Villiger Early Day

This is a classic english style/latakia blend and I'd say it holds up well against the more famous, and expensive, competition. Nice smooth virginias with a hint of spicy latakia throughout. Classic. It is light on the latakia, not heavy.

I really liked this blend and have a tin of it that I am cellaring for years from now. Well worth a try for the english aficionado, especially considering it's price.

I think its best to say that this is a great smoke for those looking to take a walk down the light English tobacco path. It smokes great and truley does leave a fine taste in ones mouth when finished. I found its best to let this one sit for about 10-15min before loading but in turn will provide you with a fine smoke.

I was leery of a pipe tobacco from a company known for making teeny tiny dry cured cigars. No problem, it turned out: this blend is a typical balkan (made with latakia obtained from a "Balkan Region", Cyprian, I surmise). By a quick visual estimation, it appears to be about 15% latakia, 30% light virginia, 55% medium brown leaf. The tin aroma is slightly phenolic and faintly sweet with a hint of chocolate. The moisture level seems a bit too high to light up directly; I had difficulty keeping it lit after first opening.

I was put off at first by an austerely dry, harsh flavor, so I ignored the tin for a week. Like a tannic red wine, it benefited from breathing and improved greatly. It never develops any real sweetness normally associated with virginia and oriental tobaccos, and certainly not any sweet tastes from any casing typically found in continental European blends. The chocolate noted in the tin cannot be found in the taste.

It seems to like a medium-sized bowl. I suspect a large bowled pipe would be better, but the nicotine delivery would be too high for my wussy tolerance. The nicotine seems stronger than the mild taste would suggest, and higher than an oriental-rich mixture would normally possess.

I can't speak to any comparison to Dunhill's EMP; my last tin of that blend was a half decade ago and that differed greatly from the EMP I remembered from the 1970's. The orientals in this blend are not particularly fragrant, the room note is neutral, almost cigarette-like.

The bowl never quite develops into anything interesting nor changes much. Vigorous puffing merely spins my head but does not bite my tongue.

Balkan lovers may be disappointed by the subdued latakia character of the blend. I'm disappointed by the plain tobacco taste and smell. It's not my tin of weed right now but I suspect age will improve it greatly, so I give it 2 stars for the time being. You may find it exactly what you are looking for.

Solid and tasteful blend which tastes fine at every time of day. It burns well and steady until white trash.

My rate: 4.7

I really have began to enjoy the subtleties and nuances of this blend. When I first smoked it, it honestly reminded me of a camel cigarette(strong presence of oriental leaves probably being the culprit). Loaded it into my meerschaum and grabbed a cup of earl grey tea and yes! This is not rolling tobacco! Very nice buttery, sweet and sour teryaki sauce flavours from the oriental components with latakia peeking out here and there. The virginias provide just enough body and toasty sweetness to balance this blend. A little mono-chromatic but completelely enjoyable while reading or what have you. This is too me what Blakan Sasieni was trying to achieve and fell slightly short. That's just my two cents. Interested in trying the other two blends of this collection.

Smokey smell out of the can, mild taste, mild room note not too may complaints from the wife however this is one of my outdoor blends. Little to no bite and consistent burn. I recommend the entire series there definitely worth a try.

This is a lovely Danish style English with a very light casing. Great taste and cool burning. The latakia is applied gently and the orientals and virginias take the fore. This is an excellent mix of quality tobaccos and very smooth on the tongue. I really appreciate the way this one satisfies without being in your face. A semi-aromatic with all the positives. Well worth a try.

I have not smoked EMP - but have smoked AMP by McClelland and C&D "Good Morning". Needless to say these are all attempts at recreating EMP. I like this blend a lot. I had settled on Good Morning as my morning blend, but will now alternate with this blend.

It has a great scent when opening the tin, slight "woodsy" scent. It was a little dryer from the tin than I like, but I like my tobacco slightly moist. This blend packs and lights easily. I generally do not have to re-light until near the bottom of the bowl.

The room note is great, very pleasant. This tobacco buns smoothly and the taste is consistant through the bowl. Medium thick smoke is produced.

This is a very nice light to medium morning smoke which could be smoked all day.

This is supposed to be similar to a certain famous blend for smoking in the early morning. Now I once smoked some EMP on vacation during a wonderful vacation time on Cape Cod - good friends, great weather, wonderful memories. So, as you know, sometimes the memories are a part of the pipe smoke experience.

That being said, this blend is very close to what I remember! If I had to make a comparison from memory, I'd say the original was just a little bit brighter. But again, that could be due to a different pipe, bowl size, shape, or whatever.

On its own merit this is a great mild oriental/VA blend and if you miss the original, give this one a try while you're waiting for the return!