Astley's No. 109 Review

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Fr_Tom

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I am on my second bowl of this in a Peterson African meer - a dublin with the p-lip. The tobacco is described on the tin as "matured, naturally sweet, broken Virginia flake - medium strength." I open the can and find long wide flake similar in appearance to Orlik Golden Sliced in the 100g tin. The flakes are dark and smell sweet with no identifiable honey or flavor of sweetener. The tin had just a hint of raisins perhaps. A piece was torn off and rubbed out. Moisture seemed about right to me, and I did not dry it or let it air.

The smoking experience is mild and mellow. There is a slightly sweet Virginia flavor and no other tastes to me. Some people taste perique in this, but I do not. The tobacco flavor grows in strength as the bowl progresses, but it is still what I would call mellow and slightly sweet. I get just a hint of citrus every now and then.

This has been a very pleasant smoke. It is not a flavor bomb or have complex flavors. I would recommend this to someone wanting to try a good Virginia. It smoked cool for me, and I did not have problems keeping it lit or with tongue bite. It was easy to sip and had enough flavor that I was not puffing away trying to get more out. The cost per oz in the 50 g tin is a little high for me, and I am not likely to be smoking this on a regular basis once the tin is empty. For my smoking $, there are things that I like just as much (or more) that are cheaper. It is a good smoke though, and I recommend it. If you are weary of complexity and complicated flavor descriptions, this might be a great one to try.
 
I cracked a tin of Astley's 109 the other day. I've heard others mention Perique but I've never noticed it myself either. Its a good medium Virginia and definitely underrated IMHO. Nice review!
 
Thanks for the review Tom. It sounds a little bland for me. I need something with a bold taste for my insensitive palate. I'll pass on this one. :) 

AJ
 
I'm not much of a review writer, but this is the blend I enjoyed the most earlier this year. That reminds me I need to update that sidebar.
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I can recall arguments from years ago as to whether or not there is any perique in 109. The brand, like so many others, has gone through manufacturer changes and with that, recipe and process changes. As with the current incarnation of Three Nuns, there may well be a component tobacco used in 109 that gives off a faint perique characteristic to some while not actually being perique that is used in the recipe. Kohlhause and Kopp in Germany have been making Astley's for quite some time now, I doubt we'd get a straight answer as to what exactly is used. I get a sense of a perique-like characteristic in 109, though it is fleeting. Who knows.

It is a mild virginia, but it's quite nice. I always got better results smoking it somewhat dry. Some mild virginias are grassy, some sweet, some earthy. 109 always seemed to be just a little bit of all of these things for me. There are certainly better bold virginias out there, but very few better mild ones. It has the unique characteristic of satisfying me while never being a strong tobacco, of filling the palate while never being bold. It also is one of those tobaccos that I seem to need to smoke several succesive bowls before the light goes on.
 
I smoked it a long time ago, liked it, got more tins and aged them and sold them;).
 
Puff Daddy":kfu3gxyp said:
It is a mild virginia, but it's quite nice. I always got better results smoking it somewhat dry. Some mild virginias are grassy, some sweet, some earthy. 109 always seemed to be just a little bit of all of these things for me. There are certainly better bold virginias out there, but very few better mild ones. It has the unique characteristic of satisfying me while never being a strong tobacco, of filling the palate while never being bold. It also is one of those tobaccos that I seem to need to smoke several succesive bowls before the light goes on.
It's nice seeing a positive review about a "not in your face" Va blend/mixture. So many folks seem to want to assault there palate with extreme 'bacs and only consider that type of blend as being "good" it's a nice change of pace to read about a blend that is just "good" for a change. :twisted: 
 
I have been smoking 109 since 2001 and I always have enjoyed it for what it is. It is one of the flakes I cut my teeth on because it is no bite. I have never heard of any mention of Perique before this thread and I have never detected even the slightest amount. It has not changed at all since I began smoking it and I have smoked it aged and fresh. It is just a nice mild, sweet Virginia. For me it is one of my first of the day smokes, that is just an easy smoking Virginia. I smoke many other flakes that have more oomph and more complexity, but 109 will always have a place in my cellar. If anyone is new to Virginia's I would highly recommend it. It ages very nicely, I am currently smoking a tin of 06 and have smoked it as old as 11 years old.
 
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