Benchmark Burleys

[Middle Earth]

Mac Baren HH Burley Flake has turned out to be a winner, big time.
For me, there is not a bad HH Blend and what's not to like about a one pound box.
One the other end, most like the match better, but I prefer Lane Limited Ready Rubbed.

[Ruffinogold]

I wish I could multiply the Edgeworth Slices I have . It's super aged and the flavor has changed up quite a bit for a burley . It's so scary good that I couldn't describe it . Given Wessex Burley Slice is most similar , I wonder if it would age about the same . Sadly , I can't acquire enough to age . I can rip through a tin of it pretty damn quick . I've not ever had any aged Wessex

[sisyphus]

I know what you mean. I have some 35 year old Kentucky Club that is like smoking chocolate cake. Wish I had more, but maybe only having the one 14oz tin makes it better.

[oldbill]

When I first started smoking a pipe I smoked Latakia blends. From the beginning, I wasn't terribly interested in artificial flavors, and in retrospect I think starting with Latakia was a great starting point.

It didn't take long before I expressed interest in Burley. Bob Runowski (morleysson) was still alive and active in the forums back then, and was an early mentor for me, giving me lots of thoughtful advice that had a big impact on my early pipe smoking. A generous forum member sent me a big Burley care package, and it was off to the races.

I love Burley. I smoke it every day with my morning coffee. It's high in nicotine. It's forgiving. It's consistent. It's delicious.

The following are what I would consider the benchmark Burley blends. The blends in red are discontinued, in which case I will recommend available replacements where possible. I'm not doing American Blends in this post. I've kind of lost my taste for Latakia. The blends here featuring Latakia have it in such small amounts that I would not classify them as American Blends, despite the Latakia they contain.

Edgeworth Ready Rubbed-ERR
I've smoked some of the old stuff and I could swear there was a detectable rum topping on the pre-80s version of this, but I think I remember others saying they felt that the modern iteration is no different than what they grew up with. In any event, this is codger Burley. Burley with a condimental addition of Virginia for added sweetness. A very light cocoa note that you can easily miss if you're not sensitive to very light additions. It's nutty, smooth, sweet. You know you're smoking tobacco. In other words, it's Burley. It's no longer with us, but Lane Limited Ready Rubbed lacks only the Edgeworth in the name.

Available replacements for ERR include:

• Lane Limited Ready Rubbed

• Sutliff Ready Rubbed Match - many swear this is as good or better than the original

• Carter Hall (CH) - same family of tobacco, great in its own right

• Prince Albert (PA) - see Carter Hall

• Sir Walter Raleigh (SWR) - see Carter Hall

• 4noggins Moe's Confetti - this is literally a blend of Carter Hall, Prince Albert and Walgreen's Burley, and it's fabulous

• 4noggins Storm Front - codger Burley with a portion of cigar leaf. More savory than nutty sweet, but just as good

• Kentucky Club - my favorite codger Burley, a chocolate bomb. Why did I not buy a ton of it when it was still here?

Cornell and Diehl Old Joe Krantz - OJK
A Bob Runowski blend. Burley with a jot of Virginia and a huge handful of Perique. Holy smokes, who goes 25% Perique in a blend? This blend does not always work for me, but it mostly does and when it does I get a really sweet, really strong codger smoke. It smells good enough to eat. It's more nicotine than some will be comfortable with, so don't smoke this if you have a low tolerance.

Alternatives to OJK include:

• Cornell and Diehl Haunted Bookshop - same ingredients in different proportion. OJK Lite

• Cornell and Diehl Epiphany - Bob's version of Revelation. Latakia in condimental amount, just enough to add smokiness

• Cornell and Diehl Big & Burley - another big, full codger Burley with just a smidge of Latakia

Mac Baren Burley London Blend-BLB
A Danish version of codger Burley. A little lighter, a little sweeter. Nurse a bowl gently and this would shoot right into your favorite Burleys. Wheat-y, cocoa-y, a little more delicate presentation than the American Burleys, but no less delicious.

Available replacements for BLB include:

• Mac Baren Golden Extra (GE) - add a smidgen of Va to BLB and you have GE. BLB was better, but not by a mile

• Amphora Original - Very similar to BLB, maybe a little lighter and definitely heavier on the cocoa

HU Makhuwa
Same ingredients as OJK, deserves its own entry. I wish I had come across Hans' blends earlier in my cellar building. I have not have one of his tobaccos that I didn't like, and a surprising number of those I wanted pounds of after smoking a few bowls. Burley, Virginia and Perique. Not as stout as OJK. I get zero zing from the Perique in this, it just adds a dark fruit sweetness. There may be a chocolate topping. It's mildly sweet, there is some complexity to the flavor. The tobacco is fantastic, like OJK is a can of Miller and this is a fancy bottle from a micro brewer. I guess that is the best way I can describe it, is that I feel like I am enjoying an artisanal product when I smoke it. It's a treat to fire up a bowl of Makhuwa, and it has become my favorite Burley.

Alternatives to HU Makhuwa include:

• Cornell and Diehl Old Joe Krantz - a stronger, less refined combination of the same ingredients

• HU Nyala - Add Brazilian cigar leaf to Makhuwa, and end up with a tobacco that isn't quite as good IMO

• HU Dockworker - if you're looking for Burley slices pass Solani ABF and Wessex and go straight to this dark chocolate, deep Burley

Uhle Blend 00
Pure Burley, sweet and nutty. I think the only addition this tobacco gets is a sweetener. It is, bar none, the finest 100% Burley blend that is or ever was. I'm not going to add any alternatives because to my mind there are none.

Cornell and Diehl Pegasus
I didn't include this one with the other C&Ds because I think it is so good it deserves its own spot. Ribbon Burley with unsweetened Black Cavendish. Another Bob Runowski blend, and the one I'd keep if you made me part with all the others. It has the mellow nutty sweetness you expect of any Burley, and then that Cavendish adds the occasional marshmallow note that just sings and is so different than any other blend. It's great in a large bowl and you are doing yourself a grave disservice if you like Burley and you haven't tried it.

Alternatives to Cornell and Diehl Pegasus include:

• Uhle Blend 300 - a cube of Burley and Black Cavendish

• Watch City Deluxe Crumb Cut - nom nom nom, see below

Watch City Deluxe Crumb Cut
A few months ago this entry would have been Watch City Slices, but the more of the Crumb Cut I smoke, the more I love it. If you've never smoked a Watch City Burley, apparently Ernie is getting all the best Burley Sutliff gets their hands on, because no Sutliff Burley tastes like his. Crumb Cut isn't exactly a cube and is more like SWR, kind of a pebble-y, crumb-y cut that doesn't clog draughts like cube cut can. The Burley is stout, mildly sweet, and in the case of Crumb Cut there is a mild vanilla Black Cavendish that adds to the experience instead of detracts. Make no mistake, this is no aro. I only got around to trying the Watch City blends a year ago, and they've all earned spots in my cellar.

Alternatives to Watch City Crumb Cut include:

• Uhle Blend 300 - Uhle's version of the same ideal. Sorry Uhle, Crumb Cut is way better

• Watch City Slices - add Kentucky for a smoky, savory Burley flake. Never tried Edgeworth Slices, but WC Slices are utterly fantastic

If I can think of any more that deserve to be here I will edit them in. If you're not into but are interested in Burley I hope that this saves you some time, because in the end you'll be ending up on some of these anyway IMO. If you like Burley and see some here you haven't tried, I would urge you to do so.

Excellent write-up!!! I like to make my own blends and Burley (especially the darker ones) is in most of them to some degree, to me Burley is almost like bacon... almost everything is a little better with some of it in there!

[Ruffinogold]

I know what you mean. I have some 35 year old Kentucky Club that is like smoking chocolate cake. Wish I had more, but maybe only having the one 14oz tin makes it better.

Oh , God don't I know it . I have of the same as well ... I cherish it

[Longshanks]

Excellent burley post. Wish I'd have read this years ago.

[MikeDennison]

This post could be called the Burley Bible.

[Wildcrow]

I love OJK, Pegasus, ABF, Uhles PBP, Big n Burley, Watch City Slices, and LLRR. I need to procure a few more to round out my library of killer tobacco. The only thing that gets me, and it’s terrible, is how immune to nicotine I have become because of all the Burley.

[Clemson Tiger]

Carter Hall is the only tub of bull I’ve got & for good reason! It’s awesomeness in a cob! I am also a fan of the H&H Dark Fired- Burley is kinda hard to screw up, it’s a straightforward smoke with plenty of flavor.

[Try Cob]

I'll be trying Pegasus next smoke.

Love these benchmark posts, Sisyphus. Great place for a tobacco dunce like me to start trine to larn sumpin'. Thanks for the post, and the nicely-organized presentation. Same for the Virginia version.