Wilke Pipe Tobacco Wilke No. 72

Like the majority of P&W blends, The "American English" #72 is made from a quality grade of tobacco and arrives a bit too moist to be smoked right out of the pouch. Although P&W describes #72 as a light English, I find it to be more on the medium side in the taste department. #72 is fuller in flavor than most blends in the light English department. This would make a great all day smoke for smoker's of English blends. There is a touch too much burley in it to be a rotation regular for me. Those that like some burley in their English blends should find a lot of enjoyment with #72 as its another well made blend from P&W. Recommended.

My first experience with Wilke Pipe Tobacco. From my past smoking experience, this blend has a main flavor reminiscent of Peterson 965 and Dan Tobacco's Balkan Blend. The blend has a certain "toning down" throughout, as others have described it. English, Balkan, (oh, I'm confused. I mean, it tastes and smells like that.) ... Well, it has those flavors, it's light, and the smoke is smooth as silk. A blend that I would describe as "light" but still doesn't lose its complexity. The ribbon cut makes it easy to pack and lighting a pipe. And as for my overall preference, I love blends that are simply smoking, laid back and design a nice day. Blends like Sutliff's "Ready Rubbed" and "Revelation" for example, and I love them in tobacco rotation. For me, No. 72 falls into the category of these and I immediately fell in love with 72.

This seems to be a toned down version of #400, which is now a staple in my rotation. Where #400 was hugely flavorful and complex, the flavor and complexity is muted here, making this a perfect morning smoke for lovers of #400.

The whole time I smoked this, the old Tinderbox staple of "Sherlock's Choice" kept coming to mind. This one does taste like Sherlock's, but it asserts its individuality with a light blending touch from the perique jar. Whereas SC was lightly sweet and soft and mild, this one was lightly sweet, soft, mild and MUCH more interesting. This is one of those blends that could be an all-day "set it and forget it" smoke, or you could sit in your easy chair and contemplate the various flavors. Where #400 forces me to delve into the complexities of the blend because of its assertiveness, this one can go either way. If I smoked the pipe all day, I'd prefer this one. Since I don't, I prefer a tobacco with more body and flavor.

My usual routine is to recommend tobaccos based on my personal taste and, to maintain consistency, I do that here. However, recognizing that this may not be the fairest way to judge, I have to say that this is a 3 star recommendation for my tastebuds and a 4 star recom for others. Why? Because I think everyone should try this once. It may be too mild for you, or too soft or too whatever. Then again, it may be perfect. I could see this blend as being The One that makes some people decide that they no longer need to sample every tobacco in the world. It didn't do that for me, but it may for you! More blending genius from Carole Burns!

This is indeed a very pleasant and light English blend. It reminds me a bit of Dunhill Standard Mild, but it's more complex due to the additional condiment tobaccos. It packs and burns very well with it's Dunhill-like cut. For the majority of the bowl, I mainly taste the Va. and Perique with a hint of burley. Towards the end the latakia makes it's presence known, though in a subdued way. If you desire a heartier smoking experience, dgt a bowl and the burley and latakia are more out front with a pleasantly bitter flavor which is offset by the sweetness of the other tobaccos. For this reason it is nice to smoke half a bowl in the morning for a mild smoke, then smoke the remaining half in the afternoon for a more manly-man smoke. It's like having 2 tobaccos in one. I sometimes find this a little rough towards the bottom of the bowl, so it isn't quite a 4-star smoke for me. The Royal Scot (cavendish) is hardly noticeable but seems to add a little smoothness. I love the pure tobacco aroma, but my girlfriend hates it. A very nice summer smoke.