Wilke Pipe Tobacco Wilke No. 191

A good all around aromatic. The tobacconist says there is no topping to this tobacco, just Burley, Cavendish and Virginia. I get hints of honey, but no vanilla. A nice smoke in the morning for something light and mildly sweet. The nutty flavor of the Burley predominates and is very pleasant for me. A definite all day smoke with a wonderful long lasting aftertaste.

A much better version of Riptide by JUST FOT HIM or Christmas Cookie by Boswell. Caramel type flavor and pleasant taste. A little dry and not too sweet. Good for a diversion. 3 stars

If you enjoy smoking aromatic tobaccos, you can't go wrong with this blend. It tastes like tobacco, mostly, its aroma will lull the hordes, and it smokes cool and dry. The fine folks at Pipeworks and Wilke sent along a little sampler of this blend with my last order of Nut Brown Burley, and I enjoyed the couple of bowls I smoked. But, perhaps more to the point, my wife LOVED the stuff, or I should say the smell of the stuff, enough to ask me to smoke more of it in her presence sometime. Friends, I've never had a request of this sort before. I'm not even sure my feeble brain can comprehend this sort of behavior from my wonderful but smoke-hating wife. So I recommend this blend if for, nothing else, than it hastens the cooing of women. Or of at least one woman. Smoke this stuff and you, too, may someday be allowed to emerge from your man-cave with a pipe in your mouth and a gleam in your eye... 🙂 🙂 🙂

This a very mild, very pleasant, discretely cased American aromatic. It arrived at the perfect moisture level, and packed easily, using only one match to light. The flavor is sweet honey and vanilla, with that hint of spice that lets you know it is from Pipeworks and Wilke.

I do NOT want a heavy, chemical casing on my tobacco! This blend is nothing like what Lane or Altadis puts out. The tobacco flavor still comes through under the casing, and it is good tobacco flavor at that. I smoked this outside, but the aroma was quite pleasant and unmistakably honey-vanilla. Very nice.

This blend can burn a little on the hot side, but nowhere near MacBaren territory. In fact, this tastes a bit like a MacBaren blend ,sans the brimstone. Just go slow and easy, and you'll be fine. Unlike many aromatics, this will not saturate the bottom of the bowl with moisture.

Recommended to the lover of mild, sweet aromatics, or those in quest of a top quality "social" tobacco.

Wilke is one of the best pipe tobacco blenders out there. When I heard the company had been sold by Carol and moved away from my beloved home state of Vermont, I had a mild panic attack. To my relief, the quality of these tobaccos seems to have been maintained, and I have not seen a change in quality with the change of bending hands. This tobacco is somewhat legendary, and deservedly so.

When it comes to quality ingredients and a quality product, there is not a dud in the bunch, and Wilkes has a lot of blends. That said, while the quality of product can not be questioned, personal taste can come into play.

This is a beautiful aromatic blend. While I usually am not a fan of aromatics, this blend avoids all the hassles aromatic blends usually bring. There is no goopy mess, no chemical smell, not problems burning, and no three week wait period for this stuff to dry out.

This blend comes in a big huge chunky cut. While not as easy to pack as a ribbon/shag, I believe it does its job of slowing the burn rate of this blend down. The bag note is heavenly, and actually relatively subtle. This is probably one of the best, if not the best vanilla based aromatic I have ever smoked. You have to be careful here though, to get the full flavor you have to go low and slow. If you push this too fast, you lose the nice flavoring. Highly recommended, but pretty much anything from Wilke is.

Wilke No. 191 definitely doesn’t match my definition of a ribbon cut blend. Sure, there are some thin ribbons of Virginia and burley in it, but they are mixed in with large rough-cut chunks of flavored Black Cavendish.

Nonetheless, there’s no doubt that this blend is certainly one of the better vanilla aromatics on the market. I have been working my way through a 4-oz sample and each bowl has gotten a little bit better than the one before. The taste of the tobacco is mild but there’s good structure to it and the vanilla, honey and clove flavors lend a mellow, yet certain sweet subtlety to the creamy finish.

As others have mentioned this is a blend that is best when smoked slow. It burns even and fairly cool and the flavor remains consistent throughout most of the bowl. Excess moisture will create a bit of a problem for the fast paced puffer. I smoke fairly slow and I had to give this tobacco ample dry time. Moist and a bit sticky, but surprisingly good.

Wilkes #191 is a delightful, subtly elegant aromatic blend. The very nice character of this blend is founded in the light, well balanced flavoring of the tobaccos and toppings. No cloyingly sweet vanilla or honey - just the right touch of both, letting the tobaccos come through. Very well done. Ms. Burns clearly knows what she is doing as a blender. I give it a solid 3 stars.

I got 2 oz of this in a sampler, and I can see why it is so popular. A gentle smoke with soft and sweet honey flavors drifting in and out nicely supported by the quality Burley / VA. This is the first aromatic I've tried that is listed as Burley / VA based (as opposed to Cavendish) and I really like it. It burns nicely and relatively cool and dry. I did not notice much nicotine in this one. The room note is superb - definitely classic vanilla but with a manly undertone. Perfect for evenings with the wife on the back patio.

Update 9/2012: I must be getting spoiled on my English blends, because the flavor in 191 just doesn't seem to hold up for me any more. Still a very nice aromatic - adjusting to a solid 3 stars.

I'd say one of the better aromatics out there and worth a try.