Tobaccos Esoterica Tobacciana - Dunbar

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	JimInks (3048)	2013-10-13		Medium	Extremely Mild	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

My original 10-13-2013 review: The bright and darker Virginias provide a lot of tart and tangy citrus, vegetative grass/hay, bread, a fair amount of tangy dark fruit, earth, wood, floralness, mild sugar. light sour lemon. and a touch of vinegar and acidity as the lead components. The earthy, woody perique produces a moderate amount plums, raisins, figs and pepper. It offers secondary support rather than full support. The apricot topping is very mild, and doesn’t tone down the tobaccos much. The strength and taste levels are medium. The nic-hit is a step below that mark. No chance of bite or harshness. Has a few rough edges. Well balanced with some richness, it burns cool and clean at a reasonable rate with a very consistent fruity, mildly spicy, floral, lightly sour flavor that extends to the moderately lingering, pleasant after taste. The room note is a little more potent. Leaves little dampness in the bowl, and requires an average number of relights. Not quite an all day smoke. Four stars.

Update 12-23-2022. I have tried three samples from 2020, 2021, and 2022 drops, and the blend has been changed. The tart and tangy, more sour citrus is more dominant, and the tangy dark fruit is in the background. The sour lemon is much more obvious than before as is the acidity. That’s because there’s more bright, and the dark Virginias are cut with a lighter grade. The perique is more plummy, and not quite as sweet. Neither are the Virginias. The overall spice content is slightly stronger because of the brighter Virginias, and the perique has lost a step of potency from earlier versions. The floralness is more pronounced. Has a little more roughness, but won’t bite, though fast puffing may grant you a small harsh note. These aspects are elevated more in the 2022 productions than the previous two years, but not by much. The apricot isn’t quite as deep as before nor is the overall flavor as rich. The strength, nic-hit and taste levels remain consistent over the years. All other characteristics are the same as I noted in my original review. Two stars for the current manufactures I have experienced. My current rating reflects these years, and not the earlier years.

-JimInks

63 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Pipestud (1829)	2017-01-11		Medium	None Detected	Medium	Pleasant

Dunbar was processed in the typical Germain way that sweeten's the Virginia in a manner that has never been duplicated. And, history dictates that the more Dunbar ages, the presentation's depth really shines, particularly with the delicate, yet firm addition of pure 100% Louisiana Perique that does not overwhelm, but gently supports the top shelf Virginia leaf. One of the finest Virginia & Perique blends (if not the finest), that I have ever smoked.

37 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	A Northern Breed (16)	2011-12-28		Medium	None Detected	Medium to Full	Pleasant to Tolerable

Esoterica is really something. Everything they put out is top notch, and this is no exception. I cannot say whether this or Dorchester is my favorite VaPer, but it's one of the two as far as pure VaPer taste goes. Everyone says Escudo is it when it comes to VaPers, but I disagree, as Escudo - although it is very good - does not have the brightness of Virginias like the VaPers from Esoterica.

The tin is Esoterica's standard tin, and I like the fact that they measure it out to two ounces (56 grams) rather than the typical 50 grams. Upon opening the tin, the scent is of raisins and wood, with the Virginia brightness notably shining through. The cut makes it a little difficult to remove from the tin and pack, but no big deal. Takes a light nicely, although it may require a relight or two, which is also no big deal. Overall, well done on the presentation.

The stuff tastes fantastic and clean, and the Virginia and Perique are blended so well that they harmonize, rather than singing separately. The taste is very much of a VaPer, but it's odd because I find it very different from Escudo. Escudo is a bit darker and a bit too heavy on the Perique for me, whereas this Dunbar (I'm smoking it as I type) is brighter and cleaner tasting, with obviously top-notch Virginia's. As compared to Dorchester, I like Dunbar because it has so many Virginias (seven, to be exact), which increases complexity.

Overall, highly recommended. I think that if I were trying to get a friend into pipe smoking, I would give them a VaPer, and Dunbar might just be it. In my opinion, a much better example of the genre than Escudo, albeit quite different.

31 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	DrumsAndBeer (217)	2014-11-10		Medium	Extremely Mild	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

Germain's descriptor of “savory” pretty much sums up the flavor of Dunbar for me. A counterpart to the brighter and sweeter Dorchester, Dunbar's flavor is quite a bit darker with plenty of wood, earth and spice. I'd say that this is one of the darkest tasting Virginia perique blends of any that I have had the pleasure of smoking.

Once it gets going, the smoke takes on a rich chocolatey fig-like flavor which is nicely enhanced by the piquant zip of the perique. There is some good strength here, but it never overwhelms. Dunbar is a well matured tobacco mixture, evidenced by its deep mellow flavor which is delivered with zero bite and no harshness.

Truth be told, as good as this blend is, I have always prefered a sweeter, tangier VaPer with a bit less bottom-end complexity. When it comes to Vapers, I am more about the high-notes than the low. Nonetheless, Dunbar is still an extremely enjoyable blend and one that I will continue to smoke on occasion for a change of pace.

Pipe Used: Briar

23 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Sinister Topiary (84)	2016-02-21		Medium	None Detected	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

I went in to Dunbar without any expectations, other than it being a respected VaPer. That said, I didn't expect it be a contender against Escudo!

This is a really lovely VaPer. In a nutshell, while Escudo has a mysterious depth to it, Dunbar has a surprising delicacy to it (as Sceny incisively noted) and a subtle dark sweetness that is unique for a VaPer.

Dunbar sits on the same shelf right next to Escudo -- just as stellar, but in a different way. DrumsAndBeer is, as usual, highly accurate: this is a VaPer for those with a predilection for a lower tonality (such as me). If I happen to reach for Escudo instead of Dunbar when I want a VaPer it's only because Escudo is one of those rare blends that has a touch of magic to it.

A must try for the VaPer lover, or someone wanting to sample another top-notch variety of the genre. And take this one slow, otherwise don't even bother 'cause you'll be wasting your time and 'baccy.

22 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Eulenburg (193)	2001-10-11		Mild to Medium	None Detected	Medium to Full	Very Pleasant

Nicotiana tabacum is the Linæan classification of our favourite weed, and nicotiana would indeed be the most correct Latin term for things about tobacco. Less correctly, but still possible, one could derive tabaciana from tabacum. But tobacciana is an absurd macaronic barbarism. And so, I have always looked at these blends with a jaundiced eye.

Still, Virginia-cum-Périque is like cat-nip to me, so I decided to swallow my monocled disdain and try this lamely labeled mélange.

Yum, yum!

The Périque element in this blend is dramatic and deliriously overpowering: it tastes like some fiery single-malt liqueur, sweet, rich and peppery?do you know Drambuie??a dream come true! The virginia wherein this Créole beauty is mounted is like sweet gold: it never gives up. I was such a pig that, after sucking several bowlfuls of this in a row, I nearly blistered my tongue! Aye, the laddie can bite, alright.

I got this tin from a neighbourhood shelf, where it probably had been sitting for a long time: the paper sleeve inside was drenched through, and the "pouch" aroma had a semi-putribond redolence proclaiming "Périque orgy". So, Périque-haters, beware: this could kill you. If you are like me, though, you will be hooked immediately.

Now, if they could only straighten out their Latinity! I might even condescend to try Penzance.

20 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	TallPuffO'Burley (633)	2014-03-21		Medium	None Detected	Medium to Full	Strong

I just finished a tin of this that I had bought a while ago. I really liked this one. I also really like Dorchester. It is funny when reading comparisons between the two blends how very differently people view the two. For Instance, I find Dunbar to be sweeter than Dorchester and lighter on the perique. There are some who agree with me and some who find the exact opposite to be true. All I can really add to this is they are both delicious and you will be happy doing your own comparison.

Purchased From: P & C

Similar Blends: Dorchester.

15 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Mr. Big (321)	2011-04-13		Medium	None Detected	Medium to Full	Pleasant to Tolerable

Move over Escudo, Dunbar is my new favorite VaPer. Upon opening a tin you notice a wonderful "Raisin Bran" smell with just the right moisture content and a fully packed tin ( that I will talk about later). The tobacco packs and lights easily and stays lit without any moisture buildup. Initially there is a sweet Virginia flavor and ample Perique mustiness. These continue to play throughout the bowl and depending on how hard you puff, you can bring each of these out in perfect balance( slow sip, it's sweet Virginia, faster it's Perique). I find the room note wonderful but unfortunately the " wife test" always says no to Perique. I enjoy smoking VaPers in a cob as I think it brings out the Perique. I don't know how they blended these Virginias, but there is absolutely no bite or even a sensation of pepper on the tongue that I find even in a fine blend like Escudo. The tobacco is smooth, flavorful, complex and satisfying with ample N . It is also economical as I will explain. If you just take the tin weight, at 56.7 gms. not 50 gms. and doing our math, that's 13.4% more tobacco by weight than most others. In addition, I prefer to look at tin volume and how many pipe full's I can get. Dunbar is tightly packed to the brim whereas Escudo is only half full of its pretty wheels. I estimate I'll get 30% more pipe-full's when it's all said and done. Dunbar is my clear choice

Updated 8/18/2011 -A back to back comparison between " Dorchester" and "Dunbar" revealed the following:

Cut/ Moisture/ lighting: Same, very acceptable

Tin aroma/ Appearance: Similar but Dorchester had a hint of snuff sent and was a lighter color

Flavor: Similar, Dunbar was more mellow and matured where as Dorchester was brighter and slightly more flavor

Tongue bite: Dorchester had a very slight nip at the tongue where as Dunbar had no nip and was an all day smoke

Overall: Both are excellent Vapers , I favor Dunbar only because I am very sensitive to Tongue bite.

14 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	moniker (220)	2016-09-18		Mild	Extremely Mild	Mild to Medium	Pleasant

ET’s Dunbar is delicious and forgiving, and IMO it might be the best introduction to the VA/Per genre. Its tin note presages the smoke: plums and figs over fermenting, grassy dough. The short ribbons are mostly golden, reflecting the predominant, flue cured VAs, and there are precious few dark ribbons, partly because there is not a lot of Perique in this blend. It handles, loads, lights and smokes with little effort, and it burns down quickly. I prefer to smoke Dunbar with original moisture, because it makes more smoke this way. During the smoke, one clearly tastes and smells all the tin notes, and there is very little in the way of “pepper”. In fact, it strikes me as pretty mild on all fronts, yet it smells and tastes great. Its room note is also pleasant, while the aftertaste is souring, smoky, golden grasses.

No suspense here. Four stars for quality and for effortlessly being what it is.

Pipe Used: briars dedicated to VA/Pers

Age When Smoked: fresh to pretty old

Purchased From: Liberty Tobacco

10 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30194)	2013-02-01		Medium	None Detected	Medium	Tolerable

This is one of my favorites. I sometimes open the jar just to smell it and drool. It's difficult for me to describe, as I usually am simply absorbing pleasure and not paying attention to subtleties when I smoke it, but...

Dunbar smokes beautifully. Very cool, very even burn, even when seriously abused. The perique makes it spicy and complex, while the top-quality virginias give it a rich, subtly sweet backing. Packs easily, and seems to suit every pipe I've packed with it. In a small pipe, one could smoke it while driving; it is light, gentile, and easy to manage while still giving nicotine satisfaction. In a big, cavernous bowl, one can sit and prepare oneself for a long and utterly satisfying experience as its rich and changing flavor takes you for a ride. My usual, recently, is honestly a medium-large cob, and I find that the two match quite well.

I think the tobaccos Esoterica uses in this blend are of such quality that they could be utterly ham-fisted with the blending and still produce an almost perfect tobacco. This is absolutely tip-top quality leaf.

9 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Joeray (61)	2014-07-23		Medium	None Detected	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

I had a tin of this blend about 6 months ago and I put it on my desk without touch it and found a favorite taste on favorite pipe. I'm really enjoying this Sunday smokes with Esoterica T Dunbar at BB&s D3. The smell on the tin is so hooked me out, a fresh fruity scent follows with chinese green tea flavor. Easy to pack it into my straight billiard shaped pipe and not difficult to keep the light on, the draw is smooth and the smoke is wonderful with medium strength. No over-power, not too spice, and the sweetness is just at the right portion. Now I know why lot of pipesmokers admire and love this stuff, I'm also in love with this stuff. At my BB&S D3 pipe, I really enjoying cool, dry, and pleasant smokes.

Pipe Used: BB&s D3

Age When Smoked: 6 months

Purchased From: Indonesia Local Tobacconist

Similar Blends: Escudo Navy Deluxe.

8 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Bishop_Pipe (5)	2012-03-29		Mild to Medium	None Detected	Medium to Full	Unnoticeable

I have been an occasional pipe smoker for three years, but in the last year i have got into smoking more and more. This is the first VaPer that i tried. I will say that i was not disappointed!

The tin aroma has a mild fruity smell to me, which is loads into a pipe and lights very easily.

The taste from the smoke is very evident of what it contains, virginias and perique. It is a very balanced taste, there is a bit of spiciness coming from the perique but this blends very well with the sweetness of virginias making this tobacco very well rounded and very smooth and lovely tasting.

Would recommend this to any pipe smoker regardless of experience, and even to those not fond of perique because of the well balanced nature.

8 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	HabaneroHardy (403)	2019-08-03		Mild to Medium	None Detected	Mild to Medium	Unnoticeable

About a month ago, a fellow pipe club member gave me a zip lock bag labeled Dunbar that I am pretty sure had been previously given to him and he asked me to try it. A few days later I tried it and from the tin note (zip lock bag) I detected mostly perique or a moldy bread smell possibly from the Virginias, at least to me that is what I could make out. It smoked kind of one dimensional, bland, tasteless, etc. A week later he asked me how it was. I am not one to insult a gift but asked him if it had been home blended with other ingredients and he replied no. I said I thank you for the gift but if you want my honest opinion it really was a one-dimensional smoke as stated earlier. He said he could not get any Virginia taste out of it either as was the opinion of others in our club. I was hesitant to write this review because maybe it was mislabeled by accident with no malice intended or sat out on the other guys dashboard for a long time. Ha. I have smoked some more of this and I keep looking for the 11 herbs and spices and I can’t find them. And this one gets a lot of glowing reviews about all of the flavors. I wish I could get my hands on a tin or a bag but the only place I could find it offered was 140 bucks for an 8 oz bag and way out of my price range to compare the difference. I am curious but not at that price. I am giving this a 2 star in the hopes that I can come across some more at a future date and will update this review but what I smoked I can not really recommend at this time. Esoterica tobaccos are as hard to get as looking for a needle in a haystack but recently my luck has changed and I was able to buy a tin of Pembroke, and we also were allowed the opportunity to buy one ounce of Penzance. I am looking forward to reviewing these two shortly. Most of my reviews are probably more about the experience surrounding the blends that I try. Here is my expertise when it comes to tobaccos, yep that is an English blend, yep that is a Virginia blend, yep Perique in there and yep that is definitely an aromatic. Anyhow I have fun keeping track of what I have tried and I am wondering if I am getting addicted to writing reviews. Maybe that is why I buy something different every week. I hope not, I am running out of cellar space. Ha.

Pipe Used: Briar

Age When Smoked: Unknown

Purchased From: Gift

7 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Gentleman Zombie (729)	2017-03-16		Medium	Extremely Mild	Medium	Pleasant

The first half is very good, the second is superb. In the first half the Virginias bring more sweet citrus than hay and the Perique brings a bit of spice. The topping is extremely mild and mostly apricot to my taste. Fresh and zesty I'd call it. In the second half is where I realize that, at least some, of the Virginias have been Cavendish processed. A nice toasty note shows along with some dark fruit from the Perique. It's heavenly at this point and it finishes this way with the addition of a touch of earth. It's an outstanding smoke.

Medium in body and taste. Flavoring is extremely mild. Burns very well.

Pipe Used: MM Little Devil Cutty, Little Devil Acorn, Marcus

Age When Smoked: 1 year

Purchased From: Cup O' Joes

7 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	gladi8tor96 (143)	2016-09-09		Mild to Medium	None Detected	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

Upon opening the tin, I see ribbons of medium brown, yellow, and bits of black all mixed together. The tin smells sweet and fruity with just a hint of hay. It really smells good straight from the tin and has a bit of moisture, but not overly so. I have smoked this straight from the tin or let it dry out.

Loads very easily and stays lit with light tamping. I usually don't need a relight for this stuff and most times it takes just one match.

Upon lighting the bowl I got the usual flavors from the variety of VAPERs I have tried before, with light notes and hayish flavors balanced by slight plum, dark fruit, and pepper. It reminded me of Luxury Bullseye Flake quite a bit. But then as the bowl progresses, about 1/5 of the bowl down, the flavors become more rich and I would almost say dark tones started to show up, like some chocolate mixed with the dark fruit and maybe a bit of coffee. Very flavorful smoke after the initial light. The flavor is just a hint sweet, very savory with wood, deep plum and raisin, with just hints of hay and pepper. A great VaPer that seems to be a bit different than most with it's richness and dark plum tones. It has a decent strength as well. Doesn't bite and is very smooth.

The first time I sampled this tobacco, a friend of mine had given me a bowlful or two from a bag that had been aged (I think 6-10 years). That smoke I remember being absolutely amazing. It was creamy with the same profile I described above, but perhaps a bit subdued. I plan to age some of this for a good long while to experience it like this again.

Pipe Used: Bent Billard, Dublin, Egg, Acorn

Age When Smoked: 3 Months after receiving tin

Purchased From: Morgan Hill Cigar and Wine

Similar Blends: Peter Stokkebye - Luxury Bullseye Flake (No. 403).

6 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	strongirish (249)	2010-07-14		Mild to Medium	None Detected	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

I am a VaPer fan smoking Escudo a lot so when I got a tin of this I was excited to try it. Upon opening the tin, the smell of musty and spicy. It is a ribbon cut mostly light colored tobacco and come pretty moist in the tin so I dry it out some before smoking it. It does pack easy in the pipe and lights easy, one to raise the crown and one after tamping it level with the bowl. It burns well and stays lit and does burn all the way down to a fine whitish grey ash with some dark areas. The taste is of a nice virginia but not sweet or hay like and the perique is right there from the start. It picks up it's presence as one smokes the bowl down and I like the perique used, it is nice an spicy and gives the blend a kick. However, without the stweetness of the VA coming through like a lot of good vapors, I grow bored with it before finishing the bowl. I have tried it right out of the tin, somewhat dried and very dry and get the same result. Also have smoked it in numerous pipes. I do like the final third of the bowl, then it has a lot of taste and flavor, and I like the room note it leaves. But I think there are many VaPors that are much better than this one. I do recommend trying it but I think it will drive one back to the better Vapers.

1/8/2013

I was gifted another tin of this blend that the sender had left it out to dry out and it appears to be aged. I have been smoking it this week and it does age well, it is very mellow and the VA in it is a little sweeter now. I do enjoy this blend, but I still find it to be a little too mild for my tastes. I much prefer aged Escudo if I am smoking VA/Pers. It is a good blend that I will smokke if gifted but would not buy it myself.

6 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Old Nate (17)	2017-04-06		Mild to Medium	None Detected	Mild to Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

To me, this is a soft tobacco. Gentle and warm, it sets you at ease through the pipe. Smoked in both briars and cobs I tend to enjoy it more so in my country gentleman Missouri Meerschaum but it’s been remarkable in my Savinelli Roma as of late. I had been anticipating this tobacco for some time and my expectations were at a premium. Dunbar was not a blow me away from first puff kind of smoke, nor was it a disappointment. This is a tobacco that slowly reveals itself; it has many layers and subtleties. This is, perhaps, due to the variety of Virginia leaf they loaded in this Esoterica mixture. If smoked immediately with no drying time, I got a slightly hot, hard to keep lit bowl. No problem, just a few minutes drying and the tobacco smoked cool and retained a light exceptionally well with very little relights, and puff slowly to reveal lots of dark fruit flavors that dance around the tongue, never fully exposing themselves for long. As the bowl progresses a nice tang starts to rear its head and do a little battle with the fleeting dark plummy traces of fruit that are in and out. This is where the smoke gets very enjoyable and puts you in a good spot. Back and forth, the flavors are here then there, plum, cherry, tang, plum, tang, grass, tang, dark cherry, plum, tang, grass, berry, tang, berry… but you are only going to achieve those flavors if you take care to nurse Dunbar. This is not a deep dark tobacco filled with red Virginia’s that are going to jump out at you at first light. The taste is deep, but it’s a deep bright… lots of fermented hay, deep grass flavors, playing right along with the plummy perique that is just slightly below the surface, making itself known only in sparse moments and even then there is a darkness in the flavor, no spice at all, to my palate. Dunbar really is a joy to smoke, if just for all the intricate details of each loaded pipe. At times the perique is present much more than at other times, when it seems it’s not a VaPer at all, but a straight bright Virginia. And that is where this gets interesting and grabs a hold of you. Just when you think you got it figured out, and know how you like to prepare it, what pipe you want to use, the blend reveals something else about itself opening up a whole new avenue of flavors and characteristics of which you didn’t think this little blend was capable. I smoked through four ounces of this and I’m still figuring it out. It’s soft, subtle, deep for a mostly bright Virginia, and constantly revealing new idiosyncrasies to the pipe smoker.

Pipe Used: Briars and Cobs

Age When Smoked: Fresh - 1 year

Purchased From: B&M

Similar Blends: Dorchester (but not as sweet), Orlick Golden Slices.

5 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	hawky454 (107)	2017-02-21		Mild to Medium	None Detected	Medium to Full	Very Pleasant

This is (at this moment in time) my favorite Virginia Perique blend available today. Whatever Germain does to these VA's is simply brilliant! I imagine other tobacco manufacturers would die to get their hands on a copy of their technique as no one else has been able to cure Virginia tobaccos like J.F. Germain, everything else falls short in comparison. This is currently my all day smoke and I never tire of it. There is true depth to this smoke, you get more low notes than most VaPers but there are some splendid high notes that work synergisticly with the low notes to create a beautiful symphony in your mouth (Cheesy). To this date I have only had fresh Dunbar but I can only imagine this one will age gracefully, and I have plenty in the cellar so I will one day find out. I have nothing negative to say about this one as there are no negatives to speak of, ya can't mess with perfection, and Dunbar is indeed perfect. Unfortunately this one, along with every other Esoterica is very hard to come by because the demand for such a high grade tobacco is high and I will say the hype is very well justified with this one. I just hope I can get my hands on enough to last me the rest of my years.

ABSOLUTELY ESSENTIAL

Edit 3-20-19* Two years after my initial review and I’ve only come to love it even more. I just opened a jar of 2 year aged Dunbar and it’s just pure heaven! I’m stocked up well on this one and I can’t wait to try it as it continues to age, 2, 4, 6, 8 and even 10 years from now, I imagine it will just keep getting sweeter and sweeter. As far as VaPers go, all roads lead to Dunbar

Pipe Used: Gamboni, Stanwell, Neerup

Age When Smoked: Fresh, 2 years

5 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30194)	2012-05-24		Medium	None Detected	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

I have been attempting to compare and contrast Dunbar and Dorchester for a few months now and they are very similar. They are both excellent quality with about the same amount perique that is contained in our benchmark Orlik Golden. Dunbar and Dorchester are natural and smoke wonderfully. These blends definitely provide a unique experience worth trying. the difference in taste between the two is small, but dorchester is lighter, sweeter, and fruitier while dunbar is spicier and has more of a rich plum taste. If you could only choose to try one, I would personally recommend Dorchester.

5 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Noorrmm (192)	2005-05-08		Medium	None Detected	Medium to Full	Tolerable

Appearance: A mixture of coarse ribbon and broken flake. Color runs the gamut of medium light through dark.

Aroma: Typical Esoterica aroma, quite musty, almost unpleasant. I assume it has something to due with the maturing process, as Tilbury has a similar aroma. It does not ever go away, only becomes less noticeable.

Packing: Must be packed with some care, owing to the coarseness of the cut. Never packs easily into a small bowl.

Lighting: Somewhat slower than average to catch fire. Sometimes needs two matches for a good charring light.

Initial flavor: Very full bodied Virginia flavor. Sweet with a trace of sour, peppery tang. Lacking in complexity or layering.

Mid-bowl: Still somewhat monochromatic in flavor. Tends to be boring in a tall bowl, but not well suited to a small pipe. (See note on packing).

Finish: Ends not with a bang, but a whimper. No significant change at the end. Leaves a clean ash.

Summary: For me, there are much more rewarding Va/Per blends out there. Worth a try, but I won?t be back.

5 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Salvatore (5)	2022-01-10		Mild to Medium	None Detected	Mild to Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

Well folks... it seems Vapers are getting a bad rap in the Press again. To combat this negative talk, I decided to bust out one of my 8 oz bags of the Esoterica blend, Dunbar. This brute of a blend is bound to wallop some sense into any Virginia Perique naysayers. Why, it contains not five, not six, but a walloping seven different Virginias, topped off with some genuine St James perique! This blend is the schoolyard bully your dad warned you about back when you smoked your first bowl of Lane BCA. But upon opening this bag and examining it's contents, I was greeted not with a clashing mix of tobacco, but rather a beautiful, harmonious looking blend of thin strands of Virginias. Just a smattering of perique contrasts this heavenly, golden concoction of seemingly first rate tobacco. Interesting indeed. Not the thug I was expecting by any means. Still, you can't underestimate some of these non-aromatic blends on looks alone. You could get bitten, no pun intended. I decided to break out my trusty Luigi Viprati pipe, which I acquired for a small fortune, but has only been graced with the finest of Virginia Perique blends since in my possesion. In short, this pipe can tame even the meanest of VaPers. I figured the only thing to do at this point this was to attack it full on with my trusty match, (the only proper way to light virginias IMO) with the charring light, to show him who is boss. But I was shocked to notice this blend didn't fight back at all. It responded with a wonderfully sweet, hay like taste with a bit of stoved in the background. Curious, I thought. After tamping, I approached it a bit more affection. This blend wasn't the thug I had been warned about it appeared. As I slowly sipped and pondered what I was tasting, I realized no 2 puffs had tasted alike. The perique joined the little party shortly in, and countered the the sweet and grassyness with its usual spice and bit of sour aftertaste. How pleasant, I thought. At this point I noticed the tin I have has a different description than the larger bag does, but they both use the term "marriage" to describe the seven Virginia's togetherness. How appropriate, I thought. By the time I was finished with this bowl, I knew I'd smoke something special. This ain't no Burley Light Without Bite, that's for sure!! Suffice to say, this Esoteric blend has reinforced my love for this type of blend, the relatively new guy on the block, Mr. Virginia/Perique. I honestly can't think of two tobacco's belonging together more than these two. Obviously that has much to do with the quality of tobaccos being used by Esoterica. They say on the bags" Utilizing finest whole leaf and traditional production techniques. We take pleasure in presenting a wide variety of Premium pipe tobacco" You see folks, contrary to popular belief, not all pipe tobacco is created equal. Just like with anything else, extra time and extra care generally leads to an extra special product. This bag will last me a long time, as I plan to savor this, and other premium tobaccos like this, so that each smoke is meaningful. Esoterica Blends aren't just coveted because they are hard to find, they are hard to find because they are coveted. I firmly believe it is the variety that makes this Hobby as rewarding as it is. We live in a great time of online Commerce, and blends that were never available to the average person are accessible now with a little time and effort. Take advantage of it while you can, who knows when our governments will mess that up. Ladies and gentlemen, smoke up and smoke often (but not too often😉). And for the love of Pete, go out and smoke something new this year!

Pipe Used: Luigi Viprati

Age When Smoked: 1 year

Purchased From: Rather not say ;)

4 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Pryhosm (248)	2017-10-25		Mild to Medium	Medium	Medium	Tolerable

This is one difficult blend to lay ones paws on! If you can find it buy it, if you can find more, buy more and cellar. I had to smoke this in several pipes to be able to give an accurate review. This is a great VaPer blend. The tin/bag note on this tobacco is fantastic. When you open the bag you are hit with a sweet, raisin/fig/apricot scent that almost knocks you over. I could spend all day with my nose in this tobacco. The sweetness in the nose is not fully realized in the smoke, but the favors are there. From first light to the bottom of the bowl this is a Virginia forward smoke, It starts out sweet with the figgy taste and a bread and hay flavor that last throughout the bowl. The perique in this blend is relatively light. When you look at the ribbons the perique is lightly spread throughout the blend. In the smoke you get the peppery mouth feel and the tingle in your nose but the sweet flavors seem to more from the Virginia's than the perique.

I had the best smoke in a meer. This can bite if you are a puffer, or in this case are eager for another taste and go back to the well too quickly. I found in a full sized meer you can enjoy every nuance of this blend and not have to worry about tongue bite or getting a burnt taste from overzealous puffing. It comes a bit wet in the bag and some drying time is needed, especially briars. I did smoke a few bowls straight away in the meer and the moister tobacco did provide a more full flavored smoke. I tried the same in a briar and was sucking on ice cubes an hour later. I am off to my bag of Dorchester next. I didn't want to touch it until I really vetted Dunbar out. Another fantastic blend from Esoterica / JF Germaine.

Pipe Used: briar's & Meerschaum

Age When Smoked: less than one year

Purchased From: Iwan Reiss (BM)

4 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Bulldog8483 (25)	2017-03-04		Mild to Medium	None Detected	Mild	Pleasant to Tolerable

Dunbar is something out of this world. An unbelievable VaPer and hands down my favorite VaPer blend, yes it's that good. It's an shame that it's so difficult to obtain.

As you open the tin for the very first time, you are greeted with the sweet smell of Virginia tobacco and a wonderful grassy, hay-like Virginia at that. Simply wonderful. After the tin has been opened, the sweet smell dissipates and the grassy/ hay smell moves to the forefront upon future openings of it. This is a smell that I cannot get enough of, makes me want to chew on it, it smells that good. It is a little moist upon initial opening, so give it a little dry time and it will light great.

As for the tobacco quality, it is second to none and in a class of its own. Not sure what Virginias they use in Esoterica blends, but they are so unique and have an aged taste a and smell to them, all while not tasting "too old" if that makes sense? It is top notch in quality and the consistency from tin to tin is great for this particular blend, which cannot be said of some of their other blends.

Smoking the blend: It is subtly sweet, distinctly rich and extremely smooth. It won't bite like other VaPers sometimes do. It's a cool smoke and it's white and billowy as you exhale as well. The perique is in the background in this one, contrary to what some have said. There is definitely more perique in, or at the very least, it is far more pronounced in Dorchester than Dunbar. I like Dunbar a great deal more than its cousin (Dorchester). The taste of Dunbar is buttery and almost creamy in nature. You really just taste the phenomenal Virginias and what I really like about it is the smell of the tobacco out of the tin translates very well into what you taste as you smoke it. That is such a good thing in this case because that smell out of the tin is so incredibly rich and deep smelling. In short and as I mentioned earlier, this is a top notch, "hit it out of the park" blend and i couldn't be happier with it. I've been smoking for 5 years now and have had the pleasure of smoking this blend for much of that 5 years and it is something that i never get tired of, is in my regular rotation each week and a blend i look forward to smoking, even after all these years. I hope this review helps you all on your quest for great smokes. All the best to you all.

Pipe Used: Countless different pipes.

Age When Smoked: Fresh, 1 year, 2 years and 3 years

Purchased From: Brick and Mortor

Similar Blends: Dorchester, Escudo, Orlik Golden Sliced, Dunhill Flake.

4 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30194)	2013-03-26		Medium to Strong	Mild	Medium to Full	Pleasant

This my humble remark based on the tobacco of 2012 in a creamy-gray bag. I smoke it and think, it is tasty ... the most delicious.

Age When Smoked: 1

Purchased From: 2012

4 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	BrokenRecord (124)	2019-06-11		Mild to Medium	Very Mild	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

Dunbar: A Scrumptious VaPer that is Sweet and Plummy

The tin note smells of plums. The Virginia leaf seems to be made up mostly of lighter leaf with some darker varietals scattered here and there. They are very sweet with some flavor notes of decaying grass and earthy-richness. That said, they smell exactly like other Esoterica Virginias with whatever casing they use to process their leaf. The perique is not spicy but adds undertones of fermented fruit. Together, they create my favorite sweet VaPer. I could hoard this blend in my cellar, but I do not like the normal Esoterica hunt.

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	2piper (14)	2019-05-18		Medium	Very Mild	Medium	Pleasant

Definition of the word Delectable - Highly Pleasing: Delightful.

Delectable is the one word that comes to mind while I'm savoring a comforting bowl of this Heaven sent mixture.

A wonderful combination of high quality tobacco. Fruity sweetness, creamy smoothness, peppery goodness. It's a slow burning tobacco that allows you enjoy it at length and without effort.

Dunbar is one of those "All is right with the world" mixtures.

You'll want to keep some of this on hand to celebrate life's pleasant moments. Perhaps you just received a promotion at work? Or, finally stuck it to "The Man" and opened your own small business? Maybe you finally purchased that lakeside cottage that you've been dreaming of and it's your first Friday evening sitting by the fire pit? The fire crackling softly whilst Dunbar exclaims gently with each puff....... Life is grand!

Age When Smoked: 8 months

Purchased From: B&M

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	PhantomWolf (41)	2017-04-14		Mild to Medium	Mild	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

Bright gold and sliced into perfect ribbons. This tobacco smells like honey, wood, green raisin,straw, button mushroom, and a slight kind of... unripened cantaloupe. The faintest wet, earth smell. Like a morning walk through a field in early spring. The tufts of dry grass wet with melting snow and thawing soil- a chill breeze blowing, but you can smell life returning with it. Smoking characteristics are ideal: Clean, smooth burn with almost no bite, though my batch was considerably moist and warrants air-drying before packing to avoid moisture or gurgle. The taste is Virginia perfection with an almost incognito level of perique. Layers of lightly sweet Virginia with cool, slight earthy musty undertones of the Perique and subtle fruitiness. I have to admit that this is my first VAPer and that may be bad, as it could set the bar too high for other VAPer blends. I think this may be one of my go-to all-day pipes. Especially outdoors, as the room note is the only thing I don't wholly appreciate about this tobacco. Next trip to my tobacconist will find me not only filling a jar with this blend, but grabbing a few ounces to gift my brother.

Pipe Used: Missouri Meerschaum, Corn Cob

Age When Smoked: Fresh, air-dried prior to packing.

Purchased From: Allegheny Smokeworks Pittsburgh, PA

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Dr.James (39)	2017-03-17		Medium	Very Mild	Medium to Full	Pleasant

The tin or bag aroma is delightful. The melody of seven different Virginias is well rounded and exhibits fruity sweetness with woodsy undertones and are harmonized by earthy and notes and a touch of honey. The Perique incorporated is top notch, and sings through with spice and cassis. When fresh I detect a subtle topping that intensifies the blend but it becomes less apparent with age, there is also a mild apricot and citrus topping present. Burns at a medium pace, requires above average relights and leaves little moisture in the bowl. Medium nicotine strength and builds mid-bowl. Pleasant lingering finish and an enjoyable room note.

Complex, balanced and satisfying, will not disappoint the Virginia-Perique enthusiast.

Age When Smoked: Various

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Cat Jockey (21)	2017-03-04		Medium	None Detected	Medium	Tolerable

Simply put, a ho-hum VaPer for me. There are plenty of other VaPers I would recommend over this one. I do like Tillbury and Penzance (when I enjoyed Latakia, which I no longer do), so nothing against Esoterica. Tin note is predominately hay, and if you step back and remove the magnifying glass from your palate, the overall Va experience is of the bready nature, with the Perique all but absent. This is also a very wet tobacco that is easy to over pack. It does dry rather quickly, though.

I find it rather boring and unstimulating, and has been something I reached for (just about through an 8 oz bag) when in the mood for a Va, not a VaPer.

Pipe Used: Nuttin' but Cobs for me ...

Similar Blends: Any semi-bland monotone Va ....

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	point9 (114)	2015-11-29		Mild to Medium	None Detected	Medium	Pleasant

This is hard to get in Asia, as all Esoterica's blends, and I am very lucky to have a couple of once from my pipe pal. My sample is 2 years old. Compared with my favored vapers, Dunbar's virginia is more bright and less sweet, and the perique is evident enough to give it salty, dry fruity flavor. Actually, my friend does not like it, but Dunbar is beyond my expectations. A solid 3 stars for my taste.

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Bluesmoke (75)	2014-11-24		Medium	None Detected	Medium	Very Pleasant

Here is another good one from Esoterica. This is a meaty VA, with chewy smoke and salty disposition. It burns well in all pipes, produces a good deal of smoke to play with and is one of my favorite VAPERs...when I'm in the mood. The perique used here is done sparingly so and it works really well for this blend...very good balance since I wanted to taste more of the different VAs working together. A winner in my book. KJCIYHA

Pipe Used: Sav.

Age When Smoked: 6 mos old from purchase date.

Purchased From: Smokingpipes.com

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	rogermugs (14)	2014-03-15		Mild	None Detected	Full	Pleasant

I'm smoking a bowl given to a friend of mine and stored for five years. The maturity of the leaf is obvious and I can't speak to how it smokes new. But compared to a Briar Fox which was also aged 5 years I notice a lot of similarity. The Virginias in this override the perique (hence my comparison to BF) substantially but the perique is not hidden.

Bite free (which should be able to go unsaid but unfortunately doesn't always). Full of depth of flavor.

In my opinion a great smoke. But for my money, and for availability reasons I would probably be equally happy with other VaPers. I do not agree with the comparison to Orlik. But again, maybe because mine was not new (though I have smoked very old Orlik and it ages very differently). I would say for a vaper it's more comparable to Capstan blue. But the perique is much more muted (probably due to the time stored).

Pipe Used: MM Pony Express

Age When Smoked: 5 years

Purchased From: Friend

Similar Blends: Cornell & Diehl - Briar Fox.

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	fireball (36)	2011-05-04		Mild	Very Mild	Mild to Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

The pleasure starts before opening the nice ET tin. On opening, I was taken aback by the aroma. Fresh, natural, wood, honey - can VaPers really smell this good? The cut is rough, shaggy, thick strips, broken flake a bit of ribbon - packs very easily despite being relatively moist. Within seconds of first getting Dunbar going I realised I was in for a treat. A light, naturally sweet Va with a fresh chilli Perique edge, velvety yet spicy, sweet but not artificially so. Lighter, fresher than FVF, fuller, smoother than DNR, cleaner, more natural than Three Nuns or Navy Flake, this is an outstanding VaPer that I have started to crave. Excellent!

Update: I have been smoking this almost exclusively over the summer, it's a great warm weather tobacco: its citrus cleanness and light tobacco touch is just great when other darker tobacco would be like Guiness in the desert. This, along with Tilbury, are my standard mixes now, I no longer feel the need to experiment with other VAs - more than happy with these all day every day.

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Beer (345)	2004-10-07		Medium to Strong	None Detected	Full	Tolerable to Strong

Not very sweet, at times even sour... At the beginning of the bowl it may remind of Cairo, then it becomes tastier, fuller. At the bottom of the bowl, it has become VERY tasty. Think of Tribute, but more on the sour side and not toasted at all. A nice tobacco, but I find it a bit too heavy for my taste. Not nicotine-heavy (though not light at all!), just heavy as impact on the palate and on the senses: probably due to the high amount of Perique, which I don't consider myself a fan of.

As usual with Esoterica, the moisture level when fresh is too high, and when you open the tin you have to beware for rust and internal corrosion because it will happen soon.

A good tobacco if you like this kind of thick and heavy stuff, but not elegant enough for me.

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30194)	2002-09-23		Mild to Medium	None Detected	Very Mild	Very Pleasant

You probably have your own "WTF?" blends -- tobaccos that others seem to love but which for some reason do nothing for you -- and this is one of mine. Sure, the telltale crystals indicate it's nicely aged ("in the British Isles," the label says -- what, does tobacco age better over there?), and sure, it tastes vaguely like a pipe-tobacco when you smoke it, but it's so bland and undistinguished that in bowl after bowl, I kept asking myself "What is the point?" There is a thin line between "subtle" and "boring," and for me Dunbar crosses it. Even the Perique doesn't add much spice. The best thing I can say about this stuff is that it's smooth. Dull, but smooth. Dorcester, Esoterica's other VA/Perique blend, is a hundred times tastier and more interesting.

In one of the reviews above, someone complains about Latin problems with the phrase "Esoterica Tobacciana" on the label. Far more troublesome to me is the fact that they misspelled Virginia! Maybe that's the problem with this stuff.

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30194)	2001-04-08		Mild to Medium	None Detected	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

Here we have another Virginia/Perique blend with wonderful smoking properties. I don't find this as flavorful as Dorchester; it's more on a par with Escudo for me, though it doesn't taste exactly the same. The sample bag smell is close to Dorchester: a mild, medium tobacco smell with little or no sweetness. It appears to be a mostly rubbed out flake, with about 10% still unrubbed. The color of the leaf is mainly medium brown, with some darker browns thrown in as well. It is on the dry side, has a medium to long cut, packs well and lights easily, puffing up as the flame hits it. It also burns well, requiring less than the average number of mid-bowl relights. In the first third, the flavor is very ordinary, just an average, medium Virginia flavor without the normal Virginia sweetness. There are several layers of this medium flavor, though, and I notice a bare hint of spice in the background. In the second third, I'm noticing an element of sweetness, and a slightly stronger spice note. The Virginia flavor has also changed, becoming more mature and complex. The multilayered effect is nice, and the tobacco is thus far free of tongue bite. The taste is somewhat delicate, not exactly full but flavorful nonetheless. In the final third of the bowl, the flavors mature and merge, though the spice remains a fairly minor part of the blend compared to its role in Dorchester. This part is especially good if you leave the pipe overnight and go back to it (DGT-style). It is by no means full or highly complex, but it is a nice, tasty smoke that has only minor bite problems and no moisture build-up at all. Overall, a very nice but not overly special blend. I much prefer Dorchester to this one, even though it bites more for me. For best effect, use a deep bowl and smoke slowly. Virginia/Perique fans should enjoy this one, and I should have no problems finishing my sample.

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	SpiralOut (16)	2022-12-30		Mild to Medium	None Detected	Medium to Full	Pleasant to Tolerable

Lots of tangy, floral and slightly spicy notes to get things started. Small sips of lemon grass and bread. Rich and complex with little nic hit. Flavors mesh mid bowl into delicious and complex flavor. Retro really makes this blend shine. Going into my morning lineup with Telegraph Hill. -Spiral Out

Pipe Used: Molina squat tomato

Age When Smoked: 2022

Purchased From: Tobacco Junction, Tyler, TX

Similar Blends: GLP Telegraph Hill.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Ray24 (8)	2022-05-05		Mild to Medium	None Detected	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

Upon opening the tin, I was greeted with a beautiful fruity smell. The broken flake was the perfect moisture to immediately pack and smoke. As I burned through the bowl I got hints of hay, a bit of citrus, some fig/raisin type fruitiness, and an ever so small amount of spice I can only assume was from the perique. This blend is mild, cool smoking and wont bite unless you really puff it hard. As a regular Va/Per smoker I would highly recommend this blend and it will become a staple in my cellar when it can be found.

Pipe Used: Caminetto 8L17

Age When Smoked: 3 years

Purchased From: Local Shop

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	RichSmokeyHaze369 (1)	2022-01-18		Medium	None Detected	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

I was a bit worried to try this due to the perique but I have been pleasantly surprised. Only tobacco I’ve liked with perique has been bullseye. But in fairness I’ve not given them much of a chance due to my father in law’s opinion about perique being too spicy. I am absolutely loving this blend as I am everything I try from esoterica and Germains! Exquisite Tobacco’s!!!! This bend has easy become on of my favorites and can be smoked all day long!!!

Pipe Used: Butz Choquin Rhodesian

Age When Smoked: Fresh

Purchased From: Mccranies Charlotte NC

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Slow Triathlete (62)	2021-12-20		Mild to Medium	None Detected	Medium	Pleasant

For anyone who has smoked any of the Esoterica blends you will know that they are the kings of subtlety. They don’t try to overwhelm any blend with one component or another. It takes a few bowls (or many bowls in some cases) to start to figure out the blend. Dunbar is no exception. I smoked through one tin and I still feel that I do not 100% get it. But I will try and put it into words that make sense.

Pre-Light Aroma: Straight out of the bag you can immediately pick up the woodland scents of the Virginias, grass/hay/mother earth…..it’s all there. I can only detect Bright Va’s in here. I don’t smell anything that may be stoved or dark. The perique in this blend is more of a fruity aroma rather than the usual spicy/peppery aroma that is apparent in most blends.

Appearance: Long pieces of ready rubbed tobacco is what I see. Tans and browns mostly but there are some darker pieces in there which I am assuming is the Perique. Easy to dry, easy to load, easy to pack. Thank goodness!! I’ve been dealing with McClelland’s Ready Rubbed chunks lately so this is a very welcomed departure.

First ½ of Bowl: When I first lit up this blend I was greeted with tons of smoke and a great Va aroma. Slightly sweet but definitely not overly sweet. It took this blend a little bit to settle down and incorporate all of the Va tastes and aromas and then the Perique slowly snuck in and out. Very pleasant, definitely not overpowering in any sense.

Second ½ of Bowl: The flavors in the second half of the bowl seem to be more pronounced. Different Va flavors are mingling with the Perique flavor dancing in and then moving out. It is a very, very pleasant experience. I can only imagine that with more time spent with this blend it will only get better.

Summary: When I first started smoking this I thought that it was a pretty straight forward blend. Va’s and Perique…..easy peasy. After a few bowls of this I realized that there were a lot of subtle things going on in the background. I think that there are several different Va’s that are represented here and it adds a depth to the blend that I was not expecting.

As I stated above, there are several things going on in every Esoterica blend. It’s like a Seinfeld episode actually.

This is an excellent blend. Esoterica seems to put a ton of thought into their blends and they take their time. That is why they are so rare and hard to find. I understand this and agree with their approach. Create a blend, make it awesome, and never ever compromise on it just to feed the masses. If you are lucky enough to get ahold of this blend (or any of their blends) you will not be sorry.

Pipe Used: Several, mostly Italian

Age When Smoked: New

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Tomcat (226)	2021-09-12		Mild to Medium	Extremely Mild	Mild to Medium	Unnoticeable

Esoterica Dunbar- A lot of bright Virginia tobaccos with some brown and reds . Don’t see a lot of black perique but it’s there . Kind of a coarse ready rubbed broken flake . I love the light plum fruity taste of this blend . It stays about the same through the bowl but that’s fine with me . Savory and sweet at the same time . All the tobaccos are married together , expertly blended . I can switch off and on with Dorchester and get a much different vaper experience! Dorchester tastes brighter with more Perique and the apricot notes . Dunbar is a deeper fruity plum vaper . I enjoy both and was lucky enough to find them at a local B&M shop . The bags are the way to go for me . Germains makes great tobaccos and Dunbar is one of their best . They have a special touch that no other tobacco producer can duplicate. Worth the effort to find Dunbar in stock ! 4

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	RonR (85)	2020-09-06		Very Mild	None Detected	Mild	Very Pleasant

3rdguy

Went into this tin with high expectations and I was not disappointed. My first full tin of this and it is 3 years in age, I look forward to trying some of my more aged tins.

At first it did not seem to stand out but once I gave it some breathing room it is a fantastic smoke. Damn shame it does not come in bulk considering it is hard to secure and the cost.I have about 5lbs in the cellar and not sure that is enough so I will add a few more. No bite, gurgle, relights...just a pleasure to smoke. Not a daily for me because I would run out of it in no time but I finished this full tin in 6 days which is a record for me.

Highly recommended.

Pipe Used: Briar and cobs.

Age When Smoked: 2017 tin date.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30194)	2019-02-17		Mild to Medium	Extremely Mild	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

I do not want to rehash the flavor profile for this blend, as there are already great reviews. However, I would like to highlight a few points for why I believe Esoterica Dunbar to be a four star blend in a market full of va/pers.

1) The method in which Esoterica/J.F. Germain processes their Virginia tobaccos is unique. The Virginia leaf tastes like it had been aged for years. As soon as you open the tin/bag, you will notice a sweet aroma. This sweetness follows all the way through the smoke, which I find quite tasty. Additionally, there is no harshness or chance of tongue bite.

2) The perique taste unlike any other va/per I have come across. It is not really spicy. Instead, I find it to offer a complex flavor explosion that ranges from a slight tangy cucumber-esque flavor to a fig-like earthiness. It is strange, but quite pleasant.

Age When Smoked: 1 year

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	toddsmith7378 (41)	2018-12-08		Mild to Medium	None Detected	Mild to Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

I keep coming back to this review and having to adjust it.

First, this is one of my favorite Virginia and/or Virginia Perique blends. The Perique doesn't show up in significant amounts enough to totally consider it a Va/Per, but it is in there.

The reason I have to re-write this review is because after smoking it a good while I have come to the conclusion there's something particularly unique in this blend. Initially, I knew I tasted mostly sweet bready Virginia as the primary body of the flavor with hints of the variety of other lighter virginia components. I almost thing there's a lightly stoved bright or orange type flake in there because it has that baked bread quality. It's just superb. Also, the perique is strands of ribbon cut, rather than granulated or the more peppery. This perique has flavor with nose tingle, but it's not much like other perique's as it always comes with a flavor if that makes sense.

As I've smoked it, and smoked other straight Virginia's and Va/per's alongside it, over time I realized there's something, not really a topping per say, but it may be, imbued in the tobacco. First, the tobacco coloring is just ever so slightly shifted in color. There's a common yellow/green type shade consistent across all the ribbons. That's a little different than the color's of the natural tobacco spectrum that I'm used to seeing. The colors are usually bolder not muted or shaded consistently across a range of color like in Dunbar.

Then, there's something about this flavor. It is very natural Virginia tasting, but there is something imbued in this. Something is enhancing this taste. It's almost ever so slightly flowery and I couldn't pinpoint it exactly (though I tasted its presence) until after I smoked it over a period of time in tandem with other varieties of Virginia's. No other Virginia blend has this. It is slightly in Dorchester and Tillbury as well, but not as prominent as this.

It almost reminds me of McClellan's Vinegar enhancement. Very similar, but not the same. These Dunbar Virginia's have some kind of floral type enhancement, but done in a way that doesn't interfere with the flavor of the leaf or compete with it in any way, it just enhances it uniquely. This is unique to Esoterica. I've been toying with the idea of attempting to recreate this stuff out of blender's that I have so that's why I think it is standing out. It is really intriguing and like McClelland really begs the question as to what process Esoterica is using to treat their Virginia's to add this wonderful nuance.

Pipe Used: Meer

Age When Smoked: New

Purchased From: Online

Similar Blends: all the VA/Per's where Sweet Toasty Bread flavors are present.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	BC (21)	2018-10-08		Mild to Medium	None Detected	Mild to Medium	Pleasant

Holy mackerel! This hard to find tobacco is a great vaper. Much less harsh than fresh Telegraph Hill, less sweet than its sibling Dorchester. This stuff will hook you during the charring light-very smooth. It has a soft, bready quality, citrus from the VA, fig from the Perique, some wood. The nicotine is light. The tin is a light brown flake, sort of a cross between a broken flake and a shag cut. Packs great. The tin note is fruity, hay like. I wanted to try something; I eschewed some slightly aged tins for this brand new one. I was curious how it tasted fresh out of the tin. It is outstanding fresh.

Pipe Used: Peterson bent

Age When Smoked: new

Purchased From: Peretti's

Similar Blends: Dorchester, Marlin Flake.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Geronimo Von Klaus (76)	2014-09-02		Strong	Mild	Medium to Full	Strong

What an odd one this was!

I had high expectations, as I had found a stash of this and some of the rare ones at a B&M that I claimed without delay.

This needed to be dried out for quite a while. I loaded it from the freshly opened tin and nearly used a book of matches trying to keep the thing going, whilst giving myself dry-mouth in the process (rookie at the time), but then took some out and dried it and lit up for round 2.

Tangy, sour, grassy, almost slimey texture from it. I liked it, the smoke was very interesting in the aroma with a lot going on and clearly high quality, but there was something in that taste that made my face pucker up like man eating a whole lemon.

I admit, the nuances are beyond my palate's limitations so I don't want to talk down something due to not understanding, but for my taste, I couldn't get into it, and traded it on to someone who might appreciate.

Good quality, complicated, but not for me.

Pipe Used: Brebbia Bent Apple

Age When Smoked: Unknown

Purchased From: Pipes and Cigars

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	mdnyc71 (22)	2013-09-19		Medium	None Detected	Medium	Tolerable

My absolute favorite. Bright Virginias and just enough Perique to add a little spiciness. I prefer Dunbar in a large bowl for a "just right" taste and nicotine experience.

I'd love to be able to say "if you like tobacco X, then you'll like Dunbar". But sadly, I haven't found anything similar to Dunbar. Any suggestions?

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30194)	2013-07-31		Medium	None Detected	Medium to Full	Pleasant

I got quite lucky and found 5 tins of Dunbar at my local tobacconist and bought them all. Now I had never tried this blend before, so I was going out on a limb, it paid off wonderfully.

The tin presentation is classic, the moisture level was just a little wet, no big deal. This packed very well and burned oh so sweetly. Even burn all the way down, no bite whatsoever, even when puffed zealously. The perique is perfectly applied, its a friend who does not jump in the spotlight, but sings backup oh so well. The VAs are a wonderful mélange and this salty/sweet blend is just what I have been looking for. I used to compare all VAPERs to HOTW, but now this is king of the hill...and I'm not truly a dedicated VA fan, Dunbar has made me think twice on that supposition. KEEPER!!

Smoke in peace.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	BingCrosby (162)	2011-02-04		Medium	None Detected	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

Can't get enough of the va/pers lately! If a piquant experience is what you want.. well here it is. Esoterica dunbar has a great old-fashioned aroma and taste (all of the esotericas I have tried have tasted delightfully old world).. tin aroma of prunes, vinegar, maybe a dash of virginia figs.. This smokes smooth maybe not as strong in nic as escudo.. but it makes up for it with a healthy perique presence.. Not for everyone, but boy does it work for me. Buying more to age..

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Red Rapparee (8)	2010-08-03		Medium	Extremely Mild	Medium	Tolerable

Hey fellers, Red here. Esoterica's Dunbar is an interesting Va/Per that is pressed and aged in a way that creates an interesting blur of flavors. In most well executed Va/Pers the Virginia and Perique come at you one at a time, each rising then falling in their turn, until building to a crescendo in a symphony of sweet and spice. In some blends the Virginias stand out, and in some it's the Perique. Not so with Dunbar. This Va/Per resonates consistently throughout the bowl with a harmonic balance of sweet/spice an octave or two above one dimentional. Don't get me wrong, I don't find this Va/Per boring. What's more, I think it was well done keeping a blend this flavorful marching in such well drilled cadence. However, where in most good Va/Pers the Virginias are there in all their naturally sweet glory, Dunbar seems to use less than prime Virginias and compensate by adding a smidge of sugar. Tastes slightly fraudulent. Like a good knock-off, it works when you realize what it is and accept it for itself without trying to compare it to Escudo or some of the other 4 star Va/Pers. Worth a smoke if you are out of the great stuff. Borderline 3 star but I can't get over the sugar, which should not be necessary.

Two Stars.

PS: Don't be alarmed, the tin note that is a witches brew of prunes and vinegar doesn't carry over into the smoke. Thank god, or else this would be one radical aromatic.......

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	WmZiggy (81)	2010-04-18		Medium	None Detected	Medium	Pleasant

This is the second blend by Esoterica I have tried, Stonehaven being an enjoyable first. I picked-up a tin of Dunbar while in Denver on business at Edward's Pipe Shop on S. Broadway, a nice shop with a large selction of tinned tobaccos. Upon openning the tin I was a little worried because of the mositure content and the ribbon cut, albeit a wider one; I like flakes that I can rub out to my liking. Ribbons tend to burn more quickly, but that was not the case here. The presentation in the tin is very nice, with lemon and bright VA predominating, mixed with some softer brown VA leaf and the unmistakable black of Perique. The aroma in the tin is of bread, a familiar smell of unadulterated VA blends. I could not detect any top dressing or flavoring. I let the tin dry out overnight, then filled an old Comoy and stoked-up. This is a wonderful VA/PER blend, complex with developing flavors. It did not bite or overheat. However, it needs to be puffed slowly to realize the VA sweetness. About mid-bowl the Perique seems to kick-in adding a nice spicy note. The key to this blend is balance between the Virginia and the Perique elements, and it is one of the nicer VA/PER blends I have smoked. This is a "top shelf" blend and I highly recommend it to VA/PER lovers.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	quantumboy (130)	2009-05-29		Mild to Medium	None Detected	Mild to Medium	Tolerable

Couldn't resist any longer. This tin has been sitting in the cabinet patiently for months, and I just cracked it open. I knew this was a very familiar aroma, but what was it? Oh, yeah! V8 Juice! And I don't mean kind of like, I mean exactly like V8. I was surprised by this, because the only tomato-ketchup smell I've experienced is from McClelland tobaccos.

The leaf is very brightly colored, beautiful actually, and cut into long ribbons. They're packed together tightly in the tin. I didn't give it time to dry, and maybe that was its downfall, since I was very underwhelmed with this weed.

I love Esoterica's Penzance and Stonehaven, but this stuff just did not do it for me. Way too austere and bitter. Maybe it was an off day, maybe the wrong pipe. I'll keep trying and will update if things change with a few months of aging. I'll stick with Escudo and St. James Woods for my current Vaper rotation.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	tacoeatingzebra (37)	2006-10-25		Mild to Medium	None Detected	Medium	Pleasant

This was the tobacco that started my love for Virginia/Perique blends. If pipe smoking was like being in college, then English/Balkans would be my major and VA/Periques my minor, but I digress...

Like the other two Esoterica blends I adore -- Margate & Penzance-- Dunbar possesses the correct level of moisture. Oddly enough, this tobacco, though I'd been warned otherwise with VA heavy blends, seemed virtually bite free, unless you count that nice peppery tongue sting from the perique (very different sensation -- it's pleasant).

This blend smokes down to a fluffy white ash. I have broken in three pipes with this blend: a Tsuge Mizki, a Peterson Aran 306 and a Stanwell Vario. The blend did a good job breaking each in, and left a nice, well formed cake quite quickly, even in the dip stained Peterson.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Fife&Drum (34)	2006-05-27		Medium	None Detected	Medium to Full	Pleasant to Tolerable

You couldn't convince me of VA blends until this. I like it. As always, it posseses Esoterica moisture. This is not all bad, but as with most VA's it can bite just 'o wee bit if too wet. Dry it out a tad and no bite. A miracle for sugary Virginia's. In the tin it has a great date like aroma. Just a nice quatity of Perique to add body and spice. The peppery taste shows through nicely. This burns evenly with small puffs bringing out that great date like, rich VA flavor. It's nice blown out the nose. This is one of my favorite spring/summer blends and is very good as a morning smoke. Smokes great in a medium to large bowl.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Pipepundit (168)	2005-12-18		Medium	None Detected	Medium to Full	Pleasant

Dunbar came to me serendepitously. A non-smoking friend having kindly offered to run an errand, I asked him to pick up some Durbar for me. What I got was a substantial amount of Dunbar. Never having taken to Three Nuns or Elizabethan Mixture, and turning to Escudo and Dunhill's Navy Rolls only occasionally, I was not particularly enthused by the tin description, and put the tins away. A few weeks later curiosity won. Dunbar turned out to be quite unlike any other virginia-perique mixture known to me.The tin aroma is delicious in a dried fruit kind of way,and the taste does not betray the promise of the aroma.A day or two after opening the tin the mixture has had time to breathe and practically demands to be smoked - a demand that one all too happily concedes. In fact, until the entire tin was gone there was no temptation to turn to any other tobacco. Sterling stuff!

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30194)	2005-10-12		Mild to Medium	None Detected	Medium	Tolerable

Adding to what has been covered well in the reviews of Dunbar, I'll only say:

*Tinned and bulk versions are identical (not always true), but the pressing to fill a tin does marry the tobaccos nicely. Try pressing some of the bulk Dunbar at home and save some money.

*This has more Perique than Dorchester, and like Dorchester, Dunbar is a blend for those who enjoy the mystery of Perique without being overwhelmed or constantly aware of its presence. Go Stokkebye if you want lighter uses of Perique and most everywhere else if you like a bigger helping.

*Think of this as a brown flake w/Perique (with a bit of bright and dark VA) mostly rubbed-out, though not to be confused with Germain's Brown Flake which has cigar, musty and heavy flavors. The room note is not pleasing to most non-smokers in my experience.

This will bite you if you do not bring the moisture down quite a bit, pack firmly into a small to medium bowl and puff gently. Lightly sweet, sometimes darkly rich, always a quality, interesting, plentious smoke.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30194)	2005-09-17		Mild to Medium	None Detected	Mild to Medium	Tolerable

Notes: I have smoked this in bulk and from the tin. I prefer it tinned and with several months of age on it. It seems to do well in most pipes, being, while not insensate, somewhat less sensitive than most blends to the selection of pipe.

Appearance: A pressed brown flake, rubbed out partially.

Aroma: Quite mild, sugary, fresh-cut hay, sour prunes, musty books, smoke.

Taste: Grassy, smoky, mild, yet pungent with a propensity to burn the tongue if care is not taken. Sour prunes, raisins, button mushrooms, hay, autumn leaves.

Comparisons: Very much in line with other Virginia-perique blends, such as Revelation, but a bit more sugary perhaps.

Bottom Line: Those who fancy Virginia-Perique blends should give this one a try at least once. For those who fancy a smoky, sweeter, slightly salty-sour Virginia blend, here you go.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30194)	2003-12-11		Medium	None Detected	Mild	Pleasant to Tolerable

Dunbar is a Virginia/Perique blend of the Esoterica Tobacciana brand and is blended by J.F. Germain & Son for the Butera Pipe Company.

The Dunbar mixture has a musty and slightly sweet fig-like tin aroma and is perhaps similar in respects to the fragrance of dampened hay. This is an exclusively Virginia and Perique blend with no topping or casing applied. This mixture of tobaccos is predominately medium brown interspersed with strands of black.

Dunbar is matured in flake form and rubbed out roughly leaving the tobacco in a long partial flake state. The claim that Dunbar is a well-matured tobacco is validated by the great quantity of sparkling sugar crystals present. The blend can be packed as is or rubbed apart further to facilitate indoor smoking. Slight caution should be taken when packing since this tobacco seems to have the tendency to become over packed easily. Dunbar?s initial moisture is good and requires little drying if any.

The initial charring and eventual lighting of this tobacco takes longer than average, but is of no real hindrance. Dunbar has a great fluffy, fine ash burn that leaves very little dottle in the pipe bowl at the smoke?s end. The room note is a bit pungent and overall is decent.

Dunbar has a spicy peppery tanginess for a taste with a slight underlining sweetness compliments to the matured Virginias. Though with this stated, Dunbar lacks any great distinctive flavor. A somewhat bland, dry, and medium strength smoke is produced by this tobacco. The blend is not overly hot though its tendency to bite increases slightly as the smoke progresses.

In the end, the Dunbar Virginia and Perique tobacco mixture is a balanced, well-matured tobacco with some admirable smoking qualities. Yet this blend lacks any great flavor and is simply too monotone and thus not enticing enough to become a favorite smoke.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Albion1956 (42)	2002-04-16		Strong	None Detected	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

Broken flakes is the description listed for the preparation of this tobacco, rubbed out, well they are, and nice flakes too. The tin aroma is natural, kind of like a summer day, in the field, well I won't get poetic. There are flakes, but mostly hidden among shreds of Va's. and Perique. The tobacco is well prepared, slightly moist, and with some air, it dries very well. Packing is a breeze, as to the texture, kind of sticy, but with no residue. Caution is to be heeded, when packing. Charring light connects, and the initail few puffs are tasty, earthy, really. Tamping proceeds, and with it a great, long lasting smoke, one hour at least, slow and easy. This tobacco is a calm, and easy tobacco, not as spicy, as it's relation, Dorchester, but in a league by itself. Not to confuse this with a Dorchester review, but I just finished a tin, of it, and jumped into Dunbar, my Esoteric expeience, if you will. Great tobacco, smokes to the bottom, with no dottle and no disapointment.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	WorkingClassChap (197)	2023-01-02		Mild to Medium	Very Mild	Medium	Tolerable

What always gets me smitten about Germain’s/Esoterica blends is the quality of the leaves. Dunbar is made of long thin ribbons, almost as light as the air, with moisture being just right. The aroma from this was unique. Like grape candy, red wine, sugar, citrus, with a vegetative hay underlining smell. Not your typical tart tangy vaper. This smelled soft, not pungent.

The taste is also soft, I don’t know how else to describe it, it’s not a sharp or pungent vaper. It’s rather mild and mellow. The flavor is vegetative, floral, hay, woody, earthy but has a mellowness to it that makes this easy to smoke. It’s not very tart or citrusy and the fruity notes I do get are more of a red wine, plum, fig, apricot flavor. Very little tartness, instead a soft fruit like flavors with sweetness and wood notes. Like a red wine… There is also this floral element to this almost like a Lackland and it stands out throughout the smoke. There is some pepper spice on the retrohale but it’s mild. It’s a little bit of a contrast to an otherwise smooth blend. The nic hit was between mild and medium. The taste/mouth feel a medium. No harshness. The flavor picks up but remains the same though out the bowl.

A very interesting, unique, easy smoking vaper. Rich but mellow, burns easy, cool, down to dry ash. The floral element to this isn’t my cup of tea but it’s a quality tobacco none the less.

Pipe Used: Dunhill Briar

Age When Smoked: Jar from 2019.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Boko Fittleworth (2)	2022-04-24		Medium	Extremely Mild	Full	Strong

I finally opened a bag of this that I had bought circa 2015. After I jarred it, there was about 3/4 of an ounce left over, which I used to break in a new Peterson Sherlock Holmes Squire. Delicious stuff! Very naturally sweet Virginias, helped along by the aging process, I presume. Some tartness. Notes of stewed fruit and black pepper from the perique. Typical Germain full tastiness, along with the characteristic mustiness--literally mouthwatering. Mrs. Fittleworth hated the aroma, for what it's worth. Strength and nicotine are both medium. Even with 6+ years of age on it, it would occasionally get hot, but that may have been due more to my using a new pipe and/or puffing cadence, than the actual tobacco. Three and a half stars, rounded up to four.

Pipe Used: Peterson Sherlock Holmes Squire

Age When Smoked: 6+ years

Purchased From: Iwan Ries

Similar Blends: Dorchester.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Antonius Blok (192)	2022-02-18		Medium	None Detected	Medium	Pleasant

The first thing that surprises me is the state of the paper that makes the cover, impregnated with tobacco oils. Considering it's only been a couple of years, tops, since it was canned, that's not typical. Is this tobacco aged before it is canned? It could be… After smoking the first pipes I find a different flavor from the many virginias and va/per that I have smoked to date, and that already seems to me a great virtue. At first it made my tongue bite a bit, but after a few weeks opened the tin improved considerably in this regard and I was able to smoke it carefree and dedicate myself solely to enjoying the tobacco. Thinking about it, to a certain extent it is normal that being made up of seven virginias (in addition to the perique), it is not surprising that one of them comes out a little rabid. The fact is that once the bite problem was solved, I found it to be a very tasty and high-quality tobacco. In my humble opinion, it is not like any other va/per including Dorchester, from the same Esoterica, where the presence of the perique in the latter is somewhat inferior and the flavor of the virginias is also different.

I will not shut up that it has a very big defect: it is difficult to obtain.

Age When Smoked: 2 years

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	rod tp (2)	2019-04-19		Mild	None Detected	Very Mild	Pleasant

It will never bite you even if you rush, it keeps its flavor all the way to the last puff. Mild VaPer, if you want to initiate with Virginia Perique blends, this is the one. Not overly complex for my taste but pleasant to be a all day smoke. Low on perique, more like a condiment. I am not sure about 7 different Virginias!? Reading this statement on the tin label you might be leaded to think this is something near to McClelkand’s Black Woods, but it’s nothing close, It’s more to a Elizabethan mixture from Dunhill. Bottom line, it’s a good baccy but not excellent.

Pipe Used: Cob Missouri Meer

Age When Smoked: 2 years

Purchased From: Gift

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	nkulk8r (90)	2019-02-08		Medium	None Detected	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

I’ve only been at this pastime for six years, and I am surprised to find that I continue to be surprised (astonished, astounded, amazed, flabbergasted, taken aback) at just how wide-ranging, multifarious and richly diverse the world of pipe tobacco is (compared to, say, cigars) and how fortunate we all are as a result of that fact. I’ve been stockpiling Penzance and Stonehaven for the past several years, only to have just discovered Margate, Pembroke and Dunbar. (UN-believable). I haven’t had the Dorchester yet, but I’ll refrain from comparing Dunbar to Escudo or DNR or any other VaPer, for the only reason that this VaPer is uniquely distinctive and one of a kind – there really is nothing else to compare this with and/or to (I’ll edit this after I get my hands on some Dorchester). To begin with, this stuff presents like no other VaPer I’ve come across. This is a choice, ready rubbed offering of the highest quality – you can actually see the individual ribbons of Perique intermingled amongst the Virginia (it’s Esoterica from J.F. Germaine – why would anyone expect anything but)? Furthermore, the tin note is at once juicy and mouthwatering -- its bouquet quite unlike any other VaPer I’ve come across. This is the first VaPer I’ve encountered with such notes of apricot – and along with the raisin, fig, hay/grass, I also detect some kind of mystery note that reminds me of animal feed or something akin to it (and I don’t even think I know what the hell animal feed smells like) . . . I’m quite taken with this stuff – so much so that, before my first bowl was over, I drove back to my local B&M and relieved them of their last five remaining tins of Dunbar. Lovely find; delightful stuff. 4-stars.

Pipe Used: Mastro Geppetto 2018 POTY

Age When Smoked: Fresh

Purchased From: Mission Pipe Shop, San Jose, CA

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30194)	2019-01-19		Mild to Medium	Mild	Mild to Medium	Pleasant

A lot has already been said about Dunbar. Unfortunately, I am not joining the crowd with my praises. Dunbar is not a bad tobacco, far from it. But it is not, contrary to some opinions, what I would consider a bucket list item. Dunbar is an average Virginia and Périque, no more and no less, even after two years of aging. When taking into account this and especially how difficult to get this offering is-and how ridiculous some of the prices asked for it are set at-I will certainly not acquire some again and invest my money into better offerings that are readily available. I can only suggest you do the same.

Pipe Used: Various Savinelli and Peterson

Age When Smoked: 2 Y and some

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	CherchezLaghost (52)	2017-11-29		Mild	Mild	Mild to Medium	Pleasant

Let me first say that I adore this blend. The Virginias are truly incredible in a way that is distinct from the other truly beautiful va smokes ive had. They are many layered and richly, creamily complex. There are definitely the bright sweet notes that come from a va no. 1, but they are balanced by stoved and cavendished varieties that make this blend a simple pleasure to taste. Truly unique in the plain va satisfaction regard. Now my only complaint: the perique is not evenly distributed throughout the blend. And oh, what a perique it is, juicy, darkly sweet and ferment-laden. I actually salivate to imagine it. However it is spottily mixed in in strands throughout the broken flake arrangement. For those of us who like to tinker this may be a plus, as you can adjust three perique content while packing. I often end up doing just that. But I'd prefer to just have it consistently blended throughout. Ive only purchased tge bags and would be interested to know if tge tins are the same. That's my only complaint, and it does vex me, but truly the vas here are truly magnificent in their own right and even on the odd pipeful that contains nearly no perique the blend is a true standout. But when the perique is present as i expect the blender intended, this is a smoke that is right off the charts. True pipe bliss.

Pipe Used: Cobs, meerschaums, briar

Age When Smoked: New to 1 year

Purchased From: Smokers Haven

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	cgar (37)	2012-08-15		Medium	None Detected	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

Great tin presentation and perfect moisture! Top quality leaf that delivers on point. As I take in the smell I get a fig, apple, hay smell that just has me beside myself. Perfect balance of spice and sweet for me with propper burn qualities. If I can ever put my hands on it I will certainly stock up on Dunbar!

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30194)	2011-11-26		Medium	None Detected	Medium	Very Pleasant

Dunbar is one of the best blends I have smoked. It almost smokes itself. Sometimes, at first, it may takes some re-lights, but once you get it going, it goes to the bottom of the bowl evenly. I don't find, as some reviewers have that it smokes fast, and I'm a fast smoker. The aroma that I detect is of honey and a woodsy fragrance, with a sweetness, but it's not an unnatural sweetness, like some aromatics. I also smoke Escudo, but this is better to me. I think Escudo is stronger. I'm new to Va/Pers, but so far this is my favorite. I just got 8 oz. of Hearth & Home Rolando's Own, and it is a great smoke, too. It has the woodsy flavor and smokes pretty much evenly, as Dunbar, but to me, Dunbar is a little sweeter and more to my liking. I plan to buy more of both.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30194)	2011-09-15		Medium	None Detected	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

Ah, Dunbar! This is currently my favorite Vaper. As far as I'm concerned up there with the best. And I've tried a bunch! Great out of a 2oz tin and an 8oz bag. Tin note is fantastic...malty, raisiny. Both the tin and bag are well packed with ribbons of rather moist virginias so its best to stretch this stuff out on a cookie sheet for some air and dry time. Very hard to unpack since some of the strands are several inches long and tend to stick together at the ends. As far as packing in a bowl, I like to grab a bowl's worth and tear these long strands into something that will pack more efficiently. Initial lighting can be a bit challenging. Can take a couple o'three matches to get her going but once up it's pure pleasure. Nice spicy perique overtones with the VAs bubbling up all during the bowl and really intensifying near the end. Probably the best burning blend I've ever had. Volumes of smoke that preclude the temptation to over-puff. Burns down to a fine gray ash that sometimes just pours out of the bowl. I believe this would be a flavorful and efficient blend with which to break in a new pipe. This blend operates on the threshold of my perique tolerance. I toyed with the idea of giving it 3 stars due to a possible over-abundance of the LA weed for my tastes. But judging how fast the jar is emptying, can it really be that much of a problem? I guess not. If you like VAs(hell, there's 7 of 'em in here) and Vapers, and have an affinity for perique, you really owe it to yourself to give this a whirl.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	ROBERT (19)	2011-08-15		Mild to Medium	Extremely Mild	Medium	Pleasant

smokes good taste good the only problem I have with it burn down to fast.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30194)	2011-02-09		Mild	None Detected	Mild	Tolerable

Wow, I've heard about tobaccos that smoke to a fine white ash, but this is the first time I've had one that actually does. I am kinda new to the hobby, and I've only tried MacBaren Mixture, Erinmore Flake, SG FVF and a few samples from local shops. None of the other tobaccos ever smoked to a fine white ash like this Esoterica did. Why is that a big deal? Because I am finally on my way to being able to smoke to the bottom of a bowl and building some much needed cake at the bottom. This is a pretty moist tin, drying helps a bit, but I may need to try overnight even. I find the tobacco very hard to keep lit, although it stays pretty well lit around mid bowl, I had to relight for every puff when nearing the bottom.

Upon opening the tin, Dunbar gave a strange sour smell that I don't find pleasant. When smoked, it reminds me of something I had years ago but can't really recall. This is a smooth and creamy smoke with absolutely no bite. The taste is very mild, almost flavorless for the first 3rd of the bowl. But by mid bowl it will start to leave a nice aftertaste. It's a hint of sweetness and oatmeal like flavors that just peaks around the corner but never really jumps out to announce itself. Even though the flavor is somewhat fleeting, I enjoy the mild & relaxing smoke. I find that it smokes so clean, that it leaves none of the stale tobacco taste when finished. As opposed to all my other tobacco experiences, where I get a bit of harshness & stinky flavors lingering until the next morning. I enjoy this clean smoking experience very much and cannot go back. I would love to find other blends/brands that smoke this clean.

The ribbons are perfectly cut, great for packing and when it stays lit, smokes just right. Again, I love the way it burns clean and gives a very relaxing smoke with delicate flavors. To be honest, I keep hearing how great SG FVF is and how sweet Va's are, but FVF was completely disappointing for me. Harsh, flavorless, not sweet and leaves a stinky tobacco aftertaste that I can't get rid of. Not to mention the heavy nic punch (I am sure I was doing something wrong, but I found what works for me). Dunbar is just right for me, I wish it was sweeter and easier to keep lit, but so far it has provided me the best smoking experience ever. Definitely going to look into other Esoterica tins next. (Smoked with a Stanwell 64)

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30194)	2010-09-21		Medium to Strong	None Detected	Medium to Full	Pleasant

Tin note is great, sort of fruity, or maybe like hay.

Smoked in a medium bowled E. Andrews dedicated to Va/Per blends. Ribbon cut is long and easy to pack. Found this tobacco to light well and evenly throughout, without bite or getting too hot.

The taste is great. VA sweetness shines and Louisiana perique gives it a spicy push, sometimes reaching out and giving some surprise in a puff, usually playing the middleground.

A straightforward tobacco that does intensify after a while, which is great.

Easy preparation, easy mechanics (lighting, burning, packing, etc) and awesome taste. 4 stars and one of my main blends.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Kilmarnock Piper (251)	2009-11-20		Medium	None Detected	Medium	Pleasant

This is the third Esoterica blend I have tried, the first two being Stonehaven and Dorchester, and based on my experiences, I will be trying more. When I first tried Dorchester, I turned around and bought three more tins of it, but two of the tins were originally supposed to be Dunbar, only it was out of stock. That was probably a good thing, now that I have tried this, since I don't like it as much! The previous reviewer described it as "austere and bitter," and that is pretty much how it struck me. I think it would improve with age. Dorchester has a lovely Virginia sweetness that is lacking in Dunbar. I can't find any major problems with it, though, and it's quality stuff. It seemed to burn slightly faster than most Virginias, yet did not overheat my pipe at all. Go figure. I got no bite from it, and that is always a good thing. The perique is there, but does not assert itself-perhaps I will try adding more? And since I think it will take me longer to finish this tin than it took me to finish four tins of Dorchester, perhaps I will find that it does indeed improve with age.

1-18-10 A couple of months opened has improved the "bouquet." The Virginia sweetness is there all right, this is just one that needs to be smoked slowly to bring it out. It will not become "austere and bitter" that way.

4-12-10 I'm smoking a bowl of this right now that is almost good enough to make me upgrade to four stars, and if I get another bowl like this, just may do so. Slow sipping really brings out the flavor on this one.

5-9-11 Yes, it improved with age! Just finishing it up now, and might buy it again to cellar. Really improved in the jar-not "austere and bitter" now! I'll give it the last star, why not?

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30194)	2009-04-16		Medium	None Detected	Medium	Pleasant

For many of the past several years, VaPer blends have been my usual pipe stuffings. My most frequent filler was Dunhill Elizabethan. I find that Dunbar surpasses Dunhill in terms of balance, depth of flavor, and easiness on the tounge. The latter quality seems to be a house character for Esoterica, as I find the same is true of their magnificent Penzance. In my experience, VaPers seem to be difficult to get exactly right. Some have too much zing and sting from the VA, others are a bit too neutral, a few others are just a bit too bitter. Dunbar strikes a perfect balance. It is not a heavy, brooding smoke. It is subtle but complex and very easy going. The tin aroma is suggestive of dried appricots and figs and I found the leaf to be in perfect condition for smoking.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30194)	2008-09-28		Medium	None Detected	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

My first VAPER (and my first review). Tried it about 2 years ago, and it's been in my rotation ever since. Although I don't smoke it everyday, it always hits the spot and I always wish that I had reached for it sooner, and more often. It smells great in the tin, or jar (kind of a citrusy "fresh" scent that makes you want to take a handful and just gobble it up, although I'm sure it tastes way better out of a pipe). The taste is somewhat similar to the tin aroma starting off, and it gains a nice depth and strength toward the bottom of the bowl without being too complex at all (no need to search for hidden flavors or nuances, the tastes you're immediately concious of throughout the bowl are amazing enough). I've never really detected a "creaminess" to this blend, nor is it needed in my opinion. This is just a really sweet and tangy mix for those who don't mind a good dose of sugariness and prefer an uncased tobacco; but I can see aromatic lovers enjoying this too (although hopefully in a pipe that hasn't been devoted to aromatics). The only other VAPER that I've tried that tops this is McClelland 2015, which is a completely different level in the tobacco experience. To sum it up, this one smokes like a champ and turns any smoke session into an hour or so of pure pleasure from charring light to the very bottom. SO, for those reasons and many more (lights easily, stays lit, doesn't burn too hot, no tounge bite, gets better with age, reasonably priced in most instances) I give this 4 stars.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30194)	2008-05-14		Mild	Very Mild	Very Mild	Tolerable

i like esoterica,s products generally and the tin description made it appear to be 'right up my street'. however, i find this blend to be almost tasteless,worse,a hint of the taste that i love. i smoke this in a large bowl with added perique and puff hard to get something out of it. i generally like strong tobacco and smoked (occasionally still do) cuban cigars for years,so maybe it is simply too mild for me,although there are some mild blends out there that i really like. if you like mild and bland blends,this maybe for you.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30194)	2008-04-01		Medium	None Detected	Medium	Tolerable to Strong

I won't bother adding too much to the already voluminous reviews. This VAPER is smokable and I can see it appealing to certain tastebuds, but it is way too grassy in flavor for my taste. It is the closest thing I think I have had to tasting a completely and totally uncased tobacco - I imagine this must taste a lot like what Native Americans smoked. Come to think of it, I could see this stuff being passed around in a peace pipe.

The room note was described by others as being reminiscent of something that was NOT tobacco (if you know what I mean). Not a good thing in my book.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30194)	2007-11-11		Medium	None Detected	Medium	Pleasant

This is a good one. Like most Esoterica mixtures in an 8 ounce bag, this comes pressed down into the the bottom of the foil sack. Slice open the top and a tasty odor jumps out. Hay and horse feed. Omaline. Long golden ribbons, some darker ones, a few perique pieces and chunks of yummy broken flake. My wife and I just sat and sniffed the tobacco for a while. What's not to love here?

This is long stranded, but still packs pretty well. Can be hard to get lit. After a few weeks in my bail top glass jar, lots of oxidation is going on; Dunbar is becoming much darker. There is substantial bite at light up, but, it's worth it. The bite fades and this tobacco pulls a lot of tricks as the bowl burns. Starts out light and hay like, turns rich and spicey. Hints of caramel. Nice. The perique is there, but just.

This is a good one, but I prefer Dorchester. It's got all the complexity and none of the bite, with a slightly better cut, just doesn't look so pretty.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30194)	2007-01-05		Medium to Strong	None Detected	Medium to Full	Tolerable

Esoterica strikes again. Dunbar is to VA/Per what Margate is to English: an astonishing combination of purity and complexity. The broken flake packs easily and burns well, with no biting. The Perique leaps out on first light, a fine, dried-fruit tang with a hint of fermentation. As you go down the bowl, the Virginias add heft and variety. Emphasis shifts constantly -- the VA's by turns sweet, full, lemony and woodsy. Each flavor is clear as a bell, clean and simple, but they all combine and recombine such that every bowl is something new. Always delicious, never dull: in short, an absolutely superb blend, one of my standbys.

Honestly, I go and try other brands, some good and some not so good, but Esoterica never fails.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30194)	2006-03-28		Medium	None Detected	Medium	Pleasant

NOT SO GOOD THE SECOND TIME AROUND. Be wary of all current Butera blends currently being produced. They really became sub standard.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30194)	2005-05-03		Mild to Medium	None Detected	Mild to Medium	Tolerable

Bright yellow strings of lemon and other Virginias greet you as you open the tin. Chunks of not fully rubbed out flake are present as well in this all Virginia and Perique blend. I agree with thedistinguishedgentleman; this is much nicer than Elizabethan not for what it does but for what it doesn't do: burn the tongue and cause the head to spin. Room note is pleasant but the taste is lackluster for me. For some reason, I always have trouble detecting Perique, and Dunbar is no exception. The Perique taste bud must be missing from my DNA. Once again, that characteristic Germain briny, peaty quality is ever present. I'm glad I tried this, though I prefer the sweeter matured Virginias ala McClelland or the dark stoved variety with Macedonian ala Presbyterian. I'll probably not try Hastings or St. Ives, as I am told those are similar in their all Virginia makeup. Nevertheless, for those who prefer British Virginia mixtures to the sweeter, more fermented American variety, Dunbar might be just what you're looking for.

Two of five stars

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30194)	2005-02-17		Medium	None Detected	Medium	Tolerable

Update: just two weeks of airing and this has gone from being quite nice to simply fantastic VA/P. Tangy, light yet a bit woodsy - as sweet as the McClelland VA and less processed tasting IMO. Good, Good Good...

Again for me, Esoterica is a home run. While I enjoyed the autumnal sweet and grassy notes of Dorchester, I longed for that blend to have a bit more "oomph" in the high end. Well Dunbar succeeds in that department.

It has the similar aged sweetness from other Esoterica VA blends I've tried. It is almost sugary at points in a very natural and delicate kind of way. The perique here adds fruity spice. It does not simply simmer in plumb like murk but instead occasionally kicks up a few sparks of Louisiana fire. It never becomes harsh or strong - but does get spicey as you move through the bowl. I would rank this as an excellent intro to the VA/P genre before getting into the "tough stuff" like Haddo's, Bayou Morning Flake, or Irish Oak. While certainly not underpowered, this blend does not leave me feeling like I've french kissed a dragon.

This review is based on a freshly popped tin so with age and airing, I am sure this review will be updated.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30194)	2005-01-17		Medium	Extremely Mild	Medium	Pleasant

Dunbar, a tobacco delight. If you like Va/Perique blends, then I cannot see you not liking this. The flavors are excellent, it burns cleanly and can really add spice to your day. Although I would have to say I prefer Astleys No. 2 to this on most days. But there are days where I prefer this one. Smokes cool. 4 stars.

=============================================================UPDATE

1/17/2005 I have just come back to Dunbar. I haven't had this in along time and I don't understand why! I find this blend utterly enjoyable. I detect some licorice flavor but the true tobacco flavors come through very nicely. The perique is there but is not overbearing but adds a nice bit of spicey side. Excellent blend and I find this blend much more interesting than Dorchester-the other esoterica Va/Perique blend.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Spike (296)	2004-12-17		Mild to Medium	Extremely Mild	Medium	Tolerable to Strong

If you took the raw materials that McClellands 2015 has in it, added some sweeter Virginias, and ended up with a more moist blend, aged it for 6 months before shipping...voila! Dunbar! This is the best Virg.-Perique tobacco I have experienced. The only negative is comments on the odor due to the Perique content. Smells bad (to others), tastes great!

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Stogie (26)	2004-12-12		Medium	None Detected	Medium to Full	Pleasant

Talk about a tobacco that changes drastically once the tin has been opened! I was completely bowled over with Dunbar from the first bowl. Even going so far as to think: ?I?ve found my desert island tobacco!? But then after about two weeks, something happened. The superb flavor wasn?t as intense, and the taste became a bit ashy mid-bowl. As a matter of fact, I sent the remainder of the tin to a new pipe smoker, hoping he would have better luck. So, I know when I open the next tin from the cellar, that I had better huff through it quickly, which shouldn?t be a problem when it?s fresh.

Aroma: Definitely Honey & Hay upon opening the tin, with a background of stewed pears.

Visual: A very bland looking tobacco. Lots of midrange tans and browns ? with the occasional chestnut streak. A fairly well broken up flake, with just a few chunks remaining.

Texture: Just a bit sticky to the touch when first opened ? Not wet sticky, but as in natural sugars sticky.

Pack/Pipe: A fairly long stringy ribbon, I just kept pushing it in the pipe until it was filled, then tucked in the remaining strands and lit. This tobacco did not seem to favor any particular pipe, but I enjoyed it best in larger pots.

Light: One match to char, one to send it down the bowl. Usually required one relight to finish off.

1st 3rd: Fantastic ?warm hay? flavor with a hint of fruit, (not tangy ? just sweet in the nose). Burns through this portion quickly.

2nd 3rd: A nice, long, flavorful portion of the bowl, this was nirvana when fresh. Just a bit fuller bodied, and no heat problems.

Final 3rd: Usually lost some flavor here, and after having been open for a while, was ashy to the point of unpleasantness. No problem burning to the bottom though.

Notes: As mentioned above, when fresh, this is in my top ten easily. I may try sealing it differently next time I open a tin.

Stogie Rating of: 9 Magnificent Montecristos

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30194)	2004-10-26		Medium	None Detected	Full	Very Pleasant

I love this stuff. Popping the tin reveals a very attractive mixture of colors and scents. I rarely smoke tobacco straight from the tin right after I pop the seal, but Dunbar forced my hand. It smoked cool and evenly all the way down with no bite.

The Perique is there in good measure, and the entire mixture is made of obviously high-grade and well-aged leaf. The smoke lacks some of the overt zest you might find in an American VA/P blend, but there's a nice crispness to Dunbar's smoke that is interesting. This is British-style tobacco blending all the way, and the balance exhibited in Dunbar is phenomenal. You taste everything so well that it's tough not to smoke bowl after bowl.

Dunbar opens up quickly and stays open wide for the duration. Its rich and savory character are kept in harmony by a moderate mouthfeel. Nicotine is not an issue.

I can't say enough good things about Dunbar. It's a favorite of mine and is in good company with other Esoterica classics, such as Tilbury and Stonehaven.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30194)	2004-09-22		Medium	None Detected	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

September 2004

I found this to be a very unique Virginia/Perique blend. It has a nice sweetness from the Virginias at the beginning of the bowl--much sweeter to my palate than any of the other V/P blends I've tried. About a third of the way down the bowl the Perique finally starts to come through, producing a very nice sweet-tangy-creamy smoke. Still, it isn't quite as complex or interesting as some of its counterparts (Haddo's Delight and Escudo come to mind), and for that reason I don't anticipate this will be a regular smoke for me. I'm looking forward to trying Esoterica's Dorchester, which may be a little more heavy hitting on the Perique.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	mainspring (27)	2004-07-16		Mild	None Detected	Mild to Medium	Very Pleasant

Dunbar has a very nice sweetness with a perique edge. It is very light in body and has no bad aftertaste. One must be careful not to smoke it too fast as it can smoke a tad hot. I put a few 8oz bags of this away 3 years ago. The color of the tobacco has darkened slightly and now it's just a fantastic smoke! It smokes much cooler after aging and the flavor is more complex (as one would suspect). The room note is greatly appreciated by all. I have not tasted any other tobacco quite like this one. Highly Recommended!

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30194)	2004-06-07		Medium	None Detected	Medium to Full	Pleasant

Another fine offering from the folks at Esoterica. I feel this is a bit more spicey and zesty than Dorchester, but still a very tasty tobac. A leaflet I have about Eso tobaccos states that Dunbar has a bit more (?) Perique than Dorchester which could possibly confirm the figgy, raisiny taste being, I feel, heightened, as well as the spicey notes being more apparent. Plus there could be different (though some may be the same) VAs of some kind thrown in for good measure. The pressing could have been altered as well. Love that tin aroma. Packs & lights easily enough. Nice VA sweetness here & there, more rich & tangy as you smoke down the bowl. Nary a gurgle at all. Burns down to fluffy gray ash as do most, if not all, of the Esoterica blends. Leaves the pipe clean & dry. Though I had no trouble with tongue bite, this does seem to be capable of being a wee bit bitey if one puffs TOO hard & fast (well, it is VA tobak). I really like this and plan to keep some around. Ageing mellows the sharpness to some extent and the smoke seems a bit more creamy. Good stuff, works for me.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30194)	2004-04-13		Medium	None Detected	Mild to Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

Montague's review says just about all that I could possibly say. The charring light takes a slight bit of effort unless it's rubbed out a bit, or dried out for a few minutes prior to smoking. I don't get a lot of difference from top to bottom with Dunbar. Going through eight ounces of the bulk stuff was a little bit of an effort. Especially when there are other Virginia/Perique blends that beat this hands down. Three I can think of are Haddo's Delight, Dunhill's Elizabethan Mixture, and Astley's Virginia No. 2 Mixture. So, with these in my stable, the choices lead me to the others. Dunbar does pick up a little toward the end, but alas, it is just a slightly stronger version of mediocrity. If it's offered as a gift, I'll give it another whirl. Otherwise, I'll stick to the three above, and continue my search for other Virginia/Perique blends.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30194)	2003-11-02		Medium	None Detected	Medium	Tolerable

I got a half-full tin of Dunbar in a tobacco pass. A tobacco pass is a box that is mailed between a circle of pipe smokers. Each smoker takes some stuff and gives some stuff, then mails the box to the next person.

The tobacco is a partially rubbed flake of various Virginias and perique. My sample had sugar crystals everywhere. It smells sweet and musty in the tin.

Dunbar is one of the best blends I've ever smoked; it's sweet with a fantastic citrusy tartness. I have been a VA/perique lover for years, so I don't know how I missed out on this wonderful blend. After a little drying, it burns much like a flake in the bowl. In fact, I stuffed it in the pipe like I would a broken flake and away I went to tobacco heaven.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30194)	2002-04-03		Medium	None Detected	Mild to Medium	Tolerable

This is one of my favorite Virginia/Perique flakes. It has a wonderful tangy taste that I really love and offers up flashes of a nice Virginia sweetness and depth. The cut is great, the burning qualities are great, and it doesn't bite (much). This is one of those tobaccos I want smoke again as soon as I'm done with a bowl. It reminds me of a young GL Pease Cairo, although not nearly so complex. A very nice smoke, though, and one that I plan on buying and holding for the cellar.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30194)	2001-03-11		Mild to Medium	None Detected	Mild to Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

In the pouch, this smells sweet and somewhat grassy, like a warm breeze over a field full of hay. It's both sweet and musty, with the undernote of perique very noticeable with its aroma of figs and raisins.

The flakes are broken, and it can be packed as-is or rubbed out for indoor smoking. It lights and burns quite well, with a nice subtle sweetness and pleasant woodsy undertones. The flavors start out rather mild but quickly wax in fullness to a solid light-medium body. The room aroma is sweet and "tobacco-tasty", but some may find it too cigarette-ish for their taste. I love the stuff and have several pounds stashed :)

While it starts out mild, by the end of the bowl it takes on a very full, musty character as the perique comes to the fore. It also responds well to a DGT and is GREAT with an IPA or Belgian ale.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Mitchell Alan (22)	2021-12-03		Mild to Medium	None Detected	Mild	Pleasant to Tolerable

Here we have a strange, unique but ordinary blend. Cracking this tin for the first time (literally the first, never have had any ET or G and sons) the smell reminded me of so much of other grassy Virginia blends, but a better version of anything In relation. The smell vaguely reeking of Orlik golden sliced, but with an ancient maturity. This was no golden slice, this was a hardened, experienced warrior with a beard. A great blacksmith with long, ancient knowledge, looking down at its apprentice,Orlik golden sliced… There’s something wonderful and jarring happening as you experience this Tobacco. Both in smell and taste. It’s almost as if you can feel, smell and taste all the knowledge and experience that went into the Tobacco. Calm and collective smoke, smooth and grassy, with the perfect hint of spice.

Pipe Used: Peterson xl system P-lip

Age When Smoked: 1-2 years

Purchased From: Iwan Ries & Co

Similar Blends: Orlik Golden sliced/Peterson Elizabethan Mixture/Peterson flake.

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	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	REO (13)	2021-02-22		Mild to Medium	None Detected	Mild to Medium	Pleasant

went to my local B&M in November and found a tin of Dunbar. I knew of Esoterica but not Dunbar. I like VaPer's and picked up a tin of Dorchester as well. Great tin aroma as others have stated. First light with Dunbar and I knew it was special. Really smooth creamy smoke which had a sweet undertone. Not aromatic sweet but quality tobacco sweet. This is an amazing blend if you like vapers. Mild but can punch if you push it some but a gentle very satisfying smoke if you sip it. Burns well and deserves a special place in the cellar. I also picked up Margate, And So to Bed. My local shop had a big drop and while I do not smoke English blends often I am sure they will be special.

Pipe Used: Sav Roma 320

Age When Smoked: Fresh out of tin

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	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30194)	2012-11-03		Medium to Strong	None Detected	Full	Pleasant

Excellent in bulk and tin. This is a goto blend for me.

November 3, 2012

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	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30194)	2011-02-01		Medium	None Detected	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

An excellent everyday VaPer. The quality is very high and when purchased in the 8oz bags the price is quite modest. This offering from Esoterica is hitting on all cylinders, imho.

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	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30194)	2010-06-22		Medium	None Detected	Medium to Full	Pleasant

When I opeaned the tin the aroma was a bit "stinky" but after I smoked a pipe full I was amazed. This is a wonderful tobacco. I highlly reccomend this tobacco!

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	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30194)	2010-05-07		Mild to Medium	Mild	Mild	Pleasant

Hi, I like esoterica tobacco very much.If I have a chance,I would smoke it all time.Certainly Dunbar fit me the best for the natural ,and pleasant aroma.Luisiana and Virginia is a very good mixture.I would like to taste all of your brands ,but especially dunbar(multiply marriage works great),I hope I will get some to enjoy it. to

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	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30194)	2009-01-12		Medium	None Detected	Mild to Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

This came very moist, which makes it hard to keep lit. The appearance seems more like a tan/olive green ribbon cut than a rubbed flake. Pouch aroma is reminiscent of fresh cut vegetation - think lawn clippings.

I would not say this has a savory taste as described. This blend is hard to pin down. It's a VaPer, but I don't get any tangy Virginia and very little Perique pepper.

edit: I bought this in bulk, so I am not sure if it is Esoterica's fault or the shop owners but I have come to the conclusion that this is way too moist. I can't make it through a bowl because it won't stay lit - very frustrating. I believe this excessive moisture is also affecting the flavor, causing it to seem bland.

I feel like this blend has something to offer. I am going to let it dry out and sit for awhile. I will update.

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	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30194)	2007-11-24		Medium	None Detected	Mild	Pleasant

I bought my tin eight months ago and upon opening not only was the tobacco odor overwhelming, but the paper liner was stained brown and somewhat sticky. I jarred the tobacco and let it air a few hours as someone else suggested. When I lit the first bowl, I knew I'd be looking for more of this. Of the six or so Virginias I've had recently, I rate this number one!

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	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30194)	2007-10-22		Mild to Medium	None Detected	Medium to Full	Pleasant to Tolerable

My first foray into the the much lauded world of Esoterica...nothing to add except that the rich golden, sunsoaked Virginia is fresh tasting, (not the dense choco-brown of a Marlin Flake) which shifts and melds around a gentle cloud of Perique. The latter is not as pronounced and peppery as it is in McC's 2015 flake. It also has a fine, grassy aftertaste, that doesn't get ashen-acidic. I do hope this ages well, like a good Pinot Noir.

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	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30194)	2005-12-18		Medium	Very Mild	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

I'm a big fan of Esoterica Tobaccos, especiall Stonhaven and Penzance. This one just doesn't distinguish itself.

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	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30194)	2005-05-23		Medium	Mild	Medium to Full	Tolerable

This tobacco isn't bad, and the quality is good...it just doesn't make me go WOW! If one were to add a dash of perique to Germain's Medium Flake, one gets Dunbar. It's smooth and sweet, but the casing just doesn't do it for me. I think that I'll try adding some more perique to the mixture.

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