Wilke Pipe Tobacco Sailor Jack

(3.89)
From the high seas this blend is heavy in latakia with a touch of Virginia and perique, finished with Maduro cigar leaf.

Details

Brand Wilke Pipe Tobacco
Blended By John Brandt
Manufactured By Wilke Pipe Tobacco
Blend Type English
Contents Cigar Leaf, Latakia, Perique, Virginia
Flavoring
Cut Ribbon
Packaging 2oz., 4oz, 8oz., 16oz. Pouch, Bulk
Country United States
Production Currently available

Profile

Strength
Medium to Strong
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Extremely Mild -> Overwhelming
Flavoring
None Detected
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
None Detected -> Extra Strong
Room Note
Tolerable
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Unnoticeable -> Overwhelming
Taste
Full
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Extremely Mild (Flat) -> Overwhelming

Average Rating

3.89 / 4
8

1

0

0

Reviews

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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 Reviews
Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Mar 02, 2018 Medium to Strong None Detected Full Tolerable
The very smoky, woody, earthy, musty sweet Cyprian Latakia is the star component, and ventures toward lat-bomb with some nuances. The fermented sugary sweet, leathery, woody, lightly floral, creamy, vegetative, lightly coffee-ish maduro cigar leaf is almost a secondary player. The spicy, raisiny, plumy, earthy, woody perique is obvious every puff, and plays just below level of the maduro leaf. The grassy, fairly tart and tangy citrusy Virginia is almost a condiment; more often lurking in the background. The strength is in the center of medium to strong, while the taste is full. The nic-hit is almost medium. Won’t bite or get harsh, and barely has any roughness. Well balanced, it burns cool and clean at a reasonable pace with deeply rich and very consistent sweet and savory, campfire flavor that translates to the pleasantly lingering after taste. Leaves little dampness in the bowl, and requires an average number of relights. The room note is a bit pungent. Not an all day smoke, but you may find you need it more than once a day.

-JimInks
14 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Jun 01, 2020 Mild to Medium None Detected Medium to Full Unnoticeable
This has torn bits of light and medium leaf which I am assuming is the cigar leaf. Tin note is sweet smelling and this is a wonderful medium to full blend. Heavy in the Latakia. Produces a lot of smoke with the flavor profile being subdued around half-way through the bowl. Very well-made blend.
5 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Sep 07, 2020 Medium to Strong None Detected Full Tolerable
Alright so I’m gonna cut to the chase, skip all the extra fluff an try and tell it to ya straight. So the moisture of this stuff was spot on for me from the bag, burned perfectly, although the cut was a bit inconsistent and difficult to pack in a short slightly wide bulldog bowl. I really liked this stuff, medium in strength and full in flavor, Latakia was upfront and heavy in this, it was a perfect carrier for the maduro leaf which was nice with a bit of earthy spice. Didn’t detect much else, so I’m guessing whatever else was going on just served to fill out the profile and round out the edges. Overall I thought this was well done, it got a bit hot and strong in the middle of the bowl, but tapered off towards the end.
Pipe Used: Calabresi Bulldog
PurchasedFrom: Wilke’s
Age When Smoked: Fresh
4 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Nov 26, 2020 Medium to Strong None Detected Medium to Full Pleasant to Tolerable
Among the ribbon cuts found in the familiar Wilke blend, there are large and small tobacco leaves mixed in, which I believe are the cigar leaves. Now, as you light up the Sailor Jack and taste the smoke, you are surrounded by the English-type flavors and aromas of the Wilke that you have been smoking. It feels a bit earthy, leaning towards a sour feel. After smoking for a while and doing a Retro Hale, I detect aromas like a reduced-sodium soy sauce, incense, tea (sorry, I don't know how to describe it), and so on. Overall, it seems to reach the heavy line, but it doesn't. But definitely not medium, and I feel it's a strong blend, but not enough to emphasize it.
Pipe Used: Caminetto Rusticated Hawkbill AR
PurchasedFrom: Wilke Pipe Tobacco
3 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Dec 02, 2020 Mild to Medium Extremely Mild Mild to Medium Tolerable
love blends that have some Cigar leaf in them . this is really nice . the cigar note is present , but very subtle . I like the way its cut and stays lite . flavor is consistent all the way down the bowl . give it try
Pipe Used: Bonfiglioli billiard
PurchasedFrom: wilke webstie
Age When Smoked: new
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Jan 10, 2023 Medium to Strong None Detected Full Very Strong
COMMENTARY - WILKE PIPE TOBACCO - SAILOR JACK: May You Have Fair Winds and Following Seas in Your Pipeful Voyage

Reflecting upon the image of the sea, one of my most revered authors, Ernest Hemingway, entertained a thought that, purpose necessitates that we have a determined end point to journey towards, but in the end, it is truly the very journey itself that principally matters. Look no further than to the endeavor of the prideful old man Santiago. His chronicled tale set within the challenging venue of the sea, an arduous trek at that, underscores how perseverance and respect for the constant fate of human nature ultimately brings completeness and strength to the act of living.

Honorably, we enter this life possessing a mere drop of wisdom amid the vastness of a spanning ocean of knowledge. It is through our living voyage, and perhaps beyond, that we all come to port in collective awareness, finding a healthy repose that brings us to a final rested home. Pipe smoking, as I would humbly suggest, carries no difference in charter. Every now and then, I encounter an entry of such unique character, that it serves to remind me of the mysteries of unnavigated waters along my own fated journey in this wonderful passion that we all share. Towards these very ends, what follows are the essentials of one recent and most enlightening crossing.

From their impressive collection of non-aromatic originals, Wilke Pipe Tobacco favors those salty pipers strong of heart, with the calling from one inspired by the bounding seas. Coming to harbor is Sailor Jack, a well-rounded and delightfully complex blending, that is significantly defined by a forceful volume of smoky Latakia. This Cyprian privileged mixture is brazened with a generous pass of spicy Maduro cigar leaf, an inclusion of perfected Acadian Perique, and a modest trimming of complementary docile Virginia.

Regarding the genus of this singular combination, the official introduction is directly associated with the former New York Pipe Club official, Sailorman Jack. Conventional wisdom holds that, as a highly recognized and impactful figure within the greater piping community of yore, this man possessed a general affinity for stout cigar-based blends. Similarly, I am knowledgeable of yet another comparable mixture, a personal favorite of mine, Billy Budd, that was originally created by Cornell & Diehl specifically for this gentleman’s selective enjoyment.

By nature, the subject recipe comes with an underlying humor modeling a genuine tarted sweetness, while showing many shades of moving flavor. Inherently, the profile tends to be considerably wide, heady, and deep, offering a bold, full tasteful rendering accented with herbaceous undertones and mesmerizing piquant spice. To optimally capture the worth of its charisma, Sailor Jack’s preferential vessel is the propriety found in a welcoming briar equipped with an extensively proportioned bowl.

With an earnestness centered on substantial intensity, Sailor Jack presents itself as an esteemed crossover to a heavy based English pipe tobacco and the deep robustness of a quality maduro cigar. Naturally, this adventurous mixture was optimally designed to be slowly savored on infrequent occasions in truth, or perhaps, enjoyed gingerly in lieu of a best recommendation, even for the most experienced pipe smoker.

Initial inspection of this bulk maritime-themed varietal reveals a manly assemblage of thickened, coarsely cut, irregular dark tobaccos, deeply ominous as the rolling swell breaking upon the foredeck with gale force. A brooding mound of chunky blackened Latakia holds prominence as plentiful massive shreds of toothy browned maduro leaf wrapper assertively pile themselves in random fashion. Shifting beyond these two foreboding specters, one discovers a reasonable selection of aged ebony Acadian and wistful strands of ribboned golden Virginia effectively filling the keeled depth.

During the trials of this voyage, as a trained Latakia enthusiast I must profess that, conclusively, the presence of this element within this Sailor Jack offering proved to be perhaps one of the finest presentations of matured leaf that I have yet to encounter. Mainly, Wilke has secured and deployed a noteworthy strain that is reflective of the full range of standard varietal attributes. Specifically, it bestows a wonderfully clean and crisp leathered smoky ambience that is tendered with a quality of sheer butter and very sordid native must. Centered as the unquestionable dominant forward marking, the Cyprian, generalized, places a base emphasis on the endowment of charred/distressed wood and darker sweetened fruitiness as its standard reckoning. Arguably a convicted Lat-lover’s delight.

Serving in secondary importance, an impressive magnitude of rich, sweeter earthy spice originating from the featuring of cigar leaf rides on the top layer of the immediate taste band. With that, this strain adds supplemental thickness and a staunch heading to the body of the composite melded flavor.

The noted affluence of this Maduro wrapper delectably entwines the standing of the Latakia with a blackish fringe tinted by the resolute influence of dark earthen molasses, burnt chocolate, scorched coffee, and beaming verdant spice by all proper accounting. In a word, simply exquisite and elegantly inspiring to the experienced senses.

Coming about with neared splendor, one soon discovers that the Perique undoubtedly injects its registerable spirit within the intricacy of complex flavor. Essentially the Acadian resides somewhat to the rear-middle tier of complementing accents, showing a definitive dank, strongly soured pungency, some very light peppery spice, yet more so, an inviting stewed fruitiness/prune note as its channeled harrumph.

Furthermore, like the Latakia, the Perique carries an inkling of a woodsy nature, which serves to provide the strain with enhanced depth. On the order of magnitude, the felt presence of this varietal speaks more towards a minor sensation of passioned zing witnessed within the greater nasal passage, most likely attributable to progressed aging, and therefore explaining its rightly sweeter nature.

Sensitively rounding out the bottom of the standard profile, a sweet tanginess and citrusy tart emitted from the accompaniment of Virginian forms the remote baseline. Although the importance and the immediacy of its influence seems to follow an undulating wave-like pattern, there is no denying that even with a hosting of subdued potency, the Virginia adds further context to the overall presentation with a pleasing balance of off-setting natural sugar.

Now, if I were to ask you to gather a clear mental picture of the quintessential mariner, what would you envision? Maybe Popeye the Sailorman comes to mind? Unfortunately, not exactly the response I was aiming for, although, I can relate to his natural affection for the endearing crudeness of simple cob pipes. More appropriately one ideally arrives at the classic archetype formed by an emboldened image of an assertive, surly man who carries an honest ruggedness, unchambered determination, and the general courage endemic to a strong character.

Respectfully, this mannish portrayal is a poignantly accurate descriptor of the resultant room essence yielded by the immodest Sailor Jack, as it engenders an impressive expanse of thick, meaty, richly seething vapors. To say that the ensuing odor is generally hearty would minimize the practical tenacity of its native spirit. In sum, an overbearing fragrance of dense charred smoky spice, enfolding the best of the Latakia and Maduro, decidedly obliterates all, even within reasonable distance in hastened fashion.

What is more, the permanency of this austere boldness demonstrates incredible doggedness. In short, throw open the sash and flip the fan to high mode, as Sailor Jack affords no allotment for merciful tolerance. More willingly, it is best partaken in vented seclusion, if not in the free open air, in order to keep one’s immediate shipmate unaffectedly smiling.

As to a brief summary of the base mechanicals, with respect to the standard properties consider that, Sailor Jack tends to burn with pacifying coolness while showing an abiding gentlemanly politeness in deference to sensitivity upon the palate. Furthermore, in holding a creamed quality texture, the complexity of its flavorsome savor shows ample moxie and smoothness to the very end of the smoking adventure. And even though the degree of nicotine residuals enters the range of medium impact, given the sheer stoutness of this mixture’s personality, one is better to entertain its forthright character on select occasion.

In closing, as reward to the good effort of Wilke’s craftmanship in creating this offering, one can easily suggests that it afforded their tobacco with an expressively robust, all be it mellowing and distinguished temperament, nevertheless. So don’t miss the boat. Take your chance in sailing a voyage close to the wind, for soon you will come to rightfully understand the good nature of this most honorable seaman, the daunting Sailor Jack.

Objective Scoring (based upon standard genre attributes, mechanicals and cost): 196/223 ≅ 3.52

Subjective Rating: 3.7 Pipes

1 person found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Oct 02, 2024 Medium to Strong None Detected Full Tolerable to Strong
Man this stuff is good.
Rich
Chewy
Creamy

It's a wonderful full Latakia blend and the maduro leaf puts it over the top. It gives a nice round sweetness but never tastes like a cigar to my tastes.

I highly recommend this blend and pretty much any other Wilke blend, especially anything English/Balkan leaning. Good aros too. But they do Latakia exceptionally well.
Pipe Used: Larger bowl briars
PurchasedFrom: Wilke
Age When Smoked: Fresh
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Feb 26, 2024 Medium to Strong None Detected Medium to Full Tolerable
Wilke
Sailor Jack

Blend notes: “From the high seas this blend is heavy in Latakia with a touch of Virginia and perique finished with Madura cigar leaf.”

Here we have very yummy Cyprian Latakia dancing with cigar leaf and a raisiny sour Perique and Virginia in the background.

The cigar leaf is strong and very present. The Perique enjoyable. The smoky side of the blend is semi-sweet but not quite campfire. Very pleasant.

There is also a hint of barnyard. You can smell this and taste it. I love wines from the Rhône Valley in France so this isn’t unusual but would not be what everyone would appreciate.

Sailor Jack is a superb English and, in my view, the best of the generally excellent Wilke blends.

4 out of 4 stars.
Pipe Used: IMP Meerschaum
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Mar 26, 2023 Medium Extremely Mild Full Tolerable to Strong
Definitely a hearty after-dinner style. Comparing this to others in a similar style – C&D Stratfordshire and Peterson Old Dublin – this was the smoothest of the three, and distinctive for its somewhat sweet taste of burnt brownies. I like it with a glass of ruby port, but it is a full meal even by itself. Besides the predominant taste of burnt brownies I get wafts of nuts, clove, cardamom, coriander, and Madura cigar. These particular spice notes together almost suggest that a splash of spiced rum is present. So, dark rum might also be a good pairing (haven’t tried that yet).

Has huge pieces of tobacco the size of my thumb, and that’s kind of fun to stuff into a large 1-inch chamber, but for smaller bowls I suggest getting some scissors and cutting these large pieces into a more manageable size. Larger pieces will give a more distinct impression of each leaf as it combusts; smaller pieces will integrate better for a more uniform character.

Not a regular smoke for me, but when the mood strikes it is always hugely satisfying. Despite its fulsome character it is very smooth on the palate and leaves a pleasant aftertaste.
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