Ken Byron Ventures Mycroft

The very floral, tart and tangy, fragrant Orientals are basma, samsun, yenidje, and blonde izmir. The latter is ninety percent of that combination. They take a light lead as they offer a lot of spice, earth, wood, herbs, vegetation, a fair amount of butter, some dry sourness, and a slight “unflavored soda” note with a moderate incense quality. Competitively on the heels of the Orientals is the floral, very nutty, earthy, woody, vegetative, sweet and sour, spicy Malawi Kentucky. The fermented, floral dark Virginia provides tangy, sugary ripe dark fruit, earth, wood (with light cedar), bread, vegetation, along with a light tart citrus and a few blades of grass. It also sports a tea-like cigar quality as a strong secondary player. The components are so well balanced and complex that it’s hard to rank their importance in the mix. The strength is just past the center of medium to strong. The taste level is nearly full. The nic-hit is a step behind the strength threshold. There’s no chance of bite or harshness though there are some rough edges that the sweetness from the blonde Izmir doesn’t stamp out. Burns cool, clean, and a tad fast as shag tobacco always does. The bold, deeply rich, sweet, mildly sour, nutty, spicy, and savory, very floral flavor is exceptionally consistent from first puff to last. Those attributes translate to the long lingering, pleasant after taste, and pungent room note. Barely leaves any dampness in the bowl, and requires an average number of relights. It’s not an all day smoke, but it is repeatable. Four stars out of four.

-JimInks