Esoterica's Tilbury from February 2003

50 gram vintage tin of another gem from the Esoterica Line from sometime in the late 90s-'mid 00s- "Blended Exclusively for Butera Pipe Company by JF Germain & Son". Which was after Steve Richman (Blended For esoterica tobacco by" sold the rights to Mike Butera who distributed it for about 8-10 years before selling the right to Arango Cigar Company in the mid 2000s. This Esoterica Tilbury combines golden & dark Virginias with Burley & air-cured leaf which is then matured through a century-old process for a very distinct aroma and flavor- sweet, nutty with hints of apricot. Smooth and satisfying.

This blend is one of my favorites of all time- its great young but it also improves dramatically with age-as do many Virginias- that said, I do believe the quality of the initial leaf 20-25 years ago was substantially higher than it is today - I tried some new Tilbury 2 years ago and it seemed like an entirely different blend than I'm used to smoking. I added to my cellar in 20023, but not sure actual date of production- safe to say this is a 22-25 year old tin. It has a bit of surface pitting but is indeed sealed and intact with no shake.

If you are a fan of Tilbury, you owe it to yourself to try a tin with some serious age on it, you will not be disappointed!

This auction contains tobacco.  If you live in certain states, you will be unable to purchase this product.