A mottled blackish-brown base with medium and light brown specks and threads throughout. For those who like the dark and strong stuff, this is great. There is *lots* of latakia (I think I read 50% somewhere) for a strong, smooth, smoky taste that gets peppery toward the bottom of the bowl thanks to the addition of perique. The flavour is relatively straightforward, not sweet and a tad bitter, tempered by very subtle Oriental perfumes (as in Sobranie's 759), which I find are just barely detectable at the beginning of the smoke. I like the way that its flavour develops strength and fullness while smoking. A medium cut blend that smokes dry to a fine light grey ash; slow burning.