Wessex Burley Slice

The presentation is nice. the flakes are neat and wide, dark brown in appearance. The smell started off like dried fruit sort of, and time in the tin changed it to a cocoa, oat-like smell. The moisture was kind of sticky. I prefer to dry it a little. However, the moisture helps it survive for months without an air-tight jar.

Taste: some cocoa and burnt marshmallow notes, nuts, oats, and a dryness to the taste. It's about as simple as any straight Virginia flake--just simple, enjoyable flavor notes. I wouldn't say it's boring, just as I wouldn't say any straight Virginia is boring. They just have different flavors on one end of a spectrum.

The strength is medium. The nicotine is medium. This is a mild blend with exceptional mellow nature, and enjoyable flavors that are on naturally sweet and earthy. The only issue I have with this blend is the availability. It can be out of stock for a long time, and it is somewhat hard to find sometimes.

I would recommend this to any burley-lover, and even a person that likes straight Virginias. Straight burley and straight Virginia target the same enjoyments from the smoker--a more specific area of tasting.

Something I tried and enjoyed was mixing this with Orlik Golden Sliced.

Simple and delicious. I believe those whot liked Solani Aged Burley Flake will feel familiar to this tobacco. Although I prefer ABF for being more flavorful, Wessex Burley Slice is a worthy competitor.

Generous sized flake. Wonderful burley taste and aroma. Rich, not complicated. Dried it out for a day and it was still somewhat moist. Burned well with 3-4 re lights. Interested to see if and how taste evolves in the now-open tin. Recommended for burley and Vitamin N lovers.

An excellent diversion for the burley afficianado. Warm, toasty,and rich are the flavors. It is very pleasing to the palate and the olfactory senses of those within whiffing range. It is though a rather bland slice. Nothing like Peretti's treatment of burley or even UNIVERSITY FLAKE by Peterson.Were it not for th very high nicotine content I would smoke it more often. As I said at the beginning - An excellent diversion for the burley afficianado. 3 0f 4 stars.

I got a sorta large sample of this in early August '05 from RTDA at the Morial Cenvention Center in N.O.

I remember Tim and his boss Bob of payless pipes looking at me as I puffed, and I said, "Look guys, you're seeing the face of a happy man. Not as good as birth of a child, but still as happy as I can be." They stared. I had never seen such a show. Little did we know that building would turn from paradise to chaos to hell in the coming weeks.

Nevertheless, I got to smoke some 20 bowls of this stuff in the following weeks in a new Rinaldo. At first I thought a straight Tenessee white burley, plain and honest. But the slight flavoring, either licorice or probably molasses I'm told, came along like the blend's shadow. Just a little sweetness mind you. Cool and some inner strength.

Yes sir, this is the replacment for the now gone Edgeworth Slices. This is supposed to be a replicant of the older version. I smoked the newer version of Edgeworth Slices off and on for the past 10 years, and I think it is fine still. Have some cellared in a dry office. While this new wessex blend may not be quite as scented (ES would lose the flavoring if you took 30 days to smoke the large tin of 100 gm), it is more easy to handle and rub out.

Mostly burley cut in flake form. I'm told the cake is painted with something (molasses), but it is not overdone. I think if you like Edgeworth Slices, you'll cotton to Burley Slice. I'm glad someone brought this old blend back to a semblance of what I think most of you burley guys will like.

I did evacuate with my Rinaldo and some Burley Slice left. Now it's gone. I hope to be getting more soon and I'll give it even more of a try. Perhaps the last of the few "luxuries" I dare afford for the time being. Give me a hand and support the incarnatin of the old Edgeworth Slices. It may grow on you. We don't want this one to disappear too.

JimInks noted in an update that this blend had been changed from its original incarnation as an Edgeworth Sliced replacement. This reboot features the new tin description that accounts for the licorice that recent reviewers have perceived. The flakes are wide and overlap somewhat messily in the tin. They are well formed and feature variegated shades of brown. The licorice casing is barely evident in the tin, but comes out lightly in the smoke if smoked very slowly. The tin aroma to me was woodsy, sweet, with a pleasant but faint aroma of black licorice. After the tin gets some air, a dark unsweetened cocoa aroma takes over.

The chocolate smells more in the tin than in the pipe smoke. The casings do not intrude and BS smokes quite naturally. It tastes natural and nutty. There are roasted, toasty tobacco notes on the palate that are enriched by muted swirls of coffee bean and bitter cocoa. As I often do with some burleys, I got some rare cigar like spots in a number of the bowls I smoked consuming this tin. Goes great with black coffee. Smells distinctly better and different from cigarettes. My tin was dated 1/22 per the code, so not fresh but hardly aged.

To sum it up, this a is a solid burley. Per the description by the importer this contains 100% foreign grown leaf. The burleys could come from anywhere in the world except the US, and I have no guesses as to origins. This was worth trying, but I don’t think I will buy more. 3.0

A tasty, very one dimensional smoke. The slices are neat and uniform, though they have a quality i dislike, which is that they stick together in the tin so that it is difficult to remove one for stuffing. Orlik's DSK was the same way, and it doesn't lend itself well to fold and stuff, as i always end up with broken flake by the time I've separated a bowls worth. Slightly moist in the tin, this will benefit from some exposure to air. Lights and burns with ease, with a very straightforward earthy, bready, molasses/treacle flavor that deepens but doesn't change throughout the smoke. Mild to medium nicotine. I enjoy this blend, i enjoy and frequently smoke many burley based blends. I have to admit i was slightly disappointed in the blend only because it was my first foray into what i would describe as premium all burley flake, and i didnt know what to expect, but i expected more, somehow. I do quite enjoy it, it doesnt require much attention to be enjoyed, and there is absolutely no chance of bite. I dont know what i feel is missing, but i just had hoped for something more refined. WBS satisfied me thoroughly, but it did so in a very similar way to Prince Albert or Carter Hall. Perhaps a bit of sour counterpoint to the round, nutty burley flavor would raise the enjoyment for me. In any case, i greatly enjoy it, and have no problem recommending it. I will try Solani Aged Burley Flake in the hopes of finding a trancendant burley experience.

EDIT: This flake makes for an excellent blending burley, as long as the cocoa notes dont clash with what you hope to achieve. For a simple yet scrumptious blend mix one third WBS with two thirds Va of your choice...blissful in a cob with one's morning coffee

Great flake but man are they sweet, almost a dessert tobacco but not in the same sense as an aromatic. Good mild burley flavor, nice and smooth, likely topped with honey. Mild of strength unlike burley blends from a place like C&D. Nutty, woody and sweet, very pleasant smoke on a summer evening. The flakes dry out quickly in that stupid square tin once it's popped and the topping on these flakes is very capable of ghosting a humidor. I recommend putting them in a jar as soon as you open the tin.

If you like straightforward dark burley, this could be the flake for you. If straight burley doesn't do it for you, avoid. Since I know there are many tobaccos out there I would rate a 4, the question arises would I rebuy this particular tobacco, assuming my tastes don't change much more. In this case, the answer is probably not.