I've realized that my rotation is quite lacking in Burley--really, Five Brothers is the only blend that in my rotation that's really burley-based, so I gave two others a try in my last order: Cornell and Diehl's Big & Burley No. 103 and Daughters and Ryan's Picayune.
Tin Note and Preparation
Both were on the dry side, especially the D&R. The Big and Burley had a woodsy, smoky smell to it--the latakia was faint. The Picayune was similar, but with a bit more spiciness to the aroma.
The Picayune burned a little to fast on my first smoke, so I ended up stretching a rum-soaked paper towel across the lid of the mason jar and letting it sit overnight to rehydrate it a little. It didn't make much difference to the touch, but it did seem to smoke better the second time around.
Flavor:
I wasn't such a fan of the Five Brother's flavor all by itself. It just seemed a bit bland to me. Both of these blends, however, have some complexity.
Big & Burley
The C&D blend is said to be a mix of "Burley, Latakia, Perique, and Turkish" so there is certainly some nuance to the blend. I really enjoyed it. The latakia was very subdued, which I liked. It seemed to function more in a condimental fashion, as perique generally does. For my palate, latakia too often dominates the other leaf and obscures them. Not so in this blend.
Picayune
This was a very spicy tobacco. The ingredients are similar to the C&D, but with Samsun instead of latakia: "Burley, Oriental (Samsun), Perique, Virginia." Though there was a lot of spiciness, there wasn't the sort of rich flavor that I find in Virginia-based blends. But this was quite good for a change of pace--similar to the B&B, but with a little more perique and a little less latakia.
Both blends burn quite nicely, which is something I like about burley leaf. It seems much less fussy than VA.
Nicotine:
Both are very strong. The Picayune in particular will take your head off. I've mentioned this elsewhere, but the nicotine really seems to hit my mouth and throat. If I'm not careful, this can be unpleasant: the back of the throat develops a sort of sour taste and starts constricting. Most of the strong blends in my rotation are based on the African grown Virginia leaf that G&H, SG, and others use. With these, I get more of a relaxed, light-headed feeling, but don't notice it in the throat and mouth so much. These burley blends are the opposite: I really notice the nicotine in the mouth, but I'm not as lightheaded as with the GH ropes, etc.
In summary, the burley is a nice change of pace. I still favor Virginia-based blends, but I'm someone who likes variety quite a bit, so it's fun to change things up. I enjoy the strength of the burley, when it's not attacking my throat too aggressively.
Lastly, both are fairly cheap which is quite nice!
Tin Note and Preparation
Both were on the dry side, especially the D&R. The Big and Burley had a woodsy, smoky smell to it--the latakia was faint. The Picayune was similar, but with a bit more spiciness to the aroma.
The Picayune burned a little to fast on my first smoke, so I ended up stretching a rum-soaked paper towel across the lid of the mason jar and letting it sit overnight to rehydrate it a little. It didn't make much difference to the touch, but it did seem to smoke better the second time around.
Flavor:
I wasn't such a fan of the Five Brother's flavor all by itself. It just seemed a bit bland to me. Both of these blends, however, have some complexity.
Big & Burley
The C&D blend is said to be a mix of "Burley, Latakia, Perique, and Turkish" so there is certainly some nuance to the blend. I really enjoyed it. The latakia was very subdued, which I liked. It seemed to function more in a condimental fashion, as perique generally does. For my palate, latakia too often dominates the other leaf and obscures them. Not so in this blend.
Picayune
This was a very spicy tobacco. The ingredients are similar to the C&D, but with Samsun instead of latakia: "Burley, Oriental (Samsun), Perique, Virginia." Though there was a lot of spiciness, there wasn't the sort of rich flavor that I find in Virginia-based blends. But this was quite good for a change of pace--similar to the B&B, but with a little more perique and a little less latakia.
Both blends burn quite nicely, which is something I like about burley leaf. It seems much less fussy than VA.
Nicotine:
Both are very strong. The Picayune in particular will take your head off. I've mentioned this elsewhere, but the nicotine really seems to hit my mouth and throat. If I'm not careful, this can be unpleasant: the back of the throat develops a sort of sour taste and starts constricting. Most of the strong blends in my rotation are based on the African grown Virginia leaf that G&H, SG, and others use. With these, I get more of a relaxed, light-headed feeling, but don't notice it in the throat and mouth so much. These burley blends are the opposite: I really notice the nicotine in the mouth, but I'm not as lightheaded as with the GH ropes, etc.
In summary, the burley is a nice change of pace. I still favor Virginia-based blends, but I'm someone who likes variety quite a bit, so it's fun to change things up. I enjoy the strength of the burley, when it's not attacking my throat too aggressively.
Lastly, both are fairly cheap which is quite nice!
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