Wilke Pipe Tobacco Vermont Maple Cavendish

The Virginia and Carolina tobaccos offer some grass and tart and tangy citrus as the base of the blend. The fermented black cavendish is a little toasty with some brown sugar as a supporting player. The sugary rich Vermont maple topping is mildly applied as it tones down the tobaccos to a moderate extent. The strength is a couple of steps past the mild mark. The taste level is a couple of slots past the center of mild to medium. Has very little nicotine. No chance of bite or harshness. Burns cool and clean at a reasonable pace with a consistently rich, sweet flavor. Leaves little moisture in the bowl, and requires an average number of relights. Has a pleasant, short lived after taste, and room note. A very easy going all day smoke that works best at a comfortable puff rate.

-JimInks

Pouch note is soft, sweet vanilla; sugar; and light maple. Tobacco is the typical Pipeworks & Wilke ribbon. Like all Wilke aromatics, Vermont Maple Cavendish is of the finest quality, taking a match well and burning evenly - not fast or hot - with a minimal amount of Cavendish goop.

The maple here is applied gently and the effect (unlike an in-your-face maple burst such as with Autumn Evening) is a soft, elegant sweetness with the maple and vanilla perfectly intertwined. And, while I find Autumn Evening to be an excellent aromatic, there is more complexity and layering of flavor with Vermont Maple Cavendish. This is not a cloyingly sweet tobacco. Rather, there is subtlety of flavor here that puts this blend heads and shoulders above other offerings in this genre. Further, there is no bite whatsoever to this blend. The room note, as expected, is exquisite. You can puff this like a freight train, if you are so inclined, and there is simply no bite. None. Zero. Not sure how Carole accomplishes this. That said, as always, a calm, determined cadence will bring the most flavor.

My only criticism is that the flavor flattens out and becomes a bit ashy in the final third of the bowl. The balance of flavor unravels a bit with the sugar fading to the background and the vanilla disappearing. However, when sipped slowly in the final third, the delicate maple is still detectable.

Overall a resoundly superior aromatic, the equal of No. 191 and Rumcake, in my opinion Carole's best aromatic blends. Aromatic lovers really need to sample the Wilke blends - they are among the best available anywhere and the clear superior of most tinned offerings. Having lived with Wilke aromatics for a few years, I simply cannot imagine looking anywhere else when I feel like smoking an aromatic blend.

It's been said already... this is the pinnacle of Maple flavored aromatics and the only one I have tried that sustains the natural Maple taste into the smoke. Nothing artificial about this, just a warm, comfortable aromatic blend, perfect in the morning.

Smoke it fresh. I noticed that the flavor from the maple topping fades rather quickly even in a sealed jar.

This blend is absolutely wonderful. Some say too much maple and others complain not enough. Remember, this blend is not brought to you by The Log Cabin Syrup Company. It is, after all, a pipe tobacco. What is really important is not how much maple you taste but whether what you taste is good or not, and this is delicious. The aroma exceeds the taste. The blend sends forth wonderful plumes of heavy, rich, aroma, right down to the last ash. I can't imagine an aromatic pipe smoker who would not like this blend. My regular smoke is Lane's RLP6 and right now this is the only blend in the same ballpark - for me. I would not suggest this for a new pipe smoker. I think this brands Rumcake blend is a better starter, or Lane's 1Q. But as soon as the tongue and mouth are broken in don't walk, but run, to this blend. When I first smelled it in the pouch it reminded me of the maple blends the old men smoked when I was a kid, 50 and more years ago, but those blends then could not hold a candle to this. This blend is made from really quality tobacco and not soaked in chemicals. Yes, I absolutely loved it!

From the sample I received, the tobacco came fairly moist and sticky. The tin note was very sweet with the aroma of maple and brown sugar.

The maple used is very strong and takes the lead. I also taste cinnamon, what I would identify as bakers spice, and a touch of vanilla. The VAs are fairly muted by the maple but are bright and grassy with some citrus. The black cavendish has a lot of brown sugar and rounds the blend while also taking the edge off of the VAs. The maple gets lighter halfway through but is remains present. Other than that this blend is consistent from start to finish.

Despite the moisture of the blend, Vermont Maple Cavendish smoked dry and slow. It stayed lit very well, and smoked cool with no tongue bite. It was very light in the nicotine, and consequently one could smoke this blend all day. It has enough flavors to stay interesting yet mild enough to smoke while going about your day. 3.75 out of 4 stars.

This is another 20% off blend I ordered. The tin note is simply amazing. The ribbon cut was a little moist but I am not picky. It loaded nicely and smoked very pleasant. I have been smoking this the past two afternoons. This tastes like a desert. I find myself even wanting to eat the smoke, well not really but I think you get my point. The missus could smell it inside and started wanting pancakes the aroma was that enticing. Not much more to say except I found it a more natural aromatic. I will probably save this one for the cooler fall weather.

I have been smoking this blend since 2004 or so and it ages extremely well. I have had Carole adjust the maple topping + and - over the years depending on my views on aromatics at the time. Although I like Autumn Evening's maple topping better, VMC blows it away with the variety of leaf in the blend and it is top shelf all the way. Nary a bite, smells heavenly and tastes like Pancake stacks with butter and syrup. I had just given my GF a nice Creampie, went out to the living room to light my pipe with this and when I went back into the bedroom she said I smelled like delicious waffles! Pipeworks tobacco's are getting a bit expensive but you do get what you pay for... Carole is nice enough, occasionaly I get a one word reply to my emails and she sometimes is a little short on the phone but not more than say calling Peretti's...

Please do try her blends as she has been doing this for quite awhile and I am sure that retirement cannot be that far away. A real pipe tobacco mecca up there in Vermont and no one compares...

I received a sample of this blend when I placed my order for other tobacco's from pipeworks & Wilke. Although I didn't smoke a lot of it, what I did smoke was pretty tasteless. When I opened the pouch, I kinda knew that would be the case because I couldn't detect the smell of maple much at all. I couldn't really understand why, because the tobacco was extremely wet and I thought to myself there was way to much casing on this tobacco to have no maple smell or flavor. When it comes to maple, I will stick to Cornell & Diehl's autum evening.

No bite, occaisonal bursts of an enjoyable sweetness. One can definately tell that high quality tobaccos are used in this blend. An excellent choice; I find satisfaction in this blend and will order again!

This is my favorite blend. Mild. Pleasant. Tasty. Absolutely no bite whatsoever. Amazing room note. This is simply a wonderful blend. I'd like to say more, but I'd rather just end here and light another bowl. I can't wait!