Stokkebye's English Luxury, From Perfect Blend

As defined by Stokkebye, this blend is "A characteristic English Mixture, developed from mellow Georgian Virginias, Black Cavendish, Mexican Burley's and Cyprian Latakia, a classic. Mild to medium strength."
  I doesn't taste English to me, but what do I know.  I know that despite the dark, smokey note from Latakia that usually defines the flavor in an English blend, I enjoy this thoroughly. The flavor is light in taste and body, while still bringing the cool, delicious note of other non-aromatics. In addition to it's traditional non-aromatic body, the room-note (smell of the smoke) is airy and sweet, carrying a slight scent of chocolate. With the only visible drawback being that it burns just a tiny bit hot, this is the best of both worlds.
  There's not a whole lot else to say about this. It stays lit easily, the flavor remains unchanged to the bottom of the bowl, and the smell won't put people off.  If you want a smoke that won't re-flavor your pipe, but you can still smoke in public, this is a great one. I'm sure to pick up more of this once I run out.

Vanilla Custard, From... John T's???????

Yeah, John T's in Fashion Fair Mall. It's wierd. Before I get into the tobacco, I guess I should say, John T's is actually stepping up it's pipe tobacco. ALOT.  They invited me into the store room to see everything that they haven't made room for yet, and the selection was staggering.  They had blends I haven't seen since Hardwicks vavished, even base blending tobaccos. Still no cube cut, but I keep hoping.
  That said, I'll move on to the point. Vanilla Custard may seem like a strange name for a pipe tobacco, but I'll be darned if that's not what it smells like. Seriously. If you're ever near John T's, stop in, stick your nose in the jar, and take a whiff. It's unbelievable. I wish that it smoked that well. It burns hot, or not at all. When it wasn't trying to burn my mouth, I was struggling to keep it lit. Striking a balance withit will take practice. At least it burns fairly dry. There was no undue residue at the bottom of the bowl as happens with so many over-sweet blends, and the pipe never gurgled once. The smoke that lifts from the pipe is almost as pleasant smelling as the pouch, making me regret airing the room afterwords. I could enjoy this for hours.
  In the end, despite it's shortcomings, I have come back for this more than once, now. Always willing to talk to the oddly eccintric proprietor of John T's, and ALWAYS hearing his story about why he can't stand Latakia anymore (If you talk about pipes for more than 4 minutes, he'll tell it.) Even if I wasn't willing to smoke it, I'd keep a little on hand, just to open and sniff every so often. There's nothing quite like it.

Virginia/Perique

Perique is an odd duck. Used sparingly, it is said to cool a blend that smokes too hot. When it dominates more than half, as in this case, it's all I can taste. As it turns out, I don't like that taste. I really don't know how to describe that taste, or the smell, for that matter, other than fruit that's gone bad. I know that tobacco preferences are all a matter of taste, which will vary wildly from one person to the next, but with that said, For MY taste, I just don't care for it.
  I absolutely hated the first bowl I smoked, and the flavor grew on me a little each time over passing days. After a week of growth, it never got any better. It's something I could smoke, if it were present, but given the choice, I would probably reach for something else. I have added it to other blends which have proven too strong for casual use, and it has mellowed them slightly, but even with proven results like that, I doubt I'll ever buy any more.

Round Midnight, from Cigars Ltd.

This is a black Cavendish, sweetened lightly (VERY lightly) with vanilla. It produces thick clouds of cool, sweet smelling smoke that seems to invite others to come enjoy it with you. The flavor is at least as pleasant as the aroma, light and fanciful right to the bottom of the bowl. So much so that I was a little depressed to find that I had already finished it. Packed lightly, it produces no moisture to ruin the last bit at the bottom, leaving only an extremely fine ash as evidence of its passing.  There's no struggle to keep it lit near the end, as so many aromatics do. A truly fine smoke that I'm sure I will be coming back to time and time again.

Tune in next time when I'll examine McClelland's 2015: Virginia/Perique Flake. Spoiler Alert! The outcome doesn't look good.