Robert Lewis Wingfield Mixture

The Virginias offer a mild tart citrus, light tangy darker fruit, some grass/hay, a little wood, earth, toast and bread along with small floral and spice aspects. They are the lead components. The smoky, woody, earthy, leathery Cyprian Latakia is less than a condiment. There’s a smidgeon of unsweetened black cavendish that adds a very light sugar and toastiness. The strength and nic-hit are a couple of steps past the mild mark, while the taste is in the center of mild to medium. Won’t bite, but may likely tingle the tongue of a fast puffer as it burns a little warm. You also risk a possible cigarette note as well. This thin cut ribbon blend burns clean and a little fast with a very consistent flavor from top to bottom. Leaves almost no moisture in the bowl, and hardly requires a relight. The pleasant after taste and room notes are short lived. An all day smoke.

-JimInks

Mostly chestnut brown thin ribbons - almost a shag. Tightly focused tin aroma of Virginia tobacco and tea leaves. Loads easily and smokes to the bottom of the bowl without many relights.

Interesting one in that it combined a light citrus flavor with a deeper dark Virginia push and some spiciness as well. There's the usual grass and hay but with some backbone. Unfortunately not enough to relegate this one much beyond ordinary. It's an easy one to like, much tougher to love, at least for me. It does taste willfully unfritzed with, as in no added flavorings or chemicals, just a nice, even keeled, well behaved straight Virginia. And therein lies the problem for me. A little naughtiness would do this no harm. There just isn't enough darkness among the usual grass and hay, and this would make someone a nice summertime blend for outdoors. Nothing too engaging or compelling, but a nice easy smoke. For my last two bowls from the tin, I added some straight burley and it elevated this to at least puckish. 🙂 It was an improvement. If you like something like Dunhill Flake and want to tone down the fruitiness and the overall flavor, this would be about 3 levels down. Good but nothing to leave home for.

This is a nice mild mixture, predominantly Virginias with a little unflavoured brown Cavendish and just a tiny pinch of Latakia.

The tin aroma is of sweet fresh baked white rolls, dried fruit and some candied peel. The tobacco is a mixture of predominantly pale brown leaf in ribbon and rubbed flake, with a smattering of black ribbons which I take to be the Latakia.

On the light it tastes like a toasted teacake, buttered - it has a very bready character throughout. It's fairly mild, has a very light smokiness, with a slight creamy sweetness at times. It lights with ease and doesn't need many relights or indeed much attention at all, but I have to say it smokes surprisingly quickly given the flake content. It's at home in a large pipe for a long satisfying smoke - nicotine content seems low, and the mild flavour doesn't get dull but rather builds with prolonged smoking. I've been smoking it in the winter but I think this is a mixture better suited to the summer months.

Appearance: A 50-gram tin, released in early 2022. A mixture of at least three varieties of Virginia, yellow, orange, and walnut, sliced into ribbons, among which there was a cut of dark Virginia that look like broken flake. Apparently some of the Virginia was baked or stoved, then thinly sliced, broken up and added to the recipe. Some small amount of cavendish and literally a pinch of latakia are also present. There is one questionable point: despite the lack of oriental tobacco in the description, I swear, in my tin I noticed some yellowish small scraps with a slightly greenish hue. In other mixes, the somewhat unripe ismir had that color. So I'm willing to agree with those who claim that, at the very least, there are traces of orientals in this blend. The humidity and cut of the tobacco is almost perfect - the tobacco is puffed, lit and smoked very easily.

Flavor: Despite the small amount, both the latakia and cavendish in the blend are quite perceptible in flavor, giving together characteristic but very subdued notes of leather, barely smudged with tar, and wine flavoring from an old oak barrel. However, the dense backing for these notes is the aroma of a blend of very good Virginia with predominant notes of hay, baked fruit and fresh bread. The overall bouquet is a little subdued but pleasant.

Taste: quite smooth from the start, despite the freshness of the tobacco. But at the very beginning there are clearly spicy and pepper notes in the taste, which once again made me doubt the absence of Orientals in the blend. These notes smooth out quite quickly (although they last longer in bents), turning into a general bouquet consisting mostly of bread and fruit notes with the addition of soft, not stringy on the tongue, woody notes, a small amount of sugar coming from the dark Virginia and Cavendish, and a very slight salty lingering on the aftertaste. Almost imperceptible peaty notes of latakia, noticeable only on the exhale, add some density to the overall bouquet and give additional zest. As you smoke, the latakia adds a little to the taste, but still remains subtle. The tobacco is sensitive enough to overheating, burns medium-fast in a light gray dust, while overheating leaves small lumps. The amount of moisture in the tube is drop or two, but it is there. The strength is below average, the nicotine hit is not threatened even when smoking from very large pipes.

The smoke from the tobacco is not thick, but has a fairly persistent woody smell with a slight hint of burning peat.

What is the result? Very good. This blend may well be recommended to those who would like to try English blends, but are wary of the taste or smell of latakia. The amount of this tobacco in the blend is minimal, but it certainly contributes to the taste and smell. I have another tin and will let it sit out for a couple or three years. I suspect it will get even better. As for whether or not it has orientals in it... Try it and decide for yourself.

Tin note of tart dark fruit and smoky. Tobacco is a ribbon orange and yellow with a few black pieces. Moisture content is great. Burns slow with a few relights. The strength is medium and nic is mild. No flavoring detected. Taste is mild to medium and very consistent, with notes of tangy ripe fruit, sugar, floral, bread, spices, savory, wood, rich earth, sweet hay, tart lemon, herbal grassy, slightly acidic, mildly fermented, orange peel, a mildly sour zesty citrus background note, and a peppery retro. Virginia is leading with Cavendish and Latakia supporting in name only. Room note is pleasant to tolerable, and aftertaste is great.

I’ve been able to compare two tins of different age and different producers. The first tin is from 1999, before the production switched to Germany. The newer tin is from 2016. So, first off, there is a strong family resemblance here, they are both recognizable as the same blend. I can only surmise which characteristics stem from differences in age, and which from change of producer. Both are really just above three stars, the newer one maybe 3.4, the older one 3.6.

The paper lining in the older one was almost completely brown, with a faint smell of molasses. Indeed, the first thing that came to mind when I tried a bowl was molasses-crusted pancakes. The tin note is deep and complex, but the actual smoke is more medium-weight. Still, the overall character seems more autumnal to me than references I read here which suggest this is a perfect summertime blend. At least with this amount of age I don’t get any tart or tangy flavors as some have mentioned. The basic flavor reminds me of the harvest pancakes I make every year around Thanksgiving: oat flour, pinch of sweet ginger, chopped pecans, and generous amount of molasses which forms a sort of crunchy crust on the outside.

The newer tin has the same autumnal quality to it but the flavors more assertive. The molasses note is more, and not especially sweet, with a slight fermented tang. I get more darkly toasted bread than pancakes, and some toasted almond, with occasional notes of coriander and white pepper. I wouldn’t compare this to Presbyterian, as the matured Virginias are really dominant here and heavier and more toasted on the palate than Presbyterian (new production, anyway). I also don’t get any fresh lemon as one reviewer noted. I do find some similarities to the matured Virginia taste of Astley’s 44 (same producer!). Latakia is almost not there, what I get is mostly slightly stoved or toasted tastes, not smoky notes. Perhaps more nicotine in the newer version (African Virginias?)

I’ve never regretted filling a bowl with Wingfield, but it just doesn’t take me to that special four-star place. Maybe it will for you, especially if you like Astley’s 44.

This blend includes Virginia as well as some Latakia per Knoxville's description; I concur. Admittedly, based upon that description, I have smoked this in a pipe previously used for latakia blends, and it is possible that the cake provided a latakia sense that others may not notice.

This was a delightful smoke. While it started off a bit astringent, it settled down after the first third of the bowl into an enjoyable flavor that developed nicely through the bowl. The Latakia is sufficient to be noticed without being overwhelming.

Burning characteristics were good, although touching on being a bit hot. Admittedly, I have only smoked this in a canadian that has moderately thin walls. Little moisture developed in smoking this blend.

Overall, I found this to be enjoyable, and would have rated it four stars except for the early astringency. If this turns out to be due to limited pipe diversity, I will revise my opinion. For those who like light latakia blends, this is a good example of those without oriental components.

November 2002.

This is a straight, rich tasting virginia ribbon blend. Mostly red virginia leaf looking with some (say 10%) black strands (probably stoved virginia). String cut, easy to pack and steady burning. Dry and cool for a tangy virginia leaf. Good smoking.

I rate the strength of the blend at least a medium but the natural flavor itself is richer tasting than that. This is a classy red virginia tasting leaf. It has natural sweetness (almost fruit like) but is not at all aromatic as something like Esoterica's Dunbar or Dunhill's Three Year Matured or St. Bruno's (each of those are progressively more scented in my opinion, but they are also more complex blends than Wingfield). The darker leaf is only a background note here. This is a dry smoking leaf with a slight tang. I did not find it hot, but it is best to smoke it slowly to avoid an edge, as with all virginia blends.

Winglield is simple, aged, but not as dark tasting as Fox's Drisco (which has more dark leaf and little perique to boot) or as some of McClelland's red/stoved va. leaf blends. Actually, I think the rich virginia flavor is a small step up from Fox's here. Wingfield can be compared favorably to McCrannies' Red Ribbon (which is probably aged longer), Germain's Tilbury (which has a little burley too), and Connoisseur's Scottish Ribbon (which is slightly scented). If you like those varieties and prefer a natural blend with no detectable scent or spirits added, give Wingfield a try. The room aroma is slight.

I only had an ounce to sample so far from Joe of my local Tinder Box with Steve Monjure of Monjure Int'l, at our recent Pipe Night, and I have smoked it all in a small (#3) Dunhill Root bent that I have only smoked straight virginias in. That was enough for nearly 15 plus bowls, and I believe I was starting to get the true flavor after just a few bowlfuls of puffing. (Steve Monjure only supplies select stores with these somewhat limited (due to aging and shipping time) english editions (like Fox's), but Tim at paylesspipes has a good supply, until I get some more to try.) Recommended to straight virginia smokers.