Wilke Pipe Tobacco 47th Street

The Virginias provide some grass and tart and tangy citrus, a little wood, earth, bread, sugar, tangy dark fruit, and mild floralness as the base of the blend, but take a back seat to the other components. The smoky, woody, musty, earthy, herbal, floral, sweet Cyprian Latakia takes the lead. The very peppery, raisiny, plummy, mildly stewed fruity, earthy woody, tongue tingly perique is a supporting player. The strength is medium and the taste level is just past that level chiefly due to the amount of the strong perique. The nic-hit is a step past the center of mild to medium. Won’t bite, but needs to be sipped a little as the savory pepper is potent. Has light rough edges. Burns clean, and slightly warm at a reasonable pace with a mostly consistent sweet and spicy, floral, smoky rich flavor. Leaves little dampness in the bowl, and requires an average number of relights. The pleasant after taste lingers a bit. The room note is pleasant to tolerable. Not an all day smoke but it certainly is repeatable. Three and a half stars.

-JimInks