Wessex Gold Slice

Just as advertised. Most flakes are almost 4" long and have an ideal moisture content and pliability for my fold and pack technique. Smokes cool, without condensation or bite. Great VA taste so give it a try.

This is a great Virginia flake. The stoving brings out a rich honey sweetness and the bright leaf brings on the lemony citrus and zesty qualities. Darker shades round out the high notes but don't tamp them. Flavor remains consistent, mellows and develops down the bowl. Burns easily to a fine ash. I agree with the other reputable reviewers here. I will add that I took samples of some top Virginas on a trip and smoked them all randomly and exclusively. This came on top for flavor profile and smoking qualities. Top notch is you prefer lemon Virginia.

Wessex Gold Slice is premium aged Virginia tobacco. It offers abundant wheat, hay and sweet grass aromas from the tin. The flakes are "average" in thickness and size, also clumped together in the tin. There was not much visible crystallization on the surface of the tobacco. The flakes have a hard and smooth feel to them of high-quality tobacco. They come apart easily for packing into a pipe. One match is required to light. This pure aged flake burns slow and brings about the familiar scent of Virginia tobacco...sweet and fresh earth, grass and crisp winter night air. A hint of clove, maybe from the corn cob pipe. Relighting was not necessary for me. I found Wessex Gold Slice to rank high up with some of the best tobaccos I have tried so far.

For the first 1/5 of the bowl, it was only sub par. As I worked my way down the complexity began to shine. Fresh it does have some rough edges. With a year or two in the jar, those edges should round out to make something amazing. 8.8/10

Wessex Gold Slice is a superb, under the radar, bright, straight Virginia tobacco. It can be a little more difficult to obtain and it's definitely made with high quality Virginia tobaccos which I noticed right away. It starts out with a sort of (slight) graham cracker/cookie undertone/flavor and builds in sugary sweetness throughout the bowl. There are no issues at all keeping it lit and has zero issues with tongue bite. I smoked the entire tin in a little over a week while also smoking back to back to back bowls of it one day and still zero bite.

It's more medium bodied for a bright Virginia which is a welcome surprise to me because I'm used to bright Virginias tasting lighter, something like Orlik Golden Sliced, Dunhill Flake, CR Flake, etc.  This does not taste like any of these. It is more nuanced, complex, and heartier. I really enjoy it from start to finish. This just catches a rarer flavor profile all together. It's less grassy and hay-like than other brighter VAs (other than the smell out of the tin) and more creamy, sugary, dried fruit-like, and mature tasting. I don't know how to describe it, but it sort of fits into it's own category when compared to those others mentioned earlier as far as a mature straight Virginia is concerned.

I smoke a ton of straight Virginias as they are my favorite pipe tobacco blends and I really, really like this blend a lot. This is kind of a cross between Dunhill Flake and Full Virginia Flake, but it's different than them at the same time. It's so easy going and a "no fuss" blend. It's interesting enough and very enjoyable, so much so, that I just keep coming back to it time and time again. I can honestly say, I haven't had a bad smoke with it yet. It doesn't get harsh no matter how you smoke it and I'm not sure if that is due to an aging process they do to it or the fact that it is stoved, but whatever it is, I really like how they made this tobacco. I give it a rating of 9 out of 10. It sits in a highly competitive area of the pipe tobacco market, but I really think this is worth obtaining if you can. Don't break your neck getting it, but this is an A+ blend. Give this one a try and I really don't think you'll be disappointed.

UPDATE: I've smoked 5 more tins of this since the original review and this has only gotten better. I'm not changing anything in my review other than the rating which is now 10 out of 10. This is my number one readily available straight Virginia blend (which is saying a lot for me personally as I have several that I absolutely love). It's crept into the number one spot due to its matured taste, ease for smoking, lower price point, and quality tobaccos. You can go wrong here. A++

What a lovely smoke. It's taste seems to to take its notes from the high desert mountains in which I live. Cool, crisp, clean flavors that remind me of summer. Perfect amount of natural sweetness with no sour notes. I don't know if you could make this bite if you tried. Easily takes a light and burns at a slow, steady rate throughout the bowl. A previous reviewer call this blend a sleeper and I must agree. I wish I had discovered it years ago.

As I explore new blends, I've been interested in some of the Pure Virginia options out there. I've enjoyed all the ones I've tried so far: HH Pure Virginia, Orlik Golden Sliced, Capstan Blue and Yellow. I like the fruity, citrus and hay notes you can get from a bright blend, and also the bready dark fruit notes you can get from a brown flake.. So I thought this sounded interesting and ordered a tin.

The tin art is a little dull, but don't let that fool you. When you open up your tin you will see beautifully golden flakes. I couldn't wait to load up a pipe. The tin note is lovely: citrusy, bright hay, grass, and sugar. Now the flakes are pretty soft and they fall apart on their own, so I've been gently rubbing them out. They come at a good moisture and take a light well.

Lighting up is an immediate pleasure. The taste is soft and sweet. The sweet citrus comes up front, and draws you in, there is some hay notes, and some light grassiness. What captivates me is how sweet and smooth this is. This comes across as more well rounded than HH Pure Virginia but not as sweet as Capstan Yellow or OGS.

For the taste I give a medium. It is mellow, but very well balanced. The flavor is a constant. The strength is a mild-medium. I don't really feel it, but with flavor this good who cares? The room note is pleasant and smells sweet. It burns cool and consistent. Just lighting this makes me relax, if it were more available I'd call it an all day blend for me.