Watch City Cigar Waltham Broken Cake

The dark air cured burley provides plenty of earth, wood, nuts, bread, light dry sour sharpness, molasses, and a pinch or two of spice as the lead component. The dark fired Kentucky produces a lot of earth, wood, herbs, vegetation, floralness, some spice, nuts, mild sourness, smoke, and light barbecue. It’s an important supporting player that adds body and depth to the proceedings. The flue cured Virginia offers light tart and tangy citrus, grass, bread, sugar, floralness, and a pinch of spice in a condimental role. The strength is a step past the medium mark. The taste is a slot past that. The nic-hit is a rung under the medium threshold. Won’t bite or get harsh. Has a few very small rough notes. The dark rum and lightly applied cocoa toppings mildly tone down the tobaccos as they synergistically help form a mostly consistent, deeply rich, sweet, nutty, spicy, mildly smooth, smoky, lightly savory flavor that extends to the moderately lingering, pleasant after taste. The room note is a notch stronger. The thick broken pieces are mildly moist, but I did not dry them as per my usual custom. Your mileage may vary on this point. It’s well balanced with a little subtle complexity as it burns cool, clean, and a bit slow. Leaves little dampness in the bowl, and requires some relights. Not an all day smoke, but it is repeatable. I suggest a wide bowl for this blend for optimal effect. Four stars.

-JimInks

Recently I watched an interesting video that featured master blender Russ Ouellette. And although the specific subject of discussion was the nature of tobacco leaves, it smacked loudly of this concept. Namely, craftsmen like himself are forced to evolve their work based upon what is presented as choice. That is to say the exact recipe and taste of a long-standing blend of yesteryear, say Prince Albert, is not the same as what it was in the past, though it is still Prince Albert by nature.

Mainly such things as crop source changes and leaf variations play an integral role in the evolution of subject blend’s recognizable taste. As we have learned ultimately on a larger scale these matters can and may affect the continuance of a specific product or company in the case of a McClelland. As Russ explained changing variables naturally force a standard recipe to be modified to achieve a proper counterbalancing to sustain its true nature, (i.e., seeking the Dao). Accepting that truism, therefore, it is fair to state that in five, ten, fifteen years from now, our beloved Plum Pudding will be not exactly the same as the current cherished companion of so many pipers. Deep and cranial granted but makes a ton of sense to me.

Following this notion, we see a market introduction of a new Burley-based cake configured blending. Due to circumstances relating to an aggravated supply line of key leaf components affecting their popular offering Slices, Watch City Cigars & Pipe now presents us with well-prepared alternative recipe entitled Waltham Broken Cake. A compounded assortment of variable Burley, notable Kentucky, and a touch of seasoning Bright Virginia that has been lightly flavored with cocoa and a modest volume of spicy rum. Generally, the feel the blend renders overall is a humbly sweetened Burley excursion that hinges upon that presence of tasteful robust smokiness, wooded bold spice and a complementing skirting of citrusy tart grass.

Waltham is a genuinely a fairly attractive combination to say the least. Something about a caked varietal always lends itself to luxury on the visual front. Namely, deeply dark mottled chunks and crumbles of meaty pieces present a thick wholesome presentation. The tobaccos themselves are stoked by progressed fermentation and aesthetic aging that provides an initial indication of the richness of flavor held within. Delicate flecks of the yellow Bright show a scattered pattern in tight compression as the opaque heavy bundling of lush brown and jet blackened strains encapsulate them neatly. The cigar man in me wants to scream “maduro” given the similarity of their matured guise. The moisture is ideal for immediate smoking.

The nose of this medium-full blending speaks with much fertile spicing as an introduction. Evidence of the advancing zing of fiery Kentucky swirls topmost over a rather tamed naturally sweet Burley nut-woodiness. Gentle hints of the rum additive find their way somewhat forward as they embrace a tinge of chocolate highlighting. At the closing of the registration there is a softer rendering of passive tarty grass and tamed sourness hiding within the bowels of the bold forward aroma.

Key points of the formal assessment: Medium to full strength/intensity : There is no chance of mistaking the designed passion of Waltham Broken Cake. With consistent determination, the blend is quite authentic and rich in true robustness of feel and tastefulness. The mixture is not necessarily one that I would recommend to a newcomer but more so to the experienced Burley smoker. Additionally, the magnitude of the Kentucky only intensifies the abundance of heady savor. The overall strength holds true for the entirety of the session which is a key distinction of a well contrived/mixed recipe.

Forward taste: Per Watch City’s intention, the Burley is the key feature as it leads with a full rich texture that is distinctly darker and dense in spirit. Primarily soiled and slightly sweet, the dominate woodiness entwines with a decent element of sweet molasses nuttiness. A reasonably complex character with accented notes of dark plums and a kiss of spicy mint. Strong cocoa overtones, herbaceous tannins carry through, with a crumb of bittersweet anise notation as well. A very beguiling, mellow, and charismatic enticement overall.

Secondary Element: Kentucky – I suspect that the recipe was contrived with a well metered volume of DFK but as powerful as the strain is the influence within the flavor is significantly big. Very smoky and barbecued, with a level of peppery zest that leaves a felt resonance within the palate. Masterfully it tenders with a dark broody mocking on every drawl of the pipe. The flavor sits prominently in the front middle band embellishing the constituent Burley with a slightly sweeter charred woodiness coupled with a trace of earthen sharpness.

Baseline: The spicy Virginia provides the essential bottom nuance with some very floral natural sweetness. Tangy, citrus grass cavorts with a few impressionable hints of caramel and stewed tea. The controlled temperance within the blend is optimally tailored. Ideally The Virginian strain brings the registration just enough ambience to provide a soothing sweeter undertowing to the heavier and spicy action transitioning above. I really appreciated this harmonizing effect.

Additive Accenting: There is an overarching cultured chocolatiness to the accenting that is refined but not truly aromatic in nature. This combines with the native cocoa of the component Burley to embellish the sweet characterization that was registered. Furthermore, the consequential evidence of the rum dressing is substantially minimal at best. With marginal impact, it serves only to bump up the heightened spiciness of the overall melded taste registration

Additional Observations: • This is a tastefully complex recipe that demonstrates the consistent quality blending that one has come to expect from Watch City Cigars & Pipe.

• Decidedly bold in nature, it is advisable to charter this one as a gradual relaxed smoking. Given the enhanced Kentucky and the headiness of the Burley, instinctively a moderate pace is ideal to assure a more mellowed, enjoyable experience.

• Produces impressive clouds of earnest smoke with an ensuing room note that is sincerely forthright. Waltham projects a volume of heavy aroma that configures into dense charred sharp spice and robust native Burley tart/earthly woodiness.

• The cake performed quite well in terms of general mechanical and critical flavor attributes. The blend earned high marks in presence, balance, and fundamental depth, very respectful achievement in blended savor.

• As to the Burley-based genre specific, notable nuancing, charisma, gainful smokiness, and spicing were primary strengths recorded.

• In terms of leaf varietal representation, overall, a “B” rating as Waltham incorporated a fair range of standard taste features unique to Burley leaf.

• The burn manifested a comfortably even, cool, and moderately paced.

• No harshness, no bite but the nicotine effect is a couple ticks past medium.

• Smokes well in both briar and cob pipes.

Objective Scoring (based upon standard attributes, mechanicals, and cost) 2.86 measured assessment, cumulative 156 of 187 possible points @ 83.4%

Personal Subjective Ranking: 3.3 Pipes

This is one premium burley blend. Uniformly deep and scrumptious flavor throughout the entirety of the bowl, in fact, gets smoother midway and at the end. Another grand slam for Watch City.

Tastes like old stock burley that had to take a wallop of sauce to get it to taste like something. Pressed into cakes and semi broken up. It’s quite appealing to the eye, and seems to make me want to like it. Tastes flat and offers nothing to me in flavor or aroma.

Listed as an aromatic because of the toppings. But for me this is simply a flavorful, thoroughly enjoyable burley-Kentucky blend. The smoke offers cocoa, spice, and floral notes with some grass, hay, and pine. Dark fired provides a punch, Virginia adds a bit of sweetness. A slower cadence will do you well. I love it, and want to give the current 3-star rating get a little bump.

This could be off the same tree as Mac Barnes HH Old Dark Fired. Same robust profile, both with just just a hint of added something. The ODF tips the scales as a bit heavier. Both have a remarkably 'natural' tobacco flavor yet both admittedly have been masterfully blended to stay within those boundaries...just enough.

Bag note is mostly the rum topping and some floral scents. The flakes are already quite broken in very small pieces. Its quite dry out of the bag. Packs very easily. The rum smell is only slightly noticeable in the smoke. The fist taste is lite coco and the strong Kentucky. Lots of smoke from the burley There are some floral flavors. This is a full flavored tobacco. A bit harsh if puffed too hard. Lite cadence will reward you with big flavors. Nic hit is medium. 3.5 stars. Would be 4 for Kentucky lovers, and an all day smoke for those liking strong tobacco.

The bag note is a sweet and rich. Woody, molasses, rum, vegetative, smokey. It’s nice. Broken cakes on the drier side, aka perfect moisture. Packs easily.

Man this is good. The spice on this is just perfect. The spicy woody smoky Kentucky is absolutely noticeable but far from over powering. The rum topping is mild but adds a nice sweetness to this and tones it down some. There is a heavy earthy, mud, wet fallen leaves in the forest essence to this that I love. Leaves a spicy earthy after taste. A full flavored burley Kentucky blend. Nicotine is very noticeable I smoke this after a meal and I don’t smoke a lot of it. Full flavored, full bodied.