Tobaccos Peterson - Special Reserve 2011 (Limited Edition)

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Backwoods Piper (70)	2014-11-15		Mild to Medium	Medium	Mild to Medium	Very Pleasant

I was gifted this tobacco some time ago and never opened the tin to examine the contents because my desire was to maintain freshness. When I opened this tin a couple weeks back I was very disappointed to see it was not sealed in a manner that would preserve freshness. Consequently, due to poor packaging and the passage of time, the tobacco had all but dried out almost completely. I separated the tobacco between two jars and added a generous slice of apple to each and sealed them tightly. Within the course of three or four days my Petersons SRLE 2011 was ready to enjoy.

I love Virginia blends and this one though an aromatic is no exception. This tobacco packs well and lights evenly leaving a nice gray dottle at the end of the bowl. I love the sweet vanilla spice notes rendered by the tonka beans and the beautiful room note of berries and cream. This blend needs to be enjoyed slowly to avoid tongue bite.

I would consider adding this to my aro rotation were it consistently available and packaged with greater concern for fresh product once in the hands of the consumer. I don't think pipe tobacco should have to be rehydrated no matter how long it cellars. I have opened 10 or 15 year old tins and they have been perfectly hydrated and ready to enjoy. In consideration of this I can only give Peterson Special Reserve Limited Edition 2011 two stars.

Pipe Used: Briars, meerschaums or cobs for aro's

Age When Smoked: 3years old

Purchased From: Gifted to me

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2012-04-17		Mild	Medium to Strong	Mild	Very Pleasant

This has a lovely soft vanilla flavour, although I couldn't taste any strawberry. No-one wants vanilla all the time, and I was pleased that the tobacco didn't dry out too much or lose too much flavour over the month I had it open.

The description contains "...and the cloying taste of the tonguin bean...". Cloying is defined in my dictionary as "disgust or sicken (someone) with an excess of sweetness". Maybe "cloying" means something else in Ireland.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Dov of the Galilee (32)	2012-04-17		Mild to Medium	Mild	Mild to Medium	Pleasant

For me Peterson's has done such a fine job with the Special Reserve Series that I buy it no matter what the description and again they have done a superb job! I prefer aromatics and that's exactly what this is. I wouldn't be drawn to a blend that featured strawberries though and this is what the flavor is for this year and they did a remarkable job capturing that essence. I wish that this degree of perfection came at a more affordable rate so that it could be an everyday smoke.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2011-12-28		Mild to Medium	Mild to Medium	Mild to Medium	Very Pleasant

Excellent tobacco. The tin aroma is of fig, berry, vanilla, and rich tobacco. The taste is that of fruity, ripe, Virginia leaf with some natural sweetness and a long finish. The finish has notes of Tonguin bean and cream. What I really like about this tobacco is the quality. The topping never takes top billing during the smoking. The pure tobacco shines through with the topping rounding out the finish beautifully.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	albfneto (184)	2012-07-30		Mild to Medium	Medium	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

Between the Petersons, i smoked only this. The taste is different, due to the Tonkin Bean. Is a good tobacco but not remarkable for me. However, I not like pure Virginias so much. 3 stars.

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	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2012-04-03		Extremely Mild	Medium to Strong	Very Mild	Very Pleasant

the smells of tobacco is really nice. But the taste is not as full as the smells after a few puffs. the weakness of this tobacco is strength of it. very light. honestly,I expecting better of this one as a 4 stars on tobaccoreviews.com

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	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2012-02-29		Mild	Mild to Medium	Medium	Very Pleasant

Unlike Summertime 2011, I and really enjoying this blend. The flavors really come through. I actually purchased four more tins of this to stock up. I have been smoking it in my Old Nellie Pipes and in one of my Radice's, and it's quite pleasant. Doesn't burn hot, and no gook or gurgle. I'm surprised to read some of the negative experiences, but I have to say that the Summertime 2011 is awful. I think the Holiday Season 2011 is also pretty good but not as good as Special Reserve 2011. I would not hesitate to recommend this - it's an excellent aromatic that can be smoked daily without getting boring.

Nobody has rated this review yet.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2012-02-10		Mild	Very Mild	Very Mild	Pleasant

This is my first review here and hopefully not the last. I've tried a lot of tobaccos and am more a fan or aromatics. I use this site regularly to decide what to try.

I was all too excited to get this tin in the mail and give it a try. The tin is undeniably beautiful. It is not air tight, but it is pretty. Definitely something that I'll keep around.

Upon opening the tin the scent is subtle and pleasant. The tobacco cut is beautiful and this one was ready for smoking straight up, or so it seemed.

The tobacco packed easily and evenly and it had a wonderful taste when testing the draw. I could not wait to try it, so I got to it.

At first I could hardly detect anything and it did not seem to be lighting. I patted it down and set the surface and did the second light. This took and it produced a good puff.

Unfortunately the taste was nothing short of unpleasant. There was no real flavor, just a strange battery acid type reception as was previously noted. The aroma that I could detect was only barely pleasant. No one around me seemed to receive it well either. I kept smoking it, even giving it a rest for about 20 minutes. It never really grabbed me, no good flavor, nothing like had been previously describe.

Given the price tag and the reputation, I am extremely disappointed. I will, of course, give it more chances as I don't waste, but I don't look forward to them either. Here's to hoping it was just a bad bowl.

I will note this was smoked in a brand new Butz Choquin Astral. I will try it in another pipe for the next bowl in case it had something to do with the pipe.

Update 1: Smoked in one of my more broken in pipes use for aromatics, mostly Black Cav. This smoked much smoother, less difficulty in keeping going, softer smoke, no real chemically acid the first bowl had. The aroma was better. I'll bump this up one and suspect the brand new pipe was not ready. Of course, this time around it was very gurgly and wet... this seems to be extremely pipe dependent. Next time will be in one of my Peterson System pipes.

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	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	meerkat (64)	2012-01-11		Mild to Medium	Mild to Medium	Mild	Strong

A harsh, stinging tobacco. Smells great in the tin but the only flavour that came through to me in the smoke is one of battery acid. My wife hated the room note, which she described as "fake, sickly-sour chemically smell".

Really nice looking tin but it's not air tight so it's useless for storing tobacco. Which is pretty representative of my overall experience with this blend. I would say this stuff promises much but delivers little. All talk and no trousers. All surface and no substance. More than a bit crap.

You're better than this, Peterson's.

UPDATE...

After much experimentation I have found a pipe in which this smokes agreeably. It's one in which I have only ever smoked really nice aromatics so the good flavour is probably coming from the pipe.

In a clean meerschaum, where the only taste is of this blend, I still have a bad smoke but I am clearly in a minority here.

Nobody has rated this review yet.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	gunner525 (66)	2012-01-09		Mild	Medium	Medium to Full	Very Pleasant

Picked up a tin of this with my after Christmas TAD and I love it. Has a scent of strawberry shortcake in the tin. Great mixture of strawberries and cream. Like the other Limited Edition blends I've had from Peterson, it burns great and the flavouring carries over nicely into the taste. Definitely another homerun for Peterson and worth picking up.

Nobody has rated this review yet.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2011-12-06		Medium	Medium to Strong	Medium	Very Pleasant

This blend is beautiful, smells like a princess but lets you treat it rough. The smell is divine, very sweet, more like strawberry milk than wild strawberries. The tobacco taste is not overwhelmed by the topping, and appears to be of a high standard.

Someone mentioned that it tastes like birthday cake, and strangely enough, it really does. The tin art (not that it matters) just tops it off, beautiful to look at, delicious to smell, smokes like a dream. If you like aromatics buy it.

Nobody has rated this review yet.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Susanna Hoffs (74)	2011-12-04		Mild	Mild to Medium	Mild to Medium	Very Pleasant

As others have noted, Peterson's Special Reserve blends really do pull out the stops when it comes to tin art. Another gorgeous tin design. However it's a bit of a double edged sword, as from a practical standpoint the tin is useless. Lovely looking, but useless for storage as it isn't airtight.

The tobacco, which is high quality, comes 'cellophane' wrapped, and whilst of a compact appearance, it too is nowhere near air tight and will be good for about two or three weeks if you're looking to keep it in the original tin.

Onto the blend....

When it comes to aromatics, particularly in the UK, I don't think you can go wrong with Peterson's, and would go far as to say they are probably the highest quality aro's you can get over here.

Lovely creamy aroma with a definite strawberries & cream candy style scent, and if you take your time a truly outstanding aro. Will turn heads and get you comments, and if you're a millionaire and like aromatics, then nabbing a dozen of these tins wont do you any harm. As long as you look to store the tobacco in an air tight container, as opposed to the very pretty but very poor storage jacket that it comes in.

In comparison to the Holiday season 2011 mixture (Christmas blend 2011 to us Brits) There isn't really a massive difference between them. For anyone whose interested, the Christmas 2011 blend is a little fruitier in a tropical sense than Special Reserve.

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	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2011-11-18		Very Mild	Medium	Mild	Very Pleasant

This deserves 4 stars just for the tin alone . Surely one of the most beautifully presented tobaccos of all time and I am sure the tin will be a collectors item in years to come. The tin note is mouthwatering - I'm not sure whether to light it or eat it . A wonderfully tactile mix of broken flake and mixed Cavendish - perfect moisture in my tin . Packs beautifully with no effort and lights easily . I use a large bowl in a pipe I have set aside for aromatics for this. Subtle and smooth smoke - very low nicotine levels but the flavours of Strawberry and Tonquin bean are definitely there. I found a fair bit of tongue bite at times and occasionally an unpleasant overcased chemical residue comes through - not enough to spoil the overall quality but I have deducted one star for this reason. Leaves a toasty warm and sweet taste on the tongue. Room note is fantastic. A very good aromatic and a lovely smoke with a nice cup of tea or a lager . Not as good as the 2010 Special Reserve in my opinion but a great smoke non the less .

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	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	russ (27)	2011-10-29		Very Mild	Medium	Very Mild	Very Pleasant

This is blend I picked up along with a tin of summer time 2011. I have been on a aromatic kick lately, and gotta tell you. This is phenominal stuff. In an aromatic it super. If you are wagging back, and forth as to whether you should try this blend, and you like aromatics---GET IT. AWESOME STUFF. Another Peterson Special blend home run. For me this along with the Summertime 2011 is a hit out of the park.

Nobody has rated this review yet.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2011-10-20		Mild	Mild to Medium	Medium	Very Pleasant

The best of Peterson yet. I absolutely love this tobacco. Many pipe smokers start of with cheap aromatic tobaccos and never venture on to high quality tobaccos. This blend is rated in my opinion As Good As It Gets. I make sure I fill the bowl all the way to the top for a long and lovely smoke. Enjoy!

Nobody has rated this review yet.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2011-09-27		Mild	Mild	Mild	Very Pleasant

Wow, Wow, Wow, what a beautiful blend. I like Aromatics, and this really is a corker!

I find it does burn hot and if drawing too hard, tongue bite for sure. It doesn't suit my Dunhill Cherrywood(Gp 5) at all.. burning hot and bitter regardless of pace.

Glorious however if just sipped in a Comoys/Peterson/Savanelli/Castello/Mastro de Paja. (All Billiards)

The initial aroma is probably for me, the best I have noted, and the room note is better than almost any other.... Everyone who comes across this loves the room note.

Along with my Dunhill Early Morning Pipe & Nightcap(I love them both) I will stock up on this if I can.

If you like Aromatics, you'll adore this!

Nobody has rated this review yet.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2011-07-08		Mild	Mild	Medium	Very Pleasant

Love this, it is the first tobacco I heve thoughrly enjoyed, great room note, even the non smokers stated how lovely the smell is, one of the best I have smoked and I am a newbee. looking forward to the summertime blend if it is as good as this! buy it and you wont be dissapointed (but leave a couple of tins for me)

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	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Scamp (20)	2011-05-28		Mild	Medium to Strong	Medium	Very Pleasant

Hmmm, last year it was orange and vanilla, this year it's strawberrys and cream.

Who would have thought that such sublte flavours could actually be translated onto the pallette of a pipe smoker? Well, some how it has! This is a wonderful smoke from start to finish. When you first light the tobacco it's as if you're sipping on a strawberry milk-shake rather than smoking a pipe. I can understand why that sentense may put some pipe-smokers off, but have no fear! Like the previous reviewer has stated, this stuff is in no way sickly and the flavouring is certainly present but not overpowering. As you smoke down the bowl the flavours from the virginia bring themselves more to the fore combining to make a wonderful smoking experience.

The tin looks great, the tobacco smells wonderful in the tin, the room note is even better! Well worth a try for aromatic fans and the more traditional pipe smokers out there! I wonder what it'll be next year?...

Nobody has rated this review yet.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2011-05-22		Mild	Medium	Medium	Very Pleasant

For me, the mark of a good tobbaco is one that makes you want to smoke a pipe even more. This blend realy delivers in doing such.

Before opening the tin, you know that this is a quality product. Beautifully presented packaging, Peterson always go above and beyond with their limited editions.

Once opened you are greated with possibly the best tin note I have come across,and this is before you brake the seal on the plastic wrapper inside. When you do open the wrapper the sent of this tobbaco intensifies ten fold, prepare to salivate as you will wish you could eat this as well as smoke it.

Taking the tobbacco out to breath a little, it packs, lights and smokes perfectly. Slow, cool and without bite, down to a fine ash without any dottle. The sent from the tin translates very well into the smoke, the flavour of strawberry cuts through the sweet creamy taste in such a way that, although this is a very sweet blend, it is never sickly.

Leaving the room once smoked and comming back is the best way to truly enjoy the room note from this tobacco. It smells so good that you would be forgiven for thinking that jam had been made in there rather than a pipe being smoked.

Overall I would say this is a blend that could easly be smoked all day, however is perfect for an after dinner smoke and is just right for spring and summer...

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