Tobaccos Wilke Pipe Tobacco - High Hat

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	JimInks (3046)	2017-10-11		Medium	None Detected	Medium to Full	Tolerable

The smoky, woody, earthy, musty, sweet Cyprian Latakia is the lead component, though it avoids being a lat-bomb. The very spicy, raisiny, plumy, earthy perique is a supporting player. The spice is more noticeable than the other attributes that the perique brings to the mix. The nutty, earthy, woody Kentucky burley has a light sweetness as it straddles the line between being a secondary role and a condiment. The citrusy, grassy golden Virginia is a condiment that mostly lurks in the background. The strength is medium. The taste falls a tad short of the center of medium to full. The nic-hit is a little closer to medium than it is to mild. No chance of bite or harshness, but it does sport a rough edge every so often. Burns cool and clean at a moderate pace with a deep rich, consistently savory and lightly creamy sweet, leathery flavor that translates into the pleasantly lingering campfire after taste. Leaves little dampness in the bowl, and requires an average number of relights. Not an all day smoke.

-JimInks

18 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30167)	2008-10-09		Strong	None Detected	Very Full	Tolerable

IMHO the best American produced English/Balkan blend available today. A cross between Bill Baileys Balkan Blend & Comptons of the Galashiels' Balkan. This is absolutely superb blending! It is by far the most European tasting English I have sampled on these shores. A very robust, tangy, and intoxicating blend. Full beyond your dreams and without nicotine overload. The flavor lasts and will leave you sated. If I could give this 5 stars I would.

15 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	SteelCowboy (685)	2014-03-03		Medium	None Detected	Full	Pleasant to Tolerable

I have long felt that P&W’s blends are among some of America’s best blends and often overlooked in the huge landscape of available tobaccos. A quick visit to the P&W blend's page confirms that those that have tried them agree. High Hat is a “rich” rewarding, smoky English blend that claims its origin back to the 1870’s when the Wilke Pipe Shop existed in New York City. High Hat offers billows of smoke and is a terrific evening mixture with Latakia, Perique and Virginia tobaccos along with some Kentucky. The P&W website doesn’t claim that the Latakia is Syrian, but as others have pointed it out it may have or had in its past. My jar from 2010 seems to taste that way. There are only a small number of English blends (aka American English) that utilize Burley that I enjoy and this one of them. It adds some additional strength to the blend while melding into a supporting role. I have smoked this new and as old as four years. I don’t find that the additional age adds much sweetness from the Virginias. It isn’t quite as strong as #400 from P&W, but more complex. There is a bit of sour, but in a good way. Lovers of the difficult to find Compton’s of Galashiels full English blends should definitely give this one a try. High Hat is one of the best full American style English blends I have smoked in a long time.

Age When Smoked: New & up to 4 years

Purchased From: Pipeworks & Wilke, www.vtpipes.com

14 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	zulujerk (146)	2012-06-19		Medium to Strong	None Detected	Full	Tolerable to Strong

It took me a year to finally open my sample of High Hat. I've been spoiled with 965 and Nightcap, my favorite Latakia mixes, and found little reason to venture away, which I've forced myself to do by limiting my insatiable urge to order more and more tobacco. I know people are still crying over Murray's demise, yet I can't fault the newer blending, as these Dunhills manage to retain essential features--they are smokey, and more importantly, strong. It's easy to find a full English with a ton of Latakia, but I crave nicotine laden blends--preferably with the strength coming from the Virginias, rather than the addition of Perique and Kentucky, as in the case of High Hat.

My experience with Wilke began as a kid. In my father's den there was an old tobacco tin listing a custom blend from the Pipework's and Wilke NY shop, no longer in existence. I didn't realize this until I began smoking years later. The reference clicked when I'd run across the occasional blurb about Wilke while ruminating through pipe literature on the internet. "The place still exists??!," I thought, in excitement. I decided to give the shop, now in Vermont, a call. People always seemed to have nice things to say about Wilke tobaccos, why not? A woman named Carole picked up the phone, and when I told her about the tin, she gave me a wonderful backstory about the place, and the nostalgia was overwhelming. I immediately told the woman that I loved her. It was instantly awkward.

I ordered four of her English blends--400, 10, 524 and High Hat. The tobaccos were unique, as most of them were said to include Syrian Latakia and exotic Orientals including the famed Yenidje of Sobranie fame, and a few others, from Shiraz to Xanthi.

400 is often mentioned as a Nighcap killer, strong and smokey. I devoured that sample first, and while tasty, it didn't appear to dramatically diverge from the standard. I didn't find the blend overwhelming in strength as many remarked, and the subtlety of the Syrian leaf was lost on me. I suppose that over the years I've hardened my taste receptors and killed whatever ability I had to detect the nuance of the leaf. It was no matter, 400 was a tasty blend, of which I consumed a couple of ounces quickly, in a matter of a few days. I next opened my sample of High Hat, hoping for a good comparison.

High Hat is a bit different from 400--chiefly, there are no Orientals included, but both blends contain Syrian leaf, Perique, and Kentucky. I normally skip Latakia mixes without Orientals, but I picked this one up out of curiosity and the measure of fine reviews. In the instances which I've sampled Latakia mixes that forgo Oriental leaf, including Gawith's Balkan Flake and Commonwealth, the blends have felt flat and unexciting, but I'm open to continued experimentation.

In that respect, High Hat is great. To me, it certainly feels heavier than 400, with that strong smokey element retained, and it also smokes rather sweet, perhaps from the inclusion of Golden Virginias, mentioned by the tin description. I'm currently puffing on my last bowl of a two ounce sample consumed over just a couple of days, and don't quite know what to do when I'm finished, having no other strong Latakia mixes on hand. I might just have to spike one of the remaining blends in my cabinet with a hard shot of Perique. Generally, that will kill the spirit of a Latakia forward blend, yet I really do hate puffing on a steamy English. But High Hat also feels Perique heavy, and though the blend includes Kentucky, which likely contributes to the strength, I'm poor at placing its presence. I would easily compare this to Night Cap in strength, and for once, I don't miss the Orientals, which tend to add an element of spiciness that I typically miss dearly in their absence. Despite this, High Hat strikes a wonderful balance of smokiness, sweetness and strength, a profile absent in many of the more popular smokes on the market.

I do have a full two ounces of 524 and 10 remaining, one of which should be sampled next...and we shall see where that takes us. 524 mentions "pan fired" Virginias. That's enough to garner my excitement (please excuse me while I dig through the contents of my sample in preparation).

Give Carole a call...she's a great tobacconist and a joy to speak with. But lay off! She's mine.

11 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Pipestud (1829)	2017-02-11		Medium	None Detected	Medium to Full	Pleasant

Although I've not smoked High Hat in over a decade, it was one that I really enjoyed over a decade ago when I got in my order of 15 different P&W blends for my local pipe club to sample at our tobacco bar over a 2-3 month period back in 2005. Nicely aged Virginia along with rare Syrian grades of Latakia made this one (now gone from the lineup), really shine. The Burley and Perique added a powerful presence to the overall presentation and at times, according to my notes from back then, my palate would get overwhelmed if I puffed too fast. Overall, a quality smoke that for me, was not a blend I wanted to smoke everyday.

7 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30167)	2007-05-21		Strong	None Detected	Very Full	Strong

I tried High Hat before I'd gotten a swing at the newer model of Dunhill's Nightcap, and those who say they're quite similar are correct. But this stuff is better than Nightcap right out of the tin.

Mine came from a 1-lb bag, and is as others have described. A nice musty aroma and some tartness that could be the Perique or just could be some sour VA action. I stuck mine in the requisite Mason jars for melding.

This blend will hit you first off with the Latakia and the perique spiciness. That tartness disappears and turns more into a peppery note. The Latakia sticks around, and the orientals will come in with some brassy middle. Smokes really well and evenly (my first run was through an ash churchwarden, later runs through a Peterson bent.) It's got some zing and a whole lot of flavor, and it will certainly wake you up. Great for a morning drive to work or with that cup of coffee reading the news.

Wife, pets and small children probably will dislike it based on the room note, and it's a bit bold to be an everyday or all-day blend. But it's great in the morning or at day's end when you want a little zip on your lip.

7 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	HabaneroHardy (401)	2020-05-28		Mild to Medium	Extremely Mild	Medium	Pleasant

One of several Wilke blends I bought on sale and have been smoking on and off these past several weeks. This has a strong sweet tin note, which may or may not be heavy cased. This is described as an American due to the addition of Burley to the English blend. At one point this must have been blended with Syrian Latakia as I have read numerous reviewers stating as such. This is a really good smooth, sweet smoking blend with a room note that my neighbor likes when I went over to talk to her while smoking my pipe. The smoke gets a little less flavorful toward the end of the bowl but the more I smoke this the more I like it. My Hat is Off to High Hat. Try it if you like American blends, I believe you will like it as much as I do. Though this says no flavoring, I am putting down extremely mild and I may be wrong but the sweetness seems to me to be a casing. Of course that is just my 2 cents worth.

Pipe Used: Marxman Bulldog

Age When Smoked: New

5 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Perique (163)	2015-07-07		Medium to Strong	None Detected	Full	Strong

Yes, it's all true.  What you've read in reviews dating back to 2002 - it's all here.

Wilke High Hat is a barn-burner: an extraordinary tobacco.  The jar note hints at what's to come: musty, smokey, piney, savory, and subtly sweet with a hint of cinnamon and clove on the nose.  While the blenders description does not include Orientals, the complexity of aromas from the jar certainly suggest their presence.  The jar aroma of this blend has no equal. 

From the moment of the charring light, High Hat delivers what the jar note promises: deep, musty Latakia wrapped in smooth, succulent Virginias and buffered by that famous Wilke burley. Perique is a light condiment touch in this delicious, full blend, adding a mere suggestion of pepper that asserts itself slightly after mid-bowl.  The old Wilke recipes seem to have grasped the secret of making rich, full-tasting, flavorful blends that are medium in body and incredibly easy-smoking. That cinnamon and clove on the nose does not, thank God, translate into the taste. High Hat has only just enough natural sweetness, that tiny bit, to balance perfectly with what is an otherwise earthy, leathery, musty smoke: a masterpiece. It's no wonder this blend has been around for over 140 years. 

The mouth-feel in this blend is world-class: rich, thick, and creamy while never overwhelming the palate. High Hat burns smoothly, with absolutely no bite, and provides copious amounts of thick, creamy smoke. This is an arm chair tobacco, an evening tobacco: a tobacco blend of substance. The flavor stays with you a long, long time after the bowl is finished. You'll want to sit back in that chair and just revel in it.

This is a masterpiece of a proprietary blend that leaves other, mass-produced tinned blends in its wake.  

Edit/update 2021: I’ve been smoking quite a bit of the new version of this tobacco: John Brandt’s blend. So I thought I owed it to whomever may be perusing these aging halls to update my review accordingly. So here goes:

First, I do not know John. But I appreciate him keeping the venerable Wilke blending house alive. That this blend may differ from the original, or, if not “original” per se, from the Burns version of the Gilded original, can hardly be his fault. After all, so many of the original, and not-quite-original, tobaccos are simply unavailable, “unavailable” being the kind variant of “gone forever”. So what do we have here? A passable approximation of the “original” jar note, though no longer the “barn-burner” of yore. BurPer elements are good, though sadly not great - simply not as pronounced, the spice somewhat muted by.... new-school Latakia, a damp and dank recently put-out campfire, wet forest and mushroom, with a touch of Royal Scot cavendish noticeable in each sip, right down to the last.

Is this update a criticism? Hardly. High Hat remains a masterpiece of American-English blending, and while the flavor profiles have changed over the years with the available tobaccos, I salute Mr. Brandt for keeping this classic blend alive.

5 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30167)	2009-03-01		Mild	None Detected	Medium	Pleasant

I couldn't find "rich" under the review quality of "Taste" but that is the most appropriate descriptor I can find. Another winner and so very nice and different. High Hat isn't overpowering or a one-trick flavor pony. Well compose, arranged and orchestrated for your smoking pleasure. I have no smoked this blend morning, noon and night and it works so well in any time frame. Get some, try it and then find storage for the stock you will be acquiring.

5 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Fumatore (49)	2007-06-23		Medium	Medium	Medium	Pleasant

I don?t know what it is that Pipeworks & Wilke sprays on or adds to their tobacco before they pack it up, but it certainly doesn?t agree with me. I thought I would love this blend but was very disappointed. If you like something that smells nice added to your tobacco, perhaps this one will suit you, so I won?t give it the 1 star I think it really deserves.

5 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Eulenburg (193)	2002-12-17		Medium	None Detected	Medium to Full	Pleasant

This is No 13 WITHOUT the scented cavendish, and still seems a great blend to me: a classic clubman's choice from the glory days of Imperial New York, American-English. Smoke it in the evening, strawling down Madison Avenue looking at the Christmas displays. It doesn't get better than that.

Merry Christmas, everybody! [12/'02]

5 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Michael D (34)	2020-07-04		Medium	Mild	Medium to Full	Tolerable

High Hat is an interesting blend. While moving the tobacco from baggie to jar, I received the aroma of Latakia.. Upon lighting, the tobacco showed itself to me in layers through out the bowls. At the top of the bowl is a nice taste of Latakia on the sip, surrounded by good Burley. Getting to excited with the draw will bring a slight harshness. Settling in, This blend is a cloud blower. No need to worry about those skeeters on that night lighting on the porch. About a quarter down the bowl I start getting a peppery flavor added to the blend. Sometimes a bit over powering. hints of floral/perfume enters into the mix. Then comes the half bowl. Surprisingly from nowhere, a light sweet draw begins to come into play and dances with the Latakia that always remains till close to the end. This blend remains lit and burns slow and quite warm in a two inch briar bowl. The end of a long bowl brings back a bit of the pepper as I try to gather every last draw. Overall, a nice experience from this Wilke blend.

Purchased From: https://www.wilkepipetobacco.com

4 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	PKT (30)	2020-02-26		Medium to Strong	None Detected	Medium to Full	Pleasant

I am a shameless shill for Wilkes old Latakia blends. This one is flavorful and extremely mellow. It delivers a full measure of smokey Latakia complemented by a nutty burley. Brought this one to the Tuesday rump session of our pipe club and it was a big hit. Thank you John for continuing the tradition. These blends deserve more recognition.

Pipe Used: Wider bowled briars and the occasional meerschaum

Age When Smoked: Various

Purchased From: Wilke

4 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Boswell (12)	2019-03-22		Medium	Extremely Mild	Full	Pleasant to Tolerable

Delightfully full, round, and rich. Reminds me a little of Tree Mixture, but with a dimension of dark chocolate sweetness alongside the spiced, smoky, Latakia. Very enjoyable

4 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30167)	2009-05-22		Medium	Extremely Mild	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

A very good blend, solid 3.5 stars & I enjoy it more than Magic #13. I'm tightening up on my ratings and only give 4 stars to my top 5 blends that are in my core rotation of tobaccos. Those at this date are Escudo, Penzance, University Flake, Churchill & still deciding what the 5th will be.

4 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Serfchat (10)	2022-04-06		Mild to Medium	None Detected	Full	Pleasant to Tolerable

Wilke does a superb job of sourcing good quality ingredients for their blends, but also at combining a variety of leaf types in the right proportions to make a balanced smoke. The combination of pepper from the Perique and the sweet and smoky Latakia sits upon burley and Virginia. It's a strong flavor, but with no rough edges. It's not an all day smoke for me, but it's very enjoyable. I like this English blend second only to Crystal Palace.

Similar Blends: Wilke Pipe Tobacco - Surbrug's Crystal Palace.

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	jackgowild (9)	2020-12-02		Medium to Strong	None Detected	Medium to Full	Tolerable

since im a pro drummer, i am very familiar with HIGH HAT as used in music on the drums . this blend i first tried circa 1992 when i was in NYC playing at the BLUE NOTE jazz club. it has a very full flavor and for me its on the stronger side of my flavor profile. an end of the day smoke, and goes well with adult beverages .

Pipe Used: TSUGE

Age When Smoked: new

Purchased From: wilke webstie

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	suitou (38)	2020-11-23		Mild to Medium	Very Mild	Medium to Full	Tolerable

High Hat has an impression of a 50-50 split between the spicy barbecue sauce of No. 400 and the rich, silky, full-bodied smoke of No. 524. Nevertheless, there are aromas that cannot be explained by these two blends, woody, earthy, grassy, and slightly sweet. Each different type of burning tobacco leaf gives a different impression of the flavor. In my case, the first one was mainly barbecue sauce, and the next one had the aroma and sweetness of freshly baked bread. Such a beautiful blend that will delight pipe smokers in the aroma circus. I smoked High Hat without eating breakfast and it did not give me a stomach ache. The aroma is complex, the taste is full-bodied and the nicotine hit is light. The ribbon-cut tobacco leaf is as fine as a 524, so it was easy to pack. This is a blend that you want to take your time to get a complex aromatic experience.

2020/12/15 - I am amazed at the complexity of this blend. Sometimes it is sour, sometimes salty, sometimes sweet, sometimes leathery, sometimes milky, sometimes woody, sometimes earthy... I try to understand the taste and aroma at one moment, and the next puff it is transformed into another taste and aroma. A very good blend for a change in tobacco rotation. Of course, you can also make a love pact with this blend.

Pipe Used: Sasieni Eight Dot Marlborough Lovat

Purchased From: Wilke Pipe Tobacco

Similar Blends: Wilke Pipe Tobacco - Wilke No. 400, Wilke Pipe Tobacco - Wilke No. 524.

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	WoodcraftSmoker (21)	2020-11-05		Mild to Medium	None Detected	Medium	Tolerable

This is an excellent smoke. What I enjoy most about it is the way the Latakia predominates but does not overpower the smoke. After aging for a year, I find that the woodsy, mustiness of the latakia blends really nicely with the other tobaccos. Smoked slowly, the sweetness of the burley comes through, along with occasional hits of spicy plumness from the Pirique. I don't taste the Virginia. This is a great smoke if you want the flavor of Latakia, without getting hit with a Latakia bomb.

Pipe Used: Peterson Sherlock Holmes

Age When Smoked: 1 year

Purchased From: Old Fireside Smokehouse

Similar Blends: Dan's Bill Bailey's Blend.

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	publictakeover (6)	2019-08-20		Strong	None Detected	Full	Strong

This is the best English on the market, from my standpoint. Very complex and rich with abundant Turkish and Latakia. The pouch odor has a depth and balance of flavor that are unmatched. The quality of the smoke is smooth and non-biting from top to bottom of every bowl. I first found this blend in Nachtwalter's pipe shop on 56th Street and 5th Avenue back in the 1980s, and I knew my search for the perfect English had come to an end. When Carol Burns went out of business, I felt bereft and hopeless, but then Tom Somebody started blending High Hat and other Wilke blends and selling them over the web. Now I'm enjoying that aroma in my house again... very satisfying.

Pipe Used: Dunhill shell briar billiard 4103

Age When Smoked: 1-6 months

Purchased From: Wilke Tobacco.com

Similar Blends: Dunhill Baby's Bottom, Greg Pease Westminster.

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Pipe Newb (49)	2015-05-08		Medium to Strong	None Detected	Full	Tolerable to Strong

How do you make a blend that showcases Latakia without making it a Lat Bomb? I don't know, but this seems to be the ticket.

Smell in the jar after a day of rest is a very subdued Latakia, all the smoky richness and only a wisp of the familiar "tirefire/boot polish" smell that some (my wife) associate with this particular treatment of leaf. There is a thick but faint sweetness in here that rounds it all out (from the kentucky I'd assume, which always carries a molasses tone to my nose).

Char and first few draws reveal a soft latakia and an interesting sweetness. The body on the smoke is incredible, very little effort to get a ridiculous amount of smoke. Right off the bat I would compare the body and even some notes of the flavor of this tobacco as quite cigar-like with latakia taking center note. As the bowl warms I'm getting a very sharp peppery spice that lingers on the palate. The snork is a monster, filling my nose with wonderful black pepper and clearing my sinuses better than any saline rinse would. Towards the end of the bowl the body intensifies. Interestingly I'm not getting much of the "dried fruit" flavors that I sometimes get from perique, the black pepper is all that's coming through past the thick chewy smoke, but that's just fine.

Heavyish hitter on the Vitamin N, but smooth as all getout. Room note is absolutely latakia forward, but not as severe as most "bombs". Burn mechanics were excellent, even in our humidity. Burned to a mottled black and grey fine ash and zero dottle, one relight when I neglected my tamp.

This is a creamy, spicy, smoky, dark and brooding tobacco, to use my coffee analogy this is a dark roasted sumatra. It also suited my smoking style which is a little on the hot side, this blend actually got better for me with long pulls on the pipe, at least until I got near the end where I had to sip it a bit more carefully. Even though I definitely veer towards the Oriental side I enjoyed this one.

Pipe Used: Savinelli KS Lovat

Purchased From: Pipeworks & Wilke

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Country Doc (20)	2013-04-17		Medium to Strong	None Detected	Full	Tolerable

An elegant example of the blender's art. Very high quality. If you like delicious smokey English just slightly on the sweet side (e.g. much less sweet than Black House, which is delightful in its own right), you owe it to yourself to at least try a little High Hat.

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30167)	2012-02-07		Mild to Medium	Mild	Medium to Full	Tolerable

This is my favorite blend to date. I've tried several Latakia Blends, but none have had the full rich flavor and smokey full bodied taste of Wilke High Hat. I have not had any tongue bite from this blend even when puffing pretty steadily. Really enjoy smoking it on the way to work with a good cup of coffee and a window rolled down slightly on the passenger side. The blend might be a little moist, so best to let it dry a bit before smoking, unless you don't mind lighting it a couple of times during your smoke. I will fill a Savinelli 111EX or 814EX and leave it overnight, then grab it in the morning and enjoy it while driving to work. A fantastic way to start the day. I highly recommend High Hat for your smoking pleasure! 4 Stars!

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Mongo (10)	2007-05-17		Medium	None Detected	Medium to Full	Pleasant to Tolerable

High Hat is one of the few tobaccos that I can honestly call "delicious". It's a wonderful blend of high quality tobaccos, expertly balanced, and delivered ready to smoke.

The various tobaccos share the stage throughout the bowl, coming forth and then receding in a wonderfully flavorful dance. The burley always takes the stage first, but after that it's impossible to know which tobacco will come forward next. Individual tobaccos, and various combinations of tobaccos, move to the forefront as the bowl progresses. None of the flavors ever becomes overpowering, but they all spend some time in the spotlight. This is a great blend for "breath smoking". The flavor seems to change with each cycle.

I've found that High Hat smokes well in almost any pipe, from small to large. It's a slow smoking tobacco for me, so a medium bowl is my usual weapon of choice for High Hat.

It requires very few relights (often none at all); other than tamping occasionally, High Hat requires no attention. At the end of the bowl you're left with some mottled gray ash, and nothing else.

High Hat is one of the very best blends I've ever tried. It truly is delicious, and well worth a try by anyone who enjoys English blends.

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30167)	2006-03-09		Mild to Medium	Extremely Mild	Medium to Full	Pleasant to Tolerable

High Hat's taste is very nearly full. The Virginias and Burleys bulwark the main players, Latakia and Perique. There is just a subtle and welcome sweetness. The components dance, taking turns leading. This is courtly frolic, not slamming in a mosh pit.

I detect some scented tobak that makes this mildly aromatic, yet not the cased and cloying type or in the black Cavendish manner of introducing aromatic agendas to blends (though P&W does the latter well, too, ala Bestmake). HH burns to a salt and pepper ash with no dottle, leaving the pipe dry for reloading more High Hat.

If you desire to smoke fuller blends all day, High Hat will not make you any worse for the wear. However, the DGT technique (?Delayed Gratification Technique? of lighting a blend, smoking it a bit then letting sit ?curing? a while, then returning to finish the smoke) seems to detract from P&W blends.

What I like most about P&W blends is that the tobacco is so well-aged, smooth and the blends are so flavorful that the easiest puffing produces copious volumes of smoke. This extends the smoking pleasure, is economical and reduces just about any chance for a sore mouth. P&W proves that quality does not necessarily require a tin

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30167)	2006-01-29		Medium	Medium	Medium	Pleasant

A rich, spicy, delicious American English, made with P&W's usual high standards. An old classic that I highly recommend.

With the exception of C&D's Yale Mixture, this is the best English blend I've ever smoked.

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30167)	2004-05-01		Medium	None Detected	Medium to Full	Pleasant

This is another terrific offering, hand blended by Pipeworks and Wilke, and has replaced Dunhill's 965 in my afternoon routine. I find this a somewhat complex blend in that the flavors change during the course of the bowl from the perique to VA, to the Latakia during the second and third portion of the bowel, and back again. The Latakia is not overpowering to the other tobaccos at any time. This blend smokes cool, and dry, is very flavorful wtihout a heavy nicotine punch that I find (and tolerate well) in some of the Dunhills, and can be smoked all day. I love the taste of this old recipe, and do not tire of its offering. The best way I can describe it as a very tasty English.

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Joel A (3)	2022-06-17		Medium	None Detected	Medium	Tolerable

Another delicious English blend by John Brandt...smokes cool....Latakia leads the way.....I alternate with #78 which is a fuller smoke...minimal relights if any....I often smoke 3-4 bowls a day...try it if you enjoy English blend

Pipe Used: Rossi Lucca 8510

Age When Smoked: Over a year

Purchased From: Pipeworks and Wilke

Similar Blends: Wilke #78.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	O. D. Jones (25)	2021-06-19		Medium to Strong	None Detected	Medium to Full	Strong

Starts Latakia forward, good nutty Burley right behind, with the mustiness of the perique and a little bit of grassy Virginia sweetness providing the backbone. An outstanding and well-measured blend. Closer to full in flavor than medium, and a medium to full dose of nicotine. Absolutely cool smoking right down to a good gray Ash. By the last third of the bowl, the distinctive fermented Perique and the dark toast notes of the Burley trade off, puff to puff, and this is a blend that never gets tiresome. Absolute pinnacle of a classic American blend. Easily imaginable as the sort of blend a Mark Twain or another avid 19th century American Piper might have been stuffing into their pipes back in the day.

Pipe Used: Peterson Spigot Prince

Age When Smoked: fresh to a few months old

Purchased From: https://www.wilkepipetobacco.com/

Similar Blends: if you've ever seen those old 19th century lithographed tins of things like Bohemian Mixture or anything that says St James Perique on it... I imagine that might be similar..

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Young Piper (304)	2016-03-23		Medium	None Detected	Medium to Full	Tolerable to Strong

I have smoked High Hat on and off for the last decade or so. It is an amazingly flavorful American English that has a delightful combination of smokiness from the Latakia and Kentucky, sweetness from top shelf Virginia's and a wonderfully spicy finish from the Perique. The Nicotine strength is right on the money which for me is an unusual bonus in an English blend. I also love the fact that I can smoke a recipe that is over a 100 years old and has stood the test of time allowing one to share the experience that folks in the late 1800's enjoyed. Pricey but worth every penny due to P&W using the very finest leaf. Try some of Carole's blends while they are still available!!

Age When Smoked: 5 years on this batch

Purchased From: Pipeworks and Wilke

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30167)	2016-02-15		Medium	Very Mild	Medium	Tolerable to Strong

Mostly on the darker side ribbon cut full aroma latakia blend. I was under the impression that Syrian latakia was the domain of only a few blenders but the latakia here certainly smelled like Syrian. A nice musty earth-smell in the bag. I smoked about an ounce. It came very wet and I dried it out a bit but it worked best with some moisture - not crispy.

Rather disappointed in this one. I should have read the ingredients before I fired up. Latakia blends without orientals tend to have a dry flavor that doesn't appeal to me much, as I prefer the juiciness that good orientals provide to a blend. This was no exception. As a fan of #400, I was expecting more from this one but it was my own fault for not doing my homework. I found this brooding and slow, bordering on dull, but I did like the latakia flavor, which I would classify as Syrian (there seems to be some debate about that). The burley added an interesting dark toast essence but the sweetness the Virginia should provide was MIA. Instead, I could swear there is some kind of flavoring to this one that I found objectionable. I tasted "sweet" but it was contrived rather than a natural sweetness obtained thru tobacco leaf. Mild complexity in this one but nothing like #400. I've enjoyed the PW&W blends I've smoked in the past but this one falls flat for me. But what the heck, nobody loves everything.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	aadelma (67)	2006-03-14		Medium to Strong	None Detected	Medium to Full	Pleasant to Tolerable

This is an extremely well balanced mixture. Though it contains burley, VA, Latakia, and perique, they all come together harmoniously to produce a medium-full English mixture. If I am in the mood for latakia and perique but don't want to get bowled over by Nightcap, this is what I reach for. It's almost a cross between 965 and Nightcap and is up there in quality with Dunhill. There is a slight bite at light up, but then it settles into a smooth and satisfying mixture. It's heavy enough that one bowl satisfies me, but doesn't knock me out. For a blender known for their aromatics, P & W makes some killer English blends.

3/14/2006 I've downgraded this slightly as there is some harshness which prevents me from smoking this as much as I would like. Still a great blend, just a bit rough on the throat for me.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	sasha (228)	2005-07-07		Medium	None Detected	Medium to Full	Pleasant

To me this is dominated by the kentucky flavour in the first part, then it becomes very complex with all the tobaccos playing their role her and there. The main feeling is a little bitterness, but of a pleasant kind. As the other P&W offerings, it burns perfectly and evenly. Recommended.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30167)	2005-06-26		Medium	None Detected	Medium to Full	Pleasant to Tolerable

An English with loads of flavor. Replaced 965 as our pipe clubs English offering at meetings.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30167)	2005-01-10		Medium	None Detected	Medium to Full	Pleasant to Tolerable

An English with a lot of flavor. Reminds me of a middle range Dunhill blend, only smoother, and with more flavor. No harshness or excessive heat. As someone else said, it could well be a replacement for 965, 965 smells good to others, and this one tastes good to you.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30167)	2004-09-03		Medium	None Detected	Medium	Tolerable

High Hat: daedal, classic, compelling. Tastes vary down the bowl: now the naturally sweet Virginias, then some perique pepper, and often, the nearly chafing bitterness that seems to bottom the Pipeworks and Wilke line. Never dull, this is a quality smoke that ruins my throat. So High Hat will be an occasional pleasure for me. Note that unless you like a strong, pungent smoke, you won't like this one.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30167)	2010-12-21		Medium	Extremely Mild	Medium to Full	Tolerable

Over a year and a half and no reviews of High Hat?

Wow.

Took a Wilke tour with a 4 blend sampler including High Hat.

It rocks!

In the same ball park as say Artisan's blend. Syrian lat and perique seem to go very well together.

But what sets this apart IMO is the notable bright VA profile which gives a very nice high note and sweetness to the smoke. Digging through the blend I find a good size helping of soem of the brightest flue cured VA I've seen.

It's a blend I smoke when I want some Latakia substance and satisfactory strength, but not in the mood for a dark heavy smoke.

I smoke a lot of Burley and I don't think of this as a burley blend. I know it's in there and can sense the body it brings but it doesn't stand out and shout "BURLEY".

The cut is a familiar mixture of longer ribbon of various widths; some almost bordering on shag. It loads, lights and burns like a champ, with zero issues. It burns a bit fast, but not hot at all.

I'd guess it would smoke well in just about any pipe but I've found my Sav 320 eats this stuff like candy. So I can attest that a wide shallow bowl does it some justice.

I like all the Wilke blends I ordered but this is the only one that was different enough from the crowd to make it a reorder candidate. I bet I'll loves me some me in about 10 years when I stumble on a big mason jar of this stuff in my closet.

Highly recommend you give it a shot. It's special

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Brunello (166)	2023-03-25		Medium	Extremely Mild	Medium to Full	Tolerable

For a relatively highly-rated blend this one has been a bit of a puzzler for me. I’ve tried it in five different pipes, tried firm or loose packing, tried fresh from the jar or drying for two hours, but it always lands in the 3 – 3.5 star range, stubbornly refusing to take that last step to four star glory. In most pipes it follows the same pattern: starts in the three star range (generally good but promising further potential) and slowly builds to 3.5 stars by the end of the bowl.

At its best I get flavors of beef braciola in brown gravy (not tomato marinara!), dried bresaola, and a hint of charred fat. Basically, meaty and savory. No campfire, as the Latakia is very muted, no grass or hay as the Virginia is comparatively recessed; this is a blend characterized by the interplay between the Burley and Perique. At the beginning of the bowl I get a hint that the Burley needed more pH adjustment, but there is an omnipresent background sweetness in the blend that does well to hide any rough edges.

By itself I rarely visit High Hat but I keep several jars on hand with different amounts of aging because I use this to make an easy DIY creation discussed on one of the forums which takes one half High Hat and one half Peter Stokkebye Luxury Bullseye Flake. It’s called Benediction, but you can name it what you like. Honestly, I would have never anticipated that these two different blends could create such serendipity together. It’s worth getting a couple of ounces of High Hat just to try Benediction yourself. I measure by weight 50/50, but if you don’t have a weight just eyeball it half and half – it will still be delicious. Benediction is a Top Ten favorite in my rotation!

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