Wilke Pipe Tobacco Wilke No. 515

this one burned a bit hot to me so only two star. try the rumcake if you like rum flavored tobacco.

i am amending my review. i gave this on another try. it is burning fine. taists fine. i would have no problem recommending this tobacco. three stars!

I’ve been smoking P&W English blends for years...#78 and High Hat.....after many years I started trying out a number of aromatics....some of the old school drug store blends from my youth (first pipe in 1968)....tried #515 out of curiosity....I think it’s a great tasting easy to smoke blend.....wonderful aroma....I discovered the art of discovery....I recommend 515 if you want a truly enjoyable tobacco....sorry I’m not more scientific....just know what I like

Beautiful looking, tasting and smelling mix. Smokes great right out of the bag. Exceptional customer service. The aroma and thick creamy smoke are enticing with a back note of dark rum

Another blend I was given to as a sample from Carole since I enjoy Rumcake so much and I order my custom Rumcake blend she makes for me with added burley and Turkish. #515 is although similar to Rumcake is different enough to warrant the two blends being offered. I prefer Rumcake and prefer my blend to Rumcake but both blends are the best Rum cased blends I have tried in my 15 years of smoking. If it was good enough for Sherlock Holmes then its good enough for me!

Good stuff the only bulk aromatic I keep on hand. I don't like heavily cased blends so this suits me very well.

I also find that I enjoy trying out vintage blends & better yet in a vintage pipe. I smoke 515 in my 1950s Wilke Lovat.

This is a must try blend for those of us that grew up watching Sherlock Holmes & fans of Basil Rathbone.

22 May 2009 Update: I'm tightening up on my ratings and only give 4 stars to my top 5 blends that are in my core rotation of tobaccos. Those at this date are Escudo, Penzance, University Flake, Churchill & still deciding what the 5th will be.

I now rate this as a solid 3.5

Just smoked a bowl of this while editing my next novel.

There be rum here, that's for sure; but not overpoweringly so. After all, this is meant to be an all day smoke. A little rum will do ya. To riff off the old Brylcreem commercial.

The taste is pleasant and flavorful, which is what one wants in an aromatic. The tobacco is there, but not overpoweringly so. In fact, it's not overly noticeable. But it is there.

In 50 years of pipe smoking, I've gone full circle: started with aromatics, and have come back to aromatics. With the occasional non-aro change up.

Lady Latakia has been given her own bedroom. She is but the occasional mistress these days.

Wilke 515 is a delicious smoke, and I can see why Basil liked this stuff. There's nothing not to like.

I’ve had this, the half shot (only half the rum) and the double shot (double the rum). While the others are good, it’s the original that really hooked me and keeps me hooked. The Virginias and Cavendish provide a creamy base for the rum and spices topping. All components are well balanced and provide an anytime smoke that is both comfortable and exotic.

My supply came from a November 2020 order – the original configuration. I understand there is a version with half the amount of rum, and a version called Double Shot which has twice the rum. My two ounce exploration of this blend was more than enough for me. Firstly, among reviewers who didn’t give a four star rave, soapiness is often mentioned. I didn’t get any soapiness. Others talk of butterscotch; I didn’t get any. I like blends with rum in them (Black Frigate a favorite) but I don’t really taste rum here either. Maybe I received a rogue batch, and that’s a common comment on the forums. What I get front and center is a weird tonquin-like note of coumarin, with the underlying tobacco tastes struggling to get through. My initial explorations landed in the two-star territory, but the longer this sat in the jar the weirder it got, until by the end it was firmly in the 1-star category. At the end, the weirdness combined with the overt creamy sweetness tasted to me like cream soda gone rancid.

I have to comment on a comment about why anybody would review a tobacco they don’t like. First off, we need to be able to calibrate tastes with other reviewers, not just in what we each like, or don’t, but also in the manner of description. Secondly, a diversity of opinions shows that we are not all in the same echo chamber. Thirdly, unlike some who receive free samples, I have purchased all my tobacco, so I look carefully at dissenting opinion and cautionary reviews. If somebody tastes something off, I’ll probably taste it too. That’s the only thing keeping my TAD in check!