Astley's No.88 Matured Dark Virginia

Astley's 88 is certainly a light, harmless tobacco blend. There is nothing wrong with it and indeed, it would be a great starter tobacco for a new pipe smoker if it stayed lit a bit better.

The only problem with 88 from a mature smoker's viewpoint is that it is monochromatic and approaching bland.

I like my matured virginia blends to have some tang and some sparkle to them. If you do too, then 88 isn't for you.

I will probably use the balance of the tin to blend in with some of my other tobaccos

I tried this blend in the first place because it has gotten so much positive mention on ASP. Well, lesson learned...!

Astley's No. 88 is a good example of a matured Virginia tobacco that proves to be maybe a little too much of a good thing.

Contrary to other reviewers, I found my sample tin to be much dryer than I was expecting. The tin aroma is a pleasant smell of raisins that is common to fermented Virginia tobaccos. The ribbons are a bit on the long side, and might benefit from a bit of breaking up for a smaller bowl.

Upon lighting, the sweet taste and smooth aroma that is unique to mature Virginias is evident. That is both the good and the bad: the taste was sweet and smooth and creamy, but there was virtually no change as one smokes down the bowl. By the end of the pipe, I find that the entire experience is a bit boring and monotonous. I am going to try adding a pinch of Perique to my next bowl of No. 88 and see if that spices things up a bit.

English-style Cavendish-processed leaf, just like RATTRAY's Dark Fragrant. Very good quality, highly recommended to cavendish lovers. Too light for me.

I normally wouldn't even try black cavendish but have had good prior success with the German blender K&K under other of the Astleys' labels. Although I have much more experience with Va flakes, this is one of the better cavendish blends that I've recently smoked. I would not classify it as a ribbon cut as indicated above but rather a ready rubbed flake comprised of mostly deep brown to black stoved VAs. The tin aroma had only a hint of sweetness in contrast to many of the heavily cased cavendish blends. Once I improved my packing technique, although the initial lights were difficult, relights were not needed. Overall a cool, smooth smoke for a cavendish that I may select in the hot weather. However, it lacks the strength and flavor to become one of my steadies.

Very similar to other blends of its ilk, especially Robert McConnell's Rich Dark Virginia. Given that they come from the same factory in Germany now, it is not particularly surprising that such similarly intended blends ended up, well, so similar. If anything, this may smoke slightly cooler than McConnell's Rich Dark Virginia.

Comprising of exclusively of very dark stoved and aged Virginias, the color of the blend (if it indeed can be called that) is decidedly uniform.

The tin aroma is superb-- gently sweet and rich in the way only dark cured Virginias can be. It could use a little drying right out of the tin, but its not incredibly wet-- certainly smokable.

The smoke is good, but unexceptional. Some of the sweetness from the tin aroma shines through, but it's more bland than I would have expected given the delightful tin nose. This would probably make for a decent morning smoke for me and might be very much enjoyed by the lover of dark Virginia blends, but it definitely isn't exciting enough to become one of my favorites. I'll probably finish this tin, but I doubt I'll purchase another.

It has been quite awhile since I have delved into black canendish blends...and it appears that it will be quite awhile before I do so again. The appearance in the tin is dark brown/black and the smell is appealing. However the taste is, well, ordinary. This is the kind of blend that I would mindlessly fill a pipe with to putter around the house or rake leaves with. It does smoke cool and dry but it is not one of those blends that I would "Sit-Back" to experience. Overall, it is a nice smoke, it lacks the character and depth that I normally look for in a good blend. Monochrome, consistent taste.

I have steadily been making my way through the entire line of Astley's tobaccos and have found several winners such as #109. But, this is not one of them.

This is a good, dark, tobacco, but one that is lacking in depth and character. It's taste runs to a tangy flavor, which can be tasted a day later.

As some of the other reviewers mentioned, this is one difficult tobacco to keep lit. Even with drying prior to smoking, it was still a chore to keep lit. Perhaps it is the fire retardant in the flavoring.

If you like dark matured virginias, and I admit they are an acquired taste, then you can do no wrong with this fine smoking blend. The weed is dark as night and smells like a loaf of black Russian rye bread. Beautiful! To me, the flavour was very well-balanced, with no one feature that hits you over the head--just smooth, mildly sweet, with a touch of mulled spice. This would be a perfect introduction to matured Vas, as it smoked clean and cool in several shapes/sizes of pipe.

UPDATE: seeing Paddy's review reminded me of what I forgot to mention when I reviewed this blend halfway through my tin--it was bloody hard to keep lit. This was a pain in the butt, despite the flavour being good.