Wilke Pipe Tobacco Rum and Maple

Well, this one certainly has a lot of character, but there are a few issues which made me put the brakes on as far as giving a higher rating. Pie Eyed Piper recently gave a scathing 1-star review and I’m sympathetic to the points he makes. It seems we both received shipment from the same batch. This is heavy and goopy, really over the top in terms of added flavorings, and loaded with PG. So how the heck do I justify even giving two stars? I discovered that using a filter really cleans up a lot of this mess, and enough so that I get an almost three-star level of enjoyment from this blend. So my description below is based on using a filter, and based on the product that I received, not older batches that may have used less PG and taken more time to properly cure the tobacco. If you don’t use a filter, run the other way!

So, lots of flavor here even getting past a 6mm or 9mm charcoal filter. Drying on a paper plate for five hours did reduce the opulence to some degree, but the tobacco was still springy to the touch and easily clumped together –so watch for packing too densely. I get maple and scorched brown sugar, and the rum note is kind of weird and malty. Certainly not like my favored Barbancourt Estate 15 year rhum. An indulgent aromatic that with some drying and use of a filter rates about 2.5 stars. Without a filter, especially with drying and loss of flavor, I get weird tastes of wilted grass, chlorophyll, graphite, malt, rum, and even bitter Bay Leaf, the worst of these offenses mostly hidden by the maple sweetness. Without a filter: 1 star.