Ken Byron Ventures Burley Morning Pipe

From the name, you might be expecting a Burley version of EMP but this goes in the opposite way of that famous English.

The bag note is cocoa/coffee forward like a mocha. The ribbons are combination of browns and blacks. The moisture content is fairly high, but it is smokeable without drying time. It takes a couple of lights to get get going well and a couple of relights depending on your smoking pace.

The taste is coffee forward, with some sweet creamy chocolate notes in the background. The tobaccos come through as a strong base with a dark bread taste a little like toast to me. The overall taste reminds me of coffee cake. The burleys in here carry a nice level of nicotine which sneaks up on me when I smoke it because its a little unexpected behind the aromatics.

It pairs great with coffee in the morning and could be an all day smoke for an aromatic lover. My wife likes the roomnote so it has also been one for me to smoke in the car on road-trips.

It reminds me quite a bit of one of my favorites, Corn Cob Pipe and a Button Nose from C&D.

Overall, I found I prefer the Burlier version due to being able to taste more tobacco taste in it.

For myself, I am hard pressed to find congruence while the official aromatic classification of Ken Byron’s mixture. Why? The premier feature of the Burley Morning Pipe blend is the actual burleys themselves. So, naturally in my mind it falls within the camp of Burley-based blends ala your Carter Hall, Edgeworth, or Prince Albert of the world. Although there are additive coatings applied, they function primarily as accents rather than the leading-edge element, that in effect, defines the mixture’s dominant flavoring. A defendable and logical argument by my judgement and I’m standing fast to that conviction.

A true aromatic, on the other hand, is a blend that is designed to grandstand the top-coated flavorings. Are you with me? This often results in an overshadowing of the native tobacco notations within the final taste profile. And that’s quite alright as that is the intent of the blender when he/she formulates the very recipe. Burley Morning Pipe is not an aromatic, however, dang it! Nevertheless, it does demonstrate aromatic qualities one could argue. So, in order to get along, I’ll go along in that vein, (for now).

From Ken Byron Ventures comes an aromatic crack of dawn concoction to enliven that yawning, sleepy-eyed, pillow-headed morning cup of smoking Joe. Forget the Carnation, and the sugar or if you are the bold type, most definitely forget the Irish whiskey. Clumsily fumble for the faith companion pipe and let’s get to moving, “cuz daylight’s a burnin”! Burley Morning Pipe pours forth as a grainy looking coarse cut brew of 100% multi-faceted Burley including blackened Burley Cavendish. In classic OTC fashion, this java is soaked in compatible top-coated matrix of cocoa, chocolate, coffee and what I believe to be lighter vanilla cream. The tobaccos themselves project a healthy state of wholesomeness and the quality of appearance is actually quite good. A discreetly mild excursion, this blend is gentle and enjoyable enough to be an all-day companion.

Coming in a beautifully engineered foil pouch, the smoke-ready visage abridges a clustering of the White varietal, lighter in castings of parched tan and copper hues, while enfolding multivariant hues of sightly browns from the Darks and a smattering of Cavendished raven flecks. Now, there is a level of moisture to this mixture, however, so that must be managed accordingly. During the bowl swigging I did find that even with an extended set-up time, the dampness did persist but became a much lesser specter.

A facing and fragrant pouch waft of delicious “Burley-ness” invigorates and delightfully invites the senses. Lightly sweet and sprightly in demeanor, the blend clearly carries a classic nuttiness and just a tinge of tart/reflexive sourness within the secondary underlay. Further down, a chord of modest pungency wraps around the bottom scent of earthly darker natural wood. Wisp of vanilla cream, nuances of rich chocolate and a shot of stout roasted coffee move in gracefully with an entertaining effort. Of note, there just a wee bit of Burley cigarette-like spice circulating with the perimeter of the aroma as well. Overall, the nose brings a feeling of rich, charming fullness, yes fullness.

There is no question, at least in my mind, that the dominant force moving within the flavor is attributable to the assorted Burleys used with the recipe. In actuality, Burley Morning Pipe does a sincere job of representing the range of standard nuances of the Burley genre, all be those peaceable in concentration. Mainly the tone seems to start predominately nutty, a sweet almond goodness, then transitions to being more forward with a gentle woodiness. A mere morsel sourness comes into sphere of taste alongside native condiments tempered by light molasses and brown sugared footnoting.

Objectively, the topping appears to be applied somewhat diligently but do endow a soft degree of mid-level accenting. Namely the registration of a milky/dark chocolate and tasty percolated coffee comes forward with complementing and muted impact, filling out the depth and roundness of flavor. Evidence of sugary cream seems to hit initially but then tended to taper off with little adieu. With the latter the ambience centered around some pleasing vanilla-like influences all the same. Finally, the essential finishing note offers a bit of stately zest which provides a nice capping finale to the general profile.

Genuinely calm in force, profuse volumes of creamy smoke are expended by the blend’s cool and even moodiness. A very polite gathering of that lovely spicy Burley perfume lightly fills the room ingratiating all that it touches, diminishing quickly with proper manners. There is a bit of gurgle resulting from the noted moisture but in general this is an easy, comfortable, and reasonably dry smoke.

Sip and savor this venture with proper reserve. In doing so, one can aptly catch its inherently relaxed spirit. The realized gratification experienced will be thoroughly enhanced as a result. Secondly, you will avoid that patent Burley pinch that can and often does havoc the mid-rear tongue, a minimal observation but best not push. No worries concerning the nicotine buzz, with this one as its easy on the nervous system. And finally for my most distinguished cronies of illustrious Calabash Club, you will be delighted to know that this blend behaved best inside my new acquired gourd. The cob was a close second in all fairness.

Just like the jolt of a good cup of Seattle’s Best, Burley Morning Pipe is a splendid “aromatic” fair to douse the dawning sunrise. Needless to say, it makes for a pleasurable excuse for that occasional break throughout your day as well. Aromatic? Burley? Just try it as it’s good! I’m done. 3.4 Pipes