Lane Limited Edgeworth Sliced

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.

I found this a rich smooth tobacco that made lots of smoke and burned down to dry white ash. Some reviewers stated an intense molasses taste but I find it more of a warm shoefly pie taste... if one can imagine that.. When I first lit the tobacco I noticed what I thought was tongue bite but after a few puffs and no bite.. it must have been something in the blend, it wasn't a turn-off .. just something I noticed and forgot about while smoking. I am heart broken because the pipe I used had a HUGE bowl and the sample I had barely filled it.. sigh...

Too bad this nice flake, in the big blue 100gram tin, has gone the path of many long gone yet great tobaccos. I smoked this for years and was quite sad to see it go. The quality of this leaf yielded a wonderful medium flake. Since the formula to UF has been dumbed down, and I don't like Wessex, I really have not found, and quite honestly, stopped looking for a replacement. This flake burned very cool, had a nice aroma and solid flavor, plus produced a wonderful volume of smoke. Will not pay the prices for old tins of the stuff so this is a Eulogy of sorts. I knew ye well and I miss you friend.

The flavor engages all the tastebuds at once and provides a smoky and flavorful burley-forward blend. The best burley I've tasted. Complex and easy at the same time, what a paradox. I like the way the flavor gets right under your tongue but does not neglect the palate. I agree with an earlier reviewer: what were they thinking when they discontinued this blend?? I would pay extra for this one.

edgeworth sliced was very good, alot better than it's ready rubbed blend or it's cavendish blend, wessex burley sliced is pretty darn close, solani burley flake was a disapointment, go with wessex!

Has anyone noticed the older you get the more things seem to vanish? Has anyone else noticed it is almost always the good high quality things that seem go first? Nowhere has this been more true than with pipe tobaccos. Remember Bell's Three-Nuns; Dunhill amd now Edgeworth? At the same time there has been an explosion of high quality pipes from the best artisans to ever grace the face of the Earth. One of my favorites was Bill Taylor, the man behind Ashton pipes. We lost him this past September. He figured out how to make a trditional English pipe to as close to perfect as we will ever see. The best that could ever be said is so and so is almost as good as Bill was. No one will ever exceede him. The good news is there are plenty of young carvers out there like Lasse Skovgaard. This young man will make you a custum very high grade pipe to your specs at a very reasonable price. Heck, he will even stamp your name on it if you like. I bought three such pipes from him that I designed and he brought to life.

The thing is, I have all these wonderful pipes and am running out of choices to fill them with. Plenty of pipes and ever decreasing supplies of my favorite blends of which Edgeworth was my everyday tobacco of choice. To those who facy burley, you'd be hard pressed to find a blend as good as Edgeworth.

If anyone knows of a true substitute, please let me know. I have one tin left and dare not open it. For if I do I will have to come face to face with the fact that I will never partake of such a wonderful blend again.

I certainly bemoan the loss of Edgeworth Sliced. A true benchmark for Burley flakes. I still have some left - about enough for a half dozen medium sized bowls - from a tin I purchased a good 20 years ago! It hasn't held together as slices any more, more of a crumbled flake, but boy is it ever so good! I remember when I first smoked it I found it very strong and a bit dizzying. It took me by surprise as I wasn't prepared for its strength of character. Originally, I bought it thinking it was the same as Edgeworth Ready Rubbed (which I enjoyed and presently only remember its wonderful room note) and found out it was ERR's more mature, street smart relative. Basically forgot about it but decided to revisit it after all this time after reading the reviews on this site. My sample was taken from its tin long ago and re-hydrated in a thick zip lock since it was very dried out. I put it away and promptly forgot about it. That was maybe 10 years ago. The sample in the zip lock was dry to the touch, but not at all decomposed to dust. There was little aroma emanating from the bag. Upon first light, however, it woke up from its deep slumber. There was a slight, soapy taste that immediately brought back memories of old. I dislike any Lakeland-type essence, but this soapy presence with Edgeworth, in my opinion, was part of the appeal. A beautifully stout, spicy, yet sweet taste immediately overwhelmed my palate. It is such a shame that this is no longer being produced. The taste is spicy rich and very full flavored - chocolaty even. I don't know if chocolate was ever added by the blenders (I believe it was said to have been molasses), or perhaps it is the chocolate-like flavor of good Burley (made better with age), but it is delicious.

I will ultimately finish what little I have remaining. I will spread it out over time and most likely savor it in smaller bowled pipes to stretch it as far as enjoyably possible. I take this over Mac's Navy Flake and Peterson's University Flake in a heart beat! If you can come by any, don't hesitate on it - grab it up! ...what a smoke...what a pity.....

UPDATE 4-19-10: I just purchased and received an unopened tin of ES from our fellow piper pipestud's consignment shop. I couldn't wait to open it and I am on my second bowl (2 flakes each) as I write this update. First off, the label on the tin had the Lane Ltd. distribution seal and atop it, a price label that read $16.95. There was another price label beneath it but I couldn't peel away the first to see the price. I am suspecting from the price label that this was from the time of this tobacco's last run before being discontinued (maybe 5-6yrs old?). The beautiful flakes were well packaged within a nice plastic bag wrapping and they were as pliable as if just produced. The tin aroma was nearly identical to Wessex Burley Slice (there was a light, "alcohol-soaked citrus" smell which only translated into the first several puffs upon lighting) and after smoking my 2 bowls, nearly identical in taste. There is also a much more pronounced nicotine kick with this tin of ES, similar to what I first experienced with this blend. As I stated in my original review, I bemoan the loss of Edgeworth Sliced. I would have to agree, however, with the Wessex claim that theirs is "the" substitute for ES (but in my opinion closer to the Richmond original than the Lane version manufactured by Orlik, and therefore, making WBS much better overall) - a claim I am quite happy about! Although Wessex Burley Slice is more reminiscent of the old ES from Larus Bros., and favored by me over the Orlik/Lane version, the Orlik/Lane version is quite good and recommended, however, Aged Burley Flake is by far a superior Burley and favored over ES and BS.

UPDATE 7-20-10: I noticed a while back that ES was listed on Orlik's website (st-group.com) as one of their manufactured tobacco brands. I contacted the company as to its availability in the USA. I received a reply stating that it was being pulled from production as it was only manufactured for distribution in Denmark and its sales were not high enough to justify its continued production. I noticed shortly thereafter that its listing was removed from their product range. I wrote back stating that its sales would most certainly skyrocket if re-introduced to the USA, but I have yet to hear back from Orlik concerning this.

UPDATE 9-29-10: Still no reply from Orlik - I didn't really expect one. Something I would like to share, however. Coming home this evening after teaching, I decided to mix some Solani Aged Burley Flake and Wessex Brigade Campaign Dark Flake. It was a 50/50 mix, folded and stuffed into a bent group 4 Dunhill Cumberland. After the first puff, I would have sworn I loaded some Edgeworth Sliced instead! This has been the closest to the taste of the ES of old that I remember - even closer than Wessex Burley Slice (which is a very close match). It has the spiciness that the original ES had (so does WBS) but without the harshness that is sometimes present with WBS. Try it, you might like it!

Gosh, I miss this! I only smoked a few tins, when the powers that be found out I liked it and immediately quit making it. Buttery, smooth, creamy, wonderful - what else can I say about my dear departed friend? Edgeworth Ready Rubbed is like a distant cousin. It was quite strong in nicotine for me, and the Burley was top shelf. If you ever get a chance to try this, and you love Burley, you will be delighted.

It is too late to do anything to promote this blend, this is an obituary. This fine friend of many spent around 100 good years on this old world; comforting the weary or careworn, providing cheer, and helping folks like me start a day off just right. Perhaps others smoked this one all day, or it was their apertif. This is the only burley blend I ever smoked with any regularity, if you call first pipe of the day every day regular. This ol gal will be sorely missed, sorely missed, by countless adoring friends and I am proud to have been one.

I actually had warning this would happen and got a few tins put up. I have now almost finished my last tin. I am scared of the new production - but I am going to try it I guess. Times change and we move on. I am going very soon to have to find a new first smoke of the day. I have been looking for a year now and nothing permanent has landed - but it will. Things always work out.

P.S. If you have a tin you can spare...