This tobacco is actually quite eye pleasing. Nice shades of brown and red.

The bag aroma was very much like Voodoo Queen minus the Latkia and mocha flavoring.

The texture is amazing, supple flakes that crumble nice and easy, pack well, light excitedly all while delivering the anticipated reaction!

WHOOOA MOMMA! This is a spicy one! I smiled nice and broadly as I puffed away in bliss. Although its initial spice calms down after a bit, the VA gives its tasty elements over and then plays musical chairs with the Perique.

It's a tilt-a-whirl for your mouth!

To me, Perique is to pipes as Habano Ligero is to cigars. Perfect!

I have found myself another one. Great flavor, great taste, the nicotine is probably pretty strong, but I can't tell. I'm too conditioned to it. I didn't feel sick though, so it's not enough, but I will settle.

The flavor does not have quite the same balance. The Perique asserts itself one minute and fades the next. But the bowl still gets better and better from the start to the bottom of the bowl. The Perique may be a little fickle, but it is some of the most delicious Perique leaf I’ve ever had. Perique Freaks will love this one. The PER in this VaPer simply has to be tried.

this blend suffers from the C&D exploding flake problem. it's good when you first open the tin but after a while it's confetti.

great stuff. too bad c&d can't make a good flake cut.

Perique is so difficult to work with, and it requires a deft hand to produce results that are close to perfection for my taste. Bayou Morning does that, BMF doesn't quite get there. This is still an enjoyable smoke, but the perique was applied a bit too liberally and it's slightly overwhelming. This reminded me of Solani Silver Flake on steroids - good tasting but a bit much for me to take. I still recommend this for those smokers with a stouter constitution than I possess. BMF produces a mouth-filling smoke and the flavor was enjoyable. I finished the sample with no complaints or ill effects but I believe I'll stick with regular Bayou Morning, a blend I consider one of the 4 or 5 best VaPers on the market. I'd recommend you start there and go to this one next.

Packing & Burning: Lit and stayed lit readily, since it was bone dry, but it did not burn overly quickly. Provided for slight tongue bite. The flakes just crumbled, due to dryness.

Taste: Left a typical VAPER aroma with less emphasis on the perique.

Nicotine: Almost overwhelming.

Overall: The perique sledge hammer hit me just after finishing the bowl. The nicotine strength of the perique was really too much. 3.5 stars.

With that said i let the tin open for one full day before smoking it, not because it's to moist but to let it settle a bit because smoked when freshly open i had to hold my stomach for it was exploding so don't forget to let it open for a good amount of time.

Not a beginner's flake but not complex either just a decent VAPER .

The tin aroma is fully typical VA/Per. The flakes are just a little more intact than the other flakes I have yet experienced from Cornell & Diehl, but it still reaches me as a broken flake.

The texture is beautiful. I can see the point of those who say the slices are too widely cut, but I do not think they are. This 'baccy wants to be rubbed out into a wide bowl.

Smoked that way, the taste is consistent throughout the pipeful and gives me lots of sweetness with a good amount of spice -- with notes of green pepper and, incongruously, chocolate. But it works wonderfully together.

Thus far, I have needed a few re-lights for every bowl, but in the end there was no dottle, with a good, clean taste through to the end and the room note not letting off either.

The strength is good, but not remarkable; satisfying to me, it may be overwhelming to the beginner. On the other hand, this is real tobacco that tastes of tobacco and nothing else. Unlike a certain "early morning" blend by a famous manufacturer, I can actually smoke this in the morning without spending the rest of the day in close vicinity of the local ceramics department.

I have to agree with those who say that this is not the most complex smoke, but for the VA/Per novice who can take a little strength, this might be worth a try or two. For me, personally, it's what gets me up and going in the morning.

Then, about 3/4 of the way through the bowl it hit me. I mean it litterally reached its muscular arm out out the bowl and punched me right in the head. Hard. I dropped(read: gently set down) my pipe and slowly crawled back into the house, whimpering and leaving a trail of tears behind me. I curled up on my couch in the fetal position, cursing all thing tobacco and sobbing like a little girl until the pounding in my nugget stopped.

POST-RECOVERY: I now smoke this blend much slower and in smaller doses, and do still enjoy it. Although I now wear a helmet in case it tries to attack me again. If you like strong blends with a little extra Perique try this stuff. You'll love it.

Now, this flake is not the easiest to rub out. It is a thick broken flake, and my sample tended toward the leathery in consistency; a bit like an extra thick slice of Gawith flake. But lighting it was no problem. Thick clouds of smoke immediately billowed forth, gradually settling down to a nice, comforting stream of that familiar va/per aroma. The flake exhibited no tendency to bite; A+.

I smoked this in a nice sized Oom Paul, so I expected that it would be a troublesome affair keeping it lit. But, the tobacco continued burning with no problem, requiring only one relight toward the bottom of the deep bowl. I liked this flake. The pipe aroma was inoffensive; rather more pleasant the the acrid smell I am accustomed to with other va/per blends.

The flavor of this tobacco was that of a very high quality stoved va. with undercurrents (that's undercurrents, not undertones-like a river of...) of the best perique I have ever experienced. The perique, while by no means subdued, managed to provide a generous peppery texture to the va. without being overbearing. The perique used in this flake tended to make me think more of hues and textures than flavors. And that's a good thing; means it's working on several levels of my senses of smell and taste. The flavor was warm and seductive, like a woman from a far off exotic land. The sidestream smoke tickled my nostrils like a musky perfume.

For any fans of va/per, especially flakes, give this a try. If you are looking for a daily smoke that gets you by without a lot of effort, put it away for special ocassions. This tobacco should only be smoked if you have the time to truly appreciate it.

It doesnt have the best burning characteristics, and may be a little trouble to light and keep burning, but the flavour is well worth it- very distinctive and quite full. It has a dusty, cigar like characteristic, slightly smokey but unlike latakia, which builds up in strength through the bowl. About halfway through the taste of perique becomes apparent, with a nice background pepperyness, but does not dominate- the taste of the other tobaccos is so strong.

It burns to the end, but with many relights, without gurgling, and without harshness, just becoming a stronger taste. Nonsmokers may not like the smell, it is quite strong, but it is not foul. I enjoyed it as a change from the more fruity style of Dunhill Navy Rolls- it is a distinctive and individual tobacco.

-----------------------------------------UPDATE-----------------------

I keep trying with this stuff, as the flavour is quite enjoyable- really peppery, and yet somehow mellow if smoked really slowly. The only way to make it smokeable is to rub it out really well, right into ribbons. And the cut is so thick, these really are ribbons- I can almost tie my hair back with them! I've had thick flakes (Holger Danske Royal Navy) and thin flakes (St Bruno) and all have worked quite well. This stuff looks like they chopped it with an axe... I think they would have been better off to leave it in sticks and sell 2 oz chunks as plug. All it would take is a sharp knife to make this into something wonderful.

The flavor is initially mild and unexceptional. It gets stronger midway through the bowl but it is not any more enjoyable. It gains strength but is still bland and one dimensional. This blend's perique was more prominent than what I am used to. Perhaps perique specific fans would appreciate the dynamic here. Bayou Morning Flake is not good enough to warrant such effort.

Anyway, I'm not sure in this case if it's C & D or the perique. I'm not a big fan of pepper anyway, and this blend left my throat sore and just wasn't my cup of tea at all. In fact, I gave away the tin, minus about five bowls.

I will never condemn any tobacco because tastes are so different, and from reading the other reviews posted here, this blend is obviously well received. However, it just didn't work for me.