Bully me into some Burley

I can't do straight burley. Hell, I can barely smoke burley forward blends. I sent @shaintiques a box of burley blends because after giving them one last try a couple days ago I was able to come to my final conclusion: burley isn't for me.
I enjoy it in other blends, but if it is the entire thing or a majority of it I most likely won't enjoy it. It has almost no taste. A mellow nutty flavor that just doesn't do it for me. I have no problems giving up on some blends after giving them the college try.

Peter Stokkebye's Dark Fired is an unusual play with the Kentucky dark fired burley, very rich and velvety to smoke. This one is also a very strong one in the nicotine department. D&R's Rowland Platinum is a very rich and flavorful as well. It has some Madura leaf in it that really shines. The D&R blends are very dry, but the tin is packed tight. You can search around his selections and find some interesting double toasted burleys that are worth a try. I liked them, but I have such a sweet tooth for the VA's and VaPers.

I think of these as stronger burleys as cappuccinos of tobacco. Very strong, very tasty, very worldly. A great change of pace, but not my all day smoke. My burley pipes tend to get the most rest ::

OK outside of the usual Carter Hall mention I think what you are asking for is this:
Solani 656

&

Wessex Burley Slice
I expected more responses in this thread. Oh well, to each his own.

I am also not a big burley fan if it is too forward in a blend. Blends like Solani Aged Burley Flake and Wessex Burley Slices are two that I don't care for because they are all Burley.
Here is a list of the blends I stock that have some Burley or Kentucky in them. I find that the Burley/Kentucky are well in the background and used really well.
Mac Baren Old Dark Fired...RA

Esoterica Stonehaven

GL Pease Navigator..RA

Solani Silver Flake.. RA

Peterson University Flake, Irish Flake and Perfect Plug...RA
Another one to try is Peter Heinrichs Dark Strong, I used to be able to smoke it back around 2003 but I think they added more Red Virginia to it and now I cannot smoke it, but if you can handle the reds, it is one tasty blend.
...RA designates readily available from our sponsors. Smokiningpipes and 4noggins are my go to guys.

Only real men can smoke Burley. My Granddaddy passed these wise words on to me when I was a young lad, so I know it to be true.

Call me a lightweight but straight burley to my tastes has a weird nutty flavor that I find very off putting. I will leave the straight stuff to you and your granddaddy since you are manly men.

Have you tried Solani ABF?
I consider it the gold standard of burleys.

daimyo, I won't bully nobody into nutin'. From reading Forums, it seems to me that people experience

burley differently, and not in a subtle way. Many can't taste it, so they are getting the rest of the blend

but not the burley, and it isn't good. Others react badly or are especially vulnerable to burley's nicotine.

If that were my experience, I'd just skip it. I think I was born to burley, since my dad smoked Granger,

and only Granger, all of my growing-up years, and years before I was born. I've had wonderful bowls

of English blends -- enjoy Nightcap, 965, Nat Sherman's 536, Altadis Fox and Hound, and on and on.

Love Virginias -- Orliks, Cup O Joes #5, Peter Stokkebye's Luxury Navy Flake. But I gravitate to burley.

I was amused to study the current Cornell & Diehl blend catalog to see that on different occasions, and

for different reasons, I have ordered Pegasus, River Boat Gambler, and recently Old Joe Krantz, and they

are all listed under burley blends. I still keep a can of Granger for a pleasant OTC smoke. I love what

GL Pease does with burley in his blend Triple Play. And I have a fine smoke with Lane's Burley Without

Bite, which is just about burley alone. The good people at Brigham Young University (among other

places) have studied the sense of taste to find that people simply taste things completely differently.

For me, burley will always be a great, thick chocolate milkshake on a hot summer day; it just hits the

spot. But bully you into smoking more burley if it is a trial and a chore? Never, never, never.

I smoked my first bowl of Old Joe Krantz braced for a nicotine kick in the head. It wasn't a tiny bowl,

but a moderate size pipe. To me it was extraordinarily delicious, at least this first time, and I didn't

detect the least bit of a nicotine buzz -- maybe just this batch, or maybe I'm just a burley natural.

I am a Burley smoker! The ones I have tried and liked are Solani, Aged Burley Flake, Wessex Burley Slices, Wessex Burley Broad Cut, McClelland X40 Burley By The Slice, Cornell & Diehl Burley Flake No. 2, Hearth & Home Classic Burley Kake, Lane Burley Without The Bite, Mac Baren Burley London. Pretty much in that order too.

Another vote for Solani 656 Aged Burley Flake. 8) Pick up a tin, well worth it.
(Edit- I would've suggested MacBaren Burley London Blend, but... )

Burley has a distinct flavor and if you don't like it you just don't like it. However, I'll add another vote for Aged Burley Flake -- it has a very sweet, mellow nuttiness rather than the sour nuttiness that more natural burleys have.

daimyo, I would stay away from ABF as it is 100% burley. Take my list and try a couple of those as I have a good idea you will enjoy them. I would try the Solani Silver Flake first as the Kentucky in that is really in the background and it is one incredible tasting flake. It is very worthy of the 4 star rating it gets on tobaccoreviews.com. If you do try that one it only comes in 100 gram tins and it does need to be jarred upon arrival as it is not vacuum sealed. If for some reason you do not like it, there are tons of people who will trade you out of it as it is a very popular blend. R.Will the creator of Solani is a genius blender in my opinion.

I honestly don't know if age will let you enjoy a straight Burley. I have a tin of Wessex Burley Slices that is almost 2 years old. I didn't care for it when fresh, didn't care for it at a year and if I don't care for it at 2 years I am giving it away. I don't think I will ever enjoy a straight burley but you can never say never. When I began smoking a pipe I loved English blends with Latakia and Orientals, now the stuff makes me want to gag and I never thought I could ever lose my love for English blends.

I agree with mso

... it seems to me that people experience

burley differently, and not in a subtle way. Many can't taste it, so they are getting the rest of the blend

but not the burley, and it isn't good. Others react badly or are especially vulnerable to burley's nicotine.

Click to expand...

So it's just one of those things you gotta try out for yourself.
I naturally gravitated toward burley because I enjoy a bit of N and I also favor good depth of body, smoking straight burley can be somewhat monochrome, but if you enjoy it you enjoy it.
VaBurs are my mainstay.
Peterson's Perfect Plug is a good place where Va's meet burley and make magic, along with a subtle topnote,

I love the hell out of it, but many people find it boring.
If you do go ahead with the burley experiment, if you go with the 2 premium burleys mentioned the Wessex Slices and the Solani ABF, it's very interesting to note their differences.
And C&D of course has a very wide variety, Burley Flake #2 leans toward the cigarish side of the spectrum and it's quite stout, and it is also a baccy that greatly benefits from age in my experience.
The fun part is navigating through all this stuff,

I've been thoroughly enjoying the vast terrains!

::

Pease Barbary Coast-Burley based with Virginia and Perique is a good one to buy and age. Russ also does some nice Burleys.

Leave us not forget Manil's Semois. It is one odd duck. It's not a blend, has no casing or topping, comes in a paper bag drier than the Sahara, is tricky to pack a bowl with, burns like a forest fire, costs an arm & half a leg, and is Belgian for crying out loud, Grainger it ain't but it's definitely worth a try.