Wilke Pipe Tobacco Wilke No. 524

The Cyprian Latakia is very smoky, dry, earthy, woody, musty, and incense-like with a little sweetness, and is the dominant tobacco, though it allows room for the other components. The yenidje offers wood, floralness, herbs, smoke, and earth with some dry sourness and light sweetness. Though it’s obvious in every puff, it’s a supporting player that lacks a little of the strength I generally associate with yenidje. The Virginia has a little grass and earth with a load of sweet fruit and citrus as a condiment. The slightly sugary, toasted black cavendish has a small effect. The nic-hit is in the center of mild to medium. The strength and taste levels are medium. Won’t bite or get harsh, and has few rough edges. The tobacco was a little moist, but I had no issues with the burn rate. Burns cool, clean, and creamy though the mostly consistent, sweet and savory flavor occasionally weakens just a little in the final quarter of the smoke. Leaves a little moisture in the bowl, but no dottle. Requires an average number of relights. Has a pleasantly lingering after taste and the room note is a tad more potent. Friends will know you're smoking an English blend. Not quite an all day smoke.

-JimInks

Another home run from Carole at P&W. The first descriptive word that comes to mind is balenced. This medium English is well balenced without any flavor fully taking over. Unlike Carole's other English blends that I have tried, it can bite if smoked quickly so go slowly, its worth it! 524 always burns cleanly. The addition of the Turkish really fills out the blend and gives it a distinctive taste that seperates it from other English blends. I find that it does come arrive moist so some dry time is needed. Highly recommended.

An overwhelmingly smooth take on the old Balkan Sobranie. It lacks that classic's flavor burst and clarity, but the taste is very close to my taste buds.

The tobacco color is interesting in that there are medium brown pieces and dark black pieces - it almost reminds me of a chessboard - and nothing in between. That's not in any way very meaningful; I just thought it was interesting. It comes just a bit too moist in the bag but 10 minutes of drying time was plenty, and where it performed at its best for me.

The Syrian latakia smooths this out and, while it was a good smoke, I found myself wondering what Cyprian would do to the mix. As it was, this blend was well balanced with nothing jumping to far to the fore. A nice "set it and forget it" smoke, not terribly complex but of obvious high quality and good flavor. If I didn't smoke so many similar blends, this one might be repeatable, and that's my one issue. It doesn't assert itself as more preferable to any number of balkan blends. A nice effort, with good flavor and a pleasing aroma (if you like latakia!) and nothing even close to a fault. Recommended if you enjoy balkan blends. But not a reference for me.

I think this is a very tasty and fairly complex blend. The Latakia although always evedent never overpowers the other componants. The fragrance and sweetness of the Yenidge and Virginia totaly compliment the Latakia creating an exellent balance and flavor throughout the bowl. Smokey, sweet, fragrant and flavorful, Sweeeeet!

This is a shining example of the proper materials in the proper perportions. Hats off to our beloved Carole...Hell with PC ...Thanks Babe!!!

A very old English blend that goes way back to the days of the Wilke Pipe and Tobacco Shop in New York City. I've been enjoying it's satisfying taste and marvelous aroma for over 35 years. 524 is a reliable and true friend that smokes clean and pure down to a fine, white ash. There's comfort in it's smoky hominess and much pleasure to be derived bowl after bowl. I've tried many English blends over the years, and while many have charmed, delighted, and dazzled me, I always return to my first and steadfast love - Wilke's 524.

A very nice smoke. John Brandt's Wilke tobaccos are always fresh and pleasant. 524 is a good balance of lots of good flavors, and smells amazing in the pouch. Latakia is the predominant flavor here, but is nicely softened by the black Cavendish, especially at the beginning. Half-way through the bowl, gentle hints of Yenidje come through. Nothing overpowering, but the overall smoke is so well balanced nothing has to stand out. All of it is softly supported by the Virginias. I find 524 to be heading towards a very traditional pipe smoke: hearty, but not overwhelming; enough variation to keep me interested, but not overly deep in any one flavor. A very good evening smoke, though I could certainly smoke this all day. Smokes smooth with few relights and burns to a clean gray ash. If you are looking for a solid English smoke with good flavor but nothing overwhelming, this could be it.

For me, after smoking No. 72, I feared that I might be confused by its similar aroma. But it was a needless worry; it's a velvet smoke just like No.72 and is a wonderfully rich smoke because it's blended with non-aromatic black cavendish. Curiously, the Burley and Perique blended in No. 72 are not blended in No. 524, yet the taste and aroma character is similar. My guess is that this is the "taste" of Wilke Pipe Tobacco, and while I believe the 524 can certainly be described as full-bodied and "strong tasting", I had a similar experience when I smoked "Dan Tobacco Balkan Blend". In other words, the nicotine hit of the blend is light. (I'm a relatively sensitive person to stimulation. I'm speaking by that standard.) So if you prefer these blends, you will definitely fall in love with No. 524. For example, "Presbyterian". Delicious smoke.

2020/12/15 - After smoking No. 524 a few times, I noticed a scent that was present in the Presbyterian and other English blends, but not in this blend. Whether Presbyterian or not, these English blends have a wood creosote-like (but not exact) aroma, but I have not detected this type of aroma in any of the full-bodied Wilke blends I have smoked. On the whole, Wilke's full-bodied blends always have a pleasant sweetness that is hard to describe, like milk, anise, or licorice. This continues to delight me! Delicious.

There is something akin to GLPease Renaissance in No. 524 (though it is understood that No. 524 has been around much longer, so perhaps there is something akin to No. 524 in Renaissance).

Both of these examples of classic English pipe smoking blends are tweaked toward the Turkish tobaccos. Renaissance is a tad more complex in this department, but No. 524 nails an aria with the Yenidje. It might not be a chorus, but it is pure.

I would say there is a bit more Virginia in Renaissance and more Latakia in No. 524. Therefore, they are not interchangeable. Both are sweeter than most Balkans I've tried, but neither blend compared here is really "sweet." 524 and Ren. are English-style, not Balkans (Try P&W No. 10 for a sensuous, easy Balkan). SG's Squadron Leader belongs in this comparison to No. 524, however much it tends toward that acclaimed acridness (which I like) absent from No. 524 and Ren.

Find a pipe that this smokes well in (perhaps a classic pot with shallow bowl and wide mouth?) and then smoke a lot of it before coming to a decision. It might not be love at first light, but it will likely be a lasting affection if you take time to know her.

Keeping this cool is feasible with minor attention, and not to worry about gurggles.

1st Smoke: Wow! A full flavored English I actually enjoyed. I packed up a pipe load in my Hackert. It's a smaller sized pipe, which was probably a good thing. This blend is fiery. Tasty without being overwhelming, no tongue bite, just bold flavors. Burned cool and ended in a dark grey ash. I look forward to the next smoke session with it. 2nd Smoke: Well, why fix what isn't broken? I packed up the Hackert with another pipe load. Smoked just as well this time around as the first. Full flavor, full bodied, full enjoyment English. This is coming from someone who tends to enjoy the more mild English blends. From first light to the last puff this is just an exceptional tobacco. Quite possibly a new favorite for me. 3rd Smoke: OK, pulled out the big guy for the 3rd smoking of this wonderful blend. My Tinsky bulldog, its dedicated to English blends, which this 524 most assuredly is. Smooth yet spicy, full flavored without a huge nicotine kick. Its got a super smoky woodsy manly flavor. The Latakia is there, but I think the Turkish in it is really what evens the whole blend out. The room note is excellent to me, others don't seem to enjoy the way I do though. A blend I would highly suggest to others. Conclusion: Sign me up for a couple pounds of this stuff. Excellent!

This represents for me a more mild-mannered approach to an English blend. Although the description includes the terms "rich and full" I would be hard-pressed to use "full" as a descriptor, but that's not a criticism of the blend overall. It contains the classic Virginia, Latakia, Oriental (Yenidje) components plus one of Wilke's Black Cavendish tobaccos for some added sweetness. The taste is clean and smooth with absolutely no harshness; there's more flavor than strength in the blend. I would place the strength at approximately the middle of mild-to-medium range, but the strength does build slightly as you progress through the bowl--I just don't feel that it ever attains that medium threshold. I find It at its best in the latter half of the bowl where both the flavor and strength are at an optimum. I recommend a "Pot" shaped bowl (broader and more shallow) for this blend to bring out the most and best of what this blend has to offer. The Latakia content is about right for my palate--not too much and not too little. I feel that most of the taste is delivered from the Virginia and Yenidje tobaccos and of course there is that ever-present subtle sweetness from the Black Cavendish. Worthwhile,

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