Esoterica Tobacciana Tilbury

Beautiful, mostly chocolate brown ribbon cut of predominantly virginias. A couple of noteworthy observations - first, as Bierstadt mentioned, I get a very distinct flavor of something like buttered and sugared toast. This comes directly from the tobacco rather than a casing of any kind. Second, this has absolutely the best room note of any natural tobacco I've ever smoked. If you want a nice DGT, instead of relighting it, just leave the room for a few seconds and re-enter. Honestly, I did that several times during each bowl. I have no idea why or how it smells so wonderful in the room but it is absolute heaven on earth!

The essential constituent tobaccos may be the same but I find this as close to Stonehaven in flavor as peanut butter is to a steak. Where Stonehaven was robust with burly burleys and a touch of virginia, Tilbury is a light, sweet gentle blend with the virginia on top and the burley well underneath. The burley is definitely in a supporting role here. It only comes out with any force during the last 1/3 bowl.

This is a very good tobacco. It's a little mild for my tastes but it's definitely something any virginia lover should try.

One of the underappreciated Esoterica's I believe. I was lucky enough to get both tins and bags at my local B&M during a drop.

The burley stays in the background to me and the virginas come through during the beginning of the bowl. In the last 3rd of the bowls I felt more of the kick and also got the taste of the burley.

While bags of Stonehaven disappear in seconds it seems, this one sometimes gets overlooked. Grab it if you can.

Tilbury is presented in a fine ribbon cut with a tin aroma reminiscent of dry autumn leaves and a hint of cocoa. Easy to pack and perfect moisture. The blend of gold and dark Virginias produce layers of dry grass, sweet hay and citrus balanced by light fruity notes. Burley is predominant but not overwhelming and steps in with a sweet nuttiness, white pepper and notes of maple wood. As it burns moderately to a white ash, the aroma reminds me of an autumn stroll in the neighborhood as hardwood leaves are smoldering away. Won’t bite your tongue even if provoked. Can be an all day smoke. Balanced and smooth but on the upper side of medium in strength, aftertaste is pleasant and leaves a very enjoyable room note.

I am enjoying a sample of this a friend sent me. This is a very high quality and tasty VaBur that presents initially as a straight, slightly sweet Virginia. As the bowl progresses, you start picking up the burley. I claim there is no topping at all. I just taste tobacco here, and it is very good. I do not find this to have any unusual nicotine hit as the description and other reviewers have suggested, but maybe I am less sensitive to it.

3rdguy

Just finished a full tin, about 2 years of age on it. I like the body the Burley adds to this and for me that kept it satisfying enough to reach for frequently. Needs a little dry tme, takes a relight or two. Retrohale is very mild. I did get a slight bite at times but probably more from my cadence. Burned fairly quickly but down to a nice white ash.

A solid blend but I really want to revisit my remaining tins with a bit more age on them. I think this could be a incredible blend then.

Highly recommended.

I remember back around 2008-09 when I first started my pipe tobacco sampling frenzy. I used another handle at the time but have recently rejoined TRs & forgot about this one. I'm gathering up my notes & editing them. Back then, all tobacco blends, including those from across the big pond were readily available most all the time & Samuel Gawith tins were around $7.00. There seemed to be no scarcity of any blend & prices were very reasonable.

I left the hobby for about 7-8 years but became revitalized in 2018. FWIW, I could not believe the changes that had occurred in those years... almost went into shock! I didn't even know McClelland had closed their doors or that Orlik & Mac Baren Dunhill were out of business as well when I rejoined TRs. OK... upon opening I was greeted with a semi-sweet aroma that was very pronounced. I'm guessing that the sweet aroma had to be from an aged Virginia variety.

The cut is that of long ribbons and after about an hour it was at the perfect humidification level for stoking and smoking. This blend lit very well and produced a good volume of smoke. The taste did not impress me as many other similar blends that I sampled but thought the aroma from this blend was surprisingly sweet since it stated there was no topping.

It seemed to me, back in the day, that Esoterica blends were simply ordinary with the exception of Stonehaven which became one of the best of that genre that I ever tried. I never tried any of their English. The Virginias were tasty, the tobacco smoked mildly & had about a medium kick to it. There was a little sweetness from the VA & a creamy nuttiness & additional strength from the "light" Burley infusion which became stronger as the smoking session progressed. I found this blend to be fairly satisfying but prefer a blend with more punch. I think it could have used a little more Burley for added strength but that's just my personal opinion but then again, it would be something else.

There was a little tongue bite initially but at the time, I was unaware of the DGT method. I only tried one tin of Tilbury, so, I guess I didn't think it was a great blend but look forward to trying it's cousin Stonehaven soon & did eventually acquire a pound of Stonehaven (two 8 oz. bags) from Iwan Ries for around $75.00. It was heavenly & Tilbury does not measure up to a comparison. That was right before the scarcity epidemic hit around 2010.

Nice straightforward smoke... light sweetness.. good grassy brightness... burley is very subtle... I like it overall but doesn't excite me as much as other esoterica blends.. a little simple.. but sometimes that's not a bad thing.

UPDATE: Been in a jar for 3 years now and this blend aged surprisingly well, probably due to the higher percentage of VA's in the blend. The few years in the jar really evens the smoke out nicely. The Virginia's are a bit sweeter and the topping is a bit faded but the essence of apricot is still in the jar note and the flavors are a combination of nutty, woody and sweet, somewhat earthy flavors. I have started this back into my rotation as a first smoke of the day but can be smoked any time and can be an "all day" smoke.

ORIGINAL: Yet another great blend from Esoterica Tobacciana. This is a great Virginia/Burley blend, although the burley is very subtle. The tin note on all of the Esoterica Virginias I have found to be incredibly good. This is a sweet tangy VA, with bread and hay notes along with a lemony/lemon zest smell. If you stick your nose in real quick I get immediately makes me recall the smell of Parliment cigarette's (which I never smoked, just smelled the packs of friends). But if you really put your nose in you get a great VA smell that seems to really be pronounced with this brand. I only use the air pocket packing method when smoking Virginia tobacco's. I find the air pocket in the pipe helps minimize the likelihood of bite and I also find with Virginias in particular you can really get all of the subtle flavors. From the charring light to the last puff you the hay like grassy and sweet flavors of these outstanding Virginia's. There is toast from the burley which really makes the sweet bready Virginia flavor shine. The lemony scent in the tin is also in the flavor but is almost grapefruit like in the mouth and especially on the retrohale. I also get a "cut grass" like flavor, which may not sound good, but I like it. Medium nic hit for me and burns very will if given 15 mintutes of drying time.

From the tin the aroma is quite pungent. It smells like fermented plants mixed with leather with just a slight hint of sweet grass. It actually didn't smell that appealing at first sniff, but now it gets me quite excited.

The tobacco is mostly light to medium brown ribbons with a few light ribbons mixed in and even less dark ribbons present. Extremely easy to load and light. I recommend a medium pack, not too tight or too much tobacco, but not to soft either. If packed right this will remain lit with light and easy tamping.

The smoke is very flavorful. I get natural sweetness that is balanced by woodsy flavors, toast, a slight tang and some nuttiness. There are hints of citrus and a little grass, but not that much. Maybe a hint of spice, more pronounced about mid-bowl when the wood flavor really comes out. From that point to the end of the bowl there are notes of dark chocolate, but just hints. This tobacco is hard for me to describe, but it seems quite unique to other blends I've smoked before. It has the bready, tangy, natural sweetness of a red va and the nuttiness, and perhaps the cocoa too, from the burley. The flavor combination is wonderful and enjoyable from top to bottom. It has a nice kick to it as well. Great with the morning cup of coffee.

This tobacco is great all on it's own, however, I was first introduced to this blend by a wonderful pipe maker. He sent me a sample of what he calls 'Surf-n-turf' blend. It's a mixture of LA Perique and Tilbury, being more Tilbury than Perique. He described it as tasting like meat and the ocean at first and ends up tasting like you are sucking on chocolate by the end. He was right. I have since remade this blend and thoroughly enjoy the blend and Tilbury on it's own from time to time.