Wessex Burley Slice:
There's an extremely light anise additive to accentuate the mild molasses and light cocoa toppings. The burleys offer a fair amount of earth, wood, some nuts, bread, and a small sharp note. No harshness or bite at all, and has a mild nicotine hit. The strength is a step or so below the medium level, while the taste level just misses the medium mark. The flake is lightly moist out of the tin and breaks apart very easily. Burns a tad slow with a cool, clean, very consistent flavor from start to finish. Leaves little moisture in the bowl, and can be burned to ash. Requires a few relights. Has a pleasant after taste and room note. A morning smoke with coffee that also serves well as an all day experience. Three and a half stars.
UPDATE 7-6-2022. The blend has been changed. The burleys (including white) are moderately rougher, more savory, woodier, breadier and nuttier with a hint of smoke. The sharp note is barely evident. The anise is a little more pronounced though it does weaken a tad by the half way point. The molasses is much lighter now. The cocoa is currently the lead topping as all the sauces mildly tone down the burleys. It won’t bite, but a freight train puffer may possibly experience light harsh and cigarette notes. The strength just misses the medium mark. The taste level is now medium. The nic-hit is a couple of notches stronger. The slices are darker, and less moist, so the burn rate is a touch faster than before. The room note is a little stronger, too, as it leans more toward tolerable than it does pleasant. Can be an all day smoke even though it’s more rugged and a little less sweet. All other aspects of the previous productions remain the same. It’s different enough to stand on its own as the old version was essentially an attempted clone of Edgeworth Slices. This is not, even though the base burleys resemble that used in ES are a little closer to that than older manufacture. The toppings and proportions are different than ES. My rating is the same as it was before: three and a half stars.
Wessex Sovereign Curly Cut (Brigade):
This is sort of like the baby brother of the VaPer Three Nuns in that it's uninformed by comparison. It's sweeter, and conversely tartly sour at times. Some of the sweetness comes as much from the very tart apple cider topping as it does the Virginias, which are the lead component. They provide a fair amount of tart and tangy citrus, grass, bread, some sugar, sour lemon, vegetation, floralness, mild earth, wood, tangy darker tangy fruit, and light acidity. The description for this blend said there's no topping, which is untrue as the label mentions the apple cider, and I taste it. It detracts from the tobaccos a bit. The dull spice, plum and raisins from the earthy, woody perique play a secondary support role. The strength and nic-hit are a step past the center of mild to medium. The taste is a notch past that center. May nip the tongue or get harsh for a fast puffer, and has few rough edges. Burns cool at a slightly slow pace with a very consistent sweet and sour, fruity, spicy flavor that extends to short lived after taste. Requires a couple more than an average number of relights. Leaves little moisture in the bowl. Has a pleasant to tolerable room note. Not quite an all day smoke. Two and a half stars.
UPDATE 7-6-2022: The blend has been changed. The sweet and sour, tart apple cider topping was replaced by forest honey, which mildly tones down the tobaccos, meaning a step less than before. There’s a little more bright Va. than before, which makes it more floral, citrusy and sour from the higher lemon content. The acidic level is a tad lower. The darker fruit note is no longer evident. Much of the perique was replaced by tangy, earthy, woody, vegetative, spicy, mildly floral, herbal, barbecue-like dark fired Kentucky. The perique is a little more than a condiment now. The strength and nic-hit are currently on equal footing with the taste level, which is almost medium now. It is a cleaner smoke, moderately more floral, spicy, mildly sweeter, fruitier, and a tad more sour with the aforementioned DFK being the dominant component over the Virginias by a few slots. The room note is a bit stronger, too. All of the other previous notations remain the same. It can be an all day smoke, and is a three star blend. My current rating at TR reflects the new version.
There's an extremely light anise additive to accentuate the mild molasses and light cocoa toppings. The burleys offer a fair amount of earth, wood, some nuts, bread, and a small sharp note. No harshness or bite at all, and has a mild nicotine hit. The strength is a step or so below the medium level, while the taste level just misses the medium mark. The flake is lightly moist out of the tin and breaks apart very easily. Burns a tad slow with a cool, clean, very consistent flavor from start to finish. Leaves little moisture in the bowl, and can be burned to ash. Requires a few relights. Has a pleasant after taste and room note. A morning smoke with coffee that also serves well as an all day experience. Three and a half stars.
UPDATE 7-6-2022. The blend has been changed. The burleys (including white) are moderately rougher, more savory, woodier, breadier and nuttier with a hint of smoke. The sharp note is barely evident. The anise is a little more pronounced though it does weaken a tad by the half way point. The molasses is much lighter now. The cocoa is currently the lead topping as all the sauces mildly tone down the burleys. It won’t bite, but a freight train puffer may possibly experience light harsh and cigarette notes. The strength just misses the medium mark. The taste level is now medium. The nic-hit is a couple of notches stronger. The slices are darker, and less moist, so the burn rate is a touch faster than before. The room note is a little stronger, too, as it leans more toward tolerable than it does pleasant. Can be an all day smoke even though it’s more rugged and a little less sweet. All other aspects of the previous productions remain the same. It’s different enough to stand on its own as the old version was essentially an attempted clone of Edgeworth Slices. This is not, even though the base burleys resemble that used in ES are a little closer to that than older manufacture. The toppings and proportions are different than ES. My rating is the same as it was before: three and a half stars.
Wessex Sovereign Curly Cut (Brigade):
This is sort of like the baby brother of the VaPer Three Nuns in that it's uninformed by comparison. It's sweeter, and conversely tartly sour at times. Some of the sweetness comes as much from the very tart apple cider topping as it does the Virginias, which are the lead component. They provide a fair amount of tart and tangy citrus, grass, bread, some sugar, sour lemon, vegetation, floralness, mild earth, wood, tangy darker tangy fruit, and light acidity. The description for this blend said there's no topping, which is untrue as the label mentions the apple cider, and I taste it. It detracts from the tobaccos a bit. The dull spice, plum and raisins from the earthy, woody perique play a secondary support role. The strength and nic-hit are a step past the center of mild to medium. The taste is a notch past that center. May nip the tongue or get harsh for a fast puffer, and has few rough edges. Burns cool at a slightly slow pace with a very consistent sweet and sour, fruity, spicy flavor that extends to short lived after taste. Requires a couple more than an average number of relights. Leaves little moisture in the bowl. Has a pleasant to tolerable room note. Not quite an all day smoke. Two and a half stars.
UPDATE 7-6-2022: The blend has been changed. The sweet and sour, tart apple cider topping was replaced by forest honey, which mildly tones down the tobaccos, meaning a step less than before. There’s a little more bright Va. than before, which makes it more floral, citrusy and sour from the higher lemon content. The acidic level is a tad lower. The darker fruit note is no longer evident. Much of the perique was replaced by tangy, earthy, woody, vegetative, spicy, mildly floral, herbal, barbecue-like dark fired Kentucky. The perique is a little more than a condiment now. The strength and nic-hit are currently on equal footing with the taste level, which is almost medium now. It is a cleaner smoke, moderately more floral, spicy, mildly sweeter, fruitier, and a tad more sour with the aforementioned DFK being the dominant component over the Virginias by a few slots. The room note is a bit stronger, too. All of the other previous notations remain the same. It can be an all day smoke, and is a three star blend. My current rating at TR reflects the new version.
