Wilke Pipe Tobacco Surbrug's West Minster

The Virginia offers a bit of grass and citrus with a touch of darker fruit. It forms the base of the blend. The smoky, very woody, earthy, sweet, lightly musty Cyprian Latakia takes a little of the lead. The fairly tingly spicy, plumy, lightly raisiny, earthy perique is an important condiment. The sugary black cavendish provides some smoothness. The strength is a step past the center of mild to medium, while the taste level falls just short of medium. The nic-hit is just past the mild mark. Won’t bite, and has few rough edges, and no harshness. Burns fairly cool, and very clean with a well balanced, consistent mild sweetness and more savory, spicy flavor from top to bottom. Leaves little moisture in the bowl, and requires an average number of relights. Has a lingering, spicy campfire after taste and a slightly stronger room note. Can be an all day smoke.

-JimInks

Good stuff. I get a coffee undertone on the jar note and sure enough this comes through on the flavor. Reminds me of my coffee-flavored Latakia. In this case I’m guessing the BC used has some coffee or mocha flavoring. I also get toasted almond, roast chestnut, beef jerky, and a little sweet hay. No campfire or creosote, no peppery Perique. For me the coffee and nutty nuances work better with Latakia than the chocolate of Boswell’s Northwoods. But it’s good to have variety of choice. I would suggest finishing in one session, as every time I’ve saved some for leftovers it doesn’t taste quite as good (three stars). My guess is that the Cavendish has been spent and any flavoring long gone. Still, for that delicious range of complex nuances when fresh, I give this four stars without hesitation. I’ve already bought more to see how it holds together with some short-term cellaring over 1-3 years. At present I’m counting this among my select Top Ten Favorites.