Tobaccos Wessex - Gold Standard

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Pipestud (1829)	2017-03-06		Medium	None Detected	Medium	Pleasant

Heavy on the Latakia and the Orientals are really present in Gold Standard, too. But, its the rich, bold Virginia presentation that really stood out for me. Kind of surprising, too. I always associate lighter colored Virginia to be lighter in flavor and strength (I know, that's not always the case), but this one, like Chuck Norris, is stronger than it looks. Really good stuff!

4 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	StevieB (2081)	2019-09-25		Medium to Strong	None Detected	Medium to Full	Pleasant to Tolerable

Wessex - Gold Standard.

I was expecting, incorrectly, a golden Virginia tobacco; from the name. So, when I opened it to be greeted by a 50/50 black to brown mixture, I realised the name Gold wasn't relevant to the colour! The seal never hissed when I broke it so I expected it do be dehydrated. However, it was only a tiny bit too dry; nothing major. The smell was the other thing not congruent with my expectation of a golden Virginia blend. It suggests a Latakia rich blend.

The smoke? LOL, nothing like I anticipated! The Latakia, without doubt, leads things. Smoky, smoky, smoky! A fragrant Turkish/Oriental note takes second place, and adds a redolent, slightly perfume-like, character. The Virginia is subordinate to these, it sweetens the smoke, but doesn't make it over-fresh, or grassy. The burn from it's medium in temperature, mid-speed, but the smoke has the propensity to bite me a little.

Nicotine: above medium. Room-note: quite strong.

Gold Standard? Although it gives my tongue a little peck, I like the flavour. Recommended:

Three stars.

Pipe Used: Peterson #03

Age When Smoked: 4 months

Purchased From: Cup O' Joes

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	beaupipe (102)	2010-07-27		Medium	None Detected	Medium to Full	Tolerable

Gold Standard is apparently produced by Altadis for XYZ's Wessex brand (unlike most others in the Wessex line, which are manufactured in Germany by K&K). I probably shouldn't mention that because I've encountered far too many in pipedom who seem to associate all-things Altadis with all-things bitey or chemically enhanced. Gold Standard is neither of these things.

This isn't half bad as a medium to medium-full English. It all seems very correct with a lightly sweet Virginia base, soothing Orientals, and a modest amount of musty, smoky Latakia. The problem with all of this is that correct English blends are pretty common and unless you're going to do it better or cheaper or you're going to market the hell out of it, you run the risk of being a marginal member of a very large group. I'm inclined to believe that's exactly where this tobacco is going to remain. In the Wessex catalog, I suppose it is “cheaper”—cheaper at least than the German manufactured Balkan Supreme. But it is only equal in price to many other fine, American made, correct English mixtures.

I quite like it and would have no problem buying another tin if my preferred English mixtures were all-of-a-sudden unavailable. But I don't think that's going to happen.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Pastor Puff (15)	2016-09-25		Medium	None Detected	Medium to Full	Tolerable

So, it was a Friday night and I remembered that I forgot to restock on my Chelsea Morning, my favorite Saturday Morning tobacco, in a panic I ran to my local Tinder Box. To my dismay they did not carry GL Pease tobaccos. The tobacconist recommended this as an alternative so I went ahead and purchased it.

So, it's Saturday Morning and I crack the tin open and stick my sniffer in. Smoky, very smoky, almost reminiscent of Syrian latakia. I am searching for but cannot find any of the virginia and the tang of the orientals is discrete. Not what I was looking for. However, each tobacco must be judged on its own merit.

I packed this into my trusty tasting cob and lit it up. I was mildly surprised. While this does not fit the bill that I was looking for it's a solid, medium strength english. The flavor was balanced, with just enough of that smoky latakia that I love. I would put it in the vain of 965 or Standard Mix. Which is why I don't see me buying anymore of this tobacco. Both 965 and Standard Mix have a place in my line up already. Both 965 and Standard Mix are a couple of my favorites. I would reach for one of those solid, medium strength english blends over Wessex Gold Standard under just about any circumstance.

If you are already into english deep and have a 965 in your line up do not waste your money.

Pipe Used: Cob

Age When Smoked: 22

Purchased From: Tinder Box

Similar Blends: Dunhill - My Mixture 965, Dunhill - Standard Mixture.

1 person found this review helpful.