Ken Byron Ventures King's Ramson 2021

The smoky, woody, earthy, musty sweet Cyprian Latakia is the lead component, comprising forty percent of the blend. The mildly buttery sweet, fairly sour, dry, woody, earthy, herbal, floral, smoky, vegetative, very spicy, potent basma and yenidje are strong supporting players. The yenidje also sports a small “unflavored soda note”. The stoved Virginia offers some sugary tangy stewed dark fruit, wood, earth, and bread. It is just behind the Orientals in terms of effect, though I would say it mostly plays a support role, too. The tangy fermented dark fruity, earthy, woody, mildly sugary, bready, slightly vinegary and spicy mature red Virginia helps the stoved Virginia tame much of roughness of the Latakia and Orientals. The aspects of the earthy, woody perique are stewed raisins, figs, and plums. The fruit from the perique is the most obvious feature. The perique melds with the spice from the Orientals enough that I can’t really pick it out. The strength and nic-hit are a step past the medium mark. The taste level is a notch past that. Won’t bite or get harsh, and barely has any rough notes. Well balanced and complex, it burns cool and clean at a moderate pace with a deeply rich, mostly consistent sweet, spicy and savory, floral campfire flavor that extends to the pleasantly lingering after taste. Leaves little dampness in the bowl, and requires an average number of relights. The room note has a sweet pungency. Not an all day smoke, but it is repeatable. Four stars.

-JimInks

This is the third KBV blend I have tried (following Plateau and Hand of Götz) and King's Ransom is another winner. It is not quite as heady and Latakia-forward as Plateau, but still smooth and solid in flavors of leather and salt and nicely balanced. A standout feature of this blend to me is the way that it distinctly manages to SHOWCASE the Orientals in the flavor presentation. This is done to just the right degree making them fun, flowery, and playful on the palate at center of the stage in front of the supporting players but never overdone. I have also noticed that this feature varies depending the pipe - muted slightly in my Meer-lined Peterson Magnum, more pronounced in my Pete system briars. Stashing some pouches of King's Ransom in my cellar alongside Plateau. 3.8 stars out of 4.