Watch City Cigar Watch City Slices

(3.67)
A robust spicy flake of smoky Kentucky fire cured, and burley leaf. Rich and smooth with an earthy sweet flavor.

Details

Brand Watch City Cigar
Blended By Ernie Q
Manufactured By Sutliff Tobacco Company
Blend Type Burley Based
Contents Burley, Kentucky, Virginia
Flavoring Rum
Cut Flake
Packaging Bulk
Country United States
Production No longer in production

Profile

Strength
Medium
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Extremely Mild -> Overwhelming
Flavoring
Mild
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
None Detected -> Extra Strong
Room Note
Pleasant
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Unnoticeable -> Overwhelming
Taste
Medium to Full
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Extremely Mild (Flat) -> Overwhelming

Average Rating

3.67 / 4
15

5

1

0

Reviews

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Displaying 1 - 10 of 21 Reviews
Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Feb 15, 2015 Medium Very Mild Medium to Full Very Pleasant
The Virginia is grassy, tart and tangy citrusy, lightly tangy dark fruity, bready, mildly floral with a little earth and wood. It mainly acts as the base for the burleys, being more of a minor ingredient. The dark fired Kentucky is spicy, earthy, floral, herbal, vegetative, woody, nutty sweet and is obvious in every puff without grabbing your tongue. The various burleys are very earthy and woody, a little nutty, very slightly sharp, with a nice molasses and cocoa sweetness, and constantly stand out as the lead component. I think a light cocoa topping is present, too, and that cocoa reminds me of the one used in H&H Classic Burley Kake. There is a dark rum topping that acts as a team player, and doesn't tone down the tobaccos much at all. The strength is medium, while the taste is a couple of steps past that mark. The nic-hit is a slot behind the strength level. Won’t bite or get harsh. This is a thick broken crumble cake that breaks apart very easily, but needs to be worked with a little. If you are smoking it in a narrow chamber pipe, the pieces ought to be smaller than if you use a wide bowl, or you’ll have trouble keeping it lit. I recommend a wide bowl to save yourself the trouble, and you’ll get more of the range of flavors easier, too. Well balanced, it burns very slow, requires relights, but has a rich, deep sweet, mildly spicy, savory, complex taste with a little creaminess. The flavor remains consistent to the very end. It’s hard to smoke it to the last ember, so you may have to stir up the tobacco when you approach the bottom to get it all smoked, which is another reason to use a wide bowl. Not an all day smoke, but it can be repeatable.

-JimInks
31 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Oct 18, 2014 Medium Extremely Mild Medium to Full Pleasant to Tolerable
Picked up a 2 oz sample of this mottled crumb cake that I quickly parlayed into a pound purchase. Aroma was of excellent burley with a hint of cocoa. Nice rich earthy aroma. But that was nothing compared to the taste.

Ernie Q has to be considered in the top echelon of U.S blenders (I have a bunch more WC blends to finish) and yet his blends seem to be mostly unknown outside the northeast. This blend merges burley with Kentucky and the results are sublime beyond my imagination, sublime being a descriptor I don't normally associate with those components. The flavor is rich and bold but not heavy. I wouldn't exactly call it a nutty flavor - more earthy and simply "tobacco-y". It's hugely flavorful but not intrusive, and probably the best all-day smoke I can imagine for the burley fanatic. It's my new reference. From a guy few people have heard of. Who would have thought? The respect for the leaf Ernie appears to have is almost peerless (Uhle would be the closest IMHO). This is one of the few blends that caused me to smoke multiple consecutive bowls - it's addictive! If you live and breathe for the taste of burley, you owe it to yourself to get some of this. The finest burley I've ever smoked. The direction I'm going is that with this and Watch City's "Deluxe Crumb Cut", I just may eschew all other burleys. Yeah, this guy is good!
24 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Jan 12, 2014 Medium None Detected Medium to Full Pleasant to Tolerable
Watch City Slices is a mix of Burley and Dark Fired and Virgina. The flakes are thick and for me too thick to fold and stuff. I rubbed out the flake and let it dry for a few minutes. The Dark Fired is what distinguishes this flake for me. It gives WCS a unique flavor. Off the top of my head, the other flake that I smoke with dark fired it Solani Silver Flake, but unlike WCS, that is topped and mutes the dark fired unlike this blend. I get a slight sweetness from WCS, but not as much nutty Burley flavor as I had expected, as it is more earthy than nutty. The Virginia for me is in the background. The nic hit is about medium. This tobacco combination reminds me a little bit of some of the Gawith Hoggarth blends although not as strong as GH. I have to admit that this isn’t my favorite of the many great blends made by Watch City, but regular Burley smokers (of which I am not) may think differently. I think that this flake will benefit from some additional aging, bringing up the Virginias a little and for my personal taste on that basis, I would recommend WCS.
PurchasedFrom: Watch City Cigar
Age When Smoked: new
8 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Oct 22, 2014 Mild to Medium Mild Medium Pleasant
I purchased 4 ounces of Watch City Slices based on the previous reviews. I am a Burley smoker 99% of the time. My daily favorites are Aged Burley Flake, Irish Flake, Wessex Burley Slice.

I would say that WCS is more of a crumble cake and not a true slice, and that's perfectly fine by me. The tobacco was on the lighter side of medium brown and had a delightful smell of dark rum and what smelled like the burnt edges of freshly baked chocolate chip cookies emanating from each of the two 2 ounce baggies. It was very soft to the touch and not moist in a wet way. Crumbling up some pieces for my pipe was very easy to accomplish as was loading and lighting. As a Burley smoker, WCS is much milder than my three previously mentioned favorites. It reminded me of Sutliff's Breckinridge in this regard, although Breckinridge has no rum casing. WCS smoked evenly, dry, and without moisture, goop, or bite (even with fast puffing) to the end of the bowl. There was no appreciable nicotine presence as with my three favs. The rum presence while smoking was never overbearing, and along with the slight taste of burnt cookies provided a nice background sweetness throughout. If that burnt smell/taste was from the Kentucky, it was unlike any Kentucky I ever smoked and a big bravo to that trick! The room note was of sweet smelling tobacco in the tradition of the best in Codger Burleys; an older version of Granger coming to mind (1970s). As a matter of fact, and I know I have said this about Breckinridge, WCS is what a good Codger Burley should be like.

This can be smoked as a "set it and forget it" smoke while puttering around the house, reading a good book, or watching a movie. A very comforting smoke. I would recommend this to those who find Burley too harsh or sour tasting. It was not nut-like to my tastes, and although its tobacco tasting presence was milder than what I am used too, and enjoy in a good Burley, I found the smoking experience quite enjoyable. I believe this to be a good starter for those wanting to try a Burley based tobacco but are put off by many of the nasty attributes of a poorly produced Burley. Good price point too, 2 ounces less expensive than 1 3/4 oz (50gms) of any of my three favs. Highly recommended!
Pipe Used: Peterson Rusticated Bent Billiard
PurchasedFrom: Watch City Cigars
Age When Smoked: fresh from bag
7 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Aug 06, 2014 Medium Medium Full Very Pleasant
I have been looking for a replacement for Wilke's Nut Brown Burley which has been discontinued by Pipeworks and Wilke so I am on the holy grail burley quest. Uhle's blend #44 is the closest I have found so far but I am so happy I found Watch City and its great Slices blend. Burley, Dark Fired and Virginia pressed together into a thick flake that when rubbed out acts like a Crumble Cake from C&D. The pouch aroma is Dark Rum and that lovely Oatmeal aroma that the finest Burleys have. This is super similar to Hearth and Home's Classic Burley Cake with added Dark Rum topping. Man I think the three best Burleys offered in our generation are (in no specific order) Uhle's , Watch City Cigar and L . J Peretti's. Pipeworks and Wilke had my favorite bulk Burley but alas Carole discontinued that age old blend of mine. I am SO surprised more Burleyphiles like myself haven't tried this companies Burley... Their only one of a handful of small pipe shops that still hand make their flakes... Fantastic!!!
Pipe Used: Cobs , no name Italian briar
PurchasedFrom: Watch City Cigar
Age When Smoked: Fresh
7 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Jan 02, 2017 Medium None Detected Medium to Full Very Pleasant
A fantastic blend that any Burley and Virginia fan should try. They come in very large, thick slices that break apart easily. These will darken with some time in a jar which will intensify and smooth out the flavor. Watch City might be the most underrated blending shop in the country right now. I can not recommend Slices, as well as the full lineup of their blends, high enough.
Pipe Used: Stubby nose warmer poker.
PurchasedFrom: Watch City Cigar
Age When Smoked: One year
4 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Jun 28, 2019 Medium Mild Medium Pleasant
I find there are some similarities to H&H Classic Burley Kake. In fact, when rubbed out, this feels very similar to how HHCBK feels when rubbed out. I think the topping is a bit more measured in this one. I think it's excellent. It's nutty, a littly chocolate and earth, maybe some coffee with a but of sweet cream. If you like Lane Ready-Rubbed, the H&H Classic Burley Kake, Solani ABF, MacBaren HH Burley Flake...I suspect you will like this one as well. Maybe a touch lighter in body and nicotine than the Solani and MacBaren, but no less enjoyble. Very "wholesome" and comforting smoke. I wouldn't mind a bit more nicotine, but I am a degenerate.

I went in expecting to like these Watch City blends based on the recommendations and feedback from people I respect, but I've been taken aback by how good they all are. I do tend to look for the good in any blend, but these have all been exemplary.
Age When Smoked: Fresh from vendor
3 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Feb 18, 2019 Medium Extremely Mild Medium to Full Pleasant
So, DK pretty-well nailed it when it comes to his summation of Watch City Slices (and, Watch City blends in general). JimInks, as always, is calm, composed, impartial, and as coolly detached as a forensics clinician – objective, without prejudice, fair-minded – and spot-on in his examination of Watch City Slices. Me? I’m totally hyper-manic about this blend. I cannot really add anything to what has already been said about Watch City Slices – and whatever anxieties I previously harbored about posting such rave reviews for these Watch City blends – those anxieties have been neutralized by my procurement of (what I believe to be) a lifetime supply of the stuff (at a little over 10¢-per-gram, which works out to something like 30-35¢-per-bowl). So go ahead and hoard all you want – I’m good. If you love Burley, then these Watch City Slices are not to be missed. Highly recommended. 4-stars.

Postscript: Until I ordered from Watch City, I was unaware that it is illegal for tobacco products to be ordered or purchased by telephone, mail order -- or ordered through the Internet -- to be shipped directly to consumers in the state of Washington. For the past five years, I've been scouring Zillow, looking for a place the missus and I could retire in Washington state. Not anymore. So, put that in your pipe and smoke it, Mr. Washington State Attorney General.
PurchasedFrom: Watch City Cigar & Pipe
Age When Smoked: Fresh
3 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Sep 04, 2015 Medium to Strong None Detected Medium to Full Pleasant
WC Slices presents Burley, dark-fired Kentucky and Virginia in a thick flake about 3/16" that is nonetheless easy, easy to rub out between your fingertips (too thick to fold). Smells like some figgy Perique in the bag to me, but it's just the natural high quality of the tobaccos used, and of the course the DFK in the blend. Moisture is just right. I don't think top flavoring has been added to this blend, though it probably is cased (what isn't?).

The natural sweetness of the Virginia comes sailing through, but WCS is maybe a little more earthy than nutty, yet more figgy than either of those, with a hint of natural cocoa from the Burley. This is not a codger burley; it is way better than that and yields up a rich Burley taste that (for me) no burley blend has surpassed. Disclosure: I am a burley guy. It's dark and rich but not that strong in the nic department, though it has plenty; you can smoke it all day, and I do.

About blender Ernie Q: agreed, he is in the top echelon of U.S. blenders. Watch City Slices is addictive if you like Burley or Dark-Fired Kentucky. This one blend could alone make Ernie's reputation, though he has many other astonishing blends, too.
Age When Smoked: Fresh
3 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Nov 14, 2021 Medium Medium Medium to Full Pleasant
I received 8 ounces of this in error on a WCC order. They corrected the error immediately and told me not to bother returning the WCS they sent in error. I had seen WCS on their website, but it never drew my attention.

I smoked a bowl or two, then set the order aside for nearly a year.

I had a Peterson 80s amber stem smooth that I hadn't smoked since I received it new several years ago. I choose to smoke WCS in it for it's first smoke. Never had a WCC blend I didn't like.

Rum/Navy blends appeal to me, I like the flavor that the rum imparts on the tobacco.

The light honey sweetness of the light Virginia, mild smokiness of the fire cured and the nuttiness of the burley combine with rum topping to present a well balanced, enjoyable smoke. I let the tobacco sit out for a while before packing the bowl to dry somewhat. Fewer relights. Burns easily to a fine white ash.

This the pinnacle of rum topped tobaccos. The flavor of the component tobaccos comes through and is enhanced by the rum. The balance makes for a wonderful smoke. This the top of the heap.
Pipe Used: Peterson 80s
PurchasedFrom: WCC
Age When Smoked: 1 year
2 people found this review helpful.
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