Wellauer & Co Wellauer's English Blend

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.

This has been Wellauer’s signature blend for decades, although its taste (and ingredients) must have changed gradually over time. It is a more or less tasteful English mixture of medium strengh.

According to the description of Wellauer, this mixture consists of Virginia, Burley, Latakia, Louisiana Perique and a dash of Oriental. They do not mention Black Cavendish. However, according to my taste buds there is a lot of Black Cavendish around. If not, then there is a high amount of BC casing in this blend. For my personal liking it is far too much.

There is a pleasant amount of spicy Orientals and a rather reserved amount of Latakia.
Recommended, if you like the taste of Black Cavendish and English mixtures in general.

Asking for an alternative for Artisan's Blend which was out of stock, I was pointed to the Wellauer's selection. Had I read the comments here, I would have bought the Latakia Blend most likely. However, I left the shop with a tin of English Blend. Well, I made worse decisions in my day, but I also did a lot better. Opening the tin, there were spicy aromas; a bit too spicy for my nose. In a wide-bowl pipe (by that time, I had read the reviews), the smoke was much milder than the smell, and actually not unpleasant. The room note, too, was "pleasant" according to my wife. However, I did not really sense this was an English blend, let alone one of the caliber of Artisan's. Latakia is scarce (if any), Perique not overwhelming either, no bite on the tongue - that adds up to too many "not"s. Overall, I felt this pleasant smoked lacked in character. Giving it a "somewhat recommended" rating reflects that it is an enjoyable, mild and easy smoke if you don't look for any kick or overdose of orientals. But it is definitely no match for other milder English blends I like, such as EMP or Squadron Leader.

A decent english blend, though posed me a series of problems. I wasn't able to light it properly, I never found the Perique it claims to contain, which was the actual reason that I bought this tobacco. My last bowl was a nightmare-if ever existed a last bowl, for I never managed to light it up and smoke it. Am I too amateur for that kind of cut? Did I forgot how to fill my pipe? No matter what, I will try it again after a (very long) while....