Wilke Pipe Tobacco Wilke No. 184
(3.40)
Turkish Yenidje topped with black cavendish; a great all day smoke.
Details
| Brand | Wilke Pipe Tobacco |
| Blended By | John Brandt |
| Manufactured By | Wilke Pipe Tobacco |
| Blend Type | Oriental |
| Contents | Black Cavendish, Oriental/Turkish |
| Flavoring | |
| Cut | Ribbon |
| Packaging | various sizes in pouches |
| Country | United States |
| Production | Currently available |
Profile
Strength
Mild to Medium
Extremely Mild -> Overwhelming
Flavoring
Mild
None Detected -> Extra Strong
Room Note
Pleasant
Unnoticeable -> Overwhelming
Taste
Mild to Medium
Extremely Mild (Flat) -> Overwhelming
Reviews
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 Reviews
| Reviewed By | Date | Rating | Strength | Flavoring | Taste | Room Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 11, 2021 | Mild to Medium | Mild to Medium | Mild to Medium | Pleasant |
Wilke 184 presents as light to medium brown ribbons with a smattering of darker shades. The tobacco arrives at optimal moisture level and can be smoked immediately. The nose is subtly sweet and somewhat indistinct, impacted adversely by the scent-inhibiting nature of the plastic bag. I’ll jar this and come back to edit the tin note in a year or so.
Takes well to flame, and after a good char or two should require no relight (in itself, that, a rare gem for an aromatic). The char and true lights are cavendish-heavy, bringing honey in no small dose and a hint of vanilla. But the flavoring agents, like all Wilke blends, are dry on the tongue (and in the pipe). Flavorwise, however, the first third is flavored Cavendish intensive on top of what could easily have been Virginia. Or perhaps burley. But wait… there’s absolutely no bite here, nor even heat. A honey aromatic that actually smokes dry and (literally) cool. What’s going on here? What’s going on here is the absence of Virginia or burley.
Like some other old-school boutique American blends, the takeaway here is that Oriental(s) not only do fine on their own without Virginia (think Peretti Tashkent), but that they do a damn fine job as a base for an aromatic as well. This is what an aromatic was meant to be! And what it was, before the Scandi Cavendish blends hit our shores and were horrifically imitated with goopy new-style American Cavendish blends.
But back to 184. By mid-bowl, the topping settles down and you can taste some actual “Turkish”, claimed to be Yenidje. While there’s no quite telling in a cased blend, I may be convinced. We get basswood, parchment, poppyseed, a hint of white pepper, a dash of leather. All this with the faintest backdrop of honey that rides it out, in ever-decreasing presence, to the end of the bowl, where it ultimately tapers off entirely, leaving a coda of delicately spiced oriental goodness. There will be a tiny bit of moisture from the Cavendish, but it won’t detract from the experience.
Overall, this is a great blend. Great as a “crossover” aromatic for those looking to explore the world of tobacco more deeply. Great as a change of pace for veteran smokers. Great for those who remain agnostic. Great for those who can’t decide on sweet vs savory this evening. I suspect there’s some Wilke 191 here, or at least the same Cavendish, sans the Virginia. Yes, I’m sure of it. And perhaps that’s it, married with some quality oriental. But does it matter? I don’t need to know how the sausage is made. I just sit back and enjoy 184. I highly recommend you do the same.
Takes well to flame, and after a good char or two should require no relight (in itself, that, a rare gem for an aromatic). The char and true lights are cavendish-heavy, bringing honey in no small dose and a hint of vanilla. But the flavoring agents, like all Wilke blends, are dry on the tongue (and in the pipe). Flavorwise, however, the first third is flavored Cavendish intensive on top of what could easily have been Virginia. Or perhaps burley. But wait… there’s absolutely no bite here, nor even heat. A honey aromatic that actually smokes dry and (literally) cool. What’s going on here? What’s going on here is the absence of Virginia or burley.
Like some other old-school boutique American blends, the takeaway here is that Oriental(s) not only do fine on their own without Virginia (think Peretti Tashkent), but that they do a damn fine job as a base for an aromatic as well. This is what an aromatic was meant to be! And what it was, before the Scandi Cavendish blends hit our shores and were horrifically imitated with goopy new-style American Cavendish blends.
But back to 184. By mid-bowl, the topping settles down and you can taste some actual “Turkish”, claimed to be Yenidje. While there’s no quite telling in a cased blend, I may be convinced. We get basswood, parchment, poppyseed, a hint of white pepper, a dash of leather. All this with the faintest backdrop of honey that rides it out, in ever-decreasing presence, to the end of the bowl, where it ultimately tapers off entirely, leaving a coda of delicately spiced oriental goodness. There will be a tiny bit of moisture from the Cavendish, but it won’t detract from the experience.
Overall, this is a great blend. Great as a “crossover” aromatic for those looking to explore the world of tobacco more deeply. Great as a change of pace for veteran smokers. Great for those who remain agnostic. Great for those who can’t decide on sweet vs savory this evening. I suspect there’s some Wilke 191 here, or at least the same Cavendish, sans the Virginia. Yes, I’m sure of it. And perhaps that’s it, married with some quality oriental. But does it matter? I don’t need to know how the sausage is made. I just sit back and enjoy 184. I highly recommend you do the same.
| Reviewed By | Date | Rating | Strength | Flavoring | Taste | Room Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 11, 2023 | Mild | Mild | Medium | Pleasant |
This one is a guilty pleasure for me. I am one of those snobs who thought he \"graduated\" from aromatics (having started, perhaps like most of my generation, with Borkum Riff and Middleton\'s Cherry). I also run when I read \"cavendish\" because it\'s the most meaningless of descriptors - being a process, not a type of leaf (and it\'s not even one type of process -- Germain cavendish supposedly being much different than the USA use of that word).
Wilke\'s site honestly puts No 184 on its aromatics page, so I ought not to have been expected something like McClelland\'s Yenidje Supreme just because Yenidje is advertised as a major component.
The tin note is sweet, almost candy, like a lot of jars at old time tobacconists used to smell. It burns extraordinarily well. Every tobacco since Sir Walter Raleigh has probably boasted their weed is \"smooth\" with \"no bite\" but this stuff really is very smooth and consistent all the way down -- making a second bowl easy. Except it also burns slow -- sometimes I leave the last 3rd of the bowl and finish it later.
As to taste... I also detect a hint of vanilla. I don\'t know what to call the rest of the taste -- \"cavendish\" I guess -- except it is NOT perfume-y at all. There\'s a hint of cherry too -- not fruity, but imagine an old furniture shop with sawdust from cherry wood. Of course at least some of its fragrances may derive from the Yenidje itself, and not the topping.
So: a mild, mildly aromatic Balkan.
People who like Britt\'s Balkan (an excellent Balkan with vanilla) will like Wilke #184 at least as much.
Wilke\'s site honestly puts No 184 on its aromatics page, so I ought not to have been expected something like McClelland\'s Yenidje Supreme just because Yenidje is advertised as a major component.
The tin note is sweet, almost candy, like a lot of jars at old time tobacconists used to smell. It burns extraordinarily well. Every tobacco since Sir Walter Raleigh has probably boasted their weed is \"smooth\" with \"no bite\" but this stuff really is very smooth and consistent all the way down -- making a second bowl easy. Except it also burns slow -- sometimes I leave the last 3rd of the bowl and finish it later.
As to taste... I also detect a hint of vanilla. I don\'t know what to call the rest of the taste -- \"cavendish\" I guess -- except it is NOT perfume-y at all. There\'s a hint of cherry too -- not fruity, but imagine an old furniture shop with sawdust from cherry wood. Of course at least some of its fragrances may derive from the Yenidje itself, and not the topping.
So: a mild, mildly aromatic Balkan.
People who like Britt\'s Balkan (an excellent Balkan with vanilla) will like Wilke #184 at least as much.
Pipe Used:
Cob with paper filter
PurchasedFrom:
Wilke
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