Wilke Pipe Tobacco High Hat

This is an extremely well balanced mixture. Though it contains burley, VA, Latakia, and perique, they all come together harmoniously to produce a medium-full English mixture. If I am in the mood for latakia and perique but don't want to get bowled over by Nightcap, this is what I reach for. It's almost a cross between 965 and Nightcap and is up there in quality with Dunhill. There is a slight bite at light up, but then it settles into a smooth and satisfying mixture. It's heavy enough that one bowl satisfies me, but doesn't knock me out. For a blender known for their aromatics, P & W makes some killer English blends.

3/14/2006 I've downgraded this slightly as there is some harshness which prevents me from smoking this as much as I would like. Still a great blend, just a bit rough on the throat for me.

To me this is dominated by the kentucky flavour in the first part, then it becomes very complex with all the tobaccos playing their role her and there. The main feeling is a little bitterness, but of a pleasant kind. As the other P&W offerings, it burns perfectly and evenly. Recommended.

An English with loads of flavor. Replaced 965 as our pipe clubs English offering at meetings.

An English with a lot of flavor. Reminds me of a middle range Dunhill blend, only smoother, and with more flavor. No harshness or excessive heat. As someone else said, it could well be a replacement for 965, 965 smells good to others, and this one tastes good to you.

High Hat: daedal, classic, compelling. Tastes vary down the bowl: now the naturally sweet Virginias, then some perique pepper, and often, the nearly chafing bitterness that seems to bottom the Pipeworks and Wilke line. Never dull, this is a quality smoke that ruins my throat. So High Hat will be an occasional pleasure for me. Note that unless you like a strong, pungent smoke, you won't like this one.

Over a year and a half and no reviews of High Hat?

Wow.

Took a Wilke tour with a 4 blend sampler including High Hat.

It rocks!

In the same ball park as say Artisan's blend. Syrian lat and perique seem to go very well together.

But what sets this apart IMO is the notable bright VA profile which gives a very nice high note and sweetness to the smoke. Digging through the blend I find a good size helping of soem of the brightest flue cured VA I've seen.

It's a blend I smoke when I want some Latakia substance and satisfactory strength, but not in the mood for a dark heavy smoke.

I smoke a lot of Burley and I don't think of this as a burley blend. I know it's in there and can sense the body it brings but it doesn't stand out and shout "BURLEY".

The cut is a familiar mixture of longer ribbon of various widths; some almost bordering on shag. It loads, lights and burns like a champ, with zero issues. It burns a bit fast, but not hot at all.

I'd guess it would smoke well in just about any pipe but I've found my Sav 320 eats this stuff like candy. So I can attest that a wide shallow bowl does it some justice.

I like all the Wilke blends I ordered but this is the only one that was different enough from the crowd to make it a reorder candidate. I bet I'll loves me some me in about 10 years when I stumble on a big mason jar of this stuff in my closet.

Highly recommend you give it a shot. It's special

Wilke Pipe Tobacco
High Hat

Blend notes: “A rare 1870's Wilke formula of selected Cyprian Latakia blended with Kentucky Burley, Louisiana Perique and Golden Virginia. A pinnacle amongst English blends.”

High Hat is a Latakia-forward, moderate strength English blend. There is what I might call a watery element — it’s as if the Latakia is diluted, slippery but tasty. Not in your face. The burley gives structure. The Perique adds a bit of counterbalancing sourness — a tad more than condiment level without being forward.

Wilke has a number of English blends. They all are generous with Latakia but differ in how other elements are integrated. High Hat is good. I consider this a moderate strength blend but Lat- forward.

3 out of 4 stars.

High Hat is the first American English style I have tried with Burley. Must say, I really do like this blend. The tobaccos are of high quality and meld together in harmony and give a rich, smooth smoke. Lots of smoke, easy to keep the bowl lit and a pleasant finish - what's not to like? I find this blend is not very similar to Nightcap, being a bit smoother and creamier. The latakia is not overbearing, but allows the other component leaves to come forward at times. There is a bit of sweet, tart, smoky, earthy qualities that all come together well. IMHO, the addition of burley and absence of orientals in this blend are what does the trick. John & Co. hit a home run with this one. Four stars and then some! High Hat warrants stocking up. Highly recommended.

For a relatively highly-rated blend this one has been a bit of a puzzler for me. I’ve tried it in five different pipes, tried firm or loose packing, tried fresh from the jar or drying for two hours, but it always lands in the 3 – 3.5 star range, stubbornly refusing to take that last step to four star glory. In most pipes it follows the same pattern: starts in the three star range (generally good but promising further potential) and slowly builds to 3.5 stars by the end of the bowl.

At its best I get flavors of beef braciola in brown gravy (not tomato marinara!), dried bresaola, and a hint of charred fat. Basically, meaty and savory. No campfire, as the Latakia is very muted, no grass or hay as the Virginia is comparatively recessed; this is a blend characterized by the interplay between the Burley and Perique. At the beginning of the bowl I get a hint that the Burley needed more pH adjustment, but there is an omnipresent background sweetness in the blend that does well to hide any rough edges.

By itself I rarely visit High Hat but I keep several jars on hand with different amounts of aging because I use this to make an easy DIY creation discussed on one of the forums which takes one half High Hat and one half Peter Stokkebye Luxury Bullseye Flake. It’s called Benediction, but you can name it what you like. Honestly, I would have never anticipated that these two different blends could create such serendipity together. It’s worth getting a couple of ounces of High Hat just to try Benediction yourself. I measure by weight 50/50, but if you don’t have a weight just eyeball it half and half – it will still be delicious. Benediction is a Top Ten favorite in my rotation!