Maybe a bit too mild for the fans of tobacco’s like c/d burley flake series, but still in many of the important ways WBS has what IMO most burley lovers would be looking for. Nice nut-like burley flavors, mild, no harshness and bite free. Highly recommended to anybody that favors a good burley smoke.

These notes progressively tone down to be replaced by a straight tobacco taste and an increase in strength (read nicotine hit). Having had the opportunity to try Solani Aged Burley Flake, I must admit that I prefer Wessex's offering because the bitterness is way less frequent with the latter. it will only be slightly bitter towards the end of the bowl, as where ABF would be bitter everytime I relighted.

If you enjoy Burley, this is a must for you, gents.

No casing other than a sweetness that melds perfectly with the solid burley and which I found ravishing but not cloying. Smooth (and I mean smooooth), clean smoking experience with mouth-filling flavor and, as we frequently say, no hint of bite. I'm sensitive to high nicotine blends, so for manageable nic and for flavor I would have to give WBS the edge, albeit slight, over Edgeworth Ready Rubbed, which I also like and also have. I prefer to smoke WBS in my full bent grade 5 Hungarian shape. It's a great morning smoke with a mug of coffee.

Upon opening the tin, I was welcomed with an honest, clean, rich tobacco note that left me quite tempted to eat a slice! This lights relatively well, stays lit, and is very consistent in taste from top to bottom - something which I don't find in very many of the different blends I've tried. It has never bit my tongue or disappointed in any way, and tastes just about the same in each of my pipes, although my Cavicchi Lovat really makes it shine. It is a fairly strong tobacco, and even being a cigarette smoker to boot, I usually get a mild buzz off of a bowl full (which I like). It would be very easy for me to smoke this constantly all day long if my budget were not a deciding factor. My only wish would be to find it considerably cheaper, and perhaps in a bigger tin than in a 50 gram.

The tin aroma of Burley Slice is that of good Burley with what smells like a bit of molasses and perhaps some licorice added as a top note. The slices are similar in appearance to Edgeworth Sliced (but darker in appearance) and very fresh. They part folded part broke apart nicely as I like to prepare my slices for smoking in the form of broken flakes. For as fresh as it was, it took to the match readily and required little in the way of relights, gently tamping as I went. It smokes just as easily with the traditional fold and stuff flake method, so the choice is yours. The overall flavor for me was a stout, but sweet, Burley, nutty, spicy and delicious! A top notch, full tasting Burley. There was a hint of something soapy (very,very mild - I actually hate to use the word but can't find one to better describe it) which disappeared after the first several puffs and was not present with subsequent smokes (only experienced with the first of 4 tins out of 20 so far). By the way, that mild soapy taste was also present in the ORIGINAL ES produced by Larus. I have added molasses to some of my tobacco blends in the past and am familiar with its semi-sweet taste. I believe I taste a subtle presence of molasses (and licorice) here and this adds to the overall smoking enjoyment for me. The nicotine kick is evident and a tad less than with Edgeworth Sliced. It smoked cool and dry and maintained its character without producing any of the Burley bitterness characteristic of some Burleys. No typical end of the bowl Burley bitterness, and a relatively cool smoke unless you puff too quickly.

A very well produced flake that can serve as a suitable substitute for Edgeworth Sliced, tasting very similar; the only difference for me was in the nicotine strength as previously noted. Unlike ES, BS is only available in 50 gm tins. Since this flake burns slowly, 50g should go a long way.

For a Burley flake comparison, see my review of Solani's Aged Burley Flake, a comparable blend, reviewed one week after Burley Slice. As far as rankings go, I like them both equally. Overall, ABF has more of a sweetly-sour (in equal measure) presence that BS does not, BS being more sweet over sour. Variations on a theme of very good Burley leaf. Another favorite for me!

UPDATE 11-18-10: I just wanted to note that I have been fortunate to come by several 100 gm tins of Edgeworth Sliced over the past several months (that was produced by Orlik for Lane). Side by side, ES is a bit lighter in color and has a smidgen of a top-dressing not found in WBS. After many bowls of each, I do maintain that Wessex Burley Slice is the closest you can get to ES in taste. BS can be a bit harsh when fresh (and a bit medicinal/chemical tasting), so I usually open a tin and let it sit (closed) for several weeks before smoking, and this usually does the trick.

UPDATE 10-20-12: After nearly 30 tins each of Burley Slice and Solani's Aged Burley Flake I can say that the ABF is the better of the two. BS, when fresh, seems to have a slightly (emphasis on slight) medicinal/chemical taste and can be off-putting at times. I must emphasize thyat they are a different smoke for me flavor wise. That said, I reach for ABF more often, BS therefore comes in as a pleasant, but only a 3 star smoke.

The taste of this one is less sweet than ABF, although I wouldn't classify that one as particularly sweet, either. This one seemed more of a natural heavy bodied burley (I do need to smoke them back to back, and since I haven't, I'll dispense with the comparisons from here on) with a nice, leathery flavor. Very natural tasting. This would be a great blend for cigarette smokers looking to switch to pipes. Also good for those looking to upgrade from "drugstore" burleys.

Note: This one dried out quickly in the tin. I found it best to put the tin in a ziplock to keep it from becoming tinder. It worked best with a 15 minute drying period initially and once it dried a bit in the tin, I could fire it up immediately. This one is well worth trying for burley fans.

Side-by-side, in clay pipes, the ABF seems spicier, but the difference is slight. I'm thinking it would have been a better use of my time to load a either flake in a cob or fat briar. I like both flakes and rate them 4 stars.

On the other hand, I can't think of anything really positive to say about any of those things, either. Put another way, this is a competent blend, but in no way is it an inspired (or inspiring) one. The flavor is, to my palate, very dull and reminds me of watered down coffee. There were times when I detected almost no taste at all, even if this blend does have a small nicotine kick.

As much as I love burley, this one just didn't ring my bell, especially when blends like Solani's Aged Burley Flake are available.

The appearance is very nice. The flakes seemed in my mind as chocolate flakes. Actually, don´t tell anyone but I couldn´t resist biting one. (Don´t do it yourselves, please) I had to have a bitter moment just to discover it was not chocolate.

When the proof of fire came, the enchantment was gone. This is heaviness and monotony in flake form.

But I discovered that adding a pinch of Va or VaPer it improves greatly, or also it can be used to improve dull mixtures of that kind.

It has quality, that´s undeniable, but boring quality. I bought two tins: one I ended up as an ingredient to combine and the other, destined to be smoked alone, took me 2 years to finish.