Chief Catoonah Tobacconist York Street Mixture

I am far from an expert when it comes to blending tobacco, but when a blend is made up of six different component tobaccos, it can be wonderfully complex or unbalanced and muddled. I guess Chief Catoonah’s York St. blend, things kind of fall in the middle for me. The good news is that for me there is more good than bad here for me. The flavor overall is smooth, slightly sweet and smoky. The three different Virginias round things out nicely and I don’t get much of the perique. I often shy away from English blends that incorporate Burley, but the cubed cut Burley here doesn’t take over, but rather melds in nicely into the blend. There is no bite whatsoever in this blend. On the down side for me, but maybe not for others, is the use of the cube cut Burely from a burn standpoint. While the blend is smoldering, the cube cut burns at its own rate (not an unusual thing), and I find myself trying to keep things together. I am not a newbie pipe smoker, but found myself struggling to find the right cadence, often over puffing the blend. Maybe it is the size of the cubes or more likely it’s just me. When the flavors come together, they are really good, but I don’t see myself buying this in the future, but I do see a lot of English smokers really enjoying this blend.