Iwan Ries Gourmet English

Well, I did like it. It was sweet and smoky. I experienced no tongue bite and it burned consistently and cleanly. Due to my limited experience, I am thinking of this as an aromatic latakia. I probably will stick primarily to Larry's Blend or Butera's #2, but this is nice to have to change things up.

I've just finished a tin from 2008. Gourmet English is a well-constructed medium English that emphasizes the Orientals over the Latakia, although the Latakia smokiness was present to my taste. Similar to the McCelland Frog Morton series, it doesn't bite and can be smoked all day. I found the moisture content a bit too much for my taste (as with FM) and it doesn't dry out much with time. While not a favorite to my Latakia tolerant wife, the room note is tolerable to those around. In all, a fine tobbaco by Iwan Ries.

Another reviewer recommended letting this blend age for a year or more. The sealed tin I received from Iwan Ries last week was dated 1/2008, more than 1.5 years old. The scent of the unsmoked tobacco in the tin is wonderful, but very light. The leaf is a thicker, visually pleasing, coarse ribbon cut and packs quite nicely. It seems very moist right out of the tin, and I was concerned that it would burn hot and not stay lit - I was mistaken. One charring light, and then another match, and the entire bowlful burned and smoked smoothly, with billows of smoke, right down to the bottom - leaving nothing but a fine light gray ash. No goop. No dottle. No bite. No foul taste at the end. The word that comes to mind for the flavor of the smoke: "smoothe." This tobacco certainly lives up to its name. It is definitely one of the finest English blends.

(NOTE: The tin I smoked before this review was from 2008.) One of the earlier reviews said, "This is what all other English tobacco blends want to be." I have to agree. This is the most delicious English blend I have smoked to date (and having smoked a pipe for twenty years, I've tried many). This one is truly worthy of the name "Gourmet English." Having been disappointed with many of the now-outsourced "English" offerings of many blenders, I was VERY pleasantly surprised by this Iwan Ries blend. Packs well and burns cool and smooth, right down to a fluffy, powdery grey ash...no dottle at all. The thing that impresses me most about this one is the sublime BALANCE in the taste. So many English blends on the market today have to add "mild," "medium," or "heavy" to their names, and sadly, this is still no indicator of the balance of flavors. One can be overwhelmed by Latakia in one blend, and underwhelmed by too much Turkish spice or Oriental in another. Not so with Gourmet English. The Latakia is there, and provides the nice, deep, smoky bass note. Quality leaf. Just enough Oriental there to make everything interesting. And in this blend, the Virginia shines. I also smoke many blended/straight Virginias (being a good Virginia boy myself) from McClelland and the like, and the Virginia in Iwan Ries' Gourmet English is reminiscent of these. It reminds me of one of my favorite pressed Virginias, Pipeworks & Wilke's "Dummerston": rich and buttery, it holds the blend together superbly. The flavor of this tobacco blend is very rich and well-rounded. There are no sharp edges anywhere, and no bite, either, no matter what my smoking cadence may be at the moment--although this definitely is one to be savored, not rushed. I imagine this being very close to the famous "Arcadia" mixture, so favored by the great writers and statesmen of the 19th century. Delicious and complex, and conducive to those contemplative moments. I prefer to smoke this in a blasted meer, but the blasted meer is my preferred pipe, anyway. If I had been introduced to this in my younger days, I would have been an English devotee much earlier in my exploration of our hobby. Smoke this one and you'll see why Iwan Ries has been around for a century and a half. A sublimely genteel English, and a true "gourmet" one at that. A solid four-stars! Hats off to Iwan Ries for this one, with fervent hopes that they don't mess with a good thing.

This is what one one expect from one of the premier Pipe shops in the USA - a simply superior blend!

This smells good when opened, packs easy, stays lit and just tastes great. This fits right in with some of my other favorites - Frog Morton, Royal Yacht, Odyssey. It's a bit 'earthier' and a touch stronger then Frog Morton - tastes as good in a corn cob as in a Savinelli or Sasieni.

After years of sticking with a couple of good old standby's I've been trying loads of different blends. Given that I tend toward English and Balkan blends, it isn't a shock to find that I like this one enough to add it to my favorites list.

If you liked Frog Morton,you may now meet his older brother Gourmet English from Iwan Ries. This is the most" McClellandy" of the Iwan Ries house mixtures.This is very much in the same vein as FMOT but without the heavy casing and heavier on the Orientals and Virginias.Latakia does take a back seat in this blend. I believe somewhere in the trunk actually. This is a magnificent sweet Virginia/Oriental blend with just a smidgen of Latakia added. It has a most unique flavor and burns quite cool. I must, however, warn that this is a very McClelland Virginia based blend and is rather spicy.It does not bite but has the effect of a teaspoon of vinegar on the tongue . I like vinegar, so for me it was great. The best description is a hybrid between "Arcadia Mixture" and "FMOT". Get the Idea? A super Crossover blend without a lot of casing. McClelland lovers will enjoy this to the fullest. The rest of will admire it and enjoy it for what it is- Uniquely flavorful. 3 Crossover Stars!

This is what all "English" tobacco blends wants to be. This is as near perfection as tobacco can be. This blend lights easily. It stays lit, and it burns cool and dry. The taste is dark and rich. The latakia does not over-power the other components, but it is there in full strength. This is an everyday, any time of the day, tobacco. If you like "English" blends, you will love this one.

Appearance is a dark brown rough ribbon. Tin smells lightly sweet and very slightly smoky. Tastes light, airy, nondescript.

I can only recommend this as a beginner's English, and not a good one at that. Intriguing in the tin, but dusty and dry flavours while smoking. Some sourness, and not a pleasant sourness. There is simply nothing here to justify another tin.

WOW! I wish I had tried this mixture years ago! I was unaware that anyone was still blending an English this good. This is the Iwan Ries English blend of the 1970's. I have not tasted anything this good since an old blend called Lamplighter disappered from the market around 1980. I had mentioned in a different review that Penzance was the only English I still smoked. Well move over Penzance! You have been replaced. I'm not going to try and describe the taste as other reviewers have done a far better job then I can. I will say that this is IMHO a perfectly balanced blend. English style does not equal Lat bomb!The English blends of yesteryear were a harmonious mix of several premium tobaccos working together to create a smoke that was as smooth as silk and as soft as an angles breath. I believe Ries has set the bar with Gourmet English. I urge the younger smokers to try GE as this is what an English was intended to be.