Ken Byron Ventures Notorious

The smoky, woody, earthy, leathery, musty, incense-like, sweet Cyprian Latakia comprises sixty percent of this mixture. The nutty, earthy, woody, sweet burleys are essentially secondary players. The sugary, lightly creamy stewed, fermented dark fruity, earthy, woody, bready, stoved Virginias compliment and contrast with the deeply rich Latakia and burley to create a harmoniously consistent, well balanced sweet and very savory bold campfire flavor that translates to the pleasantly lingering after taste and pungent room note. For some reason, I sense a very light marshmallow note. The strength is a couple of steps past the medium mark, while the taste almost reaches the center of medium to strong. The nic-hit is medium. Won’t bite, but it does sport some rough edges, and fast puffing may result in a harsh note or two. I recommend a slow pace as I always do with heavy Latakia blends. Burns cool and clean at a moderate rate. Leaves little dampness in the bowl, and requires an average number of relights. It’s not an all day smoke nor is it a total Lat-bomb because of the level of sweetness inherent in this blend. Three and a half stars.

-JimInks