Hearth & Home Classic Burley Kake

This is my first venture into pipesandcigars blends - and it was wonderful! This is a very nice blend that smokes dry in the bowl and lights up the palate with a nice array of flavors. This is a blend that can be smoked freely in company as its room note is very appealing. Several people asked what I was smoking when they smelled it. Certainly a must try.

First off let me state that I am neither a burley nor an aromatic smoker. As with many of us I did go through that phasen early on in the 70's and finally settled on Virginia-Perique. English and Balkan mixures. Somewhat smug about my stance I contined for many years satisfied that I had the "true word" on tobacco blends and was somewhat condescending toward any other points of view or opinions. I am sure most of you know what I mean.

Humility comes at a price it is said and I find this to be true. Russ' burley blend is a delightful change of pace and I admit this freely. Nice taste,good burn qualities,easy packing and very little aftertaste--none of the goopy slug either. My cheif room note evaluator - my darling wife - also likes the smell of this "old-timey" tobacco. What more could be asked for?

Though I am still not an avid burley or aromatics fan I will nevertheless highly reccomend this blend while deferring to those true burley smokers who have more experience than I do.They seem to agree for the most part with my evaluation though.

Very nice job Russ. A somewhat timid tryo at burley blends.

The Piper at the Gates of Dawn

Some smokers may like a tobacco with a "maple-like sweetness" and a combination of cocoa, rum, and anise. I don't.

This is a great simple burly/light aromatic. This comes as a sliced kake and looks and smells delicious. It is a burly/va blend topped with cocoa, rum, and anise which all work well together. Don't let the aromatic description turn you off to this. It has none of the usual characteristics of most aros. It is a cool and dry burning tobacco with great taste and room note. The more I smoked this blend the more I had to have. The flavor really picks up about 1/4 of the way into the bowl. Flavors range from nutty to pleasantly sweet with the occasional hint of the cocoa. It is pretty straight forward so don't go into this looking for something complex. A great smoke that I would recommend to all pipe smokers. Beginners take special note. This is a very easy burning, trouble free smoke that tastes great.

This is a very nice burley blend. The cake is fun to break up and pack into the pipe, I've found it's best to avoid overpacking. The first few puffs produce a somewhat weird mixture of tastes but it quickly settles down into an almost sweet, cocoa like flavor that has hints (at most) of anise. Slower burning, very cool and dry. Definitely aromatic but in a quieter kind of way. I think this will be a good hot weather, summer smoke. This is not your usual sweet/goopy aromatic smoke but something more muted and refreshing. Every burley smoker should try this once, the burley in this is wonderful.

This is 1 of the best Aromatics I have ever smoked. Please do not confuse this with Uhle's or Peretti's Burley mixtures. NOT even close!This is a full aromatic and should be thoroughly enjoyed as such. There is a wonderful flavor of sweet chocolate backed up by Anise. This is absolutely delicious without being cloying or goopy. If you like P&W Bohemian , you will like this. My only reservation is it starts out a little hot before calming down. After 10 minutes though it is all smooth sailing. 3.5 of 4 aromatic stars.

A very interesting burley with a different trio of flavorings. Considering this trio, there is very little in the way of moisture or goopy dottle at the end of the smoke. I was able to taste two of the flavorings in this blend, and fortunately it was not sickeningly sweet. The anise was predominant upon lighting and then the chocolate kicked in. These two danced with one another throughout the smoke. Depending on the individual kake I prepared for smoking, at times the anise was the dominant flavor, and other times, it was the chocolate. I would have preferred the chocolate to be the more forward of the two each and every time. Sometimes with the anise, it is way too harsh when forward in this blend. I couldn't honestly taste the rum, but it burned like most other rum blends - hot. I'm not talking bite, just a very hot smoke which detracted from the overall enjoyment for me. Even with slow puffing, my mouth (especially the hard palate) was always aware of the heat, but not in a scorching way. This was, for me, a major drawback. Even slow smoking did not eliminate this. As far as a solid Burley taste, I found it lacking. My favorite Burleys are Solani's Aged Burley Flake, Wessex Burley Slice, the long gone Edgeworth Sliced, and Mac Baren's Burley London Blend, so now you know where I'm coming from taste and strength wise. Packing (the Kit Kat-sized cakes crumble very easily) and lighting are relatively easy and the blend stays lit for the most part. Due to the trio of added flavorings, what tobacco taste there is remains way too far in the background. The overall Burley flavor that I was looking forward to was greatly masked and a bit harsh to boot. It didn't remind me at all of Edgeworth Sliced, and only similar to Edgeworth Ready Rubbed topping wise (rum and chocolate); although ERR (the original, not Lane's) was a cube cut, slower burning, less heat, and sweeter tasting. The taste of CBK can be a little cigarette ashy at times. This is very noticeable if you return to the bowl after letting it go out a spell.

The room note, at first, is pleasant while it is being smoked. However, the room note, after a few minutes, can become cigarette-like. It is very ash-smelling, reminiscent of wet ashes, occasionally translating into the taste.

I waffle back and forth with this one. It has stuff going for it that I classify as 3 star, but with the heat factor and that awful cigarette presence, makes it at best no more than a 2 star blend. I have tried to smoke this one by taking one of the brownie-like cakes and put it into a pipe with a bowl to accommodate its length and breadth. It smokes a tad cooler but there are times when you are greeted with a burst of anise which is way too much for me. You still need to keep from puffing too fast to keep that heat factor turned down! I'll give it a recommended - just for its nice chocolate presence, although I wish it were more pronounced. Overall...2.5 stars.

UPDATE 7-29-13: Definitely smoother with age on it. I still have nearly a pound that's well over 3 years old. While puffing on it today it really reminded me of Mac Baren's Honey & Chocolate, but more subdued. Didn't detect the cigarette-like presence as previously stated. Actually, the room note upon returning to where I was smoking it was quite pleasant. The Anise is more pepper-like this time around...perhaps there is a bit of Perique (actual or artificial I can not tell)? I'll bump my personal rating up to a solid 3 stars; although this will most likely be an occasional smoke for me for when the mood strikes.

Having read the reviews here, I bought 2 ounces of this in bulk and was looking forward to the smoking experience. I have to say it: something is out of whack.

Either it's a case of smell and taste perceptions can and do vary widely; or I got a bum batch; or my senses are suffering from old age, as I am.

I found no powerful pouch aroma. No powerful taste sensations. In fact, I found very little of anything.

Classic Burley Kake had a very mild aroma of something sweet when I opened the baggie.

When smoked, I found the mixture to be almost tasteless. Some hints of something sweet on occasion. Otherwise, just a general burley taste that was very mild. Which is okay if that is all you are looking for. On that score, it was a passable burley smoke.

The main negative, aside from very little aromatic flavor, was that the smoke got somewhat hot at the end.

I don't want to rate this on my disappointment, in which case I'd give it one star. On the other hand, IMO, there are better smokes out there than this.

Unless I find a pipe in which this shines, or my tastes buds go through a wonderful transformation (I'm hoping), I can only go 2 stars.

This is a perfect one for me. I like old timey burley blends and this may be the best one I have ever had. Hats off to Mr. Ouellette on this one. Highly recommended.