John Aylesbury - English Mixture pipe tobacco reviews

Review

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Reviewed By:	Date:	Strength:	Flavoring:	Taste:	Room Note:	Recommendation:
Showing reviews 1 through 2 of 2 reviews of this tobacco
Tantric	08/10/2003	Mild	None detected	Mild to Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable
A mild, savory tobacco, mostly natural tasting, with some piquancy and a vague sour sweetness that, in my opinion, provides a surprisingly friendly room aroma. Is such thing possible in an English blend? Yes, provided it does not carry any Latakia or Oriental leaf. This is the case with John Aylesbury's English Mixture. Not at all heavy tasting, the ingredients used in this blend are of excellent quality: bright Virginias, Burley and a touch of toasted (not steamed or saucy), unsweetened Black Cavendish, barely apparent in the mixture as a whole. The fact that there are no Orientals or Latakia in this blend is no betrayal to its English nature, for it is basically a non aromatic mixture, i.e., there is no casing or topping. When I first opened the tin, I was intrigued because I got no sign of Latakia or Turkish components. The tobacco is on the dry side, but it has a remarkable burning rate with no harshness at all. Bright to mid brown in color, with very few strands of blackish leaf thrown in, I proceeded to load the bowl and light up. Mmmm. Tasty, palatable, but with none of the traditional density and earthy flavors commonly associated with even the lightest of English blends (say, Early Morning Pipe). Instead, I tasted the crisp, woodsy tanginess of straight Virginias in perfect harmony with the nutty and almost acerbic flavor of natural Burley. As a I progressed further on, I perceived a faint, discreetly elegant, floral sweetness from the Cavendished leaf which, without being bothersome to the palate, enlivened the blend, highlighting the basic flavors of the other two components whilst issuing a very pleasant room aroma. The taste was rich, yet mild, and though it did have some effect on the palate, it never reached the tongue biting point. The green label round the 100 g. tin, printed in German, reads: "Eine milde Mischung mit den Hauptkomponenten Bright Virginia, Black Cavendish und Burley". Since I had previously tried the Scottish Blend from the same house (that one does have Latakia as well as Cavendish and Virginia) but which I did not really find to my liking, I was quite surprised with this English proposition. In fact, this is very similar?but I think better tasting?to Macbaren's Mixture Scottish Blend. It has virtually the same components, but Aylesbury somehow avoids that harsh, bitter-sour aftertaste that haunts Macbaren's. A nice, simple and friendly natural taste that can confidently be smoked in public without attracting negative attention from uncivilized non smokers. If you like a natural smoke and want a change of pace from straight Virginias, this is a very good option.
Reviewed By:	Date:	Strength:	Flavoring:	Taste:	Room Note:	Recommendation:
Sykes Wilford	01/18/2002	Mild to Medium	None detected	Mild to Medium	Tolerable
Being a tobacconist, I happen upon various tinned tobaccos that I never had any real intention of trying. This is one of those tobaccos. I was filling an order and managed to drop one of the tins from the top shelf onto the hard floor and it opened spilling part of its contents. Needless to say, I couldn't ship that tin, so it became my personal 'test' tin (it's a hard life...how many industries give you the opportunity to smoke 100g of your own screwup?). It's an attractive blend with various mottled browns from the Virginias and, I believe, a little oriental component. The dark blacks also plainly visible are constituted in what seem to be even, but fairly small, proportions of latakia and unsweetened black cavendish. The tin aroma is pleasant, but nothing spectacular-- pretty much what I would have expected from a medium english, the category into which I can wholeheartedly put this blend. My test pipe is a Lane-era Charatan relief, though I've smoked the blend in various pipes over the past six weeks. The flavor is pleasant, but unexceptional. It is a remarkably dry and clean smoke, which is very much to its credit, but I find it doesn't truly excite me. Granted, I'm rarely overly excited by an English blend, though a few more notable ones have turned my head. That said, the flavor is still well modulated and the smoke well balanced. The blend is, on the whole, pleasing to the palate. To my delight the Latakia does not overwhelmingly dominate the blend nor is the cavendish overly sweet. As stated, the blend pleases me though it doesn't excite me. However, given the remarkably good per tin price (100g for about $8), it is most definitely worth a try.
Showing reviews 1 through 2 of 2 reviews of this tobacco