Ken Byron Ventures The English Fragrant

The smokey, woody, earthy, musty, leathery, floral, sweet Cyprian Latakia is the lead component, though not by much. It is often is a team player. The mildly buttery sweet, fairly sour, dry, woody, earthy, floral, smoky, very spicy Orientals take second place here, but gives the Latakia some competition. Here and there it almost takes an equal lead, though it gets some competition, too. The competitor is the floral, mildly grassy, earthy, lightly spicy and sugary, fermented, citrusy bright African Virginia. It also sports light dark fruit and wood, and a few blades of grass which occasionally almost equals the effect of the Orientals. The Malawi Kentucky provides nuts, earth, wood, light spice, a touch of cigar, and a little dry floralness as an ever-present back up player. The raisiny, spicy, plummy, earthy, figgy, woody perique is a condiment that underscores the proceedings. The nutty, earthy, woody burley is a condiment, too, but the least obvious varietal as it’s a bit crowded out by the other ingredients. The fruit and floral toppings moderately sublimate and cohesively conjoin with the tobaccos to create a fairly well balanced, very complex sweet and floral, lightly spicy and savory, hearty, deeply rich flavor from start to finish. The floral topping gives you the sense of Lakeland without being a Lakeland. The strength is close to the center of medium to strong, while the taste level ventures closer to full than it does to medium. The nic-hit just shuffles past the medium mark. No chance of bite or harshness and barely exposes any rough edges. Burns cool and clean at a reasonable pace. Leaves little dampness in the bowl, and requires an average number of relights. Has a pleasantly lingering after taste, and lightly stronger room note. Despite its depth and strength, it can almost be an all day aromatic English smoke for the veteran, and repeatable for the less experienced smoker. Four stars.

-JimInks