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Welcome back to another episode of Tasting Notes. Today I'll be reviewing the latest entry into the Warped portfolio of exclusively different pipe tobaccos: Sarto. If you're familiar with Warped as a brand, you're perhaps most acquainted with their cigars, which is where Warped's founder Kyle Gellis got his start in this business. But not that long ago, we saw the brand's first pipe tobacco, the beginning of an ongoing collaboration between Kyle Gellis of Warped Cigars and Jeremy Reeves of Cornell & Diehl. That blend, of course, was The Haunting, a limited-edition blend released in the fall of 2019.
Since that first debut blend, all of us in the pipe world — and definitely quite a few of us in the cigar world as well — have been captivated by this collaborative project and have been anxiously waiting to see what these two tobacco geniuses come up with next. From the Haunting, which was an ideal crossover blend between a cigar leaf and a pipe tobacco, to Cloud Hopper, The Red Hunt, Until the End, and Kings Stride, all of these mixtures have been sort of instant classics upon their release, and for good reason. Each blend in the line is the product of collaboration between these two great minds and palates, and each represents a singular, distinctive approach to pipe tobacco, taking blending in a new and interesting direction. And Sarto is no exception.
About The Blend
Before we get into the review proper, I did want to tell you all a little about the inspiration for this blend. Sarto was named after Kyle's personal dog Sarto, who is a Cane Corso, also known as an Italian Mastiff. And some of the imagery that you see on the Sarto label is probably familiar because it's more or less a cousin in concept to Until the End, which depicts a Roman soldier alongside his Italian Mastiff on the label. Sarto is a big, lovable brute, but definitely a teddy bear — and definitely not a Teddy bear that you'd want to cross.
As a blend, Sarto is quite an interesting take on a traditional Scottish blend. It features an intriguing combination of components — components which, when used in heavy proportions, tend to dominate a blend — but this mixture remains delicately balanced. Sarto is composed of Bright and Red Virginia leaf, a melange of several types of aged Orientals, and three of the most infamous, maybe even most polarizing condimental components used in pipe tobacco: Perique, Latakia, and Dark Fired Kentucky.
Tin Note
Just from that description, it sounds like this blend would be a powerhouse with a lot going on. While those things are certainly true, the actual experience is really approachable and comforting. It's stout and complex enough to keep your attention, but it's also full of pleasant surprises. All of these components shine independently, but they're also harmonious, with each varietal building upon another, rather than dominating the palate.
The tin note itself is excellent. The Latakia is there, but it is very faint. And that's one of the things about Sarto both in the tin note and in the actual flavor that I really love — that all of these components shine independently. From the tin note to the charring light, you can really get a sense of all the components separately. So on the nose, there's just a little bit of that earthiness as well as a little bit of that tell-tale smoky, campfire, and woodsy aromas. There's a richness and a spiciness, as well as a good amount of stone fruit notes alongside a little bit of grassiness from the Virginias. So the tin note is certainly promising. The moisture content is also perfect right out of the tin. It's this really nice, ready-rubbed sort of rough cut; I just loaded it up and crammed it into a pipe right away, and it's always been really well behaved.
Flavor and Strength
Once it's lit, Sarto really opens up. Every time I've lit up, I get this really zesty and piquant quality. It almost reminds me of Peterson's Elizabethan or Escudo simply — if either of those blends had some Latakia added to it. It's a really interesting phenomenon. Typically when I'm smoking English mixtures, I tend to get the grassiness and brighter notes, but only as a supporting role to the smokiness, woodiness, and the earthiness of the Latakia. That's just not the case here; right away, I'm getting a wide array of flavors. It's sort of like all of my taste buds are firing here. It's definitely zesty, and it definitely has that floral or incense-like quality that I associate with blends containing a good portion of Oriental and a little bit of Latakia. I do get distinct whispers of some fig and stone fruit kind of notes (that's the Perique), and they play with the Latakia, Dark Fired, and Virginias in a really interesting way. I don't get a ton of peppery spice dominating the palate, however; it's a really well-rounded and sort of creamy kind of a smoke.
Like I said, the Latakia really lends that creaminess and that body without overpowering some of the more delicate notes from the Virginias, Orientals, or the Perique especially. The retrohale is on the spicier side. The more you progress down the bowl it amps up a little bit, but never to Toscano cigar or Pirate Kake levels. The more I smoke Sarto, the one thing that keeps coming back to me are these moments when I honestly wonder to myself whether I'm tasting any Latakia at all. If there were ever a blend where the Latakia is felt more than it's tasted, then this is it. There are moments when this just feels like a Virginia blend with some really interesting characteristics.
That said, fans of English mixtures are not going to find anything missing or lacking here. I think they're just likely to be surprised by the nuance and the delicate flavors that come through and sort of compete with those more robust flavors. It's extremely complex. There's a nutty quality here — not necessarily the signature Burley nuttiness that we all are very familiar with — but something more akin to marzipan. There's something for everybody here. This is one of those smokes where you could go through a pound of it and continue to discover additional nuances and flavors. Frankly, if you're a Latakia smoker, Sarto is a great candidate for an all-day smoke. It is maybe a hair over medium in strength and body, but the complexity factor, like I said, is through the roof.
Who's It For?
If you're an English smoker and you like things like Drucquers, Blairgowrie, Nightcap, McConnell's Scottish blend, or even Squadron Leader with Perique by Sam Gawith, Sarto will be a familiar enough experience that I guarantee you will love it. But I think it's going to challenge you and push you to pay attention to your palate to fully appreciate its complexity. Similarly, if you're a Virginia guy like myself who typically leans toward things like Escudo, Rattray's Hal O' the Wynd, or McConnell's Folded Flake, Sarto could fit into your rotation really easily — especially if you want something with a little bit of Latakia in it to sort of change the pace up a little bit.
I am super excited about Sarto and am anxious to see how it ages. In the short term (five to 10 years), I expect it to age beautifully, but it'll be interesting to see how all those components meld together in the long run. I also fully expect Sarto to be among the more popular Warped blends; I think it's going to be a classic for pipe smokers for many years to come. So thank you, Kyle. Thank you, Jeremy. And thanks everybody for watching. See you next time.
Warped Sarto
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Comments
Nice boots!