Notes: This blend was Mark Ryan's entry in the 2009 Chicagoland International Pipe & Tobacciana Show blending competition. The burley is double toasted, and the vanilla casing is almost undetectable. It is dedicated to William Ryan, Mark Ryan's Father.
The double toasted burley is very toasty, and a little molasses sweet, grassy, earthy and nutty as the lead component. I also got the sense of oats a number of times. There’s not much of the Orientals present, but they are earthy, herbal, dry, woody, and have a very minor floral and spice hit along with some sourness. The black cavendish is apparently unsweetened, but it adds some sugar smoothness to the tobaccos as a condiment. The vanilla casing is extremely mild. This is a coarse cut blend that burns cool and clean at a moderate rate even when dry. And speaking of dry, the light sour dryness throughout the smoke contrasts with the sweet flavors, but has a slight sour, woody bitterness near the finish. That bitterness lingers in the after taste as does the sweetness. The taste is very consistent to the finish. Won’t bite. The strength and taste levels are medium. The nic-hit is just past the center of mild to medium. Leaves no moisture in the bowl, and requires few relights. While it's not a powerhouse, I wouldn’t classify this as an all day smoke.
I just recently finished a sample of this I received at the last Chicago Show and I really wished it was a bigger sample. It only ended up giving me Two and a half bowls, so I can't really go too in depth as I prefer to smoke more to develop a more informed opinion.
The half bowl that last smoked had the William's Delight on the bottom and some Jack Knife Ready Rubbed on top. As the bowl got to the halfway point it really started tasting good confirming what I thought of the first two bowls. I like this stuff.
It is primarily Burley to my tastes. The oriental is subtle but has a bit of sourness that plays nicely with the lightly applied topping. I can't comment on the room note, but the side stream I was picking up was very pleasant. I will be buying more of this one and may revisit this review then, but as of now I recommend this for the change up smoke for the Burley lover or for those who like aromatics with very light toppings.
I'd just woke when I opened this and thought it an English. I fancied a Lat-bomb. We've all done it, picked the wrong tin from the cellar, and we all know it's like playing dice: sometimes it can be a case of immediately ordering more to cellar, and other times it's a case of lob it in the trash and drink a strong coffee to remove the taste! I didn't and won't order more but nor have I binned it, yet! It's just quite boring.
Let's get back to the start: it's badged Coarse Cut but isn't really any coarser than your standard ribbon. There's a few bigger pieces but I wouldn't say it qualifies it for labelling Coarse Cut. I could see by just looking that it isn't heavy with black Cavendish. The moisture's good.
Like the unlit aroma the flavour has a very mild addition of vanilla. This works nicely at smoothing any rough edges from the Burley; the Burley accounts for the most of the tobaccos. The Orientals offer a smattering of flavour, but are a little overshadowed by the Burley. Similarly, the black Cavendish gives only a speck of flavour, in comparison to the Burley. Something which deters me from this is the tongue bite. Okay, it burns fairly cool and steady but I find it doesn't take many puffs for the bite to begin.
Nicotine: above mild. Room-note: not very nice.
William's Delight? Not the best, not the worst, just a bore. Two stars:
This blend is something special. I don’t know how they pulled it off, but notes of clove are absolutely in this. Gorgeous all day blend. Ignore the other reviews, as they are dead wrong
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