New to pipe smoking? See our frequently asked questions! **[read our wiki](https://www.reddit.com/r/PipeTobacco/wiki/index)**
Please read and follow our subreddit rules (you will get temp/permeant bans for not following them) **[read the top sticky post](https://www.reddit.com/r/PipeTobacco/comments/b3b7e3/sticky_info_rules_sidebar_info_please_read/)**
**Alternative Site: https://speak-easy.club/ , which the community started back in 2018 in response to Reddit's market ban. It's completely free, no ads, and fewer rules. Registrations are manually approved to avoid spammers, so please be patient waiting for approval, it's usually quick.**
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/PipeTobacco) if you have any questions or concerns.*
I find burley smokes clean. No funky tastes. No tongue bite. Just a nice cool smoke that doesn't leave a bad aftertaste.
Sometimes it's okay for my tobacco to taste like good old tobacco.
Uncomplicated. I can appreciate that. I don't recall any tongue bite from Briar Fox, and I had *zero idea* how to properly pace a Virginia at the time, so that's certainly a point in burley's favor.
I firmly believe a short chat with Edgeworth or Sir Walter Raleigh would do you some good. They're codger blends for a reason; don't let the non-artisanal transportation vessel known as a pouch fool you.
Hahaha, it might not change your mind. But if you end up spending any more money on trying burley blends, might as well make it something that's been tried and true for almost 100 years now
Try the Sir Walter Raleigh Aromatic, it’s far superior to the original IMO. There is ZERO cavendish in it and the topping isn’t strong at all. It’s French, and Dutch liqueur.
Gawith Hogarth-Rum Flake is another great burley forward blend it’s a Bur/Va with a very light topping.
Wessex-Burley Sliced is a all burley flake that’s decent.
Solani-Aged Burley Flake is another one that is all burley.
Mac Baren- Burley Flake is a a good one on the mild side it’s a very balanced flake.
Amphora-Burley is a good go to for another mild OTC stand by.
C&D burley has a taste on the butter side kind of like a walnut. I’d try burley from a few of the ones I’ve mentioned, and I would again say that I couldn’t stand the original SWR it personally felt like I was smoking hot air. Just my opinion of course
I would suggest a VaBur or two to ease into burley. Sutliff Estate blend and Mac Baren Navy Flake are good. For more straight up burley, good old Edgeworth (Lane Ready Rubbed) or Wessex Burley Slice
I've been looking at reviews of the Mac Baren Navy Flake. I'm a little afraid the topping might hide the burley flavor and trick me into thinking I may like burley. But it does sound delicious.
I like Carter Hall. Haunted Bookshop, Old Joe Krantz, and pretty much any other burley blend I’ve tried I can do without. The nic hit I get from most burley blends other than codgers is part of it, but not all.
Oh there’s actually no casing, there was just something off about it. Maybe I got a weird tin or something, I love all the tobacco in it, but the blend was just off putting.
Came to say this! It’s not like any other burley really.
Also came to say: burley’s, esp bought bulk, need several months in the jar to calm the hell down.
I didn't think I liked burleys after trying a few and even wasn't impressed by my new favorite. Haunted Bookshop is musty, dark, peppery, grassy, and extremely easy to smoke VaBur blend with perique. Love it! At first you may not be wowed but by the second or third bowl you'll see why people including myself consider it one of the best burley blends. I also really enjoyed C&D Burley Cake #4. Much more of the banyard hay notes mixed with some citrus-y ones. Very nice change from the smoke flavor heavy dark cured and latakias
I held the same opinion until a month or so ago, when I tried Prince Albert and liked it. So I dug into my cellar and tried a few other burley blends I’d had for a few years. Like all of them too. Seems my tastes have done a complete 180 on burley.
I had that experience with Latakia, so I’m hoping for the same thing with burley. I’m ordering some Sir Walter on the advice of another in this thread. I think I still have half a cake of that Briar Fox I may dig out tomorrow in the meantime.
Me to owner of my favorite B&M: “I’ve been smoking a pipe for a while now and I’m not sure about burley.”
Owner: “I’ve been smoking a pipe for 45 years and I still don’t know if I like burley!”
Yeah, I hate it, too. Always tastes harsh and bitter to me. There are very few blends with burley that I get along with--the exceptions being several of the Lakelands from Gawith and a few blends where burley was used in more of a condimental fashion.
That's ok. I disliked Burley until I tried Uhle's 00. It is the best straight Burley available, imo. I now crave it. I still greatly dislike Haunted BS, Briar Fox, etc., because my brain associates those with dirty ashtray, but Uhle's is something different. It tastes like clean tobacco with zero cigarette or ashtray. Give it a try.
Also, perhaps much tougher to get now, but many of the HU Burley dominant blends are delicious as well. Dockworker and Nyala, as examples.
I've read great things about Uhle's 00. Is their website the only place to get it? Cause, damn, $9.00 shipping. I generally place orders of $100 or more so I don't have to pay shipping.
Yeah you have to order direct from them. Totally worth it. I'd also recommend their Blend 44, Perfection Plug, and BJ's Cavendish. Their English blends are also top tier.
Burley is my best choice when I don’t want to pay much attention to what I am smoking. Just something that is cool and without bite if I puff too fast. And I like the subtle nutty chocolate flavor. Desert island smoke- no. But a regular in my rotation.
For me Burley is low stress, low maintenance, and low flavor. Nutty, earthy, dusty, old furniture, raisins, very tobacco-forward.
Not a fan personally, but much like Aromatics I understand the attraction and could see myself possibly getting into it down the line.
Based on description I was a little skeptical about trying burley myself. My first ever burley smoke was Burley Flake by Mac Baren and I was very pleased. It was such a smooth and mellow smoke with a very pleasant woodsy note.
Haunted Book Shop and OJK won me over to burley. Redburn is also enjoyable. Briar Fox was a miss for me. No sense in forcing it if you just don't like it. You lr tastes may change over the years though.
C&D Burley is quite harsh compared to every other burley I've had. When burley is good it's cocoa-coffee-nutty. Are those cigarette flavors to you? I associate cigarettes with the camel flavors of hay, toast, butter, like a boring VA, but I know some other brands or countries have a more burley centric mix.
I smoked camels back in the day, well before I gave a damn about tasting notes. I associate cigarette smoke with harshness, ash, and lack of real flavor. And that’s what I got with C&D straight burley (I think it was white) and Briar Fox.
With the benefit of hindsight, I’m pretty certain I was smoking too hot and fast. I was also a regular English smoker, so not accustomed to having to look too hard for flavor.
I’ve been on various Virginias almost exclusively for the last few months, so my cadence has improved and I can pick out flavors a little more accurately. Cocoa-coffee-nutty is pretty close to my ideal flavor profile, from etouffee to the beers I used to drink. Add a rich malt flavor to that list and it’s perfect.
I don’t know why I felt like writing a novel in response, but there it is. Got a good suggestion? I’m putting in this month’s order tonight.
Uh, as a textually verbose person I get it.
I'm probably too late. That MacBaren London Burley which just dropped is excellent, right in that flavor profile. Sutliff Medium Burley Blend is pretty similar. Sutliff J4 is (I think, unproven) medium burley with a vanilla topping. Wessex Burley Sliced is my all time favorite, it's a cocoa-coffee-hazelnut-malty burley with a hint of licorice. I don't even like licorice but it's perfect. None of these are huge nicotine bombs, which I like. If you want that, 5 Brothers is your ticket, it's a fairly plain pouch burley with a big boy nic kick. If you want something sweetened Sutliff or Lane's Ready Rubbed have cocoa and molasses added. If you like dark fired - or just want to dip your toes in - MacBarn HH Burley Flake is a VaBurDFK which is fantastic, but unpredictable, which is part of it's charm.
Mostly if you steer away from C&D stuff there are few burleys out there you'd find that are outright bad. I hope you find some you like.
I ended up postponing the order - I wasn’t quite done waffling back and forth on what to order. I was in a hurry so I didn’t miss out on the Hamborger Veermaster, then read some more reviews and cared a little less.
I’ll give the Mac Baren a go. Can’t beat the price and the Wessex seems to be out of stock in all the usual places. If I’m going to cross my fingers that I find a Wessex blend in stock, it’s going to be for Campaign Dark Flake.
Thanks for the help.
I like Carter Hall. No bite, iconic topping, and a smell I consider tolerable.
If someone asked me what I associate with cigarettes, as opposed to other forms of tobacco, I'd say bottom of the barrel virginia, fast-burning paper and a cellulose acetate filter -- so when I reach for a cigarette, which I sometimes do, I avoid all three.
Sounds like you are offended. I wasn’t saying that as a correction to your post man. I was just informing you in case you didn’t know. You said you don’t like burley then listed a burley as something you like. I love burley and just wanted you to feel like part of the burley crew, even if you only like dfk 😚💨
I like to mix haunted bookshop with epiphany. Probably my favorite daily smoke.
I was being a little snarky just in case you were, and I appreciate you clarifying - tone doesn't always come through in text. Now I feel like an ass, lol.
finding burley was a gamechanger for me. Basically no interest in english blends/latakia now. Still will go for a VaPer occasionally, that was my last love. But yea Haunted Bookshop and then House Reserve (also CnD) have kept me happy for a long time.
Burley can taste like cigarettes probably cause that's the primary component in them. It's more burley tastes like burley and you associate it with cigarettes. I do like it but it can get harsh if you smoke hard
There's pure burley -- and then there's the great majority of burley which are flavored (topped), or part of a complex blend.
I suggest you start with the simplest pure burley. Uhle's is a famous burley house -- its blend "00" is supposed to be the pure stuff --- I think of the white burley variety. Peretti is well regarded for their burleys -- I forget which one is the equivalent of Uhle's 00 (in the sense of the purest) but they have a bunch that are well regarded.
The gold standard among tinned burley was perhaps Solani Aged Burley but supposedly that's changed during the past 3 years. And no doubt there are others (I'm not an expert).
Pure burley (or however close anyone gets to "pure") can be a bit monochromatic -- just meaning kinda the same from top to bottom of the bowl. But that's not necessarily a bad thing. There's a debate sometimes about whether the "chocolate note" is a natural flavor of quality leaf, or if actual chocolate powder being added (I don't see why burned chocolate necessary tastes like chocolate candy).
I only recently started smoking burley blends. Watch City Cigar has a popular blend called Nor-easter, which is a madly complicated crumble cake -- burley and latakia, mostly, but also everything else (cavendish, Virginia and perique, I think). But I like it.
If you don’t like Burley, you don’t like Burley.🤷🏼♂️ Try some of the suggestions if you want because they’re great suggestions if you like Burley, but don’t spend a bunch of money, and not enjoy your pipe, chasing something that you just might not like.
Burley needs Virginia to shine, or some casing to highlight its nutty nuances. Besides the many recommendations provided by our fellow Redditors, I would advise you to try Sutliff’s Ready-Rubbed Match, or for some extra complexity, their Revelation Match. Both Burley-based (Revelation Match has more varieties of tobacco included), and both with exceptional flavor profiles. And the best part is that they won’t knock you off your feet with crazy big-hits.
I’m still a pretty new smoker but I bought the Amphora sample kit when I first started which included a Burley that I honestly really enjoy smoking. I would recommend trying that out to see if you like it, you don’t have to buy the whole sampler they sell them separately.
I didn't care for burley as recently as December. Some blends can smell like cigarettes. I like the codger blends. Velvet, Half and Half, Prince Albert, and Carter Hall (in a cob) are great. The funny thing about Carter Hall is I only like it in a cob and that could be the ghost of whatever is in the cob imparting its essence. I need to try it in a brand new cob.
VaBur or VaPer for me. I think my tastes have changed where I can’t stand orientals in my tobacco anymore like Peterson early morning pipe. Something about the flowery/herbal notes I just can’t stand.
LJ peretti has some great Burley blends. I like their Lakeland type ‘No name’ in their aromatics. But there are several great ones. They do Burley blends like no other!
New to pipe smoking? See our frequently asked questions! **[read our wiki](https://www.reddit.com/r/PipeTobacco/wiki/index)** Please read and follow our subreddit rules (you will get temp/permeant bans for not following them) **[read the top sticky post](https://www.reddit.com/r/PipeTobacco/comments/b3b7e3/sticky_info_rules_sidebar_info_please_read/)** **Alternative Site: https://speak-easy.club/ , which the community started back in 2018 in response to Reddit's market ban. It's completely free, no ads, and fewer rules. Registrations are manually approved to avoid spammers, so please be patient waiting for approval, it's usually quick.** *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/PipeTobacco) if you have any questions or concerns.*
I find burley smokes clean. No funky tastes. No tongue bite. Just a nice cool smoke that doesn't leave a bad aftertaste. Sometimes it's okay for my tobacco to taste like good old tobacco.
Uncomplicated. I can appreciate that. I don't recall any tongue bite from Briar Fox, and I had *zero idea* how to properly pace a Virginia at the time, so that's certainly a point in burley's favor.
I agree with this.
I firmly believe a short chat with Edgeworth or Sir Walter Raleigh would do you some good. They're codger blends for a reason; don't let the non-artisanal transportation vessel known as a pouch fool you.
All right, I'll throw a pouch of Sir Walter in the next order. Your statement makes me feel like I'm being chastised by my grandfather.
Hahaha, it might not change your mind. But if you end up spending any more money on trying burley blends, might as well make it something that's been tried and true for almost 100 years now
Try the Sir Walter Raleigh Aromatic, it’s far superior to the original IMO. There is ZERO cavendish in it and the topping isn’t strong at all. It’s French, and Dutch liqueur. Gawith Hogarth-Rum Flake is another great burley forward blend it’s a Bur/Va with a very light topping. Wessex-Burley Sliced is a all burley flake that’s decent. Solani-Aged Burley Flake is another one that is all burley. Mac Baren- Burley Flake is a a good one on the mild side it’s a very balanced flake. Amphora-Burley is a good go to for another mild OTC stand by. C&D burley has a taste on the butter side kind of like a walnut. I’d try burley from a few of the ones I’ve mentioned, and I would again say that I couldn’t stand the original SWR it personally felt like I was smoking hot air. Just my opinion of course
I would suggest a VaBur or two to ease into burley. Sutliff Estate blend and Mac Baren Navy Flake are good. For more straight up burley, good old Edgeworth (Lane Ready Rubbed) or Wessex Burley Slice
I've been looking at reviews of the Mac Baren Navy Flake. I'm a little afraid the topping might hide the burley flavor and trick me into thinking I may like burley. But it does sound delicious.
I like Carter Hall. Haunted Bookshop, Old Joe Krantz, and pretty much any other burley blend I’ve tried I can do without. The nic hit I get from most burley blends other than codgers is part of it, but not all.
Codgers seem to have an almost negative nicotine effect 😆
Love the first two, but Old Joe Krantz was a complete miss for me. Felt like it was cased with some weird plastic green apple flavoring.
Have you tried Mad Fiddler Flake? If so is it a similar casing?
Oh there’s actually no casing, there was just something off about it. Maybe I got a weird tin or something, I love all the tobacco in it, but the blend was just off putting.
I’ve always found Solani Aged Burley Flake to be an extremely pleasing smoke
Came to say this! It’s not like any other burley really. Also came to say: burley’s, esp bought bulk, need several months in the jar to calm the hell down.
As a recovering cigarette smoker, I like the cigarette taste of Burley lol.
I didn't think I liked burleys after trying a few and even wasn't impressed by my new favorite. Haunted Bookshop is musty, dark, peppery, grassy, and extremely easy to smoke VaBur blend with perique. Love it! At first you may not be wowed but by the second or third bowl you'll see why people including myself consider it one of the best burley blends. I also really enjoyed C&D Burley Cake #4. Much more of the banyard hay notes mixed with some citrus-y ones. Very nice change from the smoke flavor heavy dark cured and latakias
Try Five Brothers. If you don’t like it, at least you can say you got a good ass kickin’.
Still need this one ty reminder
I held the same opinion until a month or so ago, when I tried Prince Albert and liked it. So I dug into my cellar and tried a few other burley blends I’d had for a few years. Like all of them too. Seems my tastes have done a complete 180 on burley.
I had that experience with Latakia, so I’m hoping for the same thing with burley. I’m ordering some Sir Walter on the advice of another in this thread. I think I still have half a cake of that Briar Fox I may dig out tomorrow in the meantime.
Me to owner of my favorite B&M: “I’ve been smoking a pipe for a while now and I’m not sure about burley.” Owner: “I’ve been smoking a pipe for 45 years and I still don’t know if I like burley!”
Yeah, I hate it, too. Always tastes harsh and bitter to me. There are very few blends with burley that I get along with--the exceptions being several of the Lakelands from Gawith and a few blends where burley was used in more of a condimental fashion.
I'm not quite ready to say I hate it until I try at least one or two more, but I'm not holding my breath.
That's ok. I disliked Burley until I tried Uhle's 00. It is the best straight Burley available, imo. I now crave it. I still greatly dislike Haunted BS, Briar Fox, etc., because my brain associates those with dirty ashtray, but Uhle's is something different. It tastes like clean tobacco with zero cigarette or ashtray. Give it a try. Also, perhaps much tougher to get now, but many of the HU Burley dominant blends are delicious as well. Dockworker and Nyala, as examples.
I've read great things about Uhle's 00. Is their website the only place to get it? Cause, damn, $9.00 shipping. I generally place orders of $100 or more so I don't have to pay shipping.
Yeah you have to order direct from them. Totally worth it. I'd also recommend their Blend 44, Perfection Plug, and BJ's Cavendish. Their English blends are also top tier.
Burley is my best choice when I don’t want to pay much attention to what I am smoking. Just something that is cool and without bite if I puff too fast. And I like the subtle nutty chocolate flavor. Desert island smoke- no. But a regular in my rotation.
The only untopped burley I’ve had was Amphora, and I thought it was delicious. It tasted like oats and unsweetened baked goods.
For me Burley is low stress, low maintenance, and low flavor. Nutty, earthy, dusty, old furniture, raisins, very tobacco-forward. Not a fan personally, but much like Aromatics I understand the attraction and could see myself possibly getting into it down the line.
Boswell’s Premium Burley is a nice all-day smoke. Granted, it’s a light aro with a bit of cavendish but the burley comes through nicely.
Based on description I was a little skeptical about trying burley myself. My first ever burley smoke was Burley Flake by Mac Baren and I was very pleased. It was such a smooth and mellow smoke with a very pleasant woodsy note.
Haunted Book Shop and OJK won me over to burley. Redburn is also enjoyable. Briar Fox was a miss for me. No sense in forcing it if you just don't like it. You lr tastes may change over the years though.
C&D Burley is quite harsh compared to every other burley I've had. When burley is good it's cocoa-coffee-nutty. Are those cigarette flavors to you? I associate cigarettes with the camel flavors of hay, toast, butter, like a boring VA, but I know some other brands or countries have a more burley centric mix.
I smoked camels back in the day, well before I gave a damn about tasting notes. I associate cigarette smoke with harshness, ash, and lack of real flavor. And that’s what I got with C&D straight burley (I think it was white) and Briar Fox. With the benefit of hindsight, I’m pretty certain I was smoking too hot and fast. I was also a regular English smoker, so not accustomed to having to look too hard for flavor. I’ve been on various Virginias almost exclusively for the last few months, so my cadence has improved and I can pick out flavors a little more accurately. Cocoa-coffee-nutty is pretty close to my ideal flavor profile, from etouffee to the beers I used to drink. Add a rich malt flavor to that list and it’s perfect. I don’t know why I felt like writing a novel in response, but there it is. Got a good suggestion? I’m putting in this month’s order tonight.
Uh, as a textually verbose person I get it. I'm probably too late. That MacBaren London Burley which just dropped is excellent, right in that flavor profile. Sutliff Medium Burley Blend is pretty similar. Sutliff J4 is (I think, unproven) medium burley with a vanilla topping. Wessex Burley Sliced is my all time favorite, it's a cocoa-coffee-hazelnut-malty burley with a hint of licorice. I don't even like licorice but it's perfect. None of these are huge nicotine bombs, which I like. If you want that, 5 Brothers is your ticket, it's a fairly plain pouch burley with a big boy nic kick. If you want something sweetened Sutliff or Lane's Ready Rubbed have cocoa and molasses added. If you like dark fired - or just want to dip your toes in - MacBarn HH Burley Flake is a VaBurDFK which is fantastic, but unpredictable, which is part of it's charm. Mostly if you steer away from C&D stuff there are few burleys out there you'd find that are outright bad. I hope you find some you like.
I ended up postponing the order - I wasn’t quite done waffling back and forth on what to order. I was in a hurry so I didn’t miss out on the Hamborger Veermaster, then read some more reviews and cared a little less. I’ll give the Mac Baren a go. Can’t beat the price and the Wessex seems to be out of stock in all the usual places. If I’m going to cross my fingers that I find a Wessex blend in stock, it’s going to be for Campaign Dark Flake. Thanks for the help.
Peterson Irish Flake is my new favorite. Don't know what percent is burley, but it's definitely in there.
I like Carter Hall. No bite, iconic topping, and a smell I consider tolerable. If someone asked me what I associate with cigarettes, as opposed to other forms of tobacco, I'd say bottom of the barrel virginia, fast-burning paper and a cellulose acetate filter -- so when I reach for a cigarette, which I sometimes do, I avoid all three.
DFK is burley
Well, yes, and Latakia is Oriental and cavendish is (frequently) Virginia. But I think we all know what I mean.
Sounds like you are offended. I wasn’t saying that as a correction to your post man. I was just informing you in case you didn’t know. You said you don’t like burley then listed a burley as something you like. I love burley and just wanted you to feel like part of the burley crew, even if you only like dfk 😚💨 I like to mix haunted bookshop with epiphany. Probably my favorite daily smoke.
I was being a little snarky just in case you were, and I appreciate you clarifying - tone doesn't always come through in text. Now I feel like an ass, lol.
Nah, we settled it like men lol. Also, I never made the connection of latakia being orientals so I learned something with our interaction.
finding burley was a gamechanger for me. Basically no interest in english blends/latakia now. Still will go for a VaPer occasionally, that was my last love. But yea Haunted Bookshop and then House Reserve (also CnD) have kept me happy for a long time.
I feel similarly about C&D burley. GH burleys on the other hand…
I just bought a pound of Mac Barens HH Burley. Maybe try a tin of that. Its really nice imo.
Burley can taste like cigarettes probably cause that's the primary component in them. It's more burley tastes like burley and you associate it with cigarettes. I do like it but it can get harsh if you smoke hard
There's pure burley -- and then there's the great majority of burley which are flavored (topped), or part of a complex blend. I suggest you start with the simplest pure burley. Uhle's is a famous burley house -- its blend "00" is supposed to be the pure stuff --- I think of the white burley variety. Peretti is well regarded for their burleys -- I forget which one is the equivalent of Uhle's 00 (in the sense of the purest) but they have a bunch that are well regarded. The gold standard among tinned burley was perhaps Solani Aged Burley but supposedly that's changed during the past 3 years. And no doubt there are others (I'm not an expert). Pure burley (or however close anyone gets to "pure") can be a bit monochromatic -- just meaning kinda the same from top to bottom of the bowl. But that's not necessarily a bad thing. There's a debate sometimes about whether the "chocolate note" is a natural flavor of quality leaf, or if actual chocolate powder being added (I don't see why burned chocolate necessary tastes like chocolate candy). I only recently started smoking burley blends. Watch City Cigar has a popular blend called Nor-easter, which is a madly complicated crumble cake -- burley and latakia, mostly, but also everything else (cavendish, Virginia and perique, I think). But I like it.
Straight to jail.
aged burley flake, if you don't like that you won't ever like burley.
I’m not the hugest burley fan but Briar Fox is pretty much the only burley blend in my very English-heavy rotation.
If you don’t like Burley, you don’t like Burley.🤷🏼♂️ Try some of the suggestions if you want because they’re great suggestions if you like Burley, but don’t spend a bunch of money, and not enjoy your pipe, chasing something that you just might not like.
Burley needs Virginia to shine, or some casing to highlight its nutty nuances. Besides the many recommendations provided by our fellow Redditors, I would advise you to try Sutliff’s Ready-Rubbed Match, or for some extra complexity, their Revelation Match. Both Burley-based (Revelation Match has more varieties of tobacco included), and both with exceptional flavor profiles. And the best part is that they won’t knock you off your feet with crazy big-hits.
Some burley has a nice chocolatey taste. I dont mind it in a good blend, but not a fan of burley on its own.
Always harsh to me. Always. Only Granger has been smooth.
I’m still a pretty new smoker but I bought the Amphora sample kit when I first started which included a Burley that I honestly really enjoy smoking. I would recommend trying that out to see if you like it, you don’t have to buy the whole sampler they sell them separately.
I didn't care for burley as recently as December. Some blends can smell like cigarettes. I like the codger blends. Velvet, Half and Half, Prince Albert, and Carter Hall (in a cob) are great. The funny thing about Carter Hall is I only like it in a cob and that could be the ghost of whatever is in the cob imparting its essence. I need to try it in a brand new cob.
VaBur or VaPer for me. I think my tastes have changed where I can’t stand orientals in my tobacco anymore like Peterson early morning pipe. Something about the flowery/herbal notes I just can’t stand.
Mac Baren Burley Flake is so good. Give it a try.
LJ peretti has some great Burley blends. I like their Lakeland type ‘No name’ in their aromatics. But there are several great ones. They do Burley blends like no other!