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Review

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Reviewed By:	Date:	Strength:	Flavoring:	Taste:	Room Note:	Recommendation:
< PREVIOUS Showing reviews 41 through 50 of 50 reviews of this tobacco
The Piper at the Gates of Dawn	07/13/2009	Very Mild	Medium	Mild	Very Pleasant
First off let me state that I am neither a burley nor an aromatic smoker. As with many of us I did go through that phasen early on in the 70's and finally settled on Virginia-Perique. English and Balkan mixures. Somewhat smug about my stance I contined for many years satisfied that I had the "true word" on tobacco blends and was somewhat condescending toward any other points of view or opinions. I am sure most of you know what I mean. Humility comes at a price it is said and I find this to be true. Russ' burley blend is a delightful change of pace and I admit this freely. Nice taste,good burn qualities,easy packing and very little aftertaste--none of the goopy slug either. My cheif room note evaluator - my darling wife - also likes the smell of this "old-timey" tobacco. What more could be asked for? Though I am still not an avid burley or aromatics fan I will nevertheless highly reccomend this blend while deferring to those true burley smokers who have more experience than I do.They seem to agree for the most part with my evaluation though. Very nice job Russ. A somewhat timid tryo at burley blends. The Piper at the Gates of Dawn
Reviewed By:	Date:	Strength:	Flavoring:	Taste:	Room Note:	Recommendation:
Big Kev	06/12/2009	Medium	Mild to Medium	Medium	Very Pleasant
This is a great simple burly/light aromatic. This comes as a sliced kake and looks and smells delicious. It is a burly/va blend topped with cocoa, rum, and anise which all work well together. Don't let the aromatic description turn you off to this. It has none of the usual characteristics of most aros. It is a cool and dry burning tobacco with great taste and room note. The more I smoked this blend the more I had to have. The flavor really picks up about 1/4 of the way into the bowl. Flavors range from nutty to pleasantly sweet with the occasional hint of the cocoa. It is pretty straight forward so don't go into this looking for something complex. A great smoke that I would recommend to all pipe smokers. Beginners take special note. This is a very easy burning, trouble free smoke that tastes great.
Reviewed By:	Date:	Strength:	Flavoring:	Taste:	Room Note:	Recommendation:
BigSwede	06/07/2009	Mild	Mild to Medium	Mild to Medium	Pleasant
This is a very nice burley blend. The cake is fun to break up and pack into the pipe, I've found it's best to avoid overpacking. The first few puffs produce a somewhat weird mixture of tastes but it quickly settles down into an almost sweet, cocoa like flavor that has hints (at most) of anise. Slower burning, very cool and dry. Definitely aromatic but in a quieter kind of way. I think this will be a good hot weather, summer smoke. This is not your usual sweet/goopy aromatic smoke but something more muted and refreshing. Every burley smoker should try this once, the burley in this is wonderful.
Reviewed By:	Date:	Strength:	Flavoring:	Taste:	Room Note:	Recommendation:
thedstnguishdgntlmn	05/14/2009	Medium	Medium to Strong	Medium to Full	Very Pleasant
This is 1 of the best Aromatics I have ever smoked. Please do not confuse this with Uhle's or Peretti's Burley mixtures. NOT even close!This is a full aromatic and should be thoroughly enjoyed as such. There is a wonderful flavor of sweet chocolate backed up by Anise. This is absolutely delicious without being cloying or goopy. If you like P&W Bohemian , you will like this. My only reservation is it starts out a little hot before calming down. After 10 minutes though it is all smooth sailing. 3.5 of 4 aromatic stars.
Reviewed By:	Date:	Strength:	Flavoring:	Taste:	Room Note:	Recommendation:
DK	05/14/2009	Mild	Mild to Medium	Mild to Medium	Pleasant
My problems with aromatics (and I would consider this an aromatic) is that they tend to be too gooey in the pipe, too mild in taste and too overdone on the aroma. This one is guilty of none of those things. The only thing this one does that I don't appreciate is it has a short burst of foul taste on first lighting. It's a soapy flavor that is very disagreeable, but it goes away within a few seconds. Once I'm past that initial soap taste, I'm treated to a wonderfully clever combo of tastes that somehow meld into a harmonious whole. Rum, anise and chocolate sounds like a recipe for disaster but this is a lightly flavored and lightly scented blend that allows the true taste of high quality burleys to come through with that speck of virginia sweetness. I needed to find a good aromatic for when people are around but something that I don't smoke just because I'm trying to please others. It's gotta be personally satisfying; otherwise why bother? This is the finest aromatic I've ever smoked. I gotta try some more of this guy's blends - if his other stuff is this high quality, I may be missing out!
Reviewed By:	Date:	Strength:	Flavoring:	Taste:	Room Note:	Recommendation:
Country Piper	05/01/2009	Mild	Mild	Mild to Medium	Very Pleasant
I smoke burleys on occasion and decided to try this one based on the reviews posted on this site. When reviewing pipe tobaccos, one needs to smoke many bowls in a pipe dedicated to the blend that you are going to comment on. Only is this way can you fairly judge a tobacco. After several bowls of this I have come to really enjoy this blend. The additives are mild and the tobacco smokes very cool right down to the last. I would rank this right up there with Wilkes NBB and Stonehaven. It is easy to prepare for the pipe and lights very well. It really does have that old time burley taste. I would recommend this to anyone who enjoys a very nice smoke.
Reviewed By:	Date:	Strength:	Flavoring:	Taste:	Room Note:	Recommendation:
Pipe4ever	03/18/2009	Mild to Medium	Medium	Mild	Pleasant
Grassy, immature and tasteless with unbalanced casing, I was completely disappointed with this experimental house blend, the 8oz I have is gone inside the jar for years, there is so many good burleys out there to try before this one.
Reviewed By:	Date:	Strength:	Flavoring:	Taste:	Room Note:	Recommendation:
doc'spipe	03/07/2009	Mild to Medium	Mild to Medium	Mild to Medium	Pleasant
A very interesting burley with a different trio of flavorings. Considering this trio, there is very little in the way of moisture or goopy dottle at the end of the smoke. I was able to taste two of the flavorings in this blend, and fortunately it was not sickeningly sweet. The anise was predominant upon lighting and then the chocolate kicked in. These two danced with one another throughout the smoke. Depending on the individual kake I prepared for smoking, at times the anise was the dominant flavor, and other times, it was the chocolate. I would have preferred the chocolate to be the more forward of the two each and every time. Sometimes with the anise, it is way too harsh when forward in this blend. I couldn't honestly taste the rum, but it burned like most other rum blends - hot. I'm not talking bite, just a very hot smoke which detracted from the overall enjoyment for me. Even with slow puffing, my mouth (especially the hard palate) was always aware of the heat, but not in a scorching way. This was, for me, a major drawback. Even slow smoking did not eliminate this. As far as a solid Burley taste, I found it lacking. My favorite Burleys are Solani's Aged Burley Flake, Wessex Burley Slice, the long gone Edgeworth Sliced, and Mac Baren's Burley London Blend, so now you know where I'm coming from taste and strength wise. Packing (the Kit Kat-sized cakes crumble very easily) and lighting are relatively easy and the blend stays lit for the most part. Due to the trio of added flavorings, what tobacco taste there is remains way too far in the background. The overall Burley flavor that I was looking forward to was greatly masked and a bit harsh to boot. It didn't remind me at all of Edgeworth Sliced, and only similar to Edgeworth Ready Rubbed topping wise (rum and chocolate); although ERR (the original, not Lane's) was a cube cut, slower burning, less heat, and sweeter tasting. The taste of CBK can be a little cigarette ashy at times. This is very noticeable if you return to the bowl after letting it go out a spell. The room note, at first, is pleasant while it is being smoked. However, the room note, after a few minutes, can become cigarette-like. It is very ash-smelling, reminiscent of wet ashes, occasionally translating into the taste. I waffle back and forth with this one. It has stuff going for it that I classify as 3 star, but with the heat factor and that awful cigarette presence, makes it at best no more than a 2 star blend. I have tried to smoke this one by taking one of the brownie-like cakes and put it into a pipe with a bowl to accommodate its length and breadth. It smokes a tad cooler but there are times when you are greeted with a burst of anise which is way too much for me. You still need to keep from puffing too fast to keep that heat factor turned down! I'll give it a recommended - just for its nice chocolate presence, although I wish it were more pronounced. Overall, 2.5 stars.
Reviewed By:	Date:	Strength:	Flavoring:	Taste:	Room Note:	Recommendation:
ChicagoPipe	03/05/2009	Mild to Medium	Medium	Medium	Very Pleasant
Russ has created another fine tobacco in Classic Burley Kake. The aroma of this tobacco is mouth watering and the thick flakes crumble easily. This is an excellent burley/VA tobacco that has an excellent nutty flavor, smokes cool, and has not bite. I would call this tobacco an aromatic, but the flaovrs stay in the background and don't interfere with the taste of the tobacco. I guess becasue the flavors are steamed into the tobacco. If you like burley and burley flakes, this will be a real treat. Stonehaven was my favortie burley flake until smoking Classic Kake.
Reviewed By:	Date:	Strength:	Flavoring:	Taste:	Room Note:	Recommendation:
WmZiggy	02/28/2009	Mild to Medium	Medium	Medium	Very Pleasant
Oh yes!! This is what a Burley Blend should be. The flake or "kake" cut on this is 3.5 inches long, 1 inch deep, and 3/8 inch thick. The flakes are a deep coca brown with a wonderful aroma. One especially notices the cocoa, rum and anise top note upon opening. The flakes are not overly moist, although I have found that some drying turns up the flavors. This flake "krumbles" easily for filling the bowl, but can be left in large chunks if desired. Burley Kake has a nice room note, and the flavor is very consistent from top to bottom. Some may find this boring, but I enjoy its uniform flavors which I find mild and subtle. This flake does not bite or burn hot. There is a basic Burley taste - not very sweet - with hints of cocoa and rum. It does not get bitter at the bottom of the bowl (which speaks to the high quality Burley leaf used) and stays lit easily. Although Burley is not noted for improving with age, I plan on lay more of this away.
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