Actually I prefer fruit woods, apple is my favorite and i'll supplement it with a bit of hickory for some punch. hickory is good provided you get the mix right and don't overdo it. personally i like a heavier smoke but i've found that most people i've served to don't. as far as the mesquite goes, it's a resounding "meh" for me in most cases as it can be very astringent, but i find it's best use is for adding a quick pop of smoke to something like the chicken i did. Cherry is also extremely good, but it tends to be more expensive so i don't use it much. my advice if you want to get into smoking is to get one of the cheaper electric smokers. there are two basic skills you need, one is how to cook and treat the meat, and the other is heat and smoke control. i learned out of pure stubborness that trying to figure both out at the same time is really difficult, but if you get the electric unit it will take care of the heat and smoke control for you without much hassle. that way you are left to figure out the food half undistracted, and then you can graduate to bigger and better smokers and learn the other half.
now when you say blackberry balsamic vinegar, is this a product you can buy or are you making it somehow? sounds good, i could see using that for a nice glaze on some chops. balsamic reductions are some of the most flavorful sauces out there, love it.
