Wessex Burley Slice

Burley Slice is an excellent all Burley smoke. Don't look for complexity with this type of tobacco; all you can taste is the sweet nuttiness and a slight chocolate note.

These notes progressively tone down to be replaced by a straight tobacco taste and an increase in strength (read nicotine hit). Having had the opportunity to try Solani Aged Burley Flake, I must admit that I prefer Wessex's offering because the bitterness is way less frequent with the latter. it will only be slightly bitter towards the end of the bowl, as where ABF would be bitter everytime I relighted.

If you enjoy Burley, this is a must for you, gents.

In the same category of "yummy" as Royal Yacht and University Flake, but with a slightly more refined profile. Wessex stays delicious all throughout the smoke -- a must try fur Burley aficionados!

This is a well prepared burley flake, and I can't come up with anything negative to say about this tobacco's appearance, quality, taste, or room note.

On the other hand, I can't think of anything really positive to say about any of those things, either. Put another way, this is a competent blend, but in no way is it an inspired (or inspiring) one. The flavor is, to my palate, very dull and reminds me of watered down coffee. There were times when I detected almost no taste at all, even if this blend does have a small nicotine kick.

As much as I love burley, this one just didn't ring my bell, especially when blends like Solani's Aged Burley Flake are available.

This is a high quality flake.. very straightforward and smooth burley flavor.. it is a lot more smoothed out and slightly less complex from solani aged burley flake- but very similar at the same time.. cocoa, nuts, molasses, very slight anise.. but the flavor notes all merge together and taste very simple yet satisfying.. burns exceptionally cool.. while I think I prefer the slightly rougher more complex solani, wessex would probably make a better 'everyday' smoke.. no real changes throughout the bowl.. but it does at times build in richness and has a nearly syrupy quality.. I rarely go for a straight burley.. but this I could definitely enjoy from time to time.. particularly on colder evenings.

This is hands down my favorite Burley flake and it's a just notch above Aged Burley Flake in my opinion. I don't smoke many straight Burley blends but when I do this is the one I always choose. It's sweet and rich with plenty of depth. I get molasses, chocolate and honey in the retrohale. I don't detect any artificial flavorings, what I pick up on are the natural subtleties that come through with high quality tobaccos. The nicotine is a little lower than I usually prefer but it works great as a change of pace. For best results I like to rub out the flake and let it air dry for 15-30 minutes before I lock and load.

Note* I get a very odd flavor from this one and ABF for the first few minutes of lighting it. It’s almost tastes like an artificial topping and I am not too fond of it. Fortunately it levels out a bit once I get going but that’s the reason why it gets a three star instead of a four.

Very thin dark brown slices with specks of light tobacco. Moisture content is ideal straight from the tin and it rubs out easily.

Tin note is malty or molasses like, with some very light cocoa and pepper. None of these notes translate to the actual smoking.

Takes a light well and burns without further attention.

This really is a bland tobacco. At times I felt like I was inhaling warm air. I found myself chasing exhaled smoke to get a sense of flavour. I'm not going to say this is cigarette like; firstly because I come from a place where cigarettes are Virginia, and secondly because most cigarettes have more flavour than this offering. The upside is there is nothing objectionable to the tobacco itself. It is not hot or bitter.

I like Wessex Burley Flake. I fold a flake in thirds, round it to a cylinder, and stuff it in the bowl. Three matches later, and with some attentive tamping, a good ember takes me to the bottom leaving dry ash.

Beyond observing that this has a good Burley tobacco taste, there's not a whole lot to say about the flavor. Nearly every Burley description uses the word "nutty". Well, this is no exception, but whether due to personal chemistry or appetite, etc., for me the nuttiness leans not toward the peanut taste, but rather toward the vegetable nuttiness of, say, canned black olives.

The smoke is rich and somewhat rough, but biteless. But at times, early on in the smoke, it is assertive and somewhat scratchy in the nasal passages. This is not a sweet tobacco, but it tilts away from "Burley bitterness"; so in that sense I guess you could call it sweet without meaning saccharine.

I give it two stars because of its overall mundane character and some rough edges early on in the smoke. This would be a three star smoke were it not for the boutique price. If you are sampling Burleys this tobacco should be on your list.

Does anyone remember the original Edgeworth Slices? The one that came in the Hinge Top Tin? It was sweet and nutty and had virtually no bite. Then came the Danish incarnation which I thought was OK. It had a sort of tangy aroma in the tin and displayed a good amount of bite.

Enter Burley slice. This is everything the original Edgeworth was: Nutty, Sweet old fashioned Molasses Flavored American Style rectangular Burley Slices. This tobacco does not purport to be anything more than a simple burley slice...and that is exactly what it is: A nod to the days of old fashioned Burley.

Sublime nutty sweetness. Simple, and it works. This tobacco is easily rubed out or cut and packs well. Moisture is perfect. Light and burns even to the bottom eith regular tamping. What more can one ask?

I Highly recommend this to anyone who misses the true flavor of old fashioned burley slices.

With the recent closing of Murray and Son's in Belfast Ireland, fans have been looking for a reasonable substitute for Edgeworth Sliced. Wessex Burley Slice is said to be a return to the original recipe developed in Richmond in 1903.

Being a Burley fancier myself, I just had to give it a try. I have enjoyed Edgeworth Sliced for over 20 years off and on. I noticed the changes in formulation over the years, the later recipe seeming to be a mixture of Burley and Virginia with a more powerful topping than that available when I first smoked it about 1980.

Appearance: A very beautiful and uniform flake tightly sealed in a rather ?plain Jane? tin of mottled appearance. Various hues of tans and browns of nice rich mature tobacco.

Aroma: This mixture has a deep sweet aroma very enticing. Immediately one smells a deep hay-like quality, freshly mown hay, slowly drying in the summer sun. Deep, sharp and earthy. Carmel tones and nuts are evident, as in grandma's molasseses. There is a darker scent to this as well leading me to believe that some of the leaf has been toasted in some manor. No hint whatever of Virginia or other tobaccos are evident.

This tobacco is nearly perfect in moisture the flakes are very pliant and feel slightly leathery, easily folded into a perfect ?folded plug? for inserting into the chamber. For this review I've chosen a well seasoned cob fully dedicated to Burley mixtures.

Lighting generally easy, at times requiring a re-light or two to get fully going, and with a friendly ?lighting tamp? I was well on my way each time. As expected, the initial flavor very Burley, with a thick silky mouth feel, with semi-sweet notes. Hay-like tones and smells and flavors of Autumn are abundant with deepening flavors of nuts and butter interplaying in a fascinating way. This seems much more to me like the Edgeworth of old, less sweet, less bitter the topping being more of the minimalist variety. Later production of Edgeworth seemed to me over-topped if anything, this is more a return to the refined version available at least 15 years ago.

Mid Bowl: Approaching mid-bowl, the fullness tends to build the toothsome mixtures of nuts and Burley develop in strength slowly along predictable lines. The topping flavor dissipates evenly leaving a slight sweetness which lasts for the remainder of the bowl. The nuttiness becomes more pronounced which is very agreeable. The mixture seems to gather a bit of strength as it matures, though I don't find it unmanageable at all. There is a moderate complexity of flavors, deep tones and high ones, hay-like, nuttiness and a slight sweetness with a rich molasseses or caramel flavor. This should bring a wide smile to many a grandfather's face recalling a great tobacco of old.

Home Stretch: As end of the bowl approaches, I am deeply pleased. This blend IS the ?Edgeworth Sliced? of old, full of character and simple class of a true classic mixture.. The final third has matured nicely with all the flavors working in deepening harmony. None of the recent later bowl harshness is there, just rich voluminous pure white smoke from beginning to end. A self maintaining mixture which may be enjoyed indoors or stand up to near gale force winds outdoors making it a favorite for puttering around in the garden, forest or plains.

Supplemental Notes: This blend will certainly occupy a regular part of my rotation and should make many a lover of Edgeworth Sliced very happy indeed Rating for those interested in numbers four full stars****