Jim's Mississippi River Review.

The red Virginia is tangy, dark fruit sweet with a little earth, rather McClelland-like in that there’s a very mild barbeque flavor present at the beginning. The stoved Virginias have a fermented sugary fruitiness. The perique offers some spice with raisin and fig notes. The Cyprian latakia is an important supporting player, adding a sweet smoky woodiness that is obvious in every puff. The Oriental is also a minor player, not always detectable, but it is woody with a slight sour hit here and there. Presented in an easily broken apart krumble cake, it may need a little dry time. Burns slow and clean, requires some relights, and has a consistent, complex, rich and creamy smooth sweet taste to the finish. Leaves just a little moisture in the bowl. Has a very pleasant after taste and room note.

Some smokers have complained that the newer production, which is made by a different company than it first was, is not as good as the original. In comparing the 2011 version versus the 2015 several times in back to back smokes, I taste very few minor differences, e.g., the red Virginia is more prominent with less of the McClelland notes at the beginning, the perique seems to occasionally be a shade more noticeable in the new manufacture. I don’t see any of that worth complaining about, and the two versions are certainly not night and day different. In this instance, I think the power of suggestion over rides the taste buds of those smokers.