Robert McConnell Latakia Flake

Unique is the best way to describe this flake. Nice floral, almost perfume-like, notes. Latakia nicely balanced with the Kentucky giving deep flavors of smoke, wood and earth. There is an underlying sweetness that I assume is coming from the cased Black Cav. That's probably where the floral notes are coming from as well. The flavors are strong and rich, the smoke medium to full bodied. An outstanding, very well put together smoke. Simply delicious.

One of the strongest Latakia blends I've tried. Nicotine addicts with a penchant for Latakia will eat this one up.

The flakes are mostly dry yet pliable and jet black in appearance. A moderate to full rub worked best for me. I particularly enjoyed the smoothness mixed in with the strength. Tough to compare, but were I to take a stab at it, I'd say McConnell's Latakia Flake is very similar to the old Smoker's Haven Pirate Kake with a little more muscle.

The smoky, woody, earthy, musty, lightly dry wine-like sweet Syrian Latakia takes a very small lead here. The very floral, woody, earthy, moderately spicy and sour, dry, toasty, nutty Kentucky has a very strong presence in the mix. The sugary black cavendish doesn’t do much to tame the rough edges, and is a background player. There’s a floral, almost Lakeland-like topping of some kind that tones down the tobaccos a bit, but not enough to keep the varietals from talking to your taste buds. The strength is in the middle of the medium to strong level. The taste is full. The nic-hit is a step past the medium mark. Won’t bite, but it does sport a few harsh notes. Burns fairly cool and a little slow with a mostly consistent, mildly sweet, rather savory and lightly bitter campfire flavor from top to bottom. Leaves little moisture in the bowl, and requires some relights. I found the lingering after taste to be a little unattractive. Not an all day smoke.

-JimInks

Robert McConnell's Latakia flake is like nothing I have smoked before. This is for the unconditional Latakia lover and novices should stay away from it.

The long, dark and thick flakes are easy to break to someone's favorite level of rubbing out. I would advise against putting full flakes in the pipe: I think that the taste and strength would be simply overwhelming.

In order to get the best out of the taste, it is preferable to smoke slowly. If not, you will only taste the nicotine. And it would be a shame, because this flake provides a fine balance between spicines, sweetness and smokiness. And something else that I cannot identify. The tobacco stays lit without any problem despite the darkness of the flake.

The last third of the bowl represents a significant increase in strength, taste and nicotine level. Surprisingly, my wife did not complain of my smoking it in the house because the room aroma is very discreet the first 2/3. Still, it remains tolerable the last third.

This is a very dry smoke. My pipe cleaners were not all dark as I proceeded. Only at the end, when I cleaned up the bowl.

I highly recommend this flake. I will rebuy more on a regular basis. I am under the impression that McConnel's flake is a 100 years old mixture that traveled through time to end up in my pipe. A true taste of the past.

Robert McConnell - Latakia Flake.

The flakes looked as though they were beginning to break when I opened it, and they're quite fragile; because they've stuck together they need peeling apart, this causes them to crumble imminently. My tin was only a little too moist, nothing to get in a stress about. The flakes are jet black in colour.

The fiery Kentucky goes hand in hand with the smoky Latakia, forming the leading taste, hence the eponymous name! But, to my palate this flavour doesn't completely dominate the profile: although the Lat/Kent are easily the most formidable of the group, the black Cavendish softens and sweetens it, and also gives a vanilla-esc thickness. I get no tongue bite and the burn from L.F. couldn't be any better: steady, cool, fairly slow, leaving a clean white ash.

The nicotine's above medium, and the room-note's heavy.

Latakia Flake? I'll happily highly recommend it!

Four stars.

The casing on this tobacco is the same as on Revor Plug. For those who aren't familiar with that tobacco, it is a dark, strong VA/B plug available only in the UK. The casing also resembles that used in Bracken Flake. Here the casing is not that prominent but plays in the background.

The strength of this tobacco is also approaching that of Revor Plug and other dark, scented British flakes (but again the scenting here is not as profound as in most Lakelands). What is interesting is that this contains Syrian Latakia in no small amount and it isn't a Lakeland.

So what do we have ? A strong, dark almost black (crumbly but not a crumble-kake) flake with a Lakeland like topping and a generous amount of Syrian Latakia.

What this is NOT is a typical English blend, in the sense that people who enjoy, say, medium English blends with Oriental tobaccos and red Virginias will like. It is somewhat similar to the another (rum) scented Latakia flake (whose name escapes me at the moment, maybe something by S. Gawith) which I've had, but this product has more strength (vit N).

The Latakia makes itself known in the wine-like, smoky way which Syrian Latakia works, but the Latakia takes a back seat to the Kentucky and I suppose also the black Cavendish (which must be VA Cavendish) which provide a good amount of power. Not as much as GH dark flake, or 1792, but very significant vit. N content.

Although I haven't tried it, I doubt this likes a large bowled pipe. The flakes are very dense and crumbly and it would be difficult to fill and smoke a big bowl (also it would be foolhardy).

Full of old-fashioned full bodied goodness, only those who like the dark, strong stuff should try this. Beginners, Latakiaphobes and nico-weenies stay far away.

Upon opening the tin, I get the same smell as Irish Flake but with some Latakia. The meaty flakes are dark, almost black, with some sugar deposits. Lighting the flake without drying is difficult and requires several relights for the entire bowl.

The Kentucky and Latakia produce a lot of smoke and the taste is accordingly stronger than it is flavorful.I get Kentucky and also a burnt onion taste that reminds me of Samuel Gawith Black XX Twist. There is no sweetness just some toasty undertones, as for Latakia, it gets swallowed by the Kentucky.

Overall a tobacco for experienced pipe smokers, an evening or after dinner smoke. I have to say that the name is a misnomer as I was expecting a Latakia flake bomb and I got a Kentucky flake instead.

Not bad on its own merits but I start to think that the Robert McConnnell tobaccos are only pale attempts to attain a former glory.

Virginia lover

This is a classy, fantastic and completely different blend and can't compare to any other latakia/ oriental/english blend i have tried before. LF is a dark flake with intense aroma and a light floral scent to it, but not overwhelming at all.

These flakes come to be smoked right out of the tin. You can fold it and pack or rub out easily. It takes a while to get lit but once it takes the fire keeps going easily and with a few relights. The flavor is just fantastic, and as i said before, nothing to compare with. Smoky and woodsy, but sweet and floral at the same time, makes this baccy and awesome Smoke that is, IMO, not and all-day tobacco. I would recommend it as you last Smoke of the day and away of The wife. Very satisfiying, complex and uníque tobacco. Highly recommended!!

The name of this blend is confusing as it hardly tastes of Latakia at all, it tastes like a very old school British Flake. I find that it is extremely similar to GH&Co’s Revor Plug and both have a wonderful mysterious, subtle top dressing that I really can’t put my finger on but it’s magical. This is strong in nicotine but the smoke is so smooth and tasty it might sneak up on you. I prefer to smoke it in the cooler months and around October of every year I’ve come to get very excited to bring this one back in my rotation. The flakes come at the optimal moisture level, they are ready to crumble up and load in the pipe right when you pop the tin. I prefer to smoke this in a smaller chamber, something like a squat bulldog is perfect, in larger bowls this stuff can get a tad bitter the further you get down the bowl. This is an absolutely hidden gem within the McConnell line up and by far my favorite. This provides an amazing smoking experience in every level. Also worthy to note, this and Sillem’s Commodore Flake taste identical.

Edit* 1-18-19 I’ve just recently cracked open a round tin and that perfume flavor that I loved so much is entirely missing from these flakes, I really hope this is just an anomaly but the flakes look different to me as well and the Latakia is much more noticeable than before. It’s still a damn fine blend but it makes me happy that I have plenty of the square tins stocked up in my cellar.

Essential!

This is a strange one. Dark black flakes that crumble almost from a soft breath and a tin aroma that is not enticing. The crumble makes for an easy load and it burned perfectly.

The taste was odd. I'm guessing the latakia was of the Syrian variety, as it was more sour and wine-like in taste. Too sweet as well, possibly from an overabundance of cavendish (to my palate) or perhaps a casing gone awry. Whatever it was, it managed to beat the Kentucky down more than I could ever imagine. The nicotine was abusive and I had to smoke this in smaller bowls than I prefer. The whole concoction just tasted bizarre - a mixture of too sweet and almost soil-like. I only smoked about half the tin as it was, and mixed the rest with Cyprian latakia, while rubbing out the rest of the tin to make it consistent in cut. Only in this manner did it approach something I enjoyed. Where this one gets high marks is for originality. I've never smoked anything quite like it. If you enjoy a lot of nicotine and a sweetness that is enmeshed with the earthiness of Kentucky leaf, this is definitely one to take for a spin.