Wilke Rum Blends - Predominant Smell Taste?

[PipeIT]

Does anyone know if Wilke’s rum blends have changed recipes over the past few years? I had some 515 a few years ago, and I recently received some 515 as a sample and rum cake with extra rum.

But the 515, has a more booze smell to it, and it’s not with extra rum.

When you dry these blends out, can someone tell me what is the predominant smell and taste of these blends? I assumed it would be rum, but to me, they come across more like tonquin bean room note. The room note is this predominant smell, which is the taste.

This predominant taste comes across, like a slight bitter, something, if you were thinking of food is more like fermented, or like a spoiled taste.

I thought these rum blends, they are sweet, vanilla, cavendish, slightly rum flavored, like an old school codger captain black cavendish or mac baren blend, but it’s not, and I just don’t understand this odd flavor I’m tasting. If this is suppose to be rum, it doesn’t taste at all like rum.

Anyone else experience a peculiar taste in these rum blends. or blends similar?

Because I have Sutliff Spiced Rum and Queen Anne’s Revenge, and I thought these Wilke blends were something similar?

No disrespect for Wilke, I know Wilke produces great blends and Mr. Brandt a nice guy, I’m only trying to understand why these come across with whatever this predominant taste is, that’s peculiar.

The smell, room note is amazing, but the taste is not pleasing at all, and my taste buds are fine, so I don’t get what’s going on... hmm ?

Thanks

 

[JimInks]

Wilke and Sutliff use rums from different companies. Both use real rum and not an artificial flavoring. It just may be as simple as you liking one company's run flavoring over the other. Different companies use different sources for flavorings which is why C&Ds rum blends taste different than Wilke, Sutliff, etc. Most companies use different rums for different blends, too. It's not a case of one rum fits all.

As far as I know, Wilke uses the same flavorings that Carol used when she owned the company with the exception of maple. John Brandt uses real Vermont maple. The company that produces it is a block or so away from his business. Perhaps @John Brandt will chime in and have more to say on this.

There no tonquin bean in No. 515. I know because I asked John. The black cavendish has some vanilla in it.

 

[PipeIT]

Hey Jim,

Hope all is well!

To be honest, I’m not sure what I’m tasting, if that’s suppose to be the rum.

So the predominant smell, taste and room note, of 515, that’s the rum?

The last tabac I smoked, that really tasted of rum in my mind was Windjammer.

I’m certainly no rum expert, I’ve probably drank 3-5 different types of rum, but I’ve always assumed, overall, with all the various rums out there, the underlying taste(s) is somewhat, for a lack of words I can think of, Rum Standard, like I’m not sure there is any rums out there tasting like scotch or whisky.

So if this is predominant smell, taste is the rum, it’s very different from my understanding of rum tastes and smells.

Thanks

 

[John Brandt]

Hello we still use the same Rum the Wilke Family used when it was first blended. We did up the
rum part everyone was always wanting more rum in the blend it was a little flat on the rum taste so
we added a little more. The Rumcake might be in your wheel house we cut the #515 with more Black
Cavendish hope this helps you out and thanks for smoking the Wilke Blends John.

 

[TheIronMonkey]

Does anyone know if Wilke’s rum blends have changed recipes over the past few years? I had some 515 a few years ago, and I recently received some 515 as a sample and rum cake with extra rum.

But the 515, has a more booze smell to it, and it’s not with extra rum.

When you dry these blends out, can someone tell me what is the predominant smell and taste of these blends? I assumed it would be rum, but to me, they come across more like tonquin bean room note. The room note is this predominant smell, which is the taste.

This predominant taste comes across, like a slight bitter, something, if you were thinking of food is more like fermented, or like a spoiled taste.

I thought these rum blends, they are sweet, vanilla, cavendish, slightly rum flavored, like an old school codger captain black cavendish or mac baren blend, but it’s not, and I just don’t understand this odd flavor I’m tasting. If this is suppose to be rum, it doesn’t taste at all like rum.

Anyone else experience a peculiar taste in these rum blends. or blends similar?

Because I have Sutliff Spiced Rum and Queen Anne’s Revenge, and I thought these Wilke blends were something similar?

No disrespect for Wilke, I know Wilke produces great blends and Mr. Brandt a nice guy, I’m only trying to understand why these come across with whatever this predominant taste is, that’s peculiar.

The smell, room note is amazing, but the taste is not pleasing at all, and my taste buds are fine, so I don’t get what’s going on... hmm ?

Thanks

Your thoughts remind me of my experience with 515 in January. Initially, I got a bite towards the back of my nose.

 

[runscott]

I'm a straight VA guy, but the Wilke 515, and the Rum & Maple, are like catnip for me. Since you've mentioned it, I think I'll go freight train a bowl of Rum & Maple right now.

 

[isaac]

Funny that you mention that. Im smoking a bowl of the rumcake now. The inital smoking makes it come across as very soapy for some reason, that eventually settles down to rum and vanilla

 

[HawkeyeLinus]

My first bowl ever was fresh No. 515 from @John Brandt in a Peterson Rathbone I found at Harrison & Simmonds and had a great experience ordering. Dominic Simmonds sent me a nice note about his book, "Sherlock Holmes: The Adventure of The Pigtail Twist", new adventure he had written as well and of course I bought it! I smoked it without knowing anything about drying, got my pipe nice and not, lol, and puffed away. Learned a lot on here since then!

I'm biased towards anything Holmes, and enjoy several Wilke blends, but I wouldn't smoke No. 515 and order more if I didn't like it. This thread reminded me with all the experimenting I do I haven't touched No. 515 or my Heritage 4AB in a long time. I went downstairs to the "cellar" before going to work, lol, grabbed the small "for current use" jar of No. 515 and put some out in my little drying bowl. FYI, both John and @JimInks were instrumental in the journey of another of my 4ABs - great guys as you all know.

I'm now very much enjoying some 7 hours later.

YMMV, but I've found (and the term may not be the right one) that the aromatics I've received from John are very, very "fresh" as in just blended at the time of mailing, basically. Juicy, in the case of the rum blends and the scent is pretty darn strong, but not off putting to me. After three months in the jar it was still nice and fresh this morning, but the tobacco in the little bowl wasn't nearly as "potent" smelling when I packed it and, for me, no bitterness, smoother than a rum blend I had yesterday, and I'm getting a great taste and the tobacco comes through. I'm getting more out of it now than I was a few months ago and I think that's a function of trying different blends and straight Virginia and recognizing a little more what is coming through (and taste and smell back to normal), so I'm enjoying that "progress" as well.

Whatever it is, this is still a big favorite of mine and would be on my list of ten blends I could have stored and not buy any more (as if that's going to happen, lol).

Taste and smell are funny things!

 

[gastro]

I ordered some of the rumcake with a few other tobaccos awhile ago. The rum smell was almost too powerful for me upon initial smoke. I don't smoke alot of aromatics, but this one was pretty tough to get used to for me. I'm going to give it some time to settle down and focus on the peanut butter tobacco!

 

[PipeIT]

@John Brandt thanks for replying, oh so 515 has been made a little stronger in rum now? Can someone still order the original blend?

As I mentioned I’m no rum expert, I can only presume, that the type of rum being used, for the lesser experienced pipe smoker, could come across different/odd.

But I’m happy to report. it took me 4-5 bowls to start getting rum notes.

What’s helpful for me, I just bought a bottle of Bacardi Gold a few weeks ago to start soaking my own, and I drank a little, and the rum notes in 515 I find similar, a lighter flavored rum profile, also on a slightly spicy side of rum.

I didn’t find 515 to be a sweet rum flavor, I guess I had, for some reason ‘sweet’ in the back of my mind.

I lived in New Zealand for 6 months, cough cough @Ahi Ka my Kiwi bro, lol, just thinking of ya, and I had the pleasure of drinking some rum when I was over in NZ from a military sailor that received rum rations all the time from the NZ Navy. So my point is, this is not sailor navy grog rum I’m tasting, this I would describe as a serious gentleman’s drinking rum, like I’m assuming what Bacardi Gold is all about.

 

[John Brandt]

@John Brandt thanks for replying, oh so 515 has been made a little stronger in rum now? Can someone still order the original blend?

As I mentioned I’m no rum expert, I can only presume, that the type of rum being used, for the lesser experienced pipe smoker, could come across different/odd.

But I’m happy to report. it took me 4-5 bowls to start getting rum notes.

What’s helpful for me, I just bought a bottle of Bacardi Gold a few weeks ago to start soaking my own, and I drank a little, and the rum notes in 515 I find similar, a lighter flavored rum profile, also on a slightly spicy side of rum.

I didn’t find 515 to be a sweet rum flavor, I guess I had, for some reason ‘sweet’ in the back of my mind.

I lived in New Zealand for 6 months, cough cough @Ahi Ka my Kiwi bro, lol, just thinking of ya, and I had the pleasure of drinking some rum when I was over in NZ from a military sailor that received rum rations all the time from the NZ Navy. So my point is, this is not sailor navy grog rum I’m tasting, this I would describe as a serious gentleman’s drinking rum, like I’m assuming what Bacardi Gold is all about.

Hello yes I can blended it the old way if you like but the rum flavor will be very mild.

 

[eljimmy]

Off subject but I recently ordered the maple rum and I swear, it reminds me of eating a very ripe banana. Banana bread almost.

 

[PipeIT]

I’m happy to report, after 3-4 bowls my taste buds could distinguish the rum.

I guess I was slow on the up take, I guess this is what happens when you’re not a rum drinker. LOL ?

@John Brandt lovely tabac, 515 and Rum Cake, simply lovely!

Keep up the great work!