Astley's No.1 Medium Latakia Mixture

Astley's No. 1 is a tobacco you don't hear much about but is worth a try. It's basically a lighter English blend with a touch of what I assume to be cavendish. The result gives it a sweetish tone with a fine room note. A shag cut, it burns cooly down to a dry ash. Overall, a fine option for one looking for a fairly interesting, not overly complex, lighter English.

When I first have a bowl of this I immediately love the flavor, sweet and smokey with a touch of toastiness. The problem I have with this blend is it can be a bit bitey at times. I think this probably has something to do with the sweet virginias that are in this. If this did not bite me as much I would give it a higher rating. Although I would smoke this if it was given to me (thanks Brad for this tin) I probably would not buy another tin of this as there are many blends in this genre that are very tastey but are not quite as bitey.

Tin note of smoky, sour and tart dark fruit. Tobacco is a mixed cut of black, brown, dark brown and tan. Moisture content is good. Some pipe smokers will want to dry it out a bit. Burns moderately slow with few relights. The strength is mild to medium and nic is mild. No flavoring detected. Taste is medium and moderately consistent, with notes of smoky, floral, spices, toasted bread, sugar, musty herbal hay, earthy, wood, mild leather, mildly savory, mildly fermented sour, peaty vegetation, a mild citrus incense and dark fruit background note, and a peppery retro. Latakia is leading with Cavendish, Oriental/Turkish and Virginia supporting. Room note is tolerable, and aftertaste is great.

Appearance: as usual, Kohlhase & Kopp don't put a release date on their tins, so I could only be guided by the excise stamp, which had Q1 2021 on it. So the tin was most likely produced at the end of 2020. The blend looks like a fine ribbon cut of tobaccos of different colors - from straw and light Virginia to almost black cavendish and latakia. The different varieties are easily distinguishable, and despite the "medium" prefix in the name, there is plenty of latakia. The humidity is moderate, the tobacco should be dried a little.

Flavor: tar and smoke slightly dominate, a bit of leather added, complex woody tones (with a slight touch of sandalwood). The wine note of Cavendish smoothes out the overall coarse flavor, there is a slight salty, fruity notes of Virginia when you mix the tobacco. Apparently, the amount of Oriental in the tobacco is minimal, and their addition is only intended to ennoble the overall bouquet. I also detect a certain earthiness or, to be more precise, dustiness in the overall flavor. The overall bouquet can easily be broken down into its constituent notes.

Taste: quite ordinary for an English blend (despite the fact that it has cavendish) and not too dense. Compared to such English flavor coryphaei as Dunhill and Pease English blends, the tobacco somewhat lacks density and volume - both in smell and taste. Nevertheless, all the typical notes are present - smoky, leathery, and especially woody notes in a light creamy "wrapper", notes of dark stout with salty cracker, barely noticeable astringent sweetness of plum. The tobacco is barely sweet, although initially I managed to catch a bit of fruity sweetness. As you smoke, the emphasis on woody notes and leather increases, the sweetness disappears completely. The tobacco finally becomes a "dry stout from the barrel" with light notes of smokiness and a slightly salty flavor, to which a slight wine note is added. The taste of the blend at the beginning of smoking is a little rough, but quickly smoothes out. The strength is below average, even in a very large pipe I did not feel any signs of nicotine shock. The blend does not bite, is tolerant of overheating and burns quite evenly and slowly, burning out into a light gray dusty ash and leaving almost no moisture. The aftertaste is woody-smoky, not persistent.

The smoke is relatively light, but, as with other latakia blends, has a characteristic smell of smoldering peat, tar and wood. And, of course, it is quite persistent.

What's the bottom line? The ratio of latakia and cavendish in this recipe reminded me of a pretty decent tobacco, Ashton Artisan's Blend. But the taste of the blend without the Kentucky and perique was much simpler, without the zest. And the Virginia is obviously simpler in this blend. Nevertheless, I dare to recommend this blend for you to get acquainted with Scottish and English flavors: it's light enough, doesn't scare a beginner with its massive amount of latakia in smell and taste, doesn't stun with its volume. I myself, when choosing tobaccos from the same manufacturer, would prefer the aforementioned Ashton Artisan's Blend - if, of course, I find it in the store.

Another one of those blends who presents itself as a latakia blend in the name/description, but lacks latakia. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not a bad blend, but neither is it great and even if it says it’s Medium, the latakia in it is... mild.

Tin note is mild, with sweet notes and just a bit of leather.

Very nice cut with small ribbons and chunks of black leaves which should be the black cavendish and the latakia, brown leaves and dark yellow.

Perfect moisture, goes right into the bowl.

First description I wrote: Sweet and only a bit smoky latakia combine with black cavendish is the first you’ll notice. Floral orientals dance together with a hay-like virginia. There’s a sugary taste. The latakia is mild, it’s too aromatic due to the big influence of black cavendish. Has a medium, well rounded taste which blends the tobaccos well to make a smooth, mild smoke, good for someone who is new to english blends. The orientals are floral rather than leathery.

Second description I wrote: Very sweet right from the first match, could be the virginia and black cavendish which seem to be the stars of this blend. The latakia is unnoticeble and the orientals might give a floral taste, if not a small casing/topping. I could barely call this an english blend. This is rather a scottish blend than an english blend, but good nevertheless. However, not for latakia fiends, so don’t be deceived by the title.

The sweet black cavendish seems to be in the front, backed by some orientals. It has some leather and wood notes, but little smokiness from the latakia, rather a sweet and creamy latakia here. After the middle of the bowl a shy appearance of latakia, combined with the black cavendish which stays with you till the end of the bowl. I’ve left the smoked tobacco in the pipe for five hours, because that way I know that the latakia starts to make itself present. I light up the pipe again and indeed, the latakia started making its presence more, but still very sweet, the cavendish is too much in this.

Reminds me a lot of Presbyterian Mixture, although that one doesn’t have cavendish in it, it has this sweet, creamy notes, same type of orientals I think and is also as mild as this one.

Burns very well, evenly, cool, doesn’t need relights, doesn’t get hot.

Room note is also sweet, pleasant, only a bit of latakia can be detected but more sweetness.

I consider this a middle of the road English blend. Nothing great and nothing lousy either. Good cut and good burning characteristics. More emphasis on the Turkish component than I care for. Not too much emphasis on the Latakia. If you like basic English blends and like that pungent Turkish taste, then try this. I prefer blends like 965 that have a hint more natural sweetness.