Wilke Pipe Tobacco Nut Brown Burley

A burley based blend with a little grassy, barely citrusy Virginia, and a little sugary black cavendish. Has some earth, wood, lots of nuttiness, hints of maple and spice along with a mild molasses sweetness create some subtle and obvious complexity. You can smell the toastiness of the burley, and certainly taste it. Despite the description, this does have a extremely mild vanilla topping. The strength is a couple of steps past the mild mark, while the taste is just past the center of mild to medium. The nic-hit is a slot past the mild threshold. Won't bite or get harsh, and barely has any rough edges. Burns at a moderate pace with a cool, clean, mostly smooth, very consistent flavor to the finish. Leaves a light dampness in the bowl, but no dottle as it will burn to ash. Requires an average number of relights. Has a very pleasant after taste and room note. An easily repeatable all day smoke.

-JimInks

Now here's a Burley I have not thought about in quite some time. I purchased a half pound of the stuff perhaps 2-3 years ago and smoked a bunch of it and shared it with my pipe club. We all agreed that this is the Rolls Royce of bulk Burleys!

If you enjoy a good Burley every now and then (and I certainly do), but seldom sample new stuff because you don't like that bitter Burley finish (and I certainly don't), then punch this ticket. You might detect the smidgen of Virginia & Turkish leaf tossed in if you try hard, but frankly, this is overwhelmingly top shelf Burley!

Pipeworks & Wilke's most famous blend, Nut Brown Burley is cool, slow burning, and projects to the smoker a crisp, all tobacco taste. Best of all, it is sweet and nutty right down to the bottom of the bowl. (Unless, of course, you are smoking a cheap pipe. If that's the case, even this delightful weed can't help you).

This is by no means the best burley blend I've ever tried, but it is the most unusual. It's a burley that thinks its a Va. It must be smoked slowly or it will bite and the flavor will not be very noticeable. It packs and burns well due to the cube cut. The nicotine level is moderate for a burley blend and it doesn't get harsh towards the bottom. I don't know why people describe this and other burley blends as nutty; it tastes like tobacco to me! Despite it's high quality, I didn't get much flavor out of this blend, so it really didn't hold my interest. Apparently I like my burley spiced with other tobaccos rather than just straight burley like this. If you like very delicate tobaccos, you will enjoy this, but for full flavor, Wilke offers much better burley blends than this.

Update 5/31/2008 - This blend has been discontinued by Wilke. I find Peretti 333 to be very similar and more interesting due to the inclusion of some matured VA.

Among Pipeworks & Wilke's most reviewed tobaccos, Nut Brown Burley presents as just that: consistent, monochromatic brown ribbon. I must be in the minority here by stating that the jar note quite clearly reveals some flavoring: I get mollased sweet feed, candied dates, and even a touch of honey. The flavoring is applied, however, with a very light hand and dissipates quickly after the true light. My understanding is that the original blend description included Virginia and Oriental, and I would believe there's a hint of each given the burning characteristics (thanks, Oriental) and the capacity to bite (thanks, Virginia). But this is certainly a burley blend - and what a blend it is.

As the flavoring burns off, burley presents in all its glory: dry, late-season hay, molasses, parchment, and unsalted nuts. As mentioned in several older reviews, this one is best sipped slowly. A mindful cadence will bring out the natural sugars and that hint of molasses. Faster puffing dulls the blend, turning clean burley parchment into bland paper and drawing forth an unpleasant, salty bite.

There is ample nicotine in this blend, as may be expected of its style. But it's smooth and naturally sweet enough to be a perfect all-day smoke. Nut Brown reminds me of Classic Burkey Kake meets Burley London Blend, with the sweet flavoring of Classic toned down several (ok, "many") notches. It also reminds me a bit of Sir Walter Raleigh, absent the aniseed, though hand-blended with far better quality tobaccos. Must be the molasses.

The room note was described to me as very neutral, with the occasional hint of sweet. The burn is nice and slow, a bit hot, and the blend smokes very dry, as a good burley should. The only thing missing here is the light, dry, powdered cocoa flavors I've come to expect from a good, natural burley and which can be found in, for example, MacBaren's London blend. But certainly this is a great burley choice and make an excellent all-day smoke.

Overall a superior blend of this style, and it's no wonder why these reviews go back to many of the old hands of TR.com. A treat for those who enjoy a good, naturally aromatic burley without the goop and damp of so many of today's offerings.

Edit 01/16: Perhaps due to force of habit, I had been smoking this blend in a cob. That was a mistake. Smoke this one in a wide, shallow briar such as a prince or short pot to emphasize the base notes and tame the bite. Brings this one to 3 1/2 stars.

Edit 2020: Yet another blend lost to tobacco lore. What a shame.

I packed away one quarter pound in 2007 and left it to cellar. Not by plan, it was just the way things worked out when I boxed up some of my tobacco for a move. I decided to try some for the first time last night. I completely fell in love with it! Wonderful rum and nutty aroma in jar. Not an aromatic scent but a natural result. Deleciously creamy taste that lingered in my mouth a bit with each puff. Nice thick smoke. No need for multiple relights. Thoroughly enjoyed the steady flavor throughout the bowl, whereupon it only strengthened a bit for the better slightly as I went along. Nice clean ash. Some reviewers note excessive nicotine hit. Not for me. Was pleasant and straightforward. I was so pleased by it that I literally felt like not brushing my teeth before going to bed! I just wanted the great taste to stay! However, I did brush and then tried to find more to bolster my supply by going online to Pipeworks & Wilke's website. But, sadly, the blend is no longer available. Thankfully this wonderful website was able to lead me to another brand/blend that I hope provides same enjoyment. I went and ordered a pound of L.J. Peretti's Burley Plug Cut (BPC) without even sampling. The reviews sounded good and website for Peretti was excellent.

Burley, and probably Maryland, I hate to said this but me and this blend did not get along it bites like an ill tempered virginia this might be to body chemistry, I have not been able to coaxed a gentle smoked out of this one so I decided to move on unto better and more friendly blends,

Let's start by taking Carole's word for it that this is a straight Burley with no additives in it whatsoever. If this is an accurate statement, then Carole has really hit the sweet spot with this tobacco. But burleys are typically classed as having a "nutty flavor" and this tobacco satisfies that criterion to a T. To be sure, other reviewers have detected flavoring agents, and even the addition of some foreign (i.e., non-burley) leaf. Perhaps they are right, but my impression is burley with perhaps a touch of honey. The initial light brings a touch of sweetness to the front, and after a few minutes the honey-like taste begins to grow, while the nuttiness of the burley kicks in. These two tastes remain throughout most of the bowl, with nothing else added, as this is a relatively uncomplicated tobacco which relies entirely on maintaining the two tastes throughout the smoke, something it does very well. Toward the end, the taste becomes a bit stronger, and if you're not a dottle smoker, this would be a good time to quit. Smoking it to the end is a difficult task, as the dottle becomes thicker and heavier, too moist to keep going to the bottom without some effort. Please keep in mind that I've had this tobacco in my cellar for over a year, so there must be a humectant present to keep the tobacco this moist. Smoking through the dottle I found that the sweet, nutty taste had disappeared entirely, leaving behind a characteristic tobacco taste with no other distinguishing characteristics. At the end, I was left with a dark gray ash, with a few shreds of unburned tobacco. Overall, I found the tobacco remarkably pleasant, and I will keep this in my rotation. If you're a burley lover, my recommendation would be to enjoy this tobacco and it's remarkable taste, but once the taste begins to get a bit stronger, don't continue because the remarkable flavor of this tobacco will dissipate-- unless, of course, you're passionate about building cake all the way to the bottom.

This stuff is why we smoke pipes. NBB requires only a pipe and a light and one is off to bliss. It requires no special prep. It is suitable for all day or whenever you want/. It is a fine sweet smoke. It is more sweet than strong. But handle with care, it does have nicotine punch. I enjoy smoking this with wild abandon before bed. You will sink to a beautiful repose.

It has a sweet nutty taste and it burns slow. It really is the perfect smoke for old codgers who remember what burley used to be. 4 stars.

Now that Edgeworth Ready Rub is gone its been time to look for a substitute. Although nothing will be an exact match, I was pleased to learn that NBB was back - Carole had pulled it off the shelf until quality issues could be resolved. Well, issues must have been resolved because this is a nice smoke.

It is a pleasing presentation of a well broken cube cut - a crimp cut, if you will, with the addition of short ribbons of leaf. Most Burley blends have some Virginia, Maryland and Turkish leaf additions for the qualities each bring to White Burley. One can only guess what the short ribbons in this blend are. Compared to ERR, any maple casing is turned way down in this blend.

NBB has a wonderful Burley room note, and the taste, though turned down from ERR, has a subtle nutty sweetness. I especially like that NBB doesn't get bitter toward the bottom of the bowl, which speaks to the quality of leaf used here. It lights easily and stays lit. I found it cool burning and it did not bite my tongue. Although not an exact match of an old favorite, I highly recommend this to Burley smokers or those looking for an ERR substitute.

My old man gave me a jar of this as he wasn’t s huge fan.

I lit this up on my bowl and thought he was crazy. The first minute was sheer bliss and deliciousness. After about a minute, it has a very sour unenjoyable taste.