. I received a tobacco of the highest quality that was unlike anything I had smoked in a long time. Not only that, but PSPD transported me to a time of relaxation that I long for every twelve months around this time of year.

First Impression

For one, I am a huge fan of the artwork on this tin. Usually I could care less what the tin art is, but for some reason it captured my attention and made me want to enjoy a few bowls of it myself. So I feel that if I enjoyed it, you will too.

The tin note of this blend is of an incredible mango and rum that is just so sweet.

PSPD is made mostly of Burley, with added hints of Turkish and Virginia that gives it the stronger finish.

Perhaps my favorite part of this whole blend was the fact that the tobacco was cut in cubes, with a little bit of rough cut added in. Cubed burley seems to enhance the smoking experience so much. Due to its sweet nature, low casing, and the density that causes it to burn for quite a bit, the cubed tobacco is perfect for this merry-hearted blend.

Smoke

This is an absolutely splendid blend. I enjoyed every single hit.

While a great tobacco, the burley cube does provide challenges to packing your bowl. Along with that, it takes a few matches to get a good light on the cube because it is so dense. However, the smoker will inevitably appreciate this. Because this tobacco holds the ember so well, it is most likely that you will not have to relight your bowl, even near the bottom.

PSPD blend is packed full of aromatic flavor! The top of the bowl is packed full of a mango flavor that is absolutely delightful and clear. Throughout the smoke the vanilla flavor becomes more prevalent, adding a very nice flavor dynamic. By the time you get to the bottom third of the bowl rum takes over as the tobacco becomes fuller in flavor.

One thing is for sure, this blend will last you quite a bit longer than other blends in your bowl, and you will enjoy the flavor of every minute of it.

Room Note

The note of this blend was pleasant, but by no means overwhelming.

For me the notes I picked up on were definitely rum and a bit of spice. I am not too sure where the spice came from, perhaps I just mentally connect rum and spice.

While this blend could have a better note, I do not think you will be running away too many people when smoking.

Pairing

I feel like the only proper pairing to any St. Patty’s Day blend is either a fine scotch or a stout ale.

Personally I love Dewar’s scotch and drink it all the time with a ton of different tobacco’s, and it worked very well with PSPD. Any fine stout, or even a milk stout, would pair well with this blend as well.

I mean is there anything better to drink on this holiday than a good Irish scotch and stout?

Strength

This blend jumps between two different smoking experiences.

One the one hand, the initial mango smoke is quite light and would give no smoker a hard time. On the other hand, the bowl seems to gain momentum and transform into a medium strength blend by the end. But we must rate it something:

This blend is a mild blend.

While the intensity does change slightly, there is no way PSPD can be considered anything more than a mild blend.

Overall Score

I really enjoyed this blend. I regret having not purchased more for the cellar.

No matter what kind of smoker you are, I am positive that the high quality and transformative taste of this blend will be able to please your palate.

I give this tobacco an 8 out of 10.

Be sure to pick up this blend and a limited edition Peterson St. Patrick’s Day pipe before they run out and are never made again!

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Tobacco provided by Tobacco Pipes for the purpose of an un bias review.

Pictures provided by Alpascia, Tumbler, and Tobacco Reviews.