First Experience with Straight Burley.

[RMGadelha]

Title edited for capitalization. Rule 9.

Until recently, my only experience with burley blends were Virginia + Burley blends, such as HH Burley Flake and HH Old Dark Fired (two blends that I absolutely love, actually, although I'm mostly a latakia guy). I was always curious, however, with what straight burley would be like, so recently I acquired a straight burley made by a local blender in Brazil, since I'm Brazilian and it's easier to get my hands on it. I actually heard some blenders around the world use Brazilian burley, so that's a plus, I guess.

It is, quite honestly, what I was expecting from a straight burley based on what people describe and also based on what I could pick up with the non-straight burley blends I tried. It has that nutty/earthy/chocolaty flavour I was expecting, while also having some sort of spiciness (as in flavour, not exactly hot). It also appeared to have more nicotine than other blends that I tried. Old Dark Fired (and nightcap, although I never thought nightcap gave me much of a nicotine hit) seemed more tame in comparison to this. I can start feeling it with only a quarter of the bowl smoked. All in all, a very good experience, as I actually love this flavour profile, and with it coming from a local producer, it's much easier to acquire than blends imported from the U.S. or Europe. Tell me your experiences with straight burley. It would be very interesting to know.

 

[Grangerous]

Burley needs something. It offers the base note to a blend. Stand alone, without a slight topping or a bit of Virginia I find it far less appealing.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

It all really depends on the burley. There are several different commercial burleys, and yes, some are nutty, earthy, chocolatey, but some can also be cigarish, woodsy, and even a tad fruity.

I love a good unadulterated burley on about the same level as a straight Virginia.

 

[makhorkasmoker]

Sounds to me like you’ve got a good straight burley down there. C&D Dark burley is my everyday smoke and it is something like you describe.

 

[RMGadelha]

Burley needs something. It offers the base note to a blend. Stand alone, without a slight topping or a bit of Virginia I find it far less appealing.

Yeah, I can understand how straight burley can taste "one note", although this is what I look for, sometimes. I like complexity, but sometimes I just want to sit down and not think much about what I'm smoking or try to puzzle out flavours. Since this burley that I have is more of a local thing, I don't have enough information to know if it was topped or not, but it might have been. Maybe the chocolatey flavor, or the spiciness, since I tried a few cigarillos from the same producer and they sort of have the same spiciness, although I believe he also uses Burley with his cigarillos.

Sounds to me like you’ve got a good straight burley down there. C&D Dark burley is my everyday smoke and it is something like you describe.

We do. . I mean, as I mentioned in my post, I remember reading or hearing that some of the Danish blenders do use Brazilian burley (and burley from Malawi). If I remember correctly, HH Burley Flake has both. Not sure about the other HH Burley blends.

 

[dog_park_piper]

Daughters and Ryan sells Two Timer. It’s my daily regular for over a year. I mix it 50/50 all the time if I want a little variation, but it’s always there.

 

[Mrs. Pickles]

It all really depends on the burley. There are several different commercial burleys, and yes, some are nutty, earthy, chocolatey, but some can also be cigarish, woodsy, and even a tad fruity.

I love a good unadulterated burley on about the same level as a straight Virginia.

Which commercial straight burleys would you characterize as having some fruit qualities?

I’ve only just started trying to taste the different straight burley out there and have been surprised at their complexity. Even Five Brothers brings a lot to enjoy.