Wellauer & Co Wellauer's English Blend

I see where most of the esteemed reviewers here believe Wellauer's English Blend to be an outstanding tobacco and I heartily concur. I have never seen this tobacco presented in a pouch, it has always been in tinned form as far as I know. I received several well aged tins a couple of years ago and smoked them all over the course of a year.

Like the esteemed Jakob K., I found the visual presentation to be somewhat unusual for an English type tobacco. The cut is wide and even chunky. The Latakia presence is there in droves, and at the match I detected an unusual "spice" that bordered on an acidic taste - similar to a strong French coffee.

If you like semi-heavy English flavor and don't mind an unusually slow burning blend, then this tobacco will probably please. It is cool and dry with a fresh and clean taste.

It is also hard to find.

Don't buy it!!

To begin with, this is not an English tobacco. If there is latakia in it, you'll probably not feel it, because the casing is simply too strong. The casing is a wine-like aroma that covers completely the natural aspect of the tobaccos they say is in there. It could easily be called sungold something. I bet this is a byproduct, there is no coarse cut, this is cutted that way because it's made of the rest of other blends and cased in a way you can taste something. So do yourself a favor and just don't buy it, it has absolutelly nothing to do with english blends, yet, you'll feel like me: fooled! If you want a decent english tobacco buy Samuel Gawith-Commonwealth or anything from Dunhill.

My first latakia blend. Fully aromatic, marvelous sent and full of spicy aroma.

(Please correct the following problems: my review must be at least 25 words long)

Stumbled upon an aged tin of this at a reasonable price and jumped on it. This is a chunky ribbon of mostly light to dark brown, with a tin aroma that reminded me of some of the old Dunhills - a richly pungent sour aroma that was very enticing. This burned a little unevenly at first but after a few extra relights, it got into a groove.

The flavor started out with the Syrian latakia front and center, which offered its usual smokey, outdoorsy-type notes. The perique was noticeable but not potent and it took a backseat to the orientals about mid-bowl, when the blend's lightly pepper/sweet hints gave way to a slightly sour flavor. The Virginia was of the grassy variety which only a hint of added sweetness that offset the orientals in excellent fashion. Too sweet and the two may have fought, and I think the choice of Virginia was the right one. This was a subtly complex mixture that really only changed at mid-bowl. It was almost like smoking two different simpler blends. Kind of intriguing. I should point out that I did not have the opportunity to smoke this fresh, so I don't know what factor age played. I enjoyed it but I have no plans to cellar this one, even if I could find it easily. Recommended as a very fine representation of what Syrian latakia brings to a standard English blend, but not a reference for me.

This is a northern european attempt at making an "english" blend and IMO they have done very well, indeed. Upon opening the tin, you are greeted by an aroma and appearance very similar to Dunhill's nightcap, but you will discern the Syrian latakia as opposed to the Dunhill's Cyprian offerring. Moisture seems a little high, but does not seem to affect burn which is about two relights to get going. The initial flavor is wonderful with a distinct pungency common to this type of blend. The perique is noticable but not in your face and settles down about mid-bowl to let the other leaves shine. The interplay between the virginia and syrian latakia is wonderful. The turkish is there, but only as support.Toward the end of the bowl, strength builds, but not in an overpowering way. The ash that is left is dry and you are ready for more. This blend is not as full as nightcap despite the likenesses previously stated, so that this can be an all-day smoke. Pricewise, this is very affordable. A 100g tin only cost $12.00 U.S. Give this one a whirl, I believe you will enjoy it thoroughly. Rating 4.5 out of 5 points

For those in a hurry: I hardly managed to smoke one bowl. The rest of the tin went into the garbage bin. Tastes like card board with some undefined, unpleasant flavor added.

Wellauer is a Swiss company, but it's mixtures are produced in Germany by Planta. I bought a tin in the Wellauer shop, St. Gallen, Switzerland. Tin design differs from the one in Germany, but I assume it is the same mixture. Apart from the Wellauaer Dunhill copies, where I doubt that these are produced by Planta, my experience with Wellauer blends was very mixed, the Balkan Mixture has been the only blend turning out as a positive surprise. I wanted to try the English blend, since the ingredients sound promising. Well, after cracking the lid, the mixture came optically across very unattractive, very rough cut in a plastic bag. The odor emerging from the tin was even worse. Not at all what I expected - aroma of an English Mixture - but some heavy, dull aroma, reminding be of Wellauers First Choice (certainly not mine). After leaving the tin open for a couple of hours, the intensity decreased a bit, but I still failed to detect the typical smells of the claimed ingredients. Smoking the stuff was quite unpleasant for me, the flavoring was always present, true tobacco aromas did not evolve. My first and last try, and it is very rare for me to give a mixture not a second chance. My conclusion: if your idea of an English blend is nurtured by Dunhill, Samuel Gawith, GLP, ..., AVOID THIS BLEND BY ALL MEANS.

It was an old aluminium foil pouch, which I found alongwith one of First Choice.

The tobacco was dry but not excessively so. The cut was on the coarse side, I could not call it ribbon, nor ready rubbed. Something like pressed cube. The pouch note was very strange, somethingmusty and alcoholic, I would say anise.

Easy enough to light, it burned substantially cool. But regarding the flavour, oh... no ... it was empty, muddied, None tobacco flavour did shine, a simply undistinguished blend with some Latakia in the rear. And, the worst, irrespectively of the pace it scorched my palate. Something chemically wrong with my body.

Something to forget. Sorry.

It remembered me so much of the Brebbia no. 7

I picked up an old tin of Wellauer’s English Blend about a year ago. I am guessing it is 15 to 20 years old, but that is just a guess. In the tin, there is the scent of a topping that I would best describe as “fruity.” The tobacco is a chopped ribbon. In the pipe it smokes of a typical medium to full English with the Orientals and Latakia leading the way. There’s some sweetness from the Virginias but I had a difficult time distinguishing it from what I perceive to be the topping. The Perique has adds a very light pepper quality to the blend. The reason why it has taken me months to get through this tin is that I find the first half of each bowl somewhat tasty, but as each bowl progresses, the later stages become muddled and somewhat flat and at times even bitter leaving me with an unpleasant aftertaste. I finally gave up about two thirds way though the tin. In fairness, this may have been better in its youth, but that’s just a hopeful guess.

Latakia is stronger than i prefer and doesn't seem to be of good quality (bitter and soulless). Perique is almost unnoticeable. Its a mild, overall cool smoke to the bottom of the bowl. Bite-less and forgiving for the puffer and the novice smoker.

Expected a more rich flavor. It becomes a bit harsh when not carefully smoked. A spicy character giving off a spicy, smoky note. A tobacco that needs some work and thinking in order to define accurately its contents, properties.