Ken Byron Ventures Goblin City 2023

The very floral, fragrant, zesty Macedonian Prilep offers a lot of earth, wood, herbs, vegetation, spice, a fair amount of dry sourness, mild sweetness, along with light bitterness and smoke as the lead component. The year 2000 East Carolina and 2009 Brazilian red Virginias provide a burst of tangy ripe fermented dark fruit, earth, wood, bread, some sugar, mild tart and tangy citrus, vegetation, light floralness, grass, and a touch of spice. The mildly sweet Cyprian Latakia produces some earth, wood, floralness, smoke, vegetation, light leather and spice. It is barely above the condiment line. The strength and nic-hit are in the center of medium to full. The taste is almost full. No chance of bite or harshness. Has a few rough edges. Deeply rich, it burns clean and cool at a moderate pace with very consistent, savory, sour, floral, spicy, mildly fruity flavor that extends to the pleasantly long lingering after taste. Barely leaves any moisture in the bowl. Requires an average number of relights. The room note is very pungent. Not an all day smoke. The strongest of the Goblin City blends. Four stars.

-JimInks

Very legit product. I love trying new, high quality tobacco. Especially when I don't know what to expect. It kind of seems like being in a dark room and getting both of your hands on an object, feeling around it and suddenly realizing what it is the shape of. Then once you have an idea of what you are dealing with, you can start to find the appreciable points. This is most definitely a fine Scottish blend, but for some reason it reminds me so much of my old favorite Dubar. Except this has much less latakia. So do the orientals and the Latakia achieve a nice incensiness? Absolutely, but less prominent than other blends. There is also a sharp and fresh floral flavor, almost bordering on perfume like that pops up from time to time. In the back ground a continuous savory drip, almost salty.
However the entire blend seems a little more natural than others, almost raw. Some might call these rough edges, but that implies that the blend needs a little work. Not the case. This stuff is exactly the way Ken wanted it, massively authentic.
Very rich and bold enough that its hard to ignore.
I think this blend is a little more complex than other reviewers, too. Yes, it smells like a stable fire. It will drive others from the room. But it seems old and trustworthy. Salt of the earth kind of thing.
After 30 minutes, let your bowl nearly go out, barely maintaining a burn with micro puffs .... That's why I think this is a four-star blend.

I believe I read somewhere that Scottish mixtures are typically Oriental forward softened by Virginias and just a whisper of Latakia. Goblin City 2023 certainly seems to meet THAT requirement. My favorite Balkan uses Macedonian Orientals so it’s no wonder this particular Scottish mixture roused my curiosity.

The appearance is mostly mahogany colored course cut ribbons with some tans and blacks mixed in. The pouch note is a soft tobacco aroma. Not sweet, not smoky, not pungent. Just a nice mild unassuming, maybe a little nutty, tobacco fragrance.

For me the flavor is smooth, perhaps a little earthy, a kind of dryness not sweet. Some might call it sour. If Goblin City 2023 were a wine, I’d describe it as a soft dry red wine. Certainly not bold.

This is the kind of tobacco you can smoke all day long and never have to think about it. It’s not complex, there’s no tongue bite, harshness, or bitterness. I didn’t experience any pipe gurgle. It smokes down to a fine white ash. It’s a very well behaved tobacco and all in all adds up to a very enjoyable smoking experience.

So if you’re looking for a nice quiet relaxing not-sweet smoke, with perhaps barely a whisper of smokey Latakia, then Goblin City 2023 certainly fits that bill.