Peter Heinrichs Reserve Crûe No. 4

The golden brown Virginias have lighter and dark spots in the easy to break apart flakes. They provide a bit of grass/hay and tangy citrus, a touch of dark fruit, honey, wood and some earth, and floralness, along with a few ginger bread notes. They also have a fair amount of Danish spice and I suspect some of floral quality has been enhanced by a topping. The addition of sweet caramel has some richness, and all the toppings sublimate the tobaccos to a mild to moderate extent. The strength level is closer to medium than it is to mild. That taste does reach the medium threshold. The nic-hit is in the center of mild to medium. Just avoids bite, and needs to be sipped as it can nip and tingle the tongue if puffed fast. Burns clean and a little slow with a mostly consistent, complex flavor from start to finish. Leaves little moisture in the bowl, and requires some relights. Has a pleasantly lingering after taste. Can be an all day smoke for those experienced in this type of aromatic.

-JimInks

These dark brown, mottled flakes come in longer stripes, so you have to use scissors or tear off the portion you need to fill your pipe.

The tin note is sweet and delicious with grassy, hay-like scents from the Virginia grades and a distinct caramel smell.

I use the fold and stuff method, but you might as well rub out the tobacco, if that's what you prefere, which gives you a slightly different smoking experience. However, I find it easier to get a cool, dry smoke, when I enjoy the whole slices. Lighting usually requires a thorough charring light, after which I level out the ashes, and a single true light. A re-light is seldom necessary.

This is a rather mild, and creamy smoke, where the natural sweetness and tangy, grassy taste of the Virginias mixes perfectly with the sublime caramel flavoring. Like any Virginia based blend, it should be puffed gently, because if you draw too eagerly on your pipe, it'll get bland, but also biting. So if it gets to hot, it will be advisable to let the pipe go out, let it cool down, and resume later. A re-lighting is tolerated well. Tamped down carefully from time to time, the tobacco burns down evenly, slowly, and dryly to some powdery grey ash.

The room note is pleasantly sweet and aromatic.

I usually break all of my flake blends, this one I did too. An amazing experience of Virginia tobacco with a brilliant caramel taste. I smoked the 6-month aged one and the fresh one. What I would say is aging over a small-time improves subtle caramel taste a lot! If Peter Stokkebye's Luxury Twist Flake is somehow leaving some damp residual behind and too moist, give a shot to this blend.

I got this tobacco when I visited the shop of Peter Heinrichs in Cologne. They told me that this is the best tobacco they sell, so I bought some of it.

After opening the bag I smelled only caramel. In the first puffs there was only strong caramel flavor and nothing else. After about ten minutes I tasted a bit of the Virginia. I can tell that this is quality tobacco. But the caramel is always present and it spoiled the tobacco for me. After that experience, I stored the tobacco in my cellar and forgot about it. Almost one year later I found the tobacco again. This time I dried the tobacco a bit beforehand with the result that the caramel flavor was still present but not that dominant. I can taste besides the caramel a sweet taste as brown sugar and honey. Moreover, the Virginia adds some grass, hay, earth and some citrus fruits.

This tobacco is quite good if you like aromatics, but for me the caramel is too dominating.

I find this blend similar to Peter Stokkebye Luxury Twist Flake. Both being caramel topped straight Virginia flakes, the similarity in taste does not precisely reflect to looks or smoke quality. I can't say one is superior to others, both blends having slightly different attributes, one lacking where the other is better at delivering. I wonder how it would taste if I were to blend them. Reserve Crue No. 4 is slightly richer, whereas Luxury Twist Flake offers more Caramel flavor. RCN4 lights up easily, whereas LTF needs several relights to get it going. Virginias in RCN4 has a bready taste, whereas LTF Virginias are citrusy and almost non-existent. LTF has superior topping/flavoring and a crowd-pleaser, whereas RCN4 has a tolerable room note. All that is said, If I have to pick one, then I would choose RCN4 due to better Virginia quality, but I'd pretend that it smells like LTF. Alas, both blends are all day smokes and very nice beginner, beginner-intermediate offering.

I received this as a gift from my brother in law who lives in Cologne. He knows I smoke a pipe but does not know really anything about tobacco. I was not really expecting this and was very flattered, but I also thought any tobacco that is given to me by someone who does not know tobacco will be a goopy aro. This was a surprise to say the least. There is a topping and it is pretty sweet, but I feel it compliments the excelent quality virginia. It is quite pleasing with a nic hit of right around medium. The flakes are very long and look very nice in a jar. If you want to think about this you can or you can ignore it and just enjoy the time outside on the patio.

Fascinating stuff. Comes packed as 4 long flakes totaling 100 grams - that's 25 grams a flake! - in a double-bag from SP. When I received it, I immediately cut the flakes to 1/4 length and jarred them. A medium thickness brown flake with a caramel tin note (bag note?) that rubs out easily and also takes wekk to fold-and-stuff, separating a bit while folded. Takes a few tries to light, then burns well.

The flavor is Virginia reminiscent of SG Best Brown Flake, with the addition of a really noticeable sweet caramel. This stuff is SWEET. The sweetness is so powerful I can pick out many different sweet notes - caramel, honey, apples, apricots, sweet cream, even a bit of unexpected chocolate. There's also Virginia grass and a bit of a pine note that comes and goes. This smoke is a dessert. At the same time, the sweetness doesn't taste "artificial" as with aros, and isn't bogged down by aro goop. The body and mouthfeel are very creamy.

This is a great tobacco for anybody looking for sweetness without losing quality or complexity. I'm surprised it doesn't get more attention.

World's largest flake inside! The 3.5oz bag was literally one giant uncut flake wrapped into a coil, which may bring back memories of those gum tape rolls. The aroma was sweet and pleasant. I'm not exactly sure it was carmel, but there was definitely some added flavoring at work here beyond the natural virginia sweetness.

The flake feels great in hand and has a perfect moisture content to rub right into the bowl. Fantastic burn with no relights and little bite (unless smoked quickly). Fairly onenote sweetness that neither wavers nor develops throughout. An easy smoke with a mild-medium nicotine hit.

When I think of an Aromatic, I typically envision a cavendish with a topping that clearly says, "this is vanilla, or rum, or cherry, etc.", which often covers the natural tobacco flavor. Reserve Crue No. 4's additives are intentionally light to preserve the Virgina. So ultimately, this will appeal more to the Virgina fan wanting a small change than an Aromatic fan looking for a specific flavoring.