Wilke Pipe Tobacco Vermont Maple Cavendish

In the small world of maple-flavored tobaccos, this blend is king. Really delicious, but not overdone, rich with natural tobacco flavor, yet sweet and toothsome in a pancake-y way. This is one of the best sweet tobaccos I have ever smoked, and people around you will beg you to smoke it. Not for the Latakia fan, or even for the natural Virginia die-hard, but if you like something of quality that is sweet and nearly perfectly done, you can't miss with this tobacco.

What a beauty!

I often say I do not like aromatics, but the truth is, I do like them, it is just hard to find ones that play nicely. This is an outstanding example of a perfect aromatic for me. No goop, no bite, actually burns, and has a wonderful taste and room note.

Upon receiving, this tobacco is a thick and chunky cut, which I believe may help it burn a little slower and keep the heat and tongue bite at bay. It has a heavenly tin note, good enough to eat.

I smoked this both fresh from the baggie, and with some air time to dry out. While both performed admirably, I do believe some air time helps to improve the experience. It was still very moist after 6+ hours of sitting out, but burned a little better. The taste is wonderful. Sweet, almost syrupy. I love this tobacco. It is a great aromatic blend. Once again, Wilke hits another home run for me. They just cant miss.

This is one of the best aromatics I've ever laid my hands on. It's scent is incredible and evokes some old wooden maple forest. Unlike many aromatics that seem to only focus on scent, this one packs a punch with flavor.

It comes fairly damp, and doesn't light particularly well, so let it rest on some paper for a bit, then cellar it. Once properly prepared, enjoy.

Since mine arrived quite moist it initially took a bit of effort to establish a steady burn rate. I found that significant dry time, as in five hours on a paper plate, helped, though it was still moist enough to tell that it had been sprayed with something to control burn rate. But as long I don’t taste any deleterious effects, I’ll look the other way.

At its best I feel that this could warrant a three-star recommendation, with the understanding that it is a simple, one-dimensional, comforting, soft-focus kind of Cavendish blend. However, I recommend a modest size bowl (something like my Stanwell 139) so you can finish it in one go. The problem for me being that the flavor always fades by the end of the bowl, enough that at that point I’m only going to give it two stars.

One thing’s for certain, despite all the glowing reviews, this is not a four-star blend for me. This is an important part of using TR – finding a reviewer whose palate seems to be similar to your own, and also: look at more recent reviews, not reviews that are a decade old. Things change.

What I’m looking for is 1) lots of flavor, which this has; 2) that has layers of flavor to keep my interest since I’m not really into mindless smokes just to have a pipe in my mouth, and this is kind of a one-note song; and 3) something that maintains its flavor from start to finish, which this doesn’t. Additionally, the maple flavoring is on the mild side, what I get is mostly brown sugar and generic BCA kind of taste.

For me it comes down to the fact that I have firmly in mind certain reference points in each genre which are unmovable anchors in how I rate blends. In this case, not even considering four-star blends, there are two aromatics, Thomas and Choctaw, which I have both recently given three stars to, and this one simply falls short of that mark.

High grade, smooth, rich, excellent. Another of Carol's great blends. Smokes cool and dry right to the bottom. Everyone loves the room note.

I guess from looking at my past reviews, I am either a "love it" or "leave it" pipe smoker. Well in keeping with all other P&W blends, this is a "love it" type blend. I am mostly through my second 1/2lb order. I will be getting more for the upcoming leaf-raking season. The pouch aroma is absolutely splendid and its appearance is very nice. It is a little moist and does benefit with an hour or two to dry out, but is not entirely necessary. Packs well, but this blend seems to be easily overpacked if you are not carefull. The three match method works well to light it. Copius amounts of delicious white fog billow from the bowl. Maple runs right up the pipe and smacks you in the face. Shortly thereafter, the amount of smoke decreases...in part because I puff gently to prevent excessive heat. Stays lit and is otherwise well behaved for an aromatic of this sort. One, maybe two, relights are needed. Tobacco flavor develops well through the bowl and comes through stonger as you get to the bottom, very similar characteristic of P&W Rumcake (of which I also need to order more of...). I cannot say enough about this blend. Want a world class aromatic...well this is it.

I have been on the search for the Holy Grail of Maple blend tobaccos for about two years now. For about six months, I was happily smoking C&D Autumn Evening, thinking it was the best I was going to find. I wasn't quite happy and even followed the advice of an ASP friend and began blending Autumn Evening with another tobacco. Then... on yet another one of the sites I frequent, thank you God for my internet pipe smoking pals!, someone mentioned Carole's Maple Blend. I ordered 4 oz. about six months ago, and it is now a part of my happy weekly tobacco allowance. (W.T.A.) It is a true Maple essence to it, never burns, smokes pleasantly all the way done. What more can you want? If you don't want to make a big initial investment- order a sampler.

A wonderful and habit-forming aromatic that tastes best smoked before the palate is taxed by a heavily flavored meal. VMC takes no effort to produce clouds of incense for contemplation. The underlying tobaccos are quality and can be enjoyed along with the maple topping.

This is less complex than 191 while remaining interesting throughout a bowl. Heating this up with hard puffing obscures the subtle flavors.

If this tastes flat to you, take a break from smoking, give your tongue a rest and start-up again with VMC. A perfect substitute for dessert.

This tobacco is superb. The flavor is wonderful and the room note is extremely delightful. The maple is not at all overwhelming, but is excellently balanced to create a very pleasant, and almost ambient, room note.

A noticeable quality of this aromatic is the total lack of tongue bite. Kudos to Pipeworks & Wilke.

Overall this tobacco makes for a truly enjoyable smoke that will have you coming back for more.