Review: Burley Light Without Bite

Tobacco Cellar

Editor’s Note:

Join Zack Grafman on his trip to the Tobacco Cellar in his latest review that will surely delight the pipe smokers among our readers.

After his review of Captain Black was published, I went out to procure a 1.5oz pouch myself and it smells heavenly. I’ll be sitting down this afternoon enjoying a bowl on my porch.

Enjoy

- Frank Theodat

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Photo by Joshua Bartell on Unsplash

Beginnings, they say, are a delicate time. They also say that you never forget your first. So, it seemed fitting to start our tour of the cellar with the very first pipe tobacco I ever lit. When embarking on the intentionally difficult and culturally retrograde project of pipe smoking, one definitionally consigns oneself to the masochistic pathways trodden by their elders. And so, in the grand tradition, I found myself in a cigar shop picking out a dirt cheap “basket” pipe gathering dust under a glass counter, then pairing it with a 2oz ziploc filled with desiccating bulk tobacco. A sticker label on the front bore the words: “Burley-Light-Without-Bite | Lane Limited.” No biting? Sounds like a plan!

I proceeded to have the venerably traditional Very Bad Time. My inexpert techniques coaxed noxious vapors from what is well known to be a gentle and forgiving blend. I now can inform prospective inaugural smokers of two important facts.

1. “BLBW” is a fantastic starter blend for those wondering if pipe smoking is their sort of pastime.

2. This is because the blend will taste like brown sugar if smoked anything close to properly. If you taste barbequed pork and fireplace ashes, you are incinerating both the tobacco and your mouth. Cease and desist.

A few years down the road in my journey towards smokey contemplation, I can happily report that this mixture is worth your time. A uniform finely-chopped brown leaf, best poured into the bowl and barely tamped to keep from destroying any pockets of air left. Complexity, this isn’t. It is, however, a consistent and dependable certainty, smelling and tasting of Warm, Brown, Sweet and Good from before you light it till after you’ve tapped out the last flecks of ash. Unsurprising? Perhaps, but also not disappointing. A porch-sitter burley in the tradition of the old codger blends; the tobacciana equivalent of chillhop music, classic tv reruns and Kraft dinner. This is a carefully designed comfort experience, a blend to return to when life is throwing enough surprises your way and you don’t want any from your pipe. Look down on such experiences at your peril. For every experience of deep artistry or connoisseur’s taste we need a moment of rest, a reset to the palate so we don’t lose the ability to appreciate simplicity.

Best enjoyed on a front or back porch, morning or evening. Pairs well with cold coffee in a diner mug and intentional forgetfulness regarding appointments and commitments. Enjoy with radio music, because sometimes the ability to choose denies serendipity. Relax a while. Where you got to run off to, anyway? Hits the spot, doesn’t it? Did I ever tell you about the time….