Esoterica Tobacciana Tilbury

This tobacco is exquisitely subtle. The reason I only smoke it on occasion is because I appreciate it most when I am calm and reflective. It burns very easily and is "hands down" THE most bite-free tobacco I have ever smoked. It is suitable for the experienced pipe smoker and would be excellent for the novice, as it's gentle nature subtle flavor would surely insure continuation of the "gentle art".

This is a review I'd written on Tilbury around eight or nine years ago. I have since rejoined TRs under a different handle. This blend comes in a nice copper colored tin with a white label affixed to the front; the font is fancy on the tin label and very appealing to my eye. Upon opening I was greeted with a sweet, fairly strong fig-like aroma. The cut is that of long ribbons and after about an hour was at the perfect humidification for packing and smoking. This blend lit very well and produced a good volume of smoke.

The taste and aroma was heavenly. The Virginias were smooth, sweet & tangy. There was a creamy nuttiness due to the burley and I found this blend to be very satisfying. There was a little tongue bite initially due to my puffing cadence but things cooled as I set my pipe down for a little while & restarted with proper puffing. This is not a top ten in my rotation but liked it really well... good flavor. I look forward to trying it's cousin Stonehaven soon. I like the few Esoterica blends very well that I've tried thus far. I did finally get my hands on some Stonehaven & liked it even better. I purchased two eight oz. bags from Iwan Ries for around seventy-five dollars. How much would a lb. cost today? More than I'd be willing to pay.

Opening up the bag, I did not enjoy the smell. Similar to Stonehaven, there was an "almost chocolate" off-putting smell. I jarred most of it for aging, but let a few bowls sit in a bag for two weeks. I pulled a bowl out of the bag and let it sit for 10m before packing it. While the smell was off, the taste was on. I enjoyed the bowl. The chocolate tasted chocolate and it was a bit creamy.

Despite ET's veiled suggestions to the contrary, Tilbury is not a strong or robust tobacco. It is not likely to cause an experienced smoker dizziness, and I'm not so sure about "piquant", either. On the other hand, the smell of white chocolate (or cocoa) over the well blended, aged tobacco seems to be a result of natural processes, and the parallel flavor and aroma of the smoke is quite comfortably nice. The constituent tobaccos are well melded, round and smooth, end to end. It's probably partly because of its simple, easy going nature that I tend to smoke Tilbury as a no-brainer, since it delivers its comfort and satisfaction with minimal effort from me; not to mention, it smells and tastes good! One need only load gently and avoid tamping while staying light on the draw in order to enjoy this tobacco. It does smoke down rather quickly; but it seems pretty safe to me to just go ahead and enjoy another bowl. Very easy going for a VA/Bur.

Nothing Fancy; Just Plain Good.

Good all around VA/Burley. Must be smoked slowly or it will bite. I go back and forth about buying an 8oz. bag or just another couple of tins for now. It has some aging potential. It cannot be smoked all day, the bite is too much. But still a good smoke and well worth the try.

Update

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This is a jar from the initial purchase aged 2yrs. Nice changes, no bite. The VA's are starting but just starting to sweeten a little more. I would love to see this develop to about 8-10 yrs. Very good aging potential here from what I am seeing so far. However, finding this has been difficult. I am not willing to pay $100 a lb. when it can be found. I know of one online retailer that has the expected price but good luck getting a bag when it comes in. This is good/very good but I am note going out of my way to run down a bag or pay the jacked up price.

I found this to be a nice blend with the Virginia out front, however,it just didn't have that "zing". It was sweet but not real sweet. It didn't bite, but needed some drying prior to smoking. It's not complex, has decent "N" ( I didn't get dizzy !) and could be smoked all day, . I don't want to say there is anything wrong with this , it is just boring ( this can't hold a candle to Solani"660 Silver Flake" , that is a Virginia Kentucky blend). Smoke can get a touch of bitter if smoked fast. I'll finish the tin but won't order more , I'll stick with "660".

This review will probably not be too informative. It is based on two bowls each of recently tinned and 12 year old Tilbury, sent to me as a sample by a fellow pipe forum member. We were discussing aged tobacco and how much of a difference an aged tin makes. I enjoy aged tobaccos, but don't often have the experience of trying the same blend in 12-year- separated "vintages" and trying to write a review. I like to review everything I try, but keep in mind the caveat that this write-up is based on very few bowls, and that usually I like to smoke a few more than this before forming an opinion. So, here are a couple observations. I like this tobacco, but the few Esoterica blends I've tried have been all top quality. Nice Virginias in here, and a touch of Burley, but the Virginias predominate. Based on the small amount I have smoked, I would buy this again, and probably will acquire another tin at least of this blend at some point. I also will not go and order ten tins right now: in other words, it's not knocking my socks off, and I have several blends in jars that are just as good and a couple that are better. I don't think anyone who likes this style would be too disappointed. The tin description says potent, causes dizziness. I guess whoever wrote that never had Irish Flake. Puffed a little harder, I get some strength from it. Now to the crux of the review: do I detect a difference between the old and the new? In a word (well, two words), not really! The newer vintage tastes aged already, because of the blending and curing, and that tin description says it's "matured," so of course they didn't just pluck the leaves off the plant and stuff them in a tin! I might get a touch more mellowness from the 12 year old, but there is no striking difference between the two ages I just smoked of this blend. Well, this pipe I'm smoking right now (of the older) is very enjoyable! I will buy this again, but don't really care if it's aged. I could add this to my stash. Nice complexity to this blend, it's not just another Virginia-with-a-bit-'o-Burley mixture. So, aged tin experiment: inconclusive, at least as regards Tilbury. But though I have not smoked much of it, I can recommend it without reservations.

This is the first tobacco I've smoked/reviewed. Very sweet smell from the jar. Nice fluffy ribbon cut. Easy to pack. Fill up your bowl though cause it burns fast. Its a great smoke with a nice smooth taste that's not too overpowering. My first bowl knocked me over with the nic hit but subsequent bowls have not. For any virginia lover its a must.

Tasty and very understated. Lovely. Unremarkable. Not in a bad way.

EDIT: Upping this one to 3 stars. A year of age on my tin has served it well, and the "unremarkable" flavors I noted in my first review grow more pronounced and interesting in the second half of the smoke. What begins as a clean, almost ethereal tobacco flavor develops into a fine medium-bodied Virgina finish.