Lane Limited Edgeworth Sliced

Usually the equation classic stuff=good stuff is true. OK, recently we had some downhill decline for some legendary names (Three Nuns, Capstan and most Dunhills come to mind), but sometimes you can still have a taste of the old staples. Edgeworth Sliced is one of them! This is simple, unpretentious, good and honest pipe tobacco: a burley flake (with maybe a bit of Virginia) that never disappoints, and which is fine either for casual or contemplative smoking. The 100g tin contains an attractive array of flakes which can be easily packed folded or rubbed out, according to your taste. The smell is nutty, with traces of hay, perfectly natural (no honey topping a-la-MacBaren, luckily). Once lit, the tobacco burns cool and regularly: even if hasted, it never bites and rarely becomes bitter. You always get a satisfying nutty, earthy taste: it's not excessively robust, but it's great as a medium smoke. No harsh edges, just plain smooth traditional burley: earthy, meaty, rustic and old fashioned, but not unrefined. It is not as sweet as Mac Baren's Navy Flake (but the true taste of burley comes out better because of this), and not as sweet, filling and rich as GLPease Barbary Coast (which I find even better: the difference between a honest traditional tobacco and a masterpiece made by a modern master). Anyway, there are days in which I could smoke tons of this tobacco, with just a bowl of Balkan for variety. Ah, and it leaves your pipe perfectly natural: no stale smell, no goop, just ash. Perfect as a "diet" for pipes which have seen too many aromatics or high sugar Virginias!

Tin note of molasses, spices and tangy fermented vegetation. Tobacco is a Flake of a marbled dark brown, reddish brown and a little tan. Moisture content is great. Flakes rub out with a little effort. Burns slow with a few relights. The strength is medium and nic is mild to medium. No flavoring is listed, but there is a mild molasses casing that is detectable throughout the smoke. Taste is medium and very consistent, with notes of peaty sour vegetation, molasses, sweet-toasted bread, wood, rich dry earth, leather, spices, bitter cocoa, mildly savory, a semi-sweet tart nutty background note, and a slight peppery, almost smooth retro. Room note is pleasant, and aftertaste is great.

A friend acquired some old Edgeworth Sliced and graciously offered me a sample. How could I refuse?

I am a collector of Dr Grabow pipes, so this is a special treat for me. You see, many years ago, Dr Grabow pipes were "pre smoked." That is, the factory actually put the pipes in a machine that sucked air through the airway, filled the pipe with tobacco, lit it, and let the machine smoke a full bowl out of the pipe before the pipe was packaged up for sale. This was supposed to break in the pipe so that the smoker would have a "ready to smoke, no break in needed" pipe right put of the package. I can't say whether this actually worked as advertised, but it probably helped out sales a bit at least. Anyway - the tobacco they used was Edgeworth.

Naturally, I felt compelled to smoke this well aged weed out of a Dr Grabow pipe, so I chose my blond Big Pipe billiard for the occasion...one of my favorite pipes. Purist Dr Grabow collectors will argue that the Big Pipe isn't a "real" Dr Grabow.....but I digress.

Edgeworth presents as neat and clean flakes. Very dark, almost black (no doubt due to the age...20 or 30 years or so?) with a little lighter marbling. I lightly broke up one flake into the bottom of the pipe, and fully rubbed out another half flake to top it off.

It lights up easily with two matches, and behaves relatively well in the pipe throughout the smoke. I couldn't wait one second to smoke this, but I think I might let my next bowl dry a bit first. It's not super wet, but it is wetter than one would expect, considering its age.

The flavor is not quite what I expected. This stuff is straight burley, right? Burley is up front....rich, nutty, tobacco. I also get some straw/hay that tastes almost like a young Virginia. There's a hint of sweet....not a Virginia sweet exactly....maybe there's a light topping? The sweetness is rich and dark, sort of a molasses, and it becomes more pronounced as I get further down the bowl.

Fantastic.

From a very old sample, likely ca. 1949, this needed a bit of rehydration. On the one hand, I can agree with those who found this a deep, rich smoke, reminding more than a little of unsweetened molasses. Unfortunately, no matter how gently I smoked it, it bit like a great white shark. Without that extreme bite, I would have rated it a 4 star, but with it, I had to downgrade it quite a bit.

First bowl review of the Lane version of Edgeworth Sliced: This is a gorgeously packaged flake tobacco. I like how they are neatly lined up in the tin. The tin aroma is slightly sweet and fruity, a sign of things to come. The flakes rub out easily. No drying time required here, perhaps from age(not sure how old the Lane era tins are). The tobacco lights right up after 1-2 charring lights. Throughout the thoroughly enjoyable smoke, the elegant classic tobacco flavor takes a backseat to a rotund mouthwatering fruitiness that develops. No tongue bite, smokes cool and dry. It has such a sweet fruity character, there is a debate over whether this is flavored or not(some say molasses?). I wish I knew for sure, I find it hard to believe this tobacco could carry such a flavor naturally. Indeed it would be some kind of magic if it was indeed untainted by some topping/casing.

Overall: Very enjoyable. Early impressions are good on this one, although i consider myself a non-aromatic smoker and am somewhat disappointed that this may be indeed flavored.

I also have a tin of the original Larus Bro&Co I am saving for a special occasion.

This stuff is the real deal. It joins the ranks of great, hot-weather baccy's with the likes of Macbaren Nave Flake, and Orlick's Golden slices. Unlike the others I detected absolutely no flavoring at all. Just buttery, rich burley. This burned cool and went down great with an ice cold mug of Budweiser, while sitting in the porch shade on a 98 degree day. In a corn cob of course! Can't get much more American than this. The taste isn't terribly complex, and yet I haven't gotten bored with this stuff yet. I guess good old fashioned, unadulterated tobacco still goes a long way! By the way, this has some decent nicotene content as well.

This tobacco looks excellent. I love most burley blends. It has historical pedigree. Most reviewers I listen to like it. So I should be all about this stuff, right? Dead wrong for one it was too strong for me, and second too bland. After smoking a bowl of this I was woozy and sweating... very unpleasent. I really think that the problem must be me. A fellow pipe smoker told me once he could not smoke certain danish tin blends for something was added to those blends that made him ill. I figure the same must be with ES and me.

Dizziness aside the taste did lil for me. I'll admit I like burley that clunks my tastes buds on their lil heads with "nuttiness", and could never detect any with this. I am too wary try to nurse it for it just is not meant to be.

Is there any Virginia in this?

I always thought of it as a burley blend: sun-cured Tennessee and fire-cured Kentucky, elegantly married in a beautifully elaborated flake. It has been topped with some English-style Earl Grey Tea scent.

The flavour has always seemed a bit bland to me, indeed in the Baren Navy Flake family, although the topping here is more definite, and the Kentucky gives it a mild kick which the Baren lacks totally. I am surprised some people were bitten by this: a most unBurley thing to do.

Although not a burley fancier, I cannot condemn such a beautifully worked, mild flake, and I must say that I do appreciate a blend like this when I have a cold. Nice tin, too.

An old American classic.

This blend simply proves to me that I'm not really a Burley smoker (unless you're talking Barbary Coast by GL Pease.) I love the cut and burning characteristics of these beautiful flakes, and appreciate the mild, nutty flavour and lack of bite. Ultimately, though, I find this tobacco a little too monochromatic to keep my interest, and a little raw. I sometimes get a significant biter aftertaste as well. Just not my cup of tea. If you like Burley, you'll probably love this stuff.