Wessex Burley Slice

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.

Upon opening the tin which makes a quality presentation, one encounters a wonderful dried fruit like aroma. Mmmm good enough to eat. The flakes are composed of a variety of brown shades and are very sticky, thick and don't rub out with ease. It takes a bit of effort to get it going but once lit the rubbed out flakes burn smoothly, cool and without any tongue bite. So far, so good, but then the flavor is quite a let down. The texture of the smoke is wonderful, smooth, silky and full bodied. however without much of a flavor. At first there is a bit of bitterness that can be characteristic of some Burleys, but that dissipates quickly. You are left with an not unpleasant but flat almost watery taste that is quite unremarkable. Perhaps it is the lack of any flavorings being added. I smoke a number of Burley tobaccos, pipesandcigars.com's Classic Burley Kake being my current favorite and this stuff doesn't have anything to offer that would displace any of my favorites. It's flavor and smoking qualities are mild and unobtrusive though, again without a hint of tongue bite but however it does possess a very generous helping of vitamim "N" for those who enjoy that sort of sensation (too much for me though this stuff can be headache inducing). I've only had a couple of goes at it with this tobacco (I'm puffing away on it as I write this) so perhaps it will grow on me but for now only two stars. Another drawback is the price as it is considerably more expensive then some far superior Burleys I regularly enjoy. I will try blending it another time with a Virginia based aromatic that lacks Burley and see how that works out. Somewhat recommended.

great quality flake - I just found that the sour undertone ruined it for me .....I prefer Solani Aged Burley Flake, my all time favorite Burley!

I never tried the apparently legendary Edgeworth, but if it really tastes like this, I´m not surprised of it´s disparition. I just don´t find what´s so good about this blend.

The appearance is very nice. The flakes seemed in my mind as chocolate flakes. Actually, don´t tell anyone but I couldn´t resist biting one. (Don´t do it yourselves, please) I had to have a bitter moment just to discover it was not chocolate.

When the proof of fire came, the enchantment was gone. This is heaviness and monotony in flake form.

But I discovered that adding a pinch of Va or VaPer it improves greatly, or also it can be used to improve dull mixtures of that kind.

It has quality, that´s undeniable, but boring quality. I bought two tins: one I ended up as an ingredient to combine and the other, destined to be smoked alone, took me 2 years to finish.

What can I say? It's burley; 100% unadulterated burley. It looks beautiful, but is difficult to light and keep lit. It lacks even the basic flavors found in Symphony, itself a rather mundane though pleasant burley (though not 100%). I know that there are a lot of burley fans out there; don't know that I would call those folks 'afficianados', as anyone who enjoys straight burley wouldn't really qualify for such a grand moniker. For burley fans, I guess this would be right up your alley. For the rest of us, not. It's burley; 100% unadulterated burley. What more can I say?

Presentation in the tin is outstanding! Small strips about 1/2 in tall by 3 in long. Varying colors of brown, light brown. The strips are lined up like a package of bacon. Very mild fruitcake-like aroma. I smoked it as rubbed out, broken flake, and cut up into cubes....all three methods tasted the same. The tobacco is difficult to light; requiring several false lights. It burns well once lit, with minimal gurgling. It has a nice burley room aroma. However, being that it is 100% burley, I expected a much stronger nutty taste than what this delivers. Plus it really tastes like burning ashes on the bottom 1/3 of the bowl. Too bad it doesn't taste as good as it looks. I give it only 2-stars because of the weak burley flavor.

This is supposed to be the reincarnation of the original, which I have never tasted. All I have are 10 yr. old tins of the Edgeworth Slices. Compared to those, this blend left me a little flat. Rather than go into my usual detail, all I will say is that this needs age! It ended a bit too ashy and a little bitter.I will finish my opened tin, but the rest will go in the cellar for at least 5 years before trying again. It looks like it has quality components, we shall see in 5 years...

This is a tasty burley, but not as good as the no longer available Edgeworth flake. It is high in nicotine, but if puffed slow it is fine.It is not to moist and easy to rub out.If you like Edgeworth flake give it a try you might like it, but it is not for me.

Somewhere I have read that it is enriched using licorice as flavoring, but I do not detect it. On the other hand, there is clearly an essence of Lakeland, which reminds a bit of Kendal Cream by Samuel Gawith. It is quite dry in taste, nothing to do with, for example, Mac Baren's HH Burley Flake. It's a bit flat and monotonous, so I smoke it when I'm doing something else and I'm not going to pay full attention to the pipe, as another positive aspect is that it doesn't bite the tongue and can be smoked carefree.

Considering I'm a burley fan, this one fell pretty short for me.

Two stars, with a few smokes of three, but never four...