Wilke Pipe Tobacco Nut Brown Burley

In the pouch, this tobacco smells like timothy hay. It is sweet and grassy and brings "the country" to mind. This is a burley characteristic, but this blend blows all the others out of the water!

The cut makes it suitable for any size pipe. It packs easily and lights without fuss. I've never had trouble keeping this blend lit. It burns down to a darker gray ash.

The flavor of this tobacco is simple and straightforward, which is what most burley smokers want. It starts sweet, but not like candy at all, more like sweet corn. The sweetness dwindles as the bowl progresses, but this burley never gets harsh or sour, even when pushed. Be warned, though -- this tobacco has a nice nicotene punch! It's an iron fist in a silk glove, so unless you're used to it this is not an all-day smoke.

The most remarkable aspect of this tobacco is the room note! It smells like roasting tree nuts -- some say chestnuts, I say hazelnuts. For a tobacco with no detectable casing or flavoring, it sure smells nice! NBB is great for social situations where folks may be sensitive to strong tobacco aromas, but will tolerate aromatics. This blend is aromatic without being an aromatic!

To compare NBB to a beverage, I would liken it to Newcastle or Smithwick's Ale. Utterly approachable, elegant in its simplicity, and of top-notch quality. Highly recommended!

Certainly one of the best Burley blends you can find.

It has a deep earthy, nuttiness to it. It smells like good tobacco should too. I detect no casing on this at all.

No problems with bite, or bitterness.

If you love Burley, this is a good Burley to love...

7/24/2014 - Wow I have been updating my review for NBB for over a decade and I am sad to say that I just spoke to Carole and NBB is indeed gone forever. I asked her when it will be back and her exact words in an email were "NBB is not coming back" So that's it folks, when someone says stock up now on your favorite blend believe it since one day it might not be available. I fondly look back on receiving pounds of NBB and the aroma that accompanied them over the last decade +. Time to switch to Uhle's # 44, Watch City's Deluxe Crumb Cut Burley or Sutliff's Edgeworth Match....

2011 - Just wanted to update yet again that the pounds i bought in 2008 have improved with the extra age. I do not believe burleys improve with age but the small amount of virginia and turkish have melded over the last three years and its ever more exquisite. A day without NBB is a sad day indeed. Stock up...

08/20/2008 NBB is back and it is just as good as it has always been. I have been waiting for months for Carole to aquire the correct ingredients and she has them now. I plan to order several pounds and celler them just in case.

Original review - 08/03/2004

This is absolutley the finest burley. Everyone in my home likes the smell......and the taste is exquisite. Carole at Wilke's is a very pleasant shopkeeper and the tobacco is all quality. Cant go wrong. Cool, rich and a good blend when my King Eider has destroyed my tongue. Wonderful chestnut aroma in my Cob!

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April: This is now my everyday, at work smoke. Every batch is consistent and always at the perfect moisture level. It smokes best when dry, i leave some in a bowl on my desk, about a weeks worth.

Recently added some Christmas Cheer and made my own version of Half and Half but better. Yum!

Is this the best Burley I've ever smoked? Nope. Is this the best blend I have ever smoked? Nope. So what is it that makes me want to smoke this almost exclusively? I have no idea!

Perhaps it is because simplicity can be so beautiful, this Burley is very enjoyable. The four-ounce bag I received had some cubes and lots of leaves, nice and light brown in color with just the right moisture content. The smell in the bag is great...like fresh baked cookies. Packing and lighting is easy due to the cut and moisture levels.

The flavor is very mild, although I am used to Edgeworth Sliced, and the characteristic grassy taste of good Burley is prominently in the front. While enjoying the initial grassy element, the background keeps it full by providing a clean creamy finish with a mild nutty flavor. There is no bitterness, it smokes dry and down to a very fine ash.

UPDATE: 4/25/09 A few years later I am still enjoying this tobacco and now consider it my main blend. In the right pipe Nut Brown Burley is what I hope Heaven is.

Update 10/28/2006:

This is one of my top three favs. I included a sample of this in a recent "deserted island" box pass and it received highly favourable reviews all around.

This certainly isn't Prince Albert, and to compare it so is a sad reflection of someone with terribly abused taste buds.

This is what burly is all about: depth, interplay of different burleys and nuances for the sophisticated palate.

Original:

I recently placed my first order with Carole Burns at Pipeworks & Wilke (a four by two ounce sampler pack) and Nut Brown Burley immediately emerged as my favourite.

This delectable, dark and rich tobacco is exactly what I have longed for my pipe and self to experience. This blend is far from monochromatic. Though not sweetened, I detect chocolate and coffee notes, and there?s a creamy richness to the experience that offers the similar gastronomical reward of finishing a well-served steak.

This is the only tobacco that I?ve ever experienced where I wish I had a pipe that could accommodate a one pound load. And from a fellow who sips his tobacco out of smaller pipes, this is quite the compliment.

Nut Brown Burley is certainly a burley smoker?s dream.

I?ve got a beautiful 100-year-old tobacco jar just waiting for a pound of this tobacco. The second pound of my order will cellar for a year. This tobacco is now a staple of my diet.

This is an exceptional, mellow smoke that I whole heartily recommend.

I had high hope for this blend, alas it was not to be. Well made of high grade tabacco. However nothing special here. Scotty's Butter Nut Burley is much better

I am working my way through four ounces of Nut Brown Burley, one of Carol's, at Pipeworks and Wilke's, best sellers. Many tobaccos achieve popularity, and not always because they merit it, but NBB is a fine specimen. I am not as well versed in burley as I should be so my comments can be taken or left...Pouch aroma is sweet and rich, rather like a pastry of sorts, with a myriad of cuts tumbling about the bag. Tobacco is humid, so I let her dry before I consume (a blend this interesting has to be a "her"). Lightup is at once sweet and mildly acrid, settling down very shortly into a solid continuum of dense and "creamy" smoke. This blend does not coat my palate in the sense of a Dunhill english, but rather washes in and out, like the gentle action of the ocean at dusk. Relights tend to be bitter but not for long. The flavor remains remarkably consistent throughout the bowl, gaining a smidgen of strength at the bottom, where the smoke darkens and wisps away. I understand that previous reviewers have found the key player (burley, burley, burley) a trifle monochromatic, but I find it a savoury reprieve after years of trying every blend under the sun. On a side note, the room aroma is entrancing, akin to burnt caramel coffee...Well done Carol.

Impressive! A completely different world from the other burley blend I've tried in the past. Absolutely not bitter, slow burning, nutty, almost sweet at times, smooth like few tobaccos around. Truly top class, magnificent, a real masterpiece.

NBB has a delicious aroma and is asthetically pleasing to look at. This has enough broadcut in it to burn real slow and cool which is good, because this has to be sipped very slow or it will bite. The flavor is raisiney and of maple syrup and gingerbread with a toasty very subtle nutty undertone. The only thing I did not like about NBB is that I expected something much better after reading the reviews here. I never got a consistant flavor out of it through the entire 8 ounces I ordered. While it is a good burley, its just not good enough to justify its high pricetag. 2 out of 4.