Wilke Pipe Tobacco 47th Street

Based strictly on the components I am forced to wonder whether this blend was intended to be a VAPER with some Latakia added for flavor or whether it was intended as an English blend with some added Perique? I think that in the end most smokers will simply conclude that it's a blend all its own.

I find the charred wood feature of the Latakia to be a prominent feature, but not the dominant feature in the blend although you can taste it on every puff. For me the slightly sweet and fruity Perique is just as apparent as the Latakia if not more so. And the dark baked pastry and somewhat earthy notes of the Virginias provide ample support bringing everything together creating a tasty and well-balanced blend.

I suppose it's only to be expected that we should want to dissect and separate out the different flavor components, but in my opinion it's far more important to detect how the different components work together, compliment and react to each other...that's what makes a blend. However I do believe that each component should have room for expression.

The taste is relatively consistent from the top of the bowl to bottom and it doesn't wander much. I would consider all three components of a smoke--strength, taste, and body--to be about equal here. It's a tasty blend, with adequate strength, and good smoke texture and mouth feel. Most worthwhile.