Villiger 1888 Early Day

[IrishMonk]

I got this one in the mail today, and was looking forward to trying my first English style blend. Through the tin I could smell the smokey campfire fragrance from the Latakia. Once I got the tin opened the smokey fragrance was pretty extreme... at least to me. even after transferring it to a mason jar I could still catch whiffs of it a couple hours later, I guess from the paper from the tin in the trash across the room ! So, if you like a heavy mix of Latakia you should try this 1888 early day.
So, I loaded a bowl and the pre lit draw has that same smokey essence. Reminds me of that semi sweet smokiness you get when you stir up a compost pile to be honest... almost exactly like that. Upon lighting it I got a smooth smoke with a mild flavor compared to the tin note.

To be completely honest, I didn't like it at all and will probably try to avoid Latakia in the future... just not for me I guess. I did get some 5100 Red Cake as well, so I'm looking forward to trying it out next...

 

[gravel]

If I can make a suggestion, read on. If not disregard.

Hold onto it. I find I most enjoy English blends when the air is cool, after or during a rain, with the smell of wood smoke in the air. If the Latakia is intriguing to you, maybe a mild English or an English aromatic may be more to your liking. I can send you a sample, just pm me.

I can't speak for that particular blend, so I don't know how good it is for an English blend. I do know your next, a straight VA, will be a completely different experience - possibly underwhelming if you are just trying straight VA blend for the first time.

 

[Anonymous]

Jar it up tight. If you don't want it down the road a ways, someone else will.

:face:

 

[Ocelot55]

Okay, first off, few folks new to pipe tobacco are crazy for latakia on the first impression. Second, Early Day is a mild English blend, so if you can't take this you probably can't take others. Hang on to it. I'd wager it will begin to grow on you a few years hence.

 

[IrishMonk]

If I can make a suggestion, read on. If not disregard.

Hold onto it. I find I most enjoy English blends when the air is cool, after or during a rain, with the smell of wood smoke in the air. If the Latakia is intriguing to you, maybe a mild English or an English aromatic may be more to your liking. I can send you a sample, just pm me.

I can't speak for that particular blend, so I don't know how good it is for an English blend. I do know your next, a straight VA, will be a completely different experience - possibly underwhelming if you are just trying straight VA blend for the first time.

Well you're right... I did find the 5100 underwhelming. :| sending PM

 

[Kyle Weiss]

Yyyyeah the Villager 1888 stuff was interesting, I wasn't a fan myself--only tried the Mid Day and the other one--both were like a burning confectionery. :lol:

I absolutely adored Latakia when I first smelled it, and then went head-over-heels when I started smoking it. I, however, didn't get many straight VAs when I first got into 'em, and now I can't get enough of them.

Tastes DO change, as does smoking ability--so keep your pipes AND tobacco for now. You might have a great tobacco and/or pipe and just need to gain some experience points before you can cash in on their wonderfulness.

Sometimes, though, you just gotta move on. Only you can decide when that time is, and with what reason.

8)

 

[monbla256]

I got this one in the mail today, and was looking forward to trying my first English style blend.
So, I loaded a bowl and the pre lit draw has that same smokey essence. Reminds me of that semi sweet smokiness you get when you stir up a compost pile to be honest... almost exactly like that. Upon lighting it I got a smooth smoke with a mild flavor compared to the tin note.

To be completely honest, I didn't like it at all and will probably try to avoid Latakia in the future... just not for me I guess. I did get some 5100 Red Cake as well, so I'm looking forward to trying it out next...

Not to dismiss your first impression, but 1 bowl does not give you a true sense of the blend. There are many variables at play, size of pipe, type of pipe, ambient temp. even your mood and suroundings. I'd give it at least 1 to 2 more bowls before you totally write it off. And straight Va's are a whole 'nuther animal from English/Balkan blends for sure. Ditto on advice for them as well. Take your time and give them all another try .

 

[IrishMonk]

Thanks for the comments guys... I will put it up in the "cellar" for now.

 

[Buckshot]

Kyle and Monbla have given excellent advice. (Don't they always!) :cheers:

 

[Kyle Weiss]

Kyle and Monbla have given excellent advice. (Don't they always!) :cheers:

Nope. Sometimes I'm full of crap.

"I know nothing, and I can prove it."

8)

 

[Natch]

Kyle, my response to the question of did/do I know something is, "I'm ignorant, and I have references to prove it". No one ever argues with me on that.

Keep that 1888 and try it again every few months. I'll bet one day it will catch you by surprise and you'll find you like it. Many puffers aren't big on latakia blends early on, then some mover in and out of them over the years (me), some become latafiles and have to go into rehab, and some never enjoy them in their lives. We all have a free road to travel, enjoy what you smoke. But my word of caution is that our tastes change, and the list of what you love or dislike today I can almost guarantee will be quite a different list in a few years.

Natch

 

[Brewdude]

Kyle, my response to the question of did/do I know something is, "I'm ignorant, and I have references to prove it". No one ever argues with me on that.

Keep that 1888 and try it again every few months. I'll bet one day it will catch you by surprise and you'll find you like it. Many puffers aren't big on latakia blends early on, then some mover in and out of them over the years (me), some become latafiles and have to go into rehab, and some never enjoy them in their lives. We all have a free road to travel, enjoy what you smoke. But my word of caution is that our tastes change, and the list of what you love or dislike today I can almost guarantee will be quite a different list in a few years.

Natch

True!


Cheers,

RR

 

[IrishMonk]

Well, I decided to experiment with the 5100... I poured some aged dark spiced rum in the jar, which I will let sit with the lid on for a couple days before replacing the lid with cheesecloth to let it dry. Who knows, might be good :?:
I am buying more 5100 to cellar though...

 

[George Kaplan]

Dang, Monk. When I saw the title of this thread, I hoped you would say how much you liked it. Seems I bought a tin of this accidentally when I was smoking a lot of the Mid Day* last winter. I've got plenty of English stocked up that I already know is good. Not really feeling the need to try a new one right now. Good advice on jarring it up for later, though. If I don't immediately like something, I usually put it on a 1/3/6/12 month re-try schedule. Sometimes a change in season is all it takes.

*

Yyyyeah the Villager 1888 stuff was interesting, I wasn't a fan myself--only tried the Mid Day and the other one--both were like a burning confectionery. :lol:

Oh, Kyle. Here we go again with your Mid Day hating. Yes, I know it tastes like burning cupcakes. I like cupcakes. I could explain to you again how I shift to sweet aros in the winter for indoor smoking, but you're missing the real point. I don't think you ever took the time needed to really appreciate the delicate subtleties of the rare blend. Allow me to elaborate. Villiger 1888 Mid-Day is really cheap and comes in a classy looking tin. Your non-smoking friends won't know it cost much less than anything else you show off on the shelf. The tin aroma is that of vanilla and the bulk candy isle at the grocery store, with nuances of leather and burnt cumquat. It packs easily and lights reliably, using a typical eleven match lighting technique. A new smoker of this blend might be quick to dismiss the flavor as nothing more than those weird windmill-shaped cookies dipped in Mexican market canned white cake frosting. Doing this, you'd miss the rich complexity this blend offers to to the more open-minded smoker. The 8th or 9th tin is where this really starts to open up. A distinct Twikie flavor comes to the front, supported by a more subtle essence of Little Debbie Zebra Cakes. A hint if chocolate sprinkles is present throughout. The smoke is rich and creamy, or rather cream-filled, reminding you of oatmeal cream pies, without ever reaching the cloying stickiness of the more pedestrian Ho-hos. Later relights/DGT (after remembering where you put your insulin) is no problem; just another eleven matches and a few minutes of the taste of slightly stale generic 'Nilla Wafers. That's when the true complexity of this blend starts to shine through. You're reminded of the cake from Caitlin's wedding, whom you always thought of as your cousin, but it turns out is actually your father's college buddy's daughter, who came to live with your family that year when you were nine. You suspect there's more to that story, but by now the flavors have shifted again, suggesting late September Amish-baked gingerbread. Yes, the kind with the raisins in it. As the last of the bowl burns down to a sweet, lumpy, chocolate-sprinkled ash, you're left to ponder life's mysteries, such as how a religion that prohibits electric appliances and curtains could allow raisins in gingerbread, and why does Caitlin look so much like your dad?

 

[IrishMonk]

:lol: lmao !

 

[George Kaplan]

I guess that counts as my second official tobacco review.

 

[monbla256]

".... chocolate sprinkles" mmmmmm I'm gonna have to get some of that !!! One of your BEST reviews yet! Probably the BEST I've read in 40 years :twisted: :twisted:

 

[George Kaplan]

One of your BEST reviews yet! Probably the BEST I've read in 40 years :twisted: :twisted:

:cheers: :cheers:
Thank you, Monbla. If you try it, I find it smokes best in one of those plastic bubble pipes. :joker:

 

[monbla256]

One of your BEST reviews yet! Probably the BEST I've read in 40 years :twisted: :twisted:

:cheers: :cheers:
Thank you, Monbla. If you try it, I find it smokes best in one of those plastic bubble pipes. :joker:

OOOOOH YEEEH !! One of those flourescent green ones would be darlin' :twisted:

 

[Kyle Weiss]

"40 Years!!!"

"A female? Can you post pictures?"

"Burning cupcakes... ugh."

We all have our repetitive catch phrases. :lol: Fortunately, I discovered recently that Little Debbie fell into a batch of Villager 1888 Mid Day, and everyone was horrified, until they realized she really was sugar and spice, and everything nice. Much like the movie Motel Hell, it's only funny if you're not the one being consumed.

Good review, though. For an amateur.

8)