Robert Lewis Wingfield Mixture

This one will fool you. I noted that one of our esteemed reviewers thought he tasted Latakia. Well, I did not and that's because there is not any in this blend. But, it does have the "Presbyterian Mixture" English taste. I suspicion some stoving and melding with some strong Virginia leaf creates the illusion of Latakia.

I loved the shag cut which made packing easy. This blend is at an almost perfect moisture content and smokes evenly all the way down the bowl. I was a little less than thrilled with the wallop - (kind of limp wristed) - but it otherwise provides a nice smoke. It reminds me of a low maintenance woman I once dated. She was not very demanding and didn't require much attention. And like this tobacco, our relationship didn't last last very long.

The Virginias offer a mild tart citrus, light tangy darker fruit, some grass/hay, a little wood, earth, toast and bread along with small floral and spice aspects. They are the lead components. The smoky, woody, earthy, leathery Cyprian Latakia is less than a condiment. There’s a smidgeon of unsweetened black cavendish that adds a very light sugar and toastiness. The strength and nic-hit are a couple of steps past the mild mark, while the taste is in the center of mild to medium. Won’t bite, but may likely tingle the tongue of a fast puffer as it burns a little warm. You also risk a possible cigarette note as well. This thin cut ribbon blend burns clean and a little fast with a very consistent flavor from top to bottom. Leaves almost no moisture in the bowl, and hardly requires a relight. The pleasant after taste and room notes are short lived. An all day smoke.

-JimInks

Robert Lewis - Wingfield Mixture.

I am surprised at how enjoyable I find this as normally my predilection lies with Latakia's and Perique's. The aroma from the mixture (which is as others state more rubbed than a ribbon) is reminiscent of the summer time for me. I get a great grass smell from the Virginia but also there resides a much fainter lemon type note in the background.

It's at a great amount of moisture so I can fill and light without it necessitating any airing time. The flavour from Wingfield is again, like the aroma summer like. I get a brilliant Virginia Hay/Grass tone but like I found in the aroma I also get a subtle lemon addition. The smoke only becomes warmer if I really pull hard on it, there is no bite it just becomes warmer. If inhaled then the smoke gives a decent kick of "N", it's not ridiculous in strength however it is definitely a blend for those who like their blends to contain a little bit of the good stuff! I find the room note to be a lighter one, it's not un-noticeable but it just lacks substance so on the plus side it won't offend many other people! When my pipe is finished the only remains are a small amount of dottle, and I mean small! In fact throughout the smoking the burn has been very tenacious and only required a minimum amount of re-lights.

As I expressed at the beginning of this I am surprised at how enjoyable I find this as I'm not really a Virginia man but I suppose that this is an exception! Four stars.

This stuff is terrific. I enjoy it as much as any tobacco I've smoked in the last 50 years. Not for the novice but just great for the experienced smoker who likes a shag cut with full flavor.

This is probably my favourite matured Virginia blend because unlike Brown Clunee from Rattray's or Astley's 44 or Orlik's Racing Green I didn't get that fermented smell from the tin, just a vague but pleasant nuttiness. In the bowl this blend is very subtle and complex and ready to smoke out of the tin. A sipping tobacco, if you like Virginias I would give this a try.

Mostly chestnut brown thin ribbons - almost a shag. Tightly focused tin aroma of Virginia tobacco and tea leaves. Loads easily and smokes to the bottom of the bowl without many relights.

Interesting one in that it combined a light citrus flavor with a deeper dark Virginia push and some spiciness as well. There's the usual grass and hay but with some backbone. Unfortunately not enough to relegate this one much beyond ordinary. It's an easy one to like, much tougher to love, at least for me. It does taste willfully unfritzed with, as in no added flavorings or chemicals, just a nice, even keeled, well behaved straight Virginia. And therein lies the problem for me. A little naughtiness would do this no harm. There just isn't enough darkness among the usual grass and hay, and this would make someone a nice summertime blend for outdoors. Nothing too engaging or compelling, but a nice easy smoke. For my last two bowls from the tin, I added some straight burley and it elevated this to at least puckish. 🙂 It was an improvement. If you like something like Dunhill Flake and want to tone down the fruitiness and the overall flavor, this would be about 3 levels down. Good but nothing to leave home for.

If I may ?borrow? Stuart Smalley (Al Franken?s character) for a moment and his thoughts about Wingfield: It?s good enough. It packs well enough. It burns well enough and, doggone it, I like it! Actually, the moisture content is ?just right? and the shag cut of this tobacco is ideal as it packs well and has superior burning qualities with few or no relights. The sweet, always mellow, mild and sometimes subtle fruity taste is very much to my liking. I cannot find any shortcomings with this blend although others may find it lacking in the strength department nor did I find that it ever burned hot as others have experienced. This is now among my personal favorites so let me be the first to give this fine VA blend 4 stars. My advice: Just ?Wing? it and give it a try!

A cigarette is to be smoked. A cigar is to be enjoyed. A pipe is to be savored.

I rate this tobacco 9.95 out of 10.

This is a nice mild mixture, predominantly Virginias with a little unflavoured brown Cavendish and just a tiny pinch of Latakia.

The tin aroma is of sweet fresh baked white rolls, dried fruit and some candied peel. The tobacco is a mixture of predominantly pale brown leaf in ribbon and rubbed flake, with a smattering of black ribbons which I take to be the Latakia.

On the light it tastes like a toasted teacake, buttered - it has a very bready character throughout. It's fairly mild, has a very light smokiness, with a slight creamy sweetness at times. It lights with ease and doesn't need many relights or indeed much attention at all, but I have to say it smokes surprisingly quickly given the flake content. It's at home in a large pipe for a long satisfying smoke - nicotine content seems low, and the mild flavour doesn't get dull but rather builds with prolonged smoking. I've been smoking it in the winter but I think this is a mixture better suited to the summer months.

This is an amazing tobacco . We are greeted by a real tobacco man's experience , earthy tin note that makes your pallet keen for the smoke . While a little moist it is ready to smoke without a drying process . Mainly , it is very fresh .This is a complex tobacco that changes through out the smoke . it hits subtle Virginia notes with slow smoking and also delivers quite a punch . The nick note is on the high side . The cut allows one to smoke to the bottom of the bowl . Wingfield is an after dinner treat , a strong tobacco to be sipped in the evening . This is pure Virginia with no topping that I can notice , but very well matured tobacco . K & K surly makes the best reissues and their entire Lewis line is no exception . It is similar to their Ocalla but without the orientals You may also compare this to Mc Connel's Scotish flake in that all three of these are after dinner tobaccos , ideal for a summer evening on your deck or patio . Wingfield is not a Grand Marnier tobacco like K & K folded flakes but rather a double shot of Wild Turkey .

Having had a tin of RL's excellent Tree Mixture, I thought I would give this one a go and had high hopes. Sadly, it didn't turn out quite as I had hoped.

The tin aroma is barely perceptible, possible hints of hay perhaps but nothing definite. Packing and lighting are very easy, Sadly, for the first four or five smokes, it was completely lacking in flavour, not impressed. A whiff of something cigarette like and a quick burn didn't help. I decided to transfer it to a jar and left it a day or two and, after coming back to it, it did start to develop some flavour, hints of latakia as some previous reviewers have mentioned and a little hay. As I have made my way down the jar, hints of hay and something creamy and slightly VaPish have popped up too. They're quite pleasant when they occur but all to often that blandness pops up. And no matter how carefully I smoke it seems to burn very fast, even when compared to other ribbons.

On the whole then, there is potentially good tobacco here, some of the flavours here are good when they appear but aren't consistent enough and the stuff is largely too bland to warrant much praise. Comparisons to Presbyterian Mixture aren't completely unwarranted but it's nowhere near identical. I have a feeling this stuff probably needs to be stuck in a jar and left for a couple of months and, when funds allow, maybe I will do that. Until then, two stars and an "ambitious but rubbish" stamp on the paperwork will have to do.