Tobaccos Hearth & Home - Viprati (Marquee Series)

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	JimInks (3048)	2014-12-14		Medium	Extremely Mild	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

The variety of red Virginia is one of those that Russ uses in Louisiana Red: rich, tangy fermented dark fruit with some earth, bread, wood and a couple of vinegar notes as the lead component. The other Virginias are a little grassy with mild citrus, and a touch of earth as secondary stars. The dark fired is a supporting player, but its spicy, nutty, lightly floral, sour and spicy, dry woody presence is felt in nearly every puff, contrasting nicely with the spice, raisins and plum from a healthy dose of perique. The perique level is a little higher than most Hearth & Home blends, but it does not overwhelm the other components, almost being a supporting player. Its strength and taste levels are medium, and the nicotine is just a little closer to medium than it is to mild. Won't bite or get harsh. Well balanced with a very consistent sweet and spicy flavor, it burns clean and cool at a reasonable pace that translates to the lightly lingering after taste. Leaves very little moisture in the bowl. Requires an average number of relights. This blend just manages to stay in the realm of an all day smoke for the veteran smoker, and is repeatable no matter how long you've been piping.

-JimInks

62 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30194)	2015-07-21		Medium	Extremely Mild	Full	Pleasant

Looks and smells like a typical VaPer in the tin. Nice and fruity-musty, this one seems to have a bit more Per than usual. No problem there, as I prefer my VaPers on the plus side. Ribbon cut, easy to load.

This is a deep blend, plummeting the depths of dark fruit. Forget the usual raisins, figs and plums, this one is more in prune territory... rich and dark, but not muddy and still retaining a basic sweet character. Not a strong blend but full in flavor. The Virginias are more than just a base for the perique and, along with the Kentucky, add sugar and spice and help to round out the blend. I got the impression that this is very close to Russ' own Fire Storm but I didn't have any of that left to do a side by side comparison. And whatever Fire Storm lacked for me, this one delivered to the Nth degree. It hit all the right VaPer notes and rivals GLP's Telegraph Hill as my favorite in this genre. Rich but not strong, with a cavernous depth, and just sweet enough not to be all condiment. Excellent Virginia platform as well. Russ is definitely one of the most innovative blenders in existence and never seems to rest on his laurels. This one is headed to my rotation, as I think it's the finest of his blends that I've smoked. I'm going to pick up some more Fire Storm as well and do some head to head testing. Try this one if you enjoy full flavored vapers and aren't afraid of the perique!

28 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Lit a Kia (69)	2015-01-12		Strong	None Detected	Medium	Very Pleasant

Nice mix of colors, from yellow to orange to dark short ribbons and some round black flecks mixed in. Tin note is leather, cherries, and chocolate. Wouldn't be surprised if there were a top dressing here; assuming, for now, it's the Perique and Kentucky components. Packs easily and burns beautifully. Nice, creamy smoke, not exceptionally thick, but creamy and nice.

Not your grandfather's (or father's or uncle's or brother's) VaPer. As Russ's Cerberus is to a typical English blend (including his own, like Magnum Opus and White Knight), so this one is to most VaPers. The Perique is fruity, spicy and very up front. The Kentucky is buttery, leathery, nutty and smooth, and present (in a very polite way) throughout. To me, the Virginias actually play more of a supporting role here (although the red VAs are there all along). "Spice" and "depth" are accurate descriptions. Gets more harmonious as you progress through the bowl, with the perique taking center stage. Like an intense cherry-wood barbeque, with occasional notes of orange peel. I've pushed it; no tongue bit, but did get a slight case of the niccups.

Goes without saying for a Hearth & Home Marquee blend, but burns down to a minimal grey ash. Very rich tin note and flavor with a healthy dose of nicotine. This is a hearty, unique and delicious VaPer. Highly recommended.

Pipe Used: Pop's old Longchamps

Age When Smoked: 2014

Similar Blends: Pease's New World Triple Play, but shaggier. :) And spicier..

14 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	jwillis172 (6)	2016-02-04		Medium	None Detected	Mild to Medium	Pleasant

VaPers of the World Unite! You have nothing to lose but your change! Move along Escudo. Nothing to see here Beacon. The champion has arrived!

Opening the tin, the tobacco is well packed and stuck together. Scratching the surface brings up uniform ribbons of yellow, red and brown, somewhat larger black flakes. The Three Royal Virginian Horsemen, with Perique and Cavendish on their flanks and the Old Dark Fired marching in columns behind. The tin note provides a fugue of olfactory sensations; hay, plums, vinegar, wood smoke, then chocolate. The chocolate lingers, not sweet, but earthy, astringent. My mouth waters. This is good stuff!

I choose a large Nording freehand and use gravity feed with a light Frank tamp. I recommend larger pipes and loose packing with this tobacco. Charring and lighting proceeds normally and then it happens… The world stops turning. My daily activities fade away. What was I planning to do while smoking? I can’t remember; I think I’ll just relax. I recall an illustration in Carl Ehwa’s “The Book of Pipes and Tobacco” showing a man in a smoking jacket falling into a dreamlike state in a cloud of pipe smoke. The smoke is smooth, balanced, light to medium body and medium strength. The smoke is one-dimensional, smooth, balanced, round and round. I take small sips breathing in some of the side stream. A great smoke should always be on the verge of going out. The bowl is barely warm to the touch. I taste the vinegar and chocolate – sweet and sour – perfectly balanced. Savory and sweet, in perfect harmony.

Thirty minutes into the bowl and the relaxation becomes physical. I sink deeper into my chair and my arms and legs get surprisingly heavy. The pipe goes out. I lightly tamp and relight. The voyage continues. I feel a small punch in the gut, reminding me of the strength of the blend. I recommend smoking this blend on a full stomach…

Epilogue

Master blender Russ Ouellette has done it again! The best of the best. Long live Russ and his Marquee Series.

Pipe Used: Nording freehand

Age When Smoked: Fresh

Purchased From: Pipes and Cigars

Similar Blends: Escudo, Beacon.

11 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	TallPuffO'Burley (633)	2015-12-07		Medium	None Detected	Medium	Tolerable

I was given a sample of this and a full tin from my nephew, whom I recently introduced to pipe smoking. I am beginning to think Russ can add "master of VaPers" to the long list of other things he has seemingly mastered. This and Firestorm are just fantastic blends. In addition to the other fantasic Vapers he has created, I am not sure he can lose when it comes to using Virginia and Perique, with or without other condiments.

I liked this one a lot. It had all the Virginia sweetness one would expect and the right level of spice from the perique. I would say it is probably on the heavy side to the average smoker, but that is how I prefer them. I am happy to see that there is some dark fired in the description as I thought I did taste a little bit of that, but not nearly as heavy as is in the Firestorm.

This is just another great creation from Russ. I will add that it is to Russ's credit that I buy anything from P&C since they did what I found to be unethical with respect to the price increase they laid on their Esoterica products. To this day I refuse to buy from them other than the products that are produced for their Hearth & Home line.

11 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	StevieB (2081)	2019-02-13		Medium to Strong	None Detected	Medium to Full	Tolerable

Hearth & Home - Viprati.

This could be a one word review: WOW. This is one of the best VaPers I've smoked.

The blend is a medium brown in appearance, with lighter/darker spots on closer inspection. It has the smell of an indomitable VaPer: heavy on the Perique. It's been quite tightly compacted into the tin, under the clear plastic 'cap' below the lid, but isn't too wet.

When I first lit a bowl my initial feeling was a nimbus of wow, like the first line says! This is a Perique driven blend, and thoroughly delicious. The Perique leads, but isn't especially spicy. It's a 'chewy', dark fruity, variant. But, although being a steadfast addition, lacks the often found vinegar-like quality. Viprati is more concerned with the Perique than the Burley and Virginia. The Virginia forms the base of the blend, and the Kentucky brings a touch of 'heat', but they get outweighed by the Perique. As a bowl burns down the flavour seems to be a little peripatetic, becoming heavier and fuller; the Perique gains weight. Although the Perique gains magnitude at no point does it become too sour, or sharp. A bowl of this burns nicely: cool, of a medium speed, giving a bite-free smoke.

Nicotine: just above medium. Room-note: plenty of Perique.

Viprati? I'd wager it's one of the best VaPers available. Four stars:

Highly recommended.

Pipe Used: Cob, Peterson Hansom

Age When Smoked: 4 years

Purchased From: 4noggins

9 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Cappadoc (10)	2016-05-05		Medium	None Detected	Medium	Pleasant

Oh, why did I wait so long to try this blend? An absolutely amazing VaPer. Deliciously sweet and tangy red Virginia with a peppery fig Perique background. The fire cured adds the perfect boost to the body and strength. It lights and burns well with no perceptible change through the bowl. I finished the first tin in 10 days, about half the time it usually takes. I could not stop smoking this blend. Easy top 5 blend of all time.

Pipe Used: Alfred and Son freehand

Age When Smoked: 1 year

Purchased From: Pipes and Cigars

7 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Ubiquitous (7)	2015-11-22		Mild to Medium	None Detected	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

The tin aroma is dominated by zesty, fruity red Virginia. There is a slightly toasted/smokey underlying aroma as well. I cannot detect any perique. The humidity is perfect right out of the tin and it packs well. The taste upon lighting is surprising. The perique, which was absent in the tin aroma bursts forth with pepper on the charring light. It seems to mellow out once the bowl is well lit, giving way to the burley and dark fired tobacco. The red Virginia is there too. It's vinous, nutty, slightly smokey. Towards the bottom of the bowl, the nuttiness intensifies and takes on a maple syrup-like quality. Not sweet, mind you, just rich. It may bite slightly if smoked too fast, but that tends to be the case with most Virginia based blends. It burns well, and only recquired a few touch up lights. The room note is to my liking, and the perique really shines. A true "plum & pepper" aroma, with some smoke from the dark fired Kentucky. Overall, I love this blend. It is a wonderfully complex, medium bodied smoke. If you are a fan of VaBurPer blends, and you haven't tried this one yet, you are missing out.

Age When Smoked: new

Purchased From: pipesandcigars. com

5 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	clanobucklin (105)	2015-03-17		Medium to Strong	Extremely Mild	Medium to Full	Pleasant to Tolerable

This is a super VaPer that took a little drying time before all the complexity came to the fore. It reminds me of Russ's AnniKake on steroids. Smooth and very complex. If you love VaPers this one should be in your cellar or rotation!

Pipe Used: Mauro Armellini Verona Rustica made for Tinder Box

Age When Smoked: New

Purchased From: Pipes and Cigars

Similar Blends: AnniKake.

5 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	J.R. Patton (106)	2016-05-26		Medium	Extremely Mild	Medium to Full	Tolerable

Don't believe I can put it any more accurately than TallPuffO'Burley's review. Sweet, brooding VA complemented by the perfect ratio of pungent, spicy perique. Love this conconction...the constituents are of very high quality. Could it be authentic St. James in there? I believe so. This stuff gets exponentially better the longer it ages, but I've loved it since in emerged newborn from the tins. I'd love to see this in bulk....could say the same for all H&H Marquee, however.

Hey Russ, you're doing it right!

Pipe Used: MM cobs & Stanwell HCA I

Age When Smoked: 9 months

Purchased From: pipesandcigars.com

Similar Blends: Sutliff 1849, Anniversary Kake.

4 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	PresbyPiper (2)	2016-02-13		Medium	None Detected	Medium	Pleasant

What a wonderful blend! I just finished off my first tin of Viprati and really enjoyed it. It's a zesty tangy blend that really hit the spot and delivered each and every time. I tend to be a rapid puffer and my quick cadence didn't ruin my tongue at all and was quite flavorful; however, when I managed to slow my pace of puffing down the flavors from the virginias, perique, and the fire-cured burley really shined through and the plumy spiciness really satisfied. This is a worthy VAPER blend deserving of a permanent spot in your rotation.

Age When Smoked: less than 6 months

Purchased From: P&C

4 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	point9 (114)	2015-08-11		Medium	Extremely Mild	Medium to Full	Very Pleasant

WOW! This is amazing! I thought there are so many Vaper on the market already and this should be good but not impressive. I was dead wrong! Even from new opened tin, Viprati shows itself with deep, dry fruity and profound flavor that exceeds my imagination. Can't imagine how great it will be after few years of age. Medium strength makes it a good all day smoke. I may trade all other vapers I have for this. This is the holy grail to my taste!

4 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	beercritic (33)	2015-03-18		Medium	None Detected	Medium to Full	Pleasant to Tolerable

THIS!! Deep, earthy, rich & delightfully peppery. Dare I say, "better than Escudo?" Not as strong as Pease Triple Play; I'll smoke that when I want my butt kicked. Kudos, Russ. You. Nailed. This!

Pipe Used: Generic Churchwarden

Age When Smoked: Fresh

Purchased From: P&C

4 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	moniker (220)	2020-08-02		Medium	Very Mild	Medium	Pleasant

Applying a sort of “logic” only other pipers could follow, I bought some Hearth and Home Viprati to break in a new Viprati pipe. Ever the “scientist”, I smoked Viprati in several other briars, as well. The blend is cut to moist ribbons ranging from light to medium reddish brown, to dark brown. Tin note is a festering wheat bran muffin, baked yam with brown sugar, dry raisins, very faint, low apricot, and a bare breath of something like jasmine or orchid. The tobacco handles, loads, lights and burns down with ease, with plenty of smoke, down to black soot, which is worth considering as the bottom of a bowl is approached. IMO it’s best to set this aside to rest for a couple of weeks before evaluations. Early puffs are light, meadow grassy, and very fragrant bright VAs. Next up are slightly loamy, bready red VAs. Then the Perique, fairly sour, woody and dry, with raisins and ample, higher register kabab spices, including coriander, and faint dates. Last up is the DFK, which begins and continues to add slightly smoky, floral and bitter, earthy low notes and smoked meat spices to the smoke. Light snorks stay at the lighter, more fragrant end of things even as the body of the smoke gets more substantial. There seems to be something like vanilla, but it’s very muted, especially after some rest, and this might well be just an artifact of the Cavendish, which likely contributes to both the body and the smoke, itself. I swear I get something very like ginger, as well, faint and very nice. Anyway, the tobaccos are first quality and well met, and this is good stuff, along the lines of more mature Fribourg and Treyer blends. Strength is just over medium. Tastes are just over medium. Room note is pleasant. Aftertaste is a nice trailing of the end of the smoke, only sweeter.

Here’s a VA/Bur/Per that’s worth smoking with or without a reason, though it’s probably best suited to experienced pipers. 4 stars. It should age well.

Pipe Used: Viprati and other briars

Age When Smoked: from rested, undated tin

Purchased From: pipes and cigars

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	drbarryk (5)	2017-03-20		Medium	None Detected	Medium to Full	Very Pleasant

No poetic or analytic meanderings... just a simple shout out to summarize everything you need to know about Viprati: this is THE vaper for the ages....

UPDATE 1-7-18: after a few years smoking this wonderful blend I thought it might be helpful to add a few thoughts expanding on why this is my favorite Vaper (plus delightful touch of Kentucky). Viprati delivers delicious bready, sometimes sweet roll moments combined with early spring farm fields and firepit smoke wafting in from the campsite down the road.....with a bit of peppery spice tying these all together.... Enjoy!!!!!

Pipe Used: Peterson Killarney B11;Castello Searock Author

Age When Smoked: 4 months

Purchased From: P&C

Similar Blends: By classification, many; by what Viprati delivers, none.....

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	WRW (4)	2017-01-19		Medium	None Detected	Medium	Tolerable

If you love perique you will like this. As Va/Per's go this is a hall of fame type blend. Spicy and rich smoke with a hint of sweetness. Moisture content is perfect right out of the tin, but I found after letting it sit in a jar for a couple days the flavors seemed to mellow out.

No bite, but you can feel the spice from the perique. Smokes down to a gray ash with no moisture. I put this into my top 5 Va/Per's. for me this is an all day smoke. I really need enjoy this blend.

Pipe Used: A variety

Age When Smoked: Less than a year

Purchased From: Pipes & Cigars

Similar Blends: Elizabethan.

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	strongirish (249)	2016-10-02		Medium to Strong	None Detected	Full	Pleasant to Tolerable

As a Virginia perique fan it would be hard not to like this one. It is a no nonsense blend that is composed of rough cut leaves that run the gambit from light khaki to very dark brown. It has the tin aroma of most perique blends, somewhat spicy and tart and the moisture content was almost smokable right out of the tin. I let mine dry overnight with the lid off and was rewarded with a wonderful smoke to start my day off the next morning.

It packs easy in the pipe and smokes all the way down without access moisture. It smokes down to the bottom of the pipe to a dark grey ash. This blend is very rich and the combination of the three sweet Virginias and the tart perique is quite delicious. Every bowl I smoked made my mouth water. I personally like the room mote but everybody I smoked it around complained. Lol, but that is how it is with perique. I highly recommend this blend, it is one of Russ's better creations.

Pipe Used: fine briars, meers and corn cobs

Age When Smoked: over 6 months

Purchased From: pipesandcigars.com

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	wmf (14)	2016-06-09		Medium to Strong	None Detected	Full	Pleasant to Tolerable

Absolute perfection. This is no pipe tobacco. This is an experience. Cracked open the tin at almost 1yr. Almost speechless. Thank you Russ. New blend/old school/thoroughly enjoyable. There is no equal vaper- 10 friggin stars

Pipe Used: Saseini 4 dot stubby billiard, modded vsop dublin

Age When Smoked: 1yr

Purchased From: P&C

Similar Blends: The new standard by which vapers will be measured.

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Mr. Big (321)	2016-02-14		Medium	Extremely Mild	Medium	Pleasant

Medium Vaper with a light Vanilla topping. Unfortunately I'm not a fan of vanilla on my tobacco, gives a great scent, but I find it distracting. In this case, the topping gives a slight "bitter" background to the smoke. After a month, the Vanilla subsides and this becomes a much improved blend, however, I feel this burns hot and turns ashy .

I think many would like this blend , but by MY rating system, this only gets the 2 stars of " I won't buy again", too many other VaPers I like better and without a topping ..

Pipe Used: cob

Age When Smoked: 1 month

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Dennis Frost (2)	2015-06-17		Medium	None Detected	Medium	Unnoticeable

Just want to add another +1 for this blend. This has become my standby - the tobacco I know I will enjoy when I can't really decide what to smoke. I have been on 3 trips recently, and I brought this one along on each. Great flavor and great smoke.

Age When Smoked: 6 Months

Purchased From: Pipes & Cigars

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	tomhlee99 (2)	2015-05-08		Medium	None Detected	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

Versatile is a good way to describe this tobacco. I generally smoke Virginias, VP and English blends and Viprati is one of the VPs I smoke. Larry's Blend is an English that I also smoke. I enjoy them both on their own but on occasion I mix the two for something all together different...very nice. Viprati is like a little hot sauce for a spiceless Larry. Give it a try.

Pipe Used: Medium size straight briar

Age When Smoked: 4 months

Purchased From: Pipes & Cigars

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Perique (163)	2021-06-24		Strong	None Detected	Medium to Full	Tolerable

I realized, while smoking my way through a tin of recent vintage, that I had yet to review this outstanding blend. So here goes…

Viprati presents as a range of light to medium brown ribbons, with the occasional dark strip or chunk. Tin note is bready, with a hint of molassed sweet feed, hay, and a touch of grass. I get no Perique spice on the nose. Moisture content is perfect, if not a touch on the dry side, and can be smoked right out of the tin with no dry time needed. Takes a match will and will require few if any relights after the char.

The charring light is burley-forward with basswood and parchment, followed by a distinctive Perique note (pepper in this one, rather than plum) some red Virginia tang, a drip of citrus, all wrapped in a gentle layer of traditional, rather than goopy, black cavendish. There’s a very nice balance to this blend, which was supposedly modeled on Escudo at the request of Luigi Viprati, of La Pipa di Viprati fame. However, what Viprati’s black cavendish buffer adds to the blend reminds me more of Luxury Bullseye Flake than of Escudo’s more austere and direct flavor profile. That balance is difficult to pull off in Perique-heavy blends, but Russ nails this one.

By mid-bowl, the Perique asserts itself, and you’ll feel the Spice in your sinuses. The cavendish fades a bit into the background as the fire cured and red Virginia swirl around the Perique a bit. But at no point does the smoke become harsh. The balance of flavors and intensity of Perique are such that, into the final third, you’ll want to watch your cadence so as not to overheat the tobacco. I often find myself tempted to puff towards the end where, as always, the sip brings the flavor rather than the heat. Nonetheless, I find no bite or harsh spots in this blend. Viprati smokes very dry all the way to the bottom of the bowl, leaving no goop or mess. Expect the final quarter to be a bit ashy, not uncommon for this style of blend.

While some reviews have referenced Viprati as a challenger to Escudo, or some of the unfortunately discontinued McClelland VaPers, I don’t think those elite blends have anything to worry about. I do suggest, however, that they make room at the big-boy table for Russ’s Viprati: a fantastic VaBurPer that is dry-packing, dry-smoking, and dry-finishing. Perique-intensive, with some stout burley, soft but dry cavendish, and tamed yet flavorful Virginia, Viprati is in a league of its own among unflavored VaBurPer blends.

Age When Smoked: 2020

Purchased From: pipes and cigars.com

Similar Blends: LBF, with the strength revved up several notches..

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	HabaneroHardy (403)	2021-02-01		Mild to Medium	None Detected	Medium	Unnoticeable

A fellow piper brought this tin in and I have to say this is a really good VaPer. A nice ribbon cut that loaded and packed easily. The most that I could pick up was the taste of the Red Virginias which I happen to enjoy smoking from time to time. A really smooth VaPer with no bite. If I smoked it all day that might be another story. Produces a lot of smoke and the taste pretty much stayed consistent from start to finish. Glad I got to try a sample, which I am not going to lie, is all I had. P.S. If I had more to smoke I could see this probably going to a 4 star. Hint:)

Pipe Used: Charatan

Age When Smoked: New

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	BingCrosby (162)	2020-07-23		Medium	Extremely Mild	Medium	Tolerable

This is the first hearth and home blend I have tried.. overall really impressed.. decent va/per with a dash of dark fired as advertised.. subtle fruity notes but also definitely a little earth and spice.. Has an odd burn to it and certainly different processing than I am accustomed to.. You do have to kind of tease out the flavors and I sense it isn't completely natural.. but that is ok.. the end result is a decent smoke at a good price.. I think it will age well... the blending is sure top notch.. Interesting marriage of flavors.. I think the only thing that puts me off is what I perceive to be a processed flavor.. maybe some kind of additive..

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30194)	2018-11-20		Medium	None Detected	Medium to Full	Tolerable

Just want to add my voice to the choir here. Russ Ouellette is already my favourite blender, especially when it comes to Balkan style blends. I'm glad I got my hands on some of this stuff though. This seems to me kind of like Haddo's Delight in that it's a Va/Per/Bur that hits all the sweet and savoury tobacco notes you can wish for, and has a mouthfillingly full flavour, but I'm not a huge fan of Haddo's because of the topping, which is a little artificial tasting to me and sublimates the true tobacco flavour somewhat. With Viprati, you get a rounded very natural tasting tobacco. I get a good dose of spicy, peppery Perique, which kind of bobs in and out with the deep, dark, fruity, juicy, earthy, delicious Virginias, while the dark-fired Burley hums away in the background, providing a steady undercurrent of woody, smoky depth of character. It's all very harmonious and seems to be the perfect combination of flavours if you like the taste of TOBACCO. The only other blend I enjoy on this level is Solani Silver Flake. Hard to tell which one I prefer. Anyway, Viprati immediately became a go-to smoke for me, pretty much after the first bowl. Wish I could give it 5 stars!

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	atomicbuster (79)	2018-01-02		Medium	Extremely Mild	Mild	Unnoticeable

I purchased this along with two other VaPer blends as part of P&C's step ladder pack. I'm trying to get reacquainted with Perique. This blend burns very well, down to ash, but sometimes wet depending on the pipe. It can actually be puffed quickly without burning your tongue. What I have found that brings on the bite is while clenching the pipe letting the smoke linger in your mouth. If you blow the smoke fairly soon, puffing cadence doesn't really matter. It can definitely get "peppery" if you are not careful. Also, it does have nicotine kick, so it's best to have had at least a light snack before and a cool drink while smoking this. The flavor is plain tobacco. Nothing really distinctive besides that "peppery" quality, if you allow it to happen. Meh, 2 stars for ease of handling, but I won't buy this again.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	cakeanddottle (105)	2017-11-06		Mild to Medium	Extremely Mild	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

A singular VaPer. Absent of spice, this one is all sweetness. Great Va base, and the Perique here adds big fruit sweetness. IMO the single best thing Russ O. has made. If you took the best light Va ribbon you could find, and blended it with a fruit-y sweet Perique, you could not come up with this. It's absolute perfection as VaPers go, IMO.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	JaWiBr (566)	2023-01-23		Medium	None Detected	Medium to Full	Pleasant to Tolerable

Tin note of hay, sugar, and mild stewed plums, Tobacco is a mix of brown, black and tan ribbons. Moisture content is ok. Some may want to dry it out a bit. Burns moderate with few relights. The strength is medium and nic is medium. No flavoring detected. Taste is medium to full and mostly consistent, with notes complex of toast, molasses, spicy, bitter wood, brown sugar, dry earth, lemon grass, leather, floral, mild cocoa, spices, tart and tangy fruit, acidic, fermented vegetation, mildly savory, a sweet nutty background note, and a peppery retro. Virginia is leading with Perique supporting. Fire Cured Burley is supporting from the back. Room note is pleasant to tolerable, and aftertaste is great.

Pipe Used: Peterson Bard Rusticated 221 Fishtail

Age When Smoked: 5 years

Purchased From: pipesandcigars.com

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Pipefitter (51)	2022-06-18		Medium	None Detected	Medium to Full	Pleasant to Tolerable

I had to light up a second bowl to review this tobacco not because I needed to, I just wanted to as I love Virginia-Perique blend. This one is as good as the others I’ve tried like MacBaren’s Krumble-Kake and Seattle Pipe Club’s Mississippi River cake. I thought I’d be disappointed with the ribbon cut, but far from it as Viprati delivered on all categories like balance, complexity, maturity, and the right strength as an all day smoke for a Long time smoker. Never bites, never gets hot and maintains it’s flavor from beginning to end. I didn’t detect burley that the manufacturer claims that’s in this blend, but it’s got plenty of body to attest the presence…..Again, if you like mature Virginia tobacco with Perique spiciness , you can’t expect more from a pipe tobacco.

Purchased From: City Tobacco In New London Ct

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Stah (153)	2021-12-27		Medium	None Detected	Mild to Medium	Pleasant

The appearance of Viprati is a ribbon of several varieties of Virginia hay-colored to medium-brown, with finely chopped bits of burley and perique mixed in. Occasionally there are badly shredded leaves, but, in general, the cut is quite even. The tobacco is a little dry, but even in this form it can be stuffed into a pipe for immediate smoking. Nevertheless, I slightly moistened it to the desired condition.

Smell: Bread aroma, with hints of molasses, hay and dried fish. There is also a fairly bright note of figs and dark raisins, lightly seasoned by the aroma of spun wine and a slight hint of bitter chocolate. Surprisingly, the perique gives off little to no spicy flavor or peppery nuances. The flavor, on the whole, is quite simple and easy to decompose into components - one gets the impression that something similar can be made at home. The tobacco is extremely easy to light.

The taste of the tobacco is quite obvious wheat bread with raisins and nuts, on which a fair amount of perique is immediately imposed, giving a spicy and even somewhat pungent taste, which may not appeal to everyone. Nevertheless, those who are already used to spicy food are probably going to like it. A little later the ensemble is joined by a citrus note with a slight sourness, but, in general, the tobacco is sweet enough. Excessive spice smoothes out fairly quickly, closer to the middle comes spicy notes and a light flavor of dark dried berries (raisins and plums). The blend becomes a harmonious sweet-spicy tobacco of medium strength that doesn't bite or dry the throat. It has almost no presence of burley. Nevertheless, it dominates in the aftertaste, taking Virginia to the background and leaving an earthy peanut flavor in the mouth. The tobacco smokes dry and medium-hot, a slight nicotine hit is possible when smoking in large pipes. The blend burns into a light gray dry dusty ash, leaving a drop or two of moisture in the pipe.

The smoke from the tobacco has a woody, bitter aroma with a hint of roasted spices like ginger and turmeric. It is pleasant enough, easily dispersed.

Bottom line: my initial concerns about the presence of burley and too much perique in the blend were not confirmed. The blend was quite interesting and certainly of very high quality. The only downside for me would be the aftertaste which is a little bit dominated by the burley. Undoubtedly, the tobacco is worthy of its place in my collection. I have another tin, and after a few years I'll open it to see if Virginia can eventually take over the initiative.

Pipe Used: Peterson Deluxe 11FB, B42

Age When Smoked: Fresh

Purchased From: Online

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	cm1648 (108)	2021-09-19		Medium	Mild	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

Like an amped up Elizabethan. The Perique is really evident, on the stronger side Perique wise compared to your typical Va/Per. The Red Virginas are nice and sweet, earthy, some bread notes. (the same used in anniversary kake?). The pinch of Kentucky adds just a wee boost of heat and some base earthiness as well. You really feel that perique in the retrohale!

The Kentucky/Virginas pick up, brining in what I call “sweet dirt”. Sounds bad but I really enjoy it.

Similar to Penny Farthing yet it doesn’t have a harshness that PF tends to show. 8.8/10

Similar Blends: GL Pease Penny Farthing.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Aesthete (1)	2019-04-23		Mild to Medium	None Detected	Medium	Tolerable

Liked this one so much I immediately ordered a 2nd tin.

Tin note is a raisin earthiness. Lights easily and stays lit without much effort. The taste is where this shines for me. The Virginia's grassiness are apparent from the start, as the bowl gets lower the Perique comes forward and start playing with the Virginia. At its height the harmony comes together to sing a note that I think is best imagined as the cinnamon Red Hot candies. With a 1/3 of a bowl left it mellows out and brings you down from your mountain top experience gently.

This a great contemplative smoke, although I'm often smoking it while hiking about.

Pipe Used: Tinderbox Unique bent acorn & Savinelli Pesh

Age When Smoked: New-4 months

Purchased From: 4noggins.com

Similar Blends: 1st VaPer, won't be my last.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	sifangxiangce (1)	2019-02-03		Extremely Strong	None Detected	Extra Full	Pleasant

Strength, at the top of the nose hi, valuable is the tar content is not high. Unfortunately the second half of the 18 years from the original BVP change formula for CVP, may be in order to adapt to most of the friends of bucket accept ability, the new version more sweet and fruity.

vp p劲之巅，过鼻嗨翻，难能可贵的是焦油含量并不高。可惜18年下半年从原来的BVP改变配方为CVP，可能是为了适应大多数斗友的接受能力，新版本更甜更圆润。

Age When Smoked: 5years

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	canvas (337)	2018-06-02		Mild to Medium	None Detected	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

I was fulling expecting the contents to smell of Virginia's tell tale barnyard hay, but what I got (if I'm being polite) was a whiff of ripe armpit sweat {if I'm being crass... it was closer to a ladies nether region}. At this point, I'm sure my loyal readers are bracing for another negative review, on the contrary, I actually liked the stuff.

The overbearing tin aroma settled after a week and developed into a nice easy-smoking, sweet smoker. The cut and moisture was just where you wanted it be for lighting up. It was an easy no manage, pleasant tasting, and devoid of any prominent flavor (which may or may not be a good thing). The "zesty Perique" was not on my radar and likely was working in the back for the more refined smoker to discover.

In the end it was a good Virginia based blend, just not my favorite. If I wasn't such an aromatic fan, I could see it being an easy 3 stars.

Purchased From: pipesandcigars.com

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	rintrah (14)	2018-02-21		Medium	Mild	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

Smells nice in the tin and a nice cut. There's clearly a topping on this and its a bit distracting in the initial part of the bowl, but fades quickly. The smoke has nice body and the taste of the perique is a bit different here than you get in a standard VaPer. Some sweetness adds to its depth, and in some bowls that grew as the bowl progressed. Overall, a good VaPer that I'd recommend trying, but not something to unseat other favorites and benchmark blends.

Pipe Used: cob, meer, old brit briar

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	tschenyinkoh (51)	2018-02-11		Medium	None Detected	Medium to Full	Very Pleasant

I totally disagree with Mr. big's review and totally agree with the JimInks' review.

Mr. big claimed that it is with "a light Vanilla topping." "the topping gives a slight "bitter" background to the smoke. " "I feel this burns hot and turns ashy"

Actually I and all others who give the four-star rating definitely never smell any Vanilla topping. It smokes very cool and deeply smooth.

It is rich, tangy dark fruit sweetness with a touch of earth, grassy and citrus. The dark fired is spicy, nutty and woody.

One of the best Ribbon VaPer in the world.

Pipe Used: churchwarden

Age When Smoked: three monthes

Purchased From: 2 oz tins from pipesandcigars

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Pocestnik (3)	2023-04-09		Mild to Medium	None Detected	Medium to Full	Pleasant

My recommendation for those wanting to see what the Va/Per hype is about. Smooth, mellow taste is even better than the tin note suggests. This one never leaves my rotation.

Pipe Used: Multiple cob & briar

Age When Smoked: 2 years

Nobody has rated this review yet.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Limaxe (6)	2023-04-03		Medium to Strong	None Detected	Medium to Full	Tolerable

The sweetness of the virginias in the aroma and taste is very pleasant, but I really didn't like the pepperiness of the Perique, I had some tongue bites and nick kicks.

Nobody has rated this review yet.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	b7q (54)	2022-12-14		Mild to Medium	Mild to Medium	Mild to Medium	Tolerable

It seems that Mr Russ is very fond of Latakia, and although this mixture is much smaller and more subtle than Chatham Manor, it has still been spotted by me. Someone who knows Mr. Russ should confirm my findings.

No matter how excellent works are, they are not the only ones here. I will smoke many times a day, but I will never smoke only one thing. The wine cellar will not store one style of tobacco.The wife didn't like the smell of the room

Pipe Used: Briar&Meerschaum&Corn&Clay

Age When Smoked: new

Nobody has rated this review yet.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	CR (30)	2021-08-03		Mild to Medium	None Detected	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

I had very high expectations here. Another reviewer of this blend likened the tin note of Viprati to feminine odor - ah yes, that’s Perique for you, that musky perfume of spice and warmth, raw and pungent like Nature itself. I even blushed a little bit when I opened my tin, but only because I think Mother Nature forgot to sit on mine - I just bought a tin of Bright Virginia. No, this was a sweet field of hay, but it tasted as good as it should have when I smoked it. It’s high quality Virginia ribbon with a smoky sprinkling of DFK in the background that doesn’t bite as awfully as some other reviews claim. I’m sure some others will say that if you smoke five tins of Viprati the sixth one contains a Corsican Maiden. They might be right, but I’m not out to wed this one.

Pipe Used: All of Them

Age When Smoked: New/ 1 Month

Purchased From: pipesandcigars.com

Nobody has rated this review yet.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	kik_rpm (15)	2021-03-07		Strong	None Detected	Mild to Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

I'm writing this after a long working trip day.

The aroma from the thin is sweet and cytrus. From the beginning its sweetness is evident and could be a little cloying. Latter on some toasty and leathery flavours emerges.

It is not a complex blend, the flavour is almost the same the whole time.

It could be a nicotine bomb, in my opinion, and although I rest it for a while it would produce some moisture. Because of both reasons I would recommend slow smoke.

Marinated with a Los Monges Dark Strong Ale, great way to bring all the flours and bring some complexity to the blend.

In my case best smoked on a briar bent apple.

https://www.instagram.com/kik_rpm/

Pipe Used: meerscahum (kavlak), briar bent apple

Age When Smoked: 1 year

Purchased From: estanco (ecuador)

Nobody has rated this review yet.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	BCarter (6)	2021-03-04		Medium	None Detected	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

Oh, the Marquee series delivers again. This time with a VaPer of the highest order. Rich, sweet fruitiness that takes on an almost tangy ketchup(not quite) to the under notes. Some lovely wood and slight spice notes creep up from the depths of this blend to be just complex enough without over doing it. The burley adds just the right amount of boldness to the overall character of Viprati. One I will smoke on occasions and always have some in my stock.

Nobody has rated this review yet.