Tobacco of the Year for 2006, Anno MMVI is a sweet pear mixture of noble black cavendish, nutty burley and Virginia flakes rounded off with the natural sweetness of the Williams Christ pear. Extraordinary taste experience. Blended by hand in Germany.
The nutty, earthy burley also sports light spice and cocoa with a touch of molasses, and is the most obvious component. The citrusy, grassy Virginia plays a support role. The sugary black cavendish is almost a supporting player. The tobacco is a mixed cut: mostly ribbon, a little coarse cut, and a few big pieces of flake that may need pudding out, depending upon your preference. The mildly sweet Williams Christ pear topping sublimates the tobaccos to fair extent, though it has a sour alcohol note that some may find distracting. There’s a peppery spice added as well. The strength falls short of the center of mild to medium, while the taste hits that level. Has a very mild nic-hit. I experienced no bite, but it does burn warm on the tongue and tingles a mite, so I recommend a sipping pace. Burns a little fast with a mostly consistent flavor. Leaves little moisture in the bowl, and requires an average number of relights. Has a sweet and sour after taste. Can be an all day smoke.
Yes, it has a indistinguishable fruitiness about it which one would expect from a pear flavored tobacco. It smokes hot, and always goes bitter about half way down, which ended any positive thoughts I might have had towards it. It may be better suited for someone who normally doesn't like aromatics, but I can't honestly recommend it. Not for me.
It's a bit of an eclectic looking blend, although there's all sorts of ribbon sizes, there's one or two big pieces of flake. The pouch has a medium weight aromatic smell. The hydration's perfect for immediate smoking, but perhaps a touch dry for long-term cellaring.
The smoke. The best tasting of the tobaccos is easily the Burley. Yes, it has a touch of the usual nuttiness, but the louder nuance from it's a chocolatey one. To be fair, the Virginia and Cavendish taste somewhat prosaic in comparison; not 'bad', or 'boring', but they lack anything special to separate them from the crowd. The pear comes over with certainty, being sweet and slightly fragrant, but I don't find it too strongly included. Although the review's going good up to now, here's some points to reduce the rating. Temperature and speed: it smokes extremely hot and goes like the clappers.
The nicotine: mild to medium. Room-note: not my thing.
Planta Anno MMVI? Not horrible, but taking everything on board two stars feels right:
Well, it's obviously not for everyone, but I like it. The pear taste comes through a little better if you let some of the broken flake in the mix stay as-is. No rubbing. I def. taste the pear in the baccy and I likey...just had another chunk sent my way.
Mixture of cuts offer a good fruity as well as somewhat earthy nose. Take fire well with few re-lights. I do get some citrus notes from the Virginia and the earthy Burley is also very noticeable. The Cavendish offers up a bit of sweetness, but it is not the prime player. I find the pear flavor to be noticeable but not overwhelming. All in all a very pleasant and satisfying smoke. While not overly strong the nicotine is ample. I will smoke this on occasion and will most likely buy more bulk to jar and cellar.
A flat, hot-smoking aromatic. It's alleged to taste like pear, but I can't really see it. Pear is a mild flavor even when you EAT a pear, so it's hard to fathom that a tobacco could impart any kind of pear flavor. Even the bag note betrays the description. It's pretty much your standard aromatic underneath the hood -- at least the tobaccos in it are of good quality. Still, you can do better.
Individual reviews are the opinion(s) of the contributor and do not reflect the opinion(s)
of STC Holdings LLC. Published review content of this website is considered the
copyright intellectual property of the reviewer and STC Holdings LLC and may not be
reproduced in any manner without the expressed written consent of STC Holdings LLC.