Ken Byron Ventures Live Wire

The bright and dark Virginias provide a lot of tart and tangy citrus, grass/hay, some sugary fermented tangy dark fruit, mild floralness, vegetation, a bit of earth, wood, bread, a few pinches of spice, very light vinegar, acidic, lemon notes and a bare hint of cigar. The strength and taste levels start out a couple of steps below the medium threshold, but reach that position about a third of the way through the experience. The nic-hit is a step behind the medium mark. No chance of bite or harshness, but there are a few small rough edges. Burns cool, clean and a tad fast as shag cut blends will do. The tart and lightly sour, acidic citrus and rose water toppings moderately sublimate and synergistically meld with the tobaccos to create a very consistent, deeply rich, earthy sweet and mildly floral, sour, lightly acidic savory flavor that translates to the pleasantly lingering after taste, and room note. Barely leaves any dampness in the bowl, and requires an average number of relights. Despite its inherent punchiness, it can be an all day smoke. Three and a half stars out of four.

-JimInks

A friend of mine from the Pipe Club has purchased quite a few of his blends and I was lucky to be able to sample some of this. This is a really moist shag cut of tobacco which I like smoking cause you can cram a lot of it a bowl if you prefer. This is a good smoke with a nice floral essence about it. I am not going to lie I did not smoke a lot but what I did was really good. I would say the topping was lightly applied.

Upon opening pouch, nice sweet aroma, more like an aromatic than Virginia. I like the smell of aromatics, but, usually dislike smoking them. Visually like high grade cigarette tobacco. Separated and let dry about 2-3 minutes. Nice bright virginia flavor first 1/3rd f the bowl. A bit tangy, the casing was not noticeable unless puffed heavy, and then flavor soured a bit. No bite, even when puffed heavily. Casing disappeared to my palate about 1/3 down unless puffed heavy, and darker virginia's in blend began to show. Slow to medium puffs really brought out the flavor of the virginias, The casing was not overpowering, melding well with the tobacco, and came and went. This did not taste like an aromatic. A big plus for me. Not the type oftobacco I normally reach for, but an enjoyable smoke, I'll return to

2nd bowel 90 minutes later- a Design Berlin 9mm charcoal filter pipe. The difference- More flavors of the dressing came through

3.5 stars