The Virginia People And The Burley People

[mso489]

Most of us are lucky enough to enjoy both Virginia based and burley based blends, and Virginia and burley as condiments in various blends. There are some pipe smokers who tend strongly to one or the other, and some who can't tolerate one or the other. I thoroughly enjoy Virginia, but I definitely crave burley, so I'm a burley guy at heart, but enjoy Virginia. Where do you fall on the continuum? Do you avoid one or the other altogether? Smoke one or the other exclusively?

 

[Country Bladesmith]

Like em both. Smoke em both. Together or separate. Doesn’t matter. All good.

 

[Richmond B. Funkenhouser]

I always think of milder blends when I think of Virginia.. so Ive avoided them up to this point mostly, there are exceptions. I like the GH ropes and some aromatics that contain a good dose of Virginias.

I just started into tryin a few different english blends.. they will definently have a place in my rotation, but I remain a burley smoker for the most part.

 

[virginialover]

I'm a Virginia lover but I like Semois and Kentucky a lot, especially those Italian cigars. Anytime a Burley takes over in a Va/Bur I lose interest and pure Burleys are a bore from the get go. I love Va/Pers, Perique is a fermented Burley as I understand. A quality Virginia/Dark Kentucky is also a very satisfying smoke.

 

[workman]

I'm on the virginia side, but I've always liked some bold, dark fired blends for a strong smoke. Lately I find I like burley blends more than I used to, so it's not a fixed mindset here.

 

[Bowie]

I’m on Team Burley. I enjoy Virginias but like MSO, I crave burley.

 

[Country Bladesmith]

Virginias always get all the love, and I think they deserve their accolades, but I also think Burley gets an unfair reputation for being boring or bland, and I guess everyone’s tastes are different, but I think of it as being a very “multitalented” leaf. It can be soft and mellow as in a lot of OTC blends, or it can be bracing and full of body. It can be transformed into the glorious Perique or bold Kentucky variants, or add “bass” to the “treble” of Virginias or other leaves. I love ‘em both, and certainly don’t find Burley to be boring.

 

[chilipalmer]

I am a burley man. I do like Virginias in blends, but, I find straight Virginias to be too mild and too fussy for my liking.

Cheers,

Chili

 

[radrick96]

I originally only smoke PA from my cob for a year. Only when I couldn’t buy it at my local B&M, I was forced to order online.

Ordering online was difficult because it was actually out of stock everywhere’s unless I wanted the big can(I’ve never bought more than 10oz). So i was forced to try other blends, ordered the amphora sampler and now know I do enjoy other blends.

Majority of my blends are now VaPers(Why they aren’t just called periques I don’t know?) but my favorite is probably burley.

 

[danimalia]

Virginias always get all the love, and I think they deserve their accolades, but I also think Burley gets an unfair reputation for being boring or bland, and I guess everyone’s tastes are different, but I think of it as being a very “multitalented” leaf. It can be soft and mellow as in a lot of OTC blends, or it can be bracing and full of body. It can be transformed into the glorious Perique or bold Kentucky variants, or add “bass” to the “treble” of Virginias or other leaves. I love ‘em both, and certainly don’t find Burley to be boring.

I think there's been a changing of perception as well. If you look at older TR reviews, it seems like it was much more common (and maybe a bit chic) to regard burley as an inferior leaf. These days I think more smokers realize there is a lot of excellent, high quality air-cured burley out there.

Personally, I probably smoke more VA-based blends, but that's largely because there are more of them out there. But MacBaren HH Burley Flake, Watch City Slices and Solani ABF are among my absolute favorite blends, regardless of genre.

I consider dark-fired Kentucky a separate category from burley, but I smoke an awful lot of VaKy blends as well which combine strength and flavor in wonderful ways.

 

[danimalia]

I originally only smoke PA from my cob for a year. Only when I couldn’t buy it at my local B&M, I was forced to order online.

Ordering online was difficult because it was actually out of stock everywhere’s unless I wanted the big can(I’ve never bought more than 10oz). So i was forced to try other blends, ordered the amphora sampler and now know I do enjoy other blends.

Majority of my blends are now VaPers(Why they aren’t just called periques I don’t know?) but my favorite is probably burley.

I suppose they use the term VaPers because there are blends that use Perique with Burley or Latakia, and not just VAs. I kind of see your point, though, in that VA+Or+Lat blends are often referred to as "Latakia blends."

 

[hoosierpipeguy]

Don't care for many Burley blends. I find them a bit harsh and lacking flavor. Virginia is my favorite by far.

 

[Pipelady20]

Good thread. I moreso like English blends. But have a preference for burley over Virginias. This is because as much as i have tried to smoke Virginias or some VaPers the Virginias tear up my tongue like nobody's business. If it's part of a blend where it doesn't dominate i have a much better experience.

 

[NomadOrb]

I smoke both, but I enjoy and smoke burley much more. It's more satisfying.

 

[sallow]

I enjoy both. I have a tin of the HH burley flake open now.

 

[sandollars]

More of a fan of Virginias if we are talking straight for straight, but there are a few VaBurs that I deem spectacular. Stonehaven, Haunted Bookshop, Briar Fox, and G&H Dark Plug to name a few.

 

[augiebd]

I’m more in the Virginia camp but my appreciation of Burley is growing. I can’t see myself becoming a hardcore Burley fan but I do like many blends where the leaf is an artful supporting character or even a lead that doesn’t punch you in the face.

 

[bluegrassbrian]

Virginia all the way. I’m ok with burley as a condiment, especially if it’s in perique or dark fired form.

Ive tried several predominantly burley flakes like Solani and the Macbaren HH. I don’t find the flavor to be objectionable but it’s not my favorite. My issue seems to be that they always have a drying effect on my throat that leaves it feeling rough.

 

[captainsousie]

While I enjoy many examples of both, if I were to choose a favorite of the two, I would say Latakia...oh wait, I meant to say a great burley just barely edges out a great VA.

 

[logs]

Took me a hell of a long time to like burley. Mainly associated it as flavorless filler used in aros. This last year I decided to go on a serious burley odyssey. Old Joe Krantz was a breakthrough point for me. It showed me flavors I wasn't getting from VA and that got me interested in exploring further. Since then I've found several burley blends I love even better than OJK. Nowadays I alternate between straight VA blends and burley blends.