Dan Tobacco Patriot Flake

As some of you obviously know by now, I am an extreme Patriot. I bleed red, white and blue because only bleeding only red would make me a commie. I only drive "American-made" cars like Chevy and Ford; everyone who says that they import their parts from countries with cheap labor must be a lying commie. I mean, why would the huge corporations choose to do something like that when they could hire American workers, forgoing personal gain and wealth for the greater-good of the community...

That aside, I'm sure glad to show off my patriotism as much as possible, which is why I smoke Patriot flake. It's made by the good ol' American company Dan tobacco. I keep on hearing people say that Dan tobacco is German, but that can't be right. The name Dan is as American as you can get, it's not called Volkswagen tobacco, it's good ol American DAN! Jeez people, get your facts straight. Plus, the tin art is covered with American pride. Just look at the poor laborer, now solider, being sent out to die for the gains of the rich and wealthy arguing whether a black man should be considered a 3/5 of a person or not a person at all...it must be American. Duh!

Anyway, that's why I smoke it. It taste like nasty German horse manure, but hey, it's American dammit. Land of freedom...

Side note- This stuff is actually pretty damn good. I've cellared many tins in hopes that it ages well. If not, then I'll just throw it away. That's how we do up in the USA.

This broken flake is very spicy and very sweet. If it were a little less pricy, I might purchase Patriot Flake more often. CAO is importing a lot of new blends - from what I understand, and this one may or may not remain in their lineup. Dan Tobacco is the blender and they did a very nice job with this one.

If you are a fan of truly spicy and sweet Oriental/Virginia offerings, and prefer some power to boot.... then this is a highly recommended treat.

I can certainly understand how some people feel that there are oriental condiment tobaccos in this one. It truly does not smell in the tin like a straight virginia. I have no experience that I know of with virginia tobaccos from Mysore, but I would guess they are the "culprit" here, as there is no flavor of actual oriental that I can detect. Orientals in virginia blends with no latakia are becoming more common but are still fairly rare. This one smells like one of those, but as I said, if there are actual oriental tobaccos in this one, I couldn't pick them out by taste.

This is an interesting blend, with a nice spicy flavor and a hint of sweetness. More grassy hay character than overt sweetness and a bit of sourdough taste... kind of the difference between an English Muffin and regular bread. The stoving gives it a toasted character. I didn't have any trouble rubbing out the flakes and they are decidedly easier to break up than the McClellands Epitome that is also hanging around my tobacco bar. This one was best smoked somewhat dry but not crispy. Nicotine hit seemed normal - not too strong.

Overall, a good tasting blend but not one for my cellar. A definite must try for those that like a fair bit of complexity rather than something monodimensional. But at this point, the straight virginia genre is pretty well represented in my cellar, and this didn't do enough differently to merit inclusion. But it's definitely worth a try!

I don't know where all the talk about Oriental tobaccos in this blend came from. This is a pure Virginia flake: "Virginia tobaccos from Mysore" means precisely that: Virginia tobacco grown in India. There are no "Balkan/Turkish/Oriental" condimentals here. Only Virginias.

It's an excellent middle-of-the-range choice: not too tiresomely stoved, not lemony, not too sweet, not too smokey, nor does it have that oily saltiness of some twists. It might be thought a little bit bland, but it has a moderate spiciness and makes its presence felt, without tiring the palate. While there are other more intriguing, more entertaining Virginia flakes, this is a good fall-back choice: when I am not sure what blend to take up, I go for this. Its friendly, solid, cleanly robust smokability never disappoints. Nor is there any perfumy topping of the "lakeland" frou-frou type.

This is my early-afternoon smoke of choice, in a medium-sized briar. It never overheats and, once you get it going, it's a notably relaxing offering.

Dan Tobacco - Patriot Flake.

Slightly nonplussing. A few references to Orientals and Smokingpipes.com lists Orientals as a component. Maybe the Mysore Virginias have caused the contention?

The blend presents itself as a single stack of wide flakes. They don't have much thickness to them so are easily rubbed. There's not much in the way of a tin-note, just slightly sweet, rich, Virginias. It takes to the flame easily.

This is simply a wonderful smoke. There's some hay, bread, and a sweet, sugary, note. I don't get much of a Virginia-citrus flavour, there's a subtle touch, but not enough for it to quantify it as a notable flavour; it's not as sharp and piquant a Virginia as can be sourced. Regarding the Oriental debate, to me it's a steadfast straight Virginia. It burns slowly, giving a cool, bite-free, smoke.

Nicotine: medium. Room-note: pleasant.

Patriot Flake? Excellent. Highly recommended:

Four stars.

A very neglected straight Virginia flake. There are not that many as good as this and it surprises me this hasnt gotten straight four stars. There is also something in this, in both the tin note and the smoke that somehow reminds me of virginia flakes I smoked way back, in the 70s. And even the 60s. Im not sure what it is, but a certain quality of aroma and taste. Dan tobacco uses different virginias than K&K or the Scandinavian Tobacco Group. Thats neither good nor bad, but in this case I think its good. Its a lighter flake, with a very very very mild top dressing. Sweet but in no way obstrusive. In fact its less cased than any of the K&K flakes like Wessex or Astely;s. It is smooth and delicious. It is only virginia so expect just that. I rate it as top notch and very underrated.

Sweet hay and a touch of citrus. A little tang and spice. No evolution from top of the bowl to the bottom which makes it a bit boring. Nice cool burn. There are much better smokes out there in this genre. 2 stars.

Medium in body and taste. Might be a slight sweetness added. Burns well straight from the tin.

This is a very interesting flake that differs from other virginia flake blends.once you crack the tin you get grassy,spicy and a sweet smell.the flakes are smooth,very easy to handle.i personally rubbed the flake and packed it at once.no extra relights needed for me.while smoking the flavours are rich and deep including grass,sweet notes,spices and dark fruits.burns medium and slow.the nicotine levelis medium.the room note is pleasant.generally this blend has some uniqueness.for me it is an all day blend.totally recommended.

I never know which Dan tobaccos are their own and which they had made for them by K&K. Sometimes it's obvious, and the K&K flakes are never as good as what DTM themselves put together. I suspect this one may be made for Dan by K&K with tobacco supplied by Dan, as the flakes greatly resemble K&K. For that matter, Tordenskjold which I love, resembles the construction of Marlin Flake, so perhaps they all come from K&K.

This one I really like. The Indian sourced leaf adds an Oriental-like twang to this tobacco. It's sweet, it's sour, it has some backbone. It's pretty consistent from start to finish. I don't think it will make anyone's top 5, but if you love Va I think you'll find this an above average example. One that I would grab a couple pounds of if my cellar wasn't already so heavy. I predict you will either really appreciate this unique Va flake, or find it just ok. It's worth a tin to find out.

Dommage. Ce tabac est bien noté, revu par plusieurs fumeurs qui le recommande, et l'essayant depuis quelques jours, je le trouve sans saveur, très sec et pas agréable. Peut-être suis-je tombé sur une boîte pas terrible, ou simplement suis-je encore trop inexpérimenté dans les Virginias Purs pour pouvoir l'apprécier, toujours est-il que je ne l'apprécie pas, et je vais le conservé sous vide pendant quelques temps pour le réessayer plus tard et ainsi modifier ma critique.