W.O. Larsen Kentucky Gold

I love Kentucky Gold... The can that I purchased was significantly aged; so much so, that the inner foil was bulging like a pillow. As a result, my experience may vary from others...

It has a nice naturally sweet and smooth smoke with a full tobacco flavor. Additionally, I had very little tongue bite compared to other Virginia tobacco blends. Other than a more affordable price, this tobacco is nearly perfect.

This one just happens to be my favorite tobacco in the market place. I love this stuff beyond the limits of reason. I have a passion for great burley and, the blend that was formulated here has to be one of the best. I love how this blend is mildly scented yet still maintains a natural mistique that brings a tear to my eye. Every pipe smoker finds a certain blend that seems to grow near and dear to his or her heart and, it just so happens that this one does it for me. The tobacco is perfectly dry and rubbed out so that there is no effort in the preparation of your smoke, simply pack it up and puff away. There is the perfect amount of cavendish matched to the burley as to slightly mellow and sweeten the blend into a wonderful menage of spice and vanilla. I have a passion for Gawith & Hoggarth's dark Kentucky, and Larsen seems to match the wit of dark Burley with the elegance of a mild cavendish to produce a true "Masters Blend." I buy five tins of this at a time and have a back stock that seems excessive but, when it's your favorite blend, you just get paranoid that one day they'll discontinue it. I've had most of the Larsen line but, without exception this one tops them all. As a traditional southern man I must say that there is nothing better than a glass of Booker's bourbon and the essence of Kentucky Gold to close the day.

Tin Aroma: Light and nutty, definately a blend with some Burley to it. Initial Reaction: I smiled at the first light, I love Burley! Then the PG set in, and for a second, I almost retched. The PG settled down after the initial reaction, and another good Burley blend enters my rotation. I smoked this in a Larsen pipe on the first try, and have since considered highly the possibility of devoting the pipe to this blend exclusively, with perhaps an occasional break for another Larsen blend. I am a big fan of what I call 'Southern Blends', containing lots of Burley, Cavendish, or Kentucky tobaccos, and this fits nicely in that niche. The Cavendish and Burley combination in this blend produced an astringent quality that goes well with a cup of Orange Pekoe, or a tall glass of iced tea. The second half of the bowl is a slightly fuller and more basso experience than the first half, and a tiny bit harder to keep lit. Perhaps the Cavendish naturally seeks a level lower tha nthe Burley. Careful packing seems to eliminate this to a degree.

I enjoy Kentucky Gold. It is the most refined burley-virginia mixture I know. I think of burley and virginia as straight tobacco. For straight tobacco flavor and stimulation, I know nothing better. Kentucky Gold is pricey at the Davidoff shop where I buy it, but I pay the price. I am looking for an economical alternative, but I have not found it.