I'll always have a place in my heart for amphora burley. It's the first blend I was able to taste something other than hot air and ashtray. Plus it makes my mustache smell like coconut!
Help a Fella Out with Burley
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I'm glad you said that!! I hadn't noticed ether...
Carter Hall. SWR. Only other I have tried that's not OTC is that Eight States Burley. I still think Carter Hall is the best.
My favorites
Mac Navy Flake
CD Pegasus
Mac Golden Extra
Mac Burley Flake
Boswell Premium Burley
Boswell Blend 35 (American style rather than a full on Burley)
I also include VA Bur in the Burley category because VA Per and VA Or are more vinegar funky and I notice more so the nutty chocolate Burley in a VA Burley rather than the brightness of the VA so to me a VA Burley isn't in the same category I call "dirty virginia". Also sometimes these VA Burley are under the Burley category by some sellers anyway.
CD Night train
Mac HH Old Dark
Mac Navy Flake
CD Pegasus
Mac Golden Extra
Mac Burley Flake
Boswell Premium Burley
Boswell Blend 35 (American style rather than a full on Burley)
I also include VA Bur in the Burley category because VA Per and VA Or are more vinegar funky and I notice more so the nutty chocolate Burley in a VA Burley rather than the brightness of the VA so to me a VA Burley isn't in the same category I call "dirty virginia". Also sometimes these VA Burley are under the Burley category by some sellers anyway.
CD Night train
Mac HH Old Dark
Of course, Solani and Wessex are my number 1 & 2. But any of the Bob Runowski Burley blends from C&D are solid IMO. Peretti Burley's, in general, are quite impressive too. Mac Baren Golden Extra and Symphony just to name a couple others.
I only kind of skimmed the first page, so sorry if I am reiterating some things.
First, some extra background information about me, my palate, and burley if you're interested (might be relevant, probably over explaining so shortening it in a spoiler tag):
First, I'm sad you disliked HH Burley Flake, that's my most favorite. However, I will say I prefer burley wetter in general than other tobaccos. If you're brave and want to give HH Burley Flake another shot, I recommend absolutely no dry time or only very minimal, and smoke it slow with light sips like you would a Virginia. Just keep a few pipe cleaners on hand to dry up the shank/stem if things get too wet and be prepared to relight.
If you try MB's HH Old Dark Fired, the delicate floral taste of non-fire-cured burley is replaced by a barbeque hardwood smoke taste, if you have had proper barbecue (which means slow smoked over wood fire... not bbq sauce on the item cooked over charcoas, the latter is grilling with bbq sauce, not barbecuing—real barbecue doesn't always involve sauce). It's good, but ODF doesn't give you the same sense as a "standard" burley taste. Many people that otherwise don't like burley still like ODF. But, some of that natural burley taste still lies under the barbecue taste.
If you like OJK, I would say Haunted Bookshop is like a darker version of that (in taste). It's also slightly smoother/lighter than OJK. Like OJK is more pungent (in a good way) than HB.
Pegasus might be a good start, but to me, it's thin, not bold enough, like it's missing something. I may need to revisit that one, it's been a while but I remember being disappointed with it (though not hating it, it just didn't scratch the itch I had). Like drinking water with lemon when you wanted lemonade.
Another that I like is Savinelli Jupiter, but it does not age well in the cellar at all to me. If I open a tin of that, I am going to go through it within a month because if I don't, I'll later be tossing half of it out because I hate the chocolate taste it takes on. But when the tin is freshly opened... mmm mm.
I also can't recommend MB Navy Flake enough. That's another one that's burley based and one of my most favorite "Navy" blends.
I still have a lot of others left to try. Like the various "codger/OTC" blends. I have a wishlist that's backing up.
First, some extra background information about me, my palate, and burley if you're interested (might be relevant, probably over explaining so shortening it in a spoiler tag):
I never get bit by burley myself, but my natural mouth pH might be higher than average. I suspect my palate might also differ from most other a little, since I typically pick up most or all the same things as JimInks does in his reviews for all types of tobacco (though his palate is definitely more refined than mine), except burley and that's where my palate deviates.
Most of what I read about others is they describe burley as "chocolatey" and "nutty". To me, "chocolate" and "nut" are completely disparate flavors, and I absolutely HATE chocolate (yes even "eUrOpEaN cHoCoLaTe, wHiTcH iS dIfFeReNt"). Chocolate tastes like a mouthful of dirt to me. And actually, sometimes I can tolerate cocoa flavor better than chocolate flavor, which is apparently backwards to most people who prefer chocolate, which they swear tastes sweeter but I swear tastes more like dirt no matter how light of a milk chocolate it is.
Meanwhile, I love black coffee, which most people seem to describe as bitter, even when it's made properly (over-extracted will make it taste thin and bitter, under-extracted will make it taste thin and sour). To me though, black drip coffee (made correctly) has either a naturally sweet and fruity taste if it's a medium-roasted higher-altitude like Columbian or nutty if it's something like a Sumatran. Of course, I also only drink medium roasted or darker. Another thing I tend to let my coffee cool down more than other people do (still warm, but can gulp it without it being uncomfortably hot), whereas others tend to drink it hotter and sip so as to not burn themselves (the hotter something is, the less bitter it seems to taste, as our taste buds stop working above a certain temperature). Though I drink drip coffee, percolated coffee is way better, but I only own a camping percolator and I don't feel like grinding my own beans (as perc requires a coarser grind than drip and they don't carry a percolator grind in the store, at least not where I live).
I will never understand the world's obsession with chocolate... or with cheese or with fish/seafood for that matter. Those are the three most disgusting foods ever to me, and yet they're the most beloved by most people.
Anyway, I have gotten the "chocolatey" taste before from burley, but only when it comes from a tin that's been open a while, never from a freshly opened tin. To me, Burley has always had a more floral/herbal taste (as opposed to a grassy or citrusy herbal taste of Virginia), or a little "sweet" nut taste like cashew or macadamia (as opposed to a "dark" nut taste like pecan or black walnut). Most of the time, when it's fresh opened, when others get "chocolatey", I get "toffee". If the burley is aged before blending/packaging, that's when I tend to get toffee and sweet nut and if unaged, the floral. The chocolatey taste only comes regardless of type when the tin has been open a while (the change of taste with aging before packaging is different than aging "in the cellar" after being opened).
It's a difficult taste to describe, but it reminds me of the scent of a black mission fig tree (which is also hard to describe, and it doesn't "smell like cat piss" the way other varietals of fig trees can smell. It's also comparable to some herbal teas to me.
I actually started dedicating my pipes to blend types specifically because of burley (as well as goopier aros). I have found that burley has a very delicate flavor. If I smoked anything else before, it takes sometimes a bowl and a half before the burley blends start to taste like they should, where as others only take 5-10 minutes of smoking to taste right to me.
Most of what I read about others is they describe burley as "chocolatey" and "nutty". To me, "chocolate" and "nut" are completely disparate flavors, and I absolutely HATE chocolate (yes even "eUrOpEaN cHoCoLaTe, wHiTcH iS dIfFeReNt"). Chocolate tastes like a mouthful of dirt to me. And actually, sometimes I can tolerate cocoa flavor better than chocolate flavor, which is apparently backwards to most people who prefer chocolate, which they swear tastes sweeter but I swear tastes more like dirt no matter how light of a milk chocolate it is.
Meanwhile, I love black coffee, which most people seem to describe as bitter, even when it's made properly (over-extracted will make it taste thin and bitter, under-extracted will make it taste thin and sour). To me though, black drip coffee (made correctly) has either a naturally sweet and fruity taste if it's a medium-roasted higher-altitude like Columbian or nutty if it's something like a Sumatran. Of course, I also only drink medium roasted or darker. Another thing I tend to let my coffee cool down more than other people do (still warm, but can gulp it without it being uncomfortably hot), whereas others tend to drink it hotter and sip so as to not burn themselves (the hotter something is, the less bitter it seems to taste, as our taste buds stop working above a certain temperature). Though I drink drip coffee, percolated coffee is way better, but I only own a camping percolator and I don't feel like grinding my own beans (as perc requires a coarser grind than drip and they don't carry a percolator grind in the store, at least not where I live).
I will never understand the world's obsession with chocolate... or with cheese or with fish/seafood for that matter. Those are the three most disgusting foods ever to me, and yet they're the most beloved by most people.
Anyway, I have gotten the "chocolatey" taste before from burley, but only when it comes from a tin that's been open a while, never from a freshly opened tin. To me, Burley has always had a more floral/herbal taste (as opposed to a grassy or citrusy herbal taste of Virginia), or a little "sweet" nut taste like cashew or macadamia (as opposed to a "dark" nut taste like pecan or black walnut). Most of the time, when it's fresh opened, when others get "chocolatey", I get "toffee". If the burley is aged before blending/packaging, that's when I tend to get toffee and sweet nut and if unaged, the floral. The chocolatey taste only comes regardless of type when the tin has been open a while (the change of taste with aging before packaging is different than aging "in the cellar" after being opened).
It's a difficult taste to describe, but it reminds me of the scent of a black mission fig tree (which is also hard to describe, and it doesn't "smell like cat piss" the way other varietals of fig trees can smell. It's also comparable to some herbal teas to me.
I actually started dedicating my pipes to blend types specifically because of burley (as well as goopier aros). I have found that burley has a very delicate flavor. If I smoked anything else before, it takes sometimes a bowl and a half before the burley blends start to taste like they should, where as others only take 5-10 minutes of smoking to taste right to me.
First, I'm sad you disliked HH Burley Flake, that's my most favorite. However, I will say I prefer burley wetter in general than other tobaccos. If you're brave and want to give HH Burley Flake another shot, I recommend absolutely no dry time or only very minimal, and smoke it slow with light sips like you would a Virginia. Just keep a few pipe cleaners on hand to dry up the shank/stem if things get too wet and be prepared to relight.
If you try MB's HH Old Dark Fired, the delicate floral taste of non-fire-cured burley is replaced by a barbeque hardwood smoke taste, if you have had proper barbecue (which means slow smoked over wood fire... not bbq sauce on the item cooked over charcoas, the latter is grilling with bbq sauce, not barbecuing—real barbecue doesn't always involve sauce). It's good, but ODF doesn't give you the same sense as a "standard" burley taste. Many people that otherwise don't like burley still like ODF. But, some of that natural burley taste still lies under the barbecue taste.
If you like OJK, I would say Haunted Bookshop is like a darker version of that (in taste). It's also slightly smoother/lighter than OJK. Like OJK is more pungent (in a good way) than HB.
Pegasus might be a good start, but to me, it's thin, not bold enough, like it's missing something. I may need to revisit that one, it's been a while but I remember being disappointed with it (though not hating it, it just didn't scratch the itch I had). Like drinking water with lemon when you wanted lemonade.
Another that I like is Savinelli Jupiter, but it does not age well in the cellar at all to me. If I open a tin of that, I am going to go through it within a month because if I don't, I'll later be tossing half of it out because I hate the chocolate taste it takes on. But when the tin is freshly opened... mmm mm.
I also can't recommend MB Navy Flake enough. That's another one that's burley based and one of my most favorite "Navy" blends.
I still have a lot of others left to try. Like the various "codger/OTC" blends. I have a wishlist that's backing up.
Second SWR and SWRA if you like a sweeter aromatic burley.
There’s a reason these blends are still around. Regular SWR is coming up on 100 years of generational burley enjoyment.
I agree. I took a trip to denmark this last month and had the chance to try a lot of different burley options mainly produced by STG. All of them to me seemed to taste like a really boring VaPer. C&D seemed to hit it on the head with their burley base blends, that musky almost cigar-esque flavors. I've heard a lot of people trying out Billy Bud and liking it, I might have my B&M order some.
You;re getting me all excited about it. Sad part is I live in a state which bans the purchase of tobacco online. I'll see if some of the old timers in my pipe club have any they could bring.
I too live in a state that doesn't allow online tobacco purchases. But I have a buddy in another state and he and I will make pool orders together and have it shipped to him. Then I just pay him a little extra to ship it to me. It's still cheaper than paying the enormous prices here, but I do purchase from local B&Ms occasionally. Especially when they have some harder to get blends that always seem to be OOS online.
LOL “winning team”. Opposed to obvious losers VA/Per or English?
Either way, funny.
You’d hardly know it from reading this thread but there are actually other companies that produce pipe tobacco that aren’t Cornell and Diehl.
Watch City Cigar has some great burley blends like Waltham Broken Cake and Deluxe Crumb Cut among several others. I just tried HU Makhuwa for the first time last night and loved it. Sutliff makes a Ready Rubbed Match that’s good but not as good as Makhuwa in my opinion. Esoterica Tilbury is cool but I would never pay aftermarket prices for it because to me, it’s just not worth $25/ounce.
Ok fine, Cornell and Diehl’s Burley Flake #1 is very good.
There, I said it.
Watch City Cigar has some great burley blends like Waltham Broken Cake and Deluxe Crumb Cut among several others. I just tried HU Makhuwa for the first time last night and loved it. Sutliff makes a Ready Rubbed Match that’s good but not as good as Makhuwa in my opinion. Esoterica Tilbury is cool but I would never pay aftermarket prices for it because to me, it’s just not worth $25/ounce.
Ok fine, Cornell and Diehl’s Burley Flake #1 is very good.
There, I said it.
But C&D makes some of the best burley blends (IMO)
That being said, I do love many of the WCC blends as well as the Ken Byron blends.
That being said, I do love many of the WCC blends as well as the Ken Byron blends.
People love Ken Byron Ventures Burley Morning Pipe. It’s fine. It’s not bad. It just hasn’t truly spoken to me in a way that I can fully understand yet. Makhuwa on the other hand was like a warm mug of hot chocolate with half the sugar. It’s both familiar and new to me which reads as ridiculous but that’s the only way I know how to describe the feeling it gave me. It’s my new/old buddy.
