Welcome to another episode of "Tasting Notes." Today I'm tasting four new blends by Erik Stokkebye 4th Generation. This is an exciting collaboration between Erik Stokkebye and Jeremy Reeves, Master Blender at Cornell & Diehl: Fathers, Friends and Fire. We have batches one through four here and I'm going to get into all four of them today and break down a little bit of my impressions and tell you about the blends. So starting from Batch 001 to Batch 004: a Virginia/Oriental, a Virginia/Perique, a Sweet Aromatic, and a Steady English.

If you're familiar with the 4th Gen brand, you probably recall a handful of limited-edition pipes released under the Fathers, Friends and Fire name over the last couple of years. In fact, I think the first limited-edition Fathers, Friends and Fire pipe was released in 2018. They're released every year in a couple of finishes, usually complemented by really interesting colorful stems, really popular and quickly selling out. These pipes are made to honor Father's Day, the relationships between fathers and sons, between friends, and smokers all around the world.

Tasting Pipes: Clay and Meerschaum

So let's get started. Before I get into Batch 001, I want to talk a little bit about my pipe selection today. I've chosen two Meerschaum pipes and two clay pipes to taste all of these. More and more these days when I'm sampling tobaccos, I'm leaning toward my Meerschaums and my clay pipes. So I have two IMP Nosewarmers for my Virginias, the Virginia/Oriental and the Virginia/Perique. And then I have two clay pipes by Clarin Clay to taste my sweet Aromatic and my English blend.

Batch 001 Virginia Oriental Flake

Fathers, Friends and Fire Batch 001 Virginia Oriental flake is the first in the series and the first that I'm smoking today. The flakes are beautiful; they're mostly medium-chestnut in color and are the perfect moisture content. I would not give this one any drying time, but maybe a little aeration. Fluff it up a little bit if you like to break your flakes up completely, and then just go ahead and pack and light right away. It takes to the flame really well. Initially, it's pretty much what you would expect from a straight Virginia. I think those Oriental grades do resurface throughout the smoke the further you get into the bowl. Right off the bat, after you get the bowl going a little bit, the first thing you're going to notice is a little bit of natural sweetness, like pie crust and graham cracker flavors. It's not super zesty. There are some citrus notes. Mostly this is made up of crop year 2019 Red Virginias. There is a little bit of 2019 Bright leaf in here, and a couple of different grades of Oriental, including 2018 Izmir Turkish. And like I said, this one for me is a really nice, all-day Virginia.

If you like to smoke some of the brighter flakes, or the Golden Sliced Mac Baren's Yellow Virginia Flake, or Sun Bear by C&D, you're going to find this fits really well into an all-day rotation for a Virginia smoker. It does have a little bit of intrigue. There are some of the musty notes, a little bit of an incense-like quality, and some earthiness from the Orientals which balance the Virginias really well. Mostly there's a lot of natural sweetness here, a lot of malty character, and a really mature Virginia flavor. I'm not getting too much grassiness. I'm getting mostly that malty, bready-like quality from this one. Fathers, Friends and Fire Batch 001 Virginia Oriental Flake is also a really good candidate for cellaring. I think this one's going to age super well and I think it's going to get insanely sweet with some time.

Batch 002 Virginia Perique

Next up is Fathers, Friends and Fire Batch 002 Virginia Perique. Like the name implies, this is a Virginia/Perique flake. There are some darker-colored flakes, some chestnuts, and some medium-browns in the tin. They break up and load into the pipe really easily. Now this one I did give a very small amount of drying time and a little bit of aeration. I think that you want to keep as much of the moisture from the tin as possible to really get the full effect of the blend because it is a very complex one. But I do give it a little bit of aeration and drying time just to aid in the lighting process and because I like my tobacco at a certain moisture content.

I think that this one is really for those out there who are looking for a very rich Virginia/Perique experience. Right off the bat, it is apparent that there is Perique in this blend. Genuine St. James Parish Perique, which is very high quality. It's more on the fruity and chocolatey side than it is on the funky side. And that's immediately apparent.

You also have a really nice balance of Bright and Red leaf and a little bit of dark Burley and Black Cavendish, which is an interesting twist on the classic Virginia/Perique. The Cavendish and the Burley really lend themselves well to this blend because there's a lot of natural sweetness going on and some perceived sweetness from the Perique as well. Like I said, that genuine St. James Parish Perique really has more fruity notes and a little bit of a chocolatey vibe to it more so than the earthy, funky, and mushroomy elements that you might be used to. So the Black Cavendish and the Burley add a little bit of body and a little bit of strength to this one, which really round it out and make the whole experience super rich.

The classic Virginia/Perique spice comes through here, especially through the retrohale and the further down the bowl that you go. One thing that I noticed is that, like I said, there is a good amount of natural sweetness from the Bright and the Red leaf, and the proportions of the Perique, the Cavendish, and the Burley. Something here just hits an oatmeal raisin cookie kind of vibe for me. There's tons of complexity, plenty of spice, some woodiness, and some earthiness through the retrohale as well. There are also some wine-like notes, like a dry red.

I think this is a Virginia/Perique blend for folks who are fans of the stronger stuff that C&D makes: Haddo's Delight and Bayou Morning. And I also think that if you're a fan of Escudo and some of the more punchy classic Virginia/Perique mixtures, maybe Hal O' the Wynd by Rattray's, this is something that you're going to find to be a nice change of pace because there's a little something extra here. There's a little boozy quality that gives this nearly that navy flake vibe. It's really well balanced between the sweetness of the Virginias, the Perique, the dark Burley, and the Cavendish, and is really rich, with tons of body. This has a high replay value for me. It's right in the sweet spot. I also think this one will age well too.

Batch 003 Sweet Aromatic

Fathers, Friends and Fire Batch 003 Sweet Aromatic is next in the collection. This one is really interesting and I'm still trying to wrap my head around it. Basically, you've got a really nice ribbon cut, with mostly brighter and medium-colored leaves. There's a good bit of dark leaf in there and a little bit of Black Cavendish. This one is composed mostly of Red Virginia from 2017 and Red Virginia from 2019. There's a little bit of 2014 White Burley and a little bit of dark Burley. And to that, a really precise, balanced, and perfect amount of vanilla is added. So Sweet Aromatic promises to be sort of a classic all-day Aromatic. And I think that's exactly what you get here.

I find the moisture content out of the tin straight away to be perfect, nice, and springy. It loads really well, takes to the flame really well, and does not really require any drying time. You can give it a touch if that's your preference, but I really don't recommend it. It's such a mild and subtle top note that you really don't want to lose it because what it's doing is adding to the natural sweetness of the Virginias.

You have a nice bit of body from the two different grades of Burley and a little bit of Black Cavendish. It is an Aromatic that is medium in strength, mild-to-medium in flavor, and is highly repeatable. It's an all-day smoke. I get enough of the malty and bread-like notes, the sweetness from the Virginias, and also something a little bit more rustic, sharp, woody, earthy, and nutty from the Burleys. And that plays with the vanilla top note quite well. There are moments where that combination of Virginia and Burley almost gives me a Sarsaparilla kind of note. And you have the vanilla top note there. It's almost like a root beer float at times, really. That sounds crazy. I don't think I've ever really picked that up in a tobacco before and I've smoked a ton of tobacco with vanilla top notes.

Sweet Aromatic is a really intriguing and repeatable Aromatic mixture, fitting even for those who don't normally smoke Aromatics. Creamy, lush, with plenty of natural tobacco flavor, it also has a really nice room note, aroma, and the right amount of sweetness. Like I said, I think this is a solid Aromatic for those who are looking for something that has a more tobacco-forward flavor profile. It's also a very nice crossover for those of us who are normally smoking straight Virginias and English mixtures and stuff like that.

Batch 004 Steady English

Fathers, Friends and Fire Batch 004 Steady English is the last batch from this release. What I think is interesting about Steady English is that it has Turkish Latakia, which is something I've really been enjoying lately. This is a Latakia produced in Turkey which has a super high degree of consistency and precision in this production. And what you get is a Latakia that is more perfumey, more floral, and a little bit less smoky and woody. So I really love this Turkish Latakia. There's a good dose of it here combined with only Bright Virginia and a pinch of Perique, actually. So whereas normally you think of the Scottish-type blends that have Perique in them also featuring a couple of other heavier tobaccos, perhaps darker grades of Virginia, some Cavendish, blah, blah, blah. The fact that this is Bright Virginia, Turkish Latakia, and Perique really had me intrigued.

What you get is an all-day English that is mild-to-medium in strength and just a hair over medium in flavor, but it's got a zesty quality to it too. I don't necessarily pick up a ton of the Perique notes, it is just a pinch, but I think you feel the effects of it. It really amplifies the fruity and wine-like character of the Turkish Latakia. It's really lush on the palate. Dense, creamy, and the retrohale is complex. I will say that this is a very comforting blend. It is definitely an all-day English, highly repeatable, and I think maybe a really fantastic first smoke of the day for your English lovers out there as well.

Like I said, the Perique does a lot to amplify the quality of this Turkish Latakia, which is extremely high quality. It's one of my favorite Latakias I've ever tasted. I also think that this is a really good vehicle for those who are interested in Turkish Latakia. Try Batch 004 Steady English, and you're really going to get a full appreciation for that leaf.

Fathers, Friends and Fire: Another Stellar Collaboration

When I heard about another collaboration between Erik Stokkebye and Jeremy Reeves, of course I was excited. I've loved everything those two guys have put their heads together on so far. Fathers, Friends and Fire is a really interesting extension of the pipe series that 4th Generation has been doing since 2018. Really, there's something for everybody here, from Batch 001 to Batch 004, a lot of blends that I personally think are highly repeatable, and a handful that I think would do really well in the cellar. There's pretty much something for everybody. I also like that each of these has a little bit of a twist on the classics that they're based on.

For those of you out there who are looking for a change of pace, whether you're normally an Aromatic, English, Virginia/Perique, or straight Virginia aficionado, grab the whole line and check them out. It's a really interesting series and I think there's something, like I said, for everybody to enjoy.