Peterson Dark Flake

The dark Virginia is the main component and offers bread, wood, dried dark fruit that is very slightly tangy and sour, some earth, and a little brown sugar and floralness. There are a few light streaks of lighter Virginia that accounts for the slightly tart citrus, and some vegetative grass and hay. The earthy, woody perique is mildly applied so the raisin, fig, stewed fruitiness and a pinch of spice is mostly in the background. The sweetness is light and has a hint of fermentation. The nic-hit is in the center of mild to medium. The strength and taste thresholds are medium, although the taste and sweet levels edge past that line by the time you get to the last quarter of the experience. No chance of bite, and has no harsh or dull moments. The flake is moist and easily breaks apart to suit your preference. Burns a little slow, cool and clean with a moderately smooth, barely creamy, slight rough edged consistent flavor. Leaves little moisture in the bowl, requires some relights, and will burn to ash. Has a lightly lingering, pleasant after taste and room note. Can be an all day smoke if you wish. Reminds me a little of a toned down Dunhill Navy Rolls.

-JimInks

I picked this up on a whim while buying pipe cleaners at my local tobacconist not knowing what to expect. I am a huge fan of Dunhill Virginias, frequently smoking Flake ('Light Flake') and always having a tin of either Elizabethan or DLNR in my rotation, so not much could go wrong, considering the fact that I also gravitate toward more stout blends, be it in flavor or strength.

On opening the tin, one is greeted with a deliciously ripe, dark, slightly sour and yeasty, but also raisiny smell that one has come to expect from darker Virginias and VaPers. No dark fired here!

The Flakes are, in my tin, all stuck together in a giant and dense, dark brown block of relatively moist-to-the-touch tobacco. This is, despite it feeling so wet, easily folded and stuffed or rubbed out and lights with two matches.

It stays lit pretty well, smokes pretty dry without a filter and stays nice and cool for a Virginia, granted you are accustomed to smoking Virginias and know the right cadence.

The smoke is creamy and cool, doesn't change much throughout the bowl, but I would say the flavor profile is still fairly complex. There is yeasty dark sourdough bread, cocoa, dark-roasted coffee, dried figs, raisins, a slight white pepper tingle/spice and a subdued but pleasant sweetness, accompanied by a slight, delicious bitter note akin to baker's chocolate. Every now and then, an unexpected ginger and warm spice note like cinnamon or clove, even, pops up in the background, which is very tasty.

This is absolutely perfect for the colder days with a nice hot black coffee or even a dram of Glenfarclas or similar. Fantastic tobacco!

This review is based on a half tin of the soon to be released version of Dark Flake. The flakes are mainly dark brown with a few tan pieces intertwined. The tin scent is a combination of brown bread, hay, and a little bit of sour. In the pipe, after some needed dry time, Dark Flake offers up quite a bit of smoke. It is brown sugar/molasses sweet and fairly monotone. The mainly bass notes offer up a “richness” to the blend. I have questioned if there is a bit of Cavendish in this flake, but I can't say for sure. It burns fairly slowly and the sweetness builds slightly throughout. DF is medium in strength and fairly full in flavor. There isn't any bite, but it can get a little warm if pushed too much. If there is any topping on this flake, I am having difficulty finding it. My only issue with this blend is that at the very bottom of the bowl it loses a little something, but not enough to keep this from being a four star blend for me. Having never tried the original Dark Flake, I can’t make any comparisons. What I can say is that this a high quality, straightforward flake and lovers of Marlin Flake will likely find a home here too. I expect to cellar a lot of this when it becomes available.

The new Dark Flake is a standard dark stoved Virginia of good quality but is one of those many stoved blends that needs quite a few years of aging to enrich the lives of those who smoke it. The edge, thanks to the stoving, is taken off, but the depth is not yet there. After sampling, I ordered a bunch more of this one as I think it will improve and strengthen greatly in 5-10 years and the bottom will build to a really nice level.

Dunhill - Dark Flake Re-Release.

This seems to be a popular tobacco right now, and as it's been getting a few reviews lately I felt excited to give it a try. I bought some from the Danish Pipe Shop about a month ago but I couldn't quite bring myself to open it, I didn't want to ruin the surprise. However, this morning I couldn't resist it!

Because of the round tin I expected a coil of flake inside, but it looks as though someone emptied a tin of Mac Baren's Vanilla Cream Flake, or another flake from a small square tin into it. The colour's more of a brown, than anything that would give credence to the name Dark; it's a medium brown with yellow specks. Because the tin's bigger than is actually required, the tobacco has room to breathe in there, rather than any moistness being sealed in; perfect.

Smoking a bowl couldn't be any better: it lights easily, and gives a flavoursome smoke imminently. Unlike a lot of blends, I don't find Dark Flake's too dependant on time for the flavour to develop. Right from the beginning I get a lot of Perique, with what tastes like a subtle addition of molasses, and a little bread. The Virginia's rich and fruity, instead of citrusy and grassy. It burns at a steady pace, producing a cool smoke, which gives me absolutely no tongue bite.

I'd rate the nicotine as being medium, and I find the room-note about the only low point: it's not that bad though, pleasant to tolerable.

An excellent smoke:

Highly recommended.

Very nice and flavorful VaPer flake. The fruity flavors cover the full spectrum from light to dark giving a full roundness of highs, mids and lows. Throw in bready notes, a little tartness, a little spice and a very mild amount of added sweetness and you have a truly fine smoke. Many flakes of this genre get a little too earthy for my taste toward the end, but this one keeps that to a minimum allowing it's sweet, bready, fruity nature to last nearly the full bowl. Very nice. My only very minor complaint is that I would like a little more Perique. No big deal though. 4 stars.

Mild to medium in body. Medium in taste. Added sweetness is very mild. Burns very well.

This is similar to Ye Olde Signe (dark Virginia leaf), albeit a tad browner and stronger. Flakes are beautifully shaded and pliable. The smell in the tin is woodsy, fragrant, slightly acidic and eloquent. The reintroduction of this tobacco gives perspective to the name of its brother, Light Flake (now only known as Flake). LF is sweeter (with that touch of molasses that makes it so yummy), whereas DF has a more pronounced, straight forward tobacco taste.

In a way DF is akin to Gawith’s Full Virginia Flake but, unlike Lakeland’s rendering, I think the Scandinavian Dunhill is more refined, softer, and in my opinion easier to smoke. The flakes can be readily folded as they are and lightening up is a piece of cake (a two match affair). The smoke is rich, without being intense, with some raisin and dark, unsweetened chocolate notes. Even though the tin description says this flake has some Pèrique, it is barely noticeable. Perhaps this ingredient, however discrete, accounts for its leatherier structure. The taste remains more or less the same throughout the bowl. No need to relight.

Not necessarily something to write home about but, as far as simple Virginias go, Dark Flake is a very good choice.

UPDATE (31/01/17): After posting the following review which was based on about 4/5ths of a tin smoked at various moisture levels I put the rest of the tin aside and forgot about it. I stumbled across it again today. The flakes had become extremely dry, crispy. First inclination was to toss it, but I have had good experiences with some very dry flakes so decided to give it a go. Crumbled a couple of flakes, fed them into a small Kaywoodie apple from the 20's which always smokes beautifully, and fired up... Delicious from start to finish! It burned beautifully, leaving a wonderful aftertaste, and was a very satisfying smoke. In this very dry state it's a solid three star (+) tobacco and, for me, just misses being a four star recommendation by a smidgeon (and that only because I'm not sure how often I will return to it). Great stuff. Give it a whirl! 3.5 stars... Will be putting some back to see what it offers in a few years...

Original review: This tin is from August of this year. It is round and contains well cut dark brown rectangular flakes mottled with lighter bits. The humidity level was high, about 28%, so reckon with some drying time. The tin aroma is sweet, reminiscent of fresh peat, sour (fermentation), and, I think SteelCowboy is spot on, offers up more than a hint of molasses, perhaps including some kind of dark berry or rum.

After drying it takes well to the match and burns consistently. The flavours are all up front with the first light, change very little during the smoke, and tend toward the dark side of things. What seemed fresh peat in the tin becomes peat smoke on the pallet, which may indicate dark-fired Kentucky in the blend. Perique is evident (with spice and that strangely fruity earthiness of decomposing leaves). The tannins are pleasant, softly dark, and the molasses is there from start to finish. The Perique prickle is there, but although there is a slightly alkaline tang to the smoke if puffed quickly, I could not get it to bite. Nicotine is apparent and on the high side of medium.

All in all a very serviceable, unproblematic smoke, and if you enjoy these flavours and are looking for a relatively full-bodied smoke that requires little attention, this may be one for you. I'm sure many will love this blend. It's well made and certainly worth a try. I’ll probably finish this tin, but I doubt I’ll be getting back to it anytime soon. It's just too predictable to me, but what seems predictable to me just may be steady and dependable to you. Enjoy!

I was looking forward to tasting this tobacco and opened it with some anticipation . Sadly , I did not feel rewarded . The tobacco was sort of stiff and dry in the tin with very little tin note . It was a little stiff to pack and took some work to prepare it for the bowl . Upon smoking I simply did not get the taste of a Virginia flake . It took some puffing to begin to get a sort of peaty , syrupy flavor from it . I suspect this blend has some Kentucky in it but I cannot say for sure . I have never thought Dunhill lite flake an especially strong flake since it usually incited tongue bite and this dark flake is sort of in the same range . While I admit that this flake does have some positive qualities I ask this question ... With the superb quality of K & K folded flakes available why would I smoke this dark flake? With the extremely high quality of Mc Clelland flakes available would I even consider ordering this ? The answer is this ; there is enough super high quality Virginia flakes out there that marginal flakes like this need not be re-ordered . 11/17/17 In time I have come to enjoy this blend a little more . If you puff slowly you are rewarded with a really nice and tangy perique flavor . I raised it to 3 stars because it is a decent perique smoke though not up there with the really good ones like Escudo and the Mc Clelland blends .

This is a delicious Vaper -- dark, rich, creamy and fairly stout, with a touch of brown sugar sweetness. I don't detect any toppings and the core tobaccos shine through. It's straightforward but not monotonous, and the dried fruit sweetness is rounded out nicely with earthiness and notes of espresso and baker's chocolate.

Think of Marlin Flake on steroids, and you get the picture.

There also may be a touch of dark fired KY and a pinch of cavendish.

Whatever is in here, I think it is extremely well-behaved and is best when rubbed out. Like all Dunhills, it delivers a satisfying dose of nicotine as well.