Esoterica Tobacciana - Tilbury pipe tobacco reviews

Review

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Reviewed By:	Date:	Strength:	Flavoring:	Taste:	Room Note:	Recommendation:
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DK	12/09/2009	Mild to Medium	None detected	Mild to Medium	Very Pleasant
Beautiful, mostly chocolate brown ribbon cut of predominantly virginias. A couple of noteworthy observations - first, as Bierstadt mentioned, I get a very distinct flavor of something like buttered and sugared toast. This comes directly from the tobacco rather than a casing of any kind. Second, this has absolutely the best room note of any natural tobacco I've ever smoked. If you want a nice DGT, instead of relighting it, just leave the room for a few seconds and re-enter. Honestly, I did that several times during each bowl. I have no idea why or how it smells so wonderful in the room but it is absolute heaven on earth! The essential constituent tobaccos may be the same but I find this as close to Stonehaven in flavor as peanut butter is to a steak. Where Stonehaven was robust with burly burleys and a touch of virginia, Tilbury is a light, sweet gentle blend with the virginia on top and the burley well underneath. The burley is definitely in a supporting role here. It only comes out with any force during the last 1/3 bowl. This is a very good tobacco. It's a little mild for my tastes but it's definitely something any virginia lover should try.
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Alguhan	08/11/2009	Medium	None detected	Medium to Full	Tolerable
A very natural, pure, true tobacco taste. It needs to be dried for a full pleasant smoke and for an easier burn. I used Pipestud's method to chop it a bit and it worked great. Packed and lit easy. The flavor does not offer surprizes, it smokes in just one way and it is the great natural virginia taste and sweetness in which the burley's gentle sourness is added. In this way it has a pleasant smoke in which the strength increases gradually. The bowl finishes without the strength begins to overwhelm. Suitable for me for daily, any hour consumption. It can really cause a dizziness! I am sorry that I didn't smoke it till now. I'll try to have more tins in my stock ready for any moment.
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Coskun	08/03/2009	Mild to Medium	None detected	Mild	Pleasant
This is great, non aromatic blend for virgina burley mix...The tin is ok...It needs to be dry for me...Then start to packing its very easy and pleasure...No toung bite... Nicotine level is not high... When i start to smoke, virginia taste is very strong...I like it...I smoke half bowl like that...Than suddenly virginia goes and sweet burley comes...What a taste, its one word...GREAT...You want to smoke all day... Its 3,5 to 4 PS : Thanx to pipestud... PS2 : Dont smoke with Itallian Pipes :)
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Bierstadt	06/19/2009	Strong	None detected	Very Full	Pleasant
Wow! Where did this baccy come from? In a flash it goes from untried, ignored, and un-noticed to comfortably residing in my top 10. This is an elegant tobacco that lives up to every one of the 4 stars that I give it. In the tin, Tilbury is a bit moist for me so I dried it for about 5 minutes. It dried very fast which is an indication that there is no PG in this blend. The cut is a bit stringy but loading my pipe was no problem using the "antigravitational" method (look on youtube for this excellent method). At the match, your senses are inundated with pure fermented tobacco goodness. Tilbury is also no one hit wonder. The flavors move around a bit making for a very entertaining smoke. As with most Va. dominated blends, the flavors concentrate as you smoke down the bowl. The last third of the bowl is pure nirvana. While Tilbury is not topped, I get the flavor sensations of buttered toast sprinkled with sugar and a bit of salt, maple syrup, tres leches, and hints of warm spices. On top of all of this is a creamy smoothness that is just wonderful. There is little to no tang in this blend, but frankly, it does not need it. This baccy is all about a creamy sweet and soft mouth feel. Sublime Bite? None at all. Nicotine?...the nicotine is robust. No doubt about it. A medium to small bowl size is recommended. It is a bit stronger in nicotine than FVF but not quite as strong as 1792. Just smoke it in a smaller pipe or only fill your pipe up half way and you will be fine. As with most things in life, DOSAGE is everything. Bottom line: This is a wonderful tobacco that is not to be missed by any pipe smoker. Nobody does Va./burley mixes better than Esoterica (J.F. Germain), and Tibury is an excellent example of this genre done to perfection. Bravo! Tobaccoreviews rating: 4 stars Personal rating: 9.0 out of 10
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hillbillypalate	06/16/2009	Medium	None detected	Medium	Pleasant
I certainly agree with some of the writers here. Why did I wait so long to smoke this weed. Mine was in an 8oz baggy. I was surprise some people say that theirs needed to be dried out. Mine was perfect. This to me is a very nice Robust Flavor. No bite but although you need to puff this slowly not beacuse of the bite but you will get some kind of a nicotine rush. No flavor detected just all tobacco. Reminds me of what an Old School Tobacco is. I have smoked stonehaven which is also great but Prefer Tillbury.
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Budman	05/23/2009	Medium	None detected	Mild to Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable
This is another one of those blends where you ask yourself "why did I wait so long to try it"? Tilbury is a clean,easy smoking truly refined blend. The tin has that grassy hay type smell so typical of good Virginia blends. The cut was more ribbon than broken flake which,IMO makes for less hassle in loading and lighting. Although somewhat moist Tilbury can be smoked with little drying. It is very difficult to get this to hot and provoke any type of bite, which tells me some type of stoving may have been used to remove any rough edges. I cannot detect any topping or casings just the gentle sweetness of the blended Virginias. Tilbury burns well and leaves a gray white ash. If you are looking for a great Virginia this is it. Highly recommended!
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calboy8686	04/04/2009	Medium	None detected	Medium	Pleasant
Virginia lovers you NEED TO TRY THIS!! Sweet yet refreshing at the same time. I would almost say it's like having a glass of cool lemonade on a hot day. This is a very smooth blend that hints at a nutty taste from the burley, and the sweet playful taste of the Virginias. An excellent combination!! If you like a little bit more "sour" taste then you MUST try Special Latakia Flake by JG Germain. It's the counterpart to this blend.
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Pipe4ever	04/03/2009	Strong	None detected	Medium	Tolerable
The basic tobacco flavor of this blend is somehow similar to stoneheaven but without the chocolate casing and with more natural taste and less body, this is simply a pure, high quality Virginia, fermented and processed in the Esoterica sort of way, with very natural flavor and with strong nicotine. This one worth a try for those who loves natural Virginia without any casing, and it may be a winner; depending on how do you prefer your Virginia. There is so many excellent Virginias to try, Tilbury is one of them.
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ozarkhillbilly	03/23/2009	Medium	None detected	Medium to Full	Pleasant
I bought an 8oz bag of this at the local B & M. A friend of mine works there and he said the bag is from 2003, so it had some age on it. When I opened the bag I noticed the smell of Figs/Chocolate, inhabited this fine ribbon cut smoke. This blend smokes fantastic for me, maybe a little fast for some, but it burns to a fine white ash with few relights. The flavor which is high quality VA, is apparent throughout with a few undertones of burley. Never been bitten by this yet. This blend is easily inhailed if you choose to do so. From my experience this is a top notch blend that has earned its keep in my rotation. Note: My review was based on an 8oz bag with 5 years of age on it.
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Harpua0077	02/24/2009	Strong	Medium to Strong	Full	Pleasant
Tilbury, well I liked this blend. Again it smelled like a fine wine perhaps a Merlot out of the tin. The taste was very strong, it also seemed high in nicoten even though I am also a cigarette smoker this could easily replace a cig. Again it seems to be a slow smoker it gets really juicy when smoked fast. It is really nice in the winter time. I never smoked this one outside. However I did have to fight with my wife to smoke this. Not because of the room note but because she liked it herself. I got maybe three bowls out of the entire tin, she smoked the rest down in like three days. She only gave it an 8 of 10 stars. My personal Notes have it at a 8.9 I guess because I didn't get to smoke much of it and that I liked Pembroke better.
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thedstnguishdgntlmn	02/17/2009	Strong	Extremely Mild	Medium to Full	Pleasant to Tolerable
I think Im would have liked this more if it were not so potent. A very good natural tobacco taste but a NICOTINE WALLOP! Too much for me. I can not pan this though. If you can take 1792 flake you will be good with this.
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cut-shot	01/07/2009	Strong	None detected	Medium to Full	Pleasant
I popped open an older tin of Tilbury before Butera's name was on the label. The tin aroma was a wonderful pungeant straight tobacco smell and age had done a wonderful job on this tobacco. Almost a greasy look to the fine cut ribbon. It packs easily and burns very nice. Might need just a little drying out before packing. The flavor is a rich, creamy pure tobacco flavor. It is a very nice change of pace Virginia tobacco. I will put some away for the future.
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PfeifenRaucher	11/26/2008	Strong	Extremely Mild	Medium to Full	Tolerable
Recently purchased some of this in bulk and have been enjoying it over the past few weeks. It burns nicely and VERY cool - no tongue bite with this one. If you like VA's this is nice stuff, but be aware that its flavor does have that distinct chocolate/nutty flavor of burley in it. In fact, I would almost say that this blend tastes more like a burley with VA than the other way around. Paired with a coffee/espresso drink this blend could keep you up all night since it is a pretty strong blend in terms of nicotine - I can only finish half the bowl in one session (but I am a lightweight in this dept). I have never gotten dizzy though - I think that's just a marketing ploy on the part of Esoterica! Too strong to be a regular thing for me but a good alternative to a fine (and usually expensive) cigar if you want that level of flavor/nicotine strength.
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Matty	11/14/2008	Medium to Strong	None detected	Full	Tolerable
This is vaguely translatable undiluted va/burley which smells naturally sweet and at first light taste sweet, however there is a secondary development which is cosmic and leaves me feeling satisfied.
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bighitter	04/09/2008	Very Strong	None detected	Full	Tolerable
Tilbury is a great blend, just wouldn't smoke a whole bowl too fast if you know what I mean. No, it depends what kind of mood you're in, and I've never gotten dizzy on Tilbury, even when I basically sucked it down. And that's easy to do, because of the almost shag cut of this product. Pull too hard, and you're down at the bottom of the bowl holding a dust bunny in a cotton patch that spins too fast. The burley must be a strong one I'm guessing because there seems to be equal presence between those and the virginias. Like others, the first time I smoked this something didn't compute. Started to make sense though after a while. I haven't tried Stonehaven and I will definitely not buy from the supplier I bought this from as he was such a jerk. Just because I caught him around opening time, 11 a.m. (get yr coffee already, jackwagon). But anyway... shouldn't mention names I guess...
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tabaco	02/09/2008	Strong	None detected	Medium to Full	Pleasant
Well I must confess that for the most part I am not a huge fan of Virginia's. I am however, a Latakia devotee. I found this tobacco to be surprisingly full. I think the burley helps round it out, and it did have some nice citrus and floral notes in the taste. I packs very well and burns effortlessly. It does have a fair nicotine kick, but not like a mule more akin to a goat. I could see myself firing this one up as a change of pace from my usual Latakia regimen. Overall it was consistent from the first match until the finish. Very well blended and another first-rate winner from Esoterica. Peaceable puffing.
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Nojoqui	12/27/2007	Medium	None detected	Medium	Pleasant
I have to agree with SApipe that this is a ribbon cut. But, who believes what it says on a tobacco label, anyway? Tilbury has become one of my two all day Virginia blends, the other being Stratford. This is one of those "smoke one bowl, why not another one?" tobaccos. I don't find that too often in Virgina blends. The Burley may be there in "small portions", but it does it's job to enhance the fine choices of the Virginias I see when opening the can. William Serad stated in his "Trial by Fire" compilation that Tilbury smelled "musty and foul smelling". Well, I enjoy the smell, and I don't get that impression. Smells a little cigar-like to me which I find appealing, even if I'm not a cigar smoker. Due to it's ribbon cut, it packs wonderfully. The top light is delightful filling my mouth with a coffee like taste. This continues along pleasantly from top to bottom. However, mid-bowl I find a slight chocolate presence making an appearance. It doesn't seem to have any chocolate topping, so it's the sort of nuance that just reminds me of chocolate. I've never smoked a chocolate topped tobacco, thank goodness. I'm no fan of Aromatics. You hear what I am trying to say when people describe wine without the presence of a particular substance in it. Well, I get this until I get toward the bottom, then it's real tobacco. Real Virginia. Real taste. BUT, no heat! Amazing! This is the coolest Virginia blend I have ever smoked, and yet still holds it's sweetness until the last puff. Recently, I was in a real hurry while trying to enjoy a bowl of Tilbury in a thin walled Canadian. I knew I was in for trouble. It never came no matter how hard I smoked that pipe. This pipe can be a furnace with other aged Virginias I have smoked. Not Tilbury. Finally, if "This is a potent tobac, causes dizziness!", I have never felt that from Tilbury. Highly delightful, and most highly recommended!
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SApipe	10/06/2007	Medium	None detected	Medium	Pleasant
The tin states this is a broad-cut tobacco, but I would classify it as ribbon cut. It is high quality tobacco, with mixture of primarily light colored virginias.....a few dark flakes mixed in. The tin aroma is very mild, pure tobacco leaf aroma. It packs very easily and only takes one false light to get it going. Absolutely no artifical flavor here; just pure tobacco. Surprisingly, the main flavor I get throughout the smoke is the burley....waxing/waning during the entire bowl. To be mostly virginia, it sure brings out the burley flavor! I smoked Wessex burley slice and it had less burley flavor than Tilbury. The nicotine really kicks in during the bottom 1/3 of the bowl, so it satisfies on that level also. Room note is pleasing as well. All in all, this is an excellent tobacco; I would give it a strong 3-stars.
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Captain Pete	05/11/2007	Medium	None detected	Medium	Tolerable
Experience has shown me it is not wise to judge a tobacco until I have smoked it for about a month (unless it's just downright awful from the gitgo). Tilbury is one of those tobaccos that initially failed to impress me. It wasn't bad; it was just alright. However, I had just been coming off of a couple months of DSK and MacB Navy Flake, and so had to re-attune myself to the more subtle complexities of a more natural tasting tobacco such as Tilbury. Anytime a tobacco's description includes the word 'piquant', I have to give it a try; mainly because I am a boob who does not know what the word means, and really want to find out what it is. And if it causes dizziness, then I definitely want to give it a go. Well, suffice to say, I didn't get dizzy. And I still do not know what that piquant flavor is (piquant pie?). But this is really good stuff. It is, as others have already said, a very fine cut for pipe tobacco. And in the tin, it is very moist, and will remain so for quite a long while (unlike some of the Dunhill blends that dry out within a week). I really wasn't quite sure how to load this stuff into my pipe at first. Finally, I decided on the "grab a bunch, roll it up, and stuff it into the pipe until no more will go in" method. This seems to work, as I have had good luck with the pipe staying lit and smoking cool all the way to the bottom; at least in a small to medium size bowl. Now, this tobacco does what I like my tobacco to do. It burns evenly, and it pretty much tastes the same at the bottom of the bowl as it does at the top; no big surprises halfway through. And the flavor is nice and tobaccoey sweet; not the pungent aritificial sweetness of an aromatic. For those who like the natural sweetness of a McClelland mature virginia, but not the vinegar/ketchup aroma and taste, this tobacco should be spot on. **Did I actually say "spot on"? I have actually now begun ordering this tobacco in the 8 oz. packaging, so it ranks up with Gawith & Hogarth flakes for me.
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Kleophrades	03/09/2007	Mild to Medium	None detected	Mild to Medium	Tolerable
I pretty much agree with tonyg but I think he?s a bit too hard on Tilbury. Sure, it?s Stonehaven Lite, but on its own terms it?s pretty good. On opening the tin you get a medium brown leaf with a distinct ketchup smell. The smoke is light and sweet, with midrange body and a slight tang. It?s pretty constant down the bowl, though the sugars don?t really kick in until the second third. It burns to a white ash without a bit of bite. As you?d expect with Esoterica there are complex flavors under the straightforward Virginias, but they?re fainter here owing to the general lightness of the blend. A good summertime smoke, nice for when you?re concentrating on something else ? it?ll surprise you occasionally without being a distraction. None of the depths of Stonehaven but, all in all, a superior blend in the medium to light range.
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