I remember my first tin back in the 1980's. It was a cool autumn evening at our summer home. Fog over the river, and dew started to form in the grass. I remember the fig and raisin smell from the tin, and how good the tobacco tasted.

I have smoked many tins over the years, and it's difficult to say if and how it has changed since the production moved to Denmark.

Fortune smiled on me recently and I was gifted with two round 2 ounce Capstan Full Navy Cut tins probably from the 1950's and a 2 ounce Medium Navy Cut tin from the 1930's. I've not opened the Full Navy Cut tins yet but I just couldn't resist opening the 1930's tin! The scent was very strong indeed...like a very old wine, almost a port. The tobacco was a broken flake, fairly dry and ready to smoke. To be honest it smelt so strong, you could almost just sit there breathing in the scent, but when I did light it I was greeted with wonderful clouds of smoke and the taste of alcoholic stewed dark fruits which lasted through the whole bowl. I imagine at something like 70 years old the tobacco has reached about as far as storage can take it....it's been such a privilage to have the chance to enjoy what must be a once in a lifetime opportunity. :-)

Capstan medium is not medium it is more mild then medium. In the good old days when it vas medium made by Inperial Tobacco Co in Liverpol in good ol England, it was a blessin. Today when made in Danmark it´s more tastless (soft) then before. I cant undersand why Inperial Tobacco accepts the change of this old and famos brand. My Regrets ThomK in Sweden.

It has just the right amount of strength, a wonderful Va. flavor enhanced with just a hint of sweet topping, excellent burning qualities...what's not to like?

There are stronger tobaccos, there are tobaccos with more complex flavors, but IMO no other Va. flake is as well-rounded as Capstan.

In short: a true classic. If you like Va. flakes, try it at least once.

I love Virginias and Latakia Blends. This one is a very smooth smoke without boring you. Some blends get boring after aging.

Smoking slowly and you get the reward of excellent flavour. Is it pure virginia? I cannot detect artificial flavour, but do I perceive Perique? Nobody mentioned it.

Highly recommended for Virginia aficionados!

I'd buy lots more if it were available in the states.

My only complaint being that it did burn somewhat hot in the bowl, not quite asbestos gloves time, but not far off. I'm unsure of any toppings, although I am sure they are there, this is most likely due to my poor sense of smell, but then, I'm more interested in the taste, after all, what use a wonderful smelling tobacco if it tastes like dogs vomit, (which has a distinct buiscuity flavour and poor burning qualities I might add) IMHO Capstan Medium simply tastes like a good quality Virginia, a good daytime to early evening smoke.

Towards the end of the day though, I go looking for inspiration from Sammuel Gawith Navy Flake or FVF or maybe Gawith & Hoggarth Bobs BB No 2

Still, Capstan Medium, 4 Stars.

It won't replace FVF or HoTW in my regular rotation, but the quality tobaccos used here make are enough to give it 3/4.

This is the flake that led me into virginia flakes in the first place, telling the tale of how sweet a tobacco can be, and that there is a great difference when it comes to flakes VS ribbon cut tobaccos.

the tin aroma is kind of sweet, fresh fruity smell, a tad of honey as well. The flakes are as wide as the tin, and not really thick. Easy to fold, and there is no extra stiffness at the edges, as there might be in other flakes. The color is lightly brown with some golden streaks.

The thinn soft flake is easy to fold, sometimes I roll it a bit between my thumb and index finger, to give a torpedo like shape before putting it into the pipe.

It lights easy, maybe a bit too easy, the first few puffs can be quite hot before tamping and slowing down. Carefully smoked, it is sweet and mellow, not alot of nicotine, sometimes an slight earthy tone is present, and this is a nice thing, keeping it from being overly sweet.

The smoke is consistent all through the pipe, giving a fine white ash. A freshly opened tin might, sometimes, give a bit of gurgles. Not to overly moist like penzance thoguh.

Room note: the room note does not scare off the spousal unit from the living room

The lack of nicotine is, to me, the major flaw, I can smoke Irish Flake in the morning, even before my morning coffee, without feeling any nicotine hit, this makes me still want to smoke even more, even though I just spent 40 minutes with my pipe.

Compared to SG - FVF, or another favorite: Solani - Silver Flake, this is kind of meek, therefore the 3 stars, it is good, but there are better alternatives at hand.

The cut is virtually shag. Very thin ribbons of bright, light Virginia that looks and smells very like cigarette tobacco. Not very promising really. But I have found this is one I go back to regularly. It is just an easy stand-by. It lights and smokes very simply. The taste is pure Virginia - sweetness and brightness. It will bite if you really try and it will burn too fast if you puff like mad, but most of the time it is just a reliable uncomplicated smoke. The strength is much higher than the appearance of the tobacco would suggest. This is often a 'have a rest in the middle' tobacco for me.

Nothing special, but a repeat buy for me and it does the job. 3 stars.

After reading reviews on this site I decided to give the trademark another try. What a revelation it has been! This is a delicious tobacco for any time of the day, in any pipe, with any beverage. Sweet and nutty, it reminds me most of the richness of Cut Blended Plug by Fribourg and Treyer. It has a dark, coarse ash often found in blends containing some perique or cavendish or both, and I would not be surprised if I was told that the blend contained one of the two, or both, in some measure.

I thought the social contract behind trademarks was that goods bearing the same trademark would be of exactly the same quality everywhere: it would appear it is not the case.

of course, this is not quite the tobacco it used to be in the days when it was made by will's, and neither is it as good as when it was made by imperial. some 20 years ago it used to be almost full strength, fig-smelling, dark brown, sour-nutty-sweet. now it's mild-medium, citrusy, medium brown, with no sourness and some nutty sweetness. but still, it is a decent enough virginia tobacco (with a touch of burley), considering that it's made in denmark by orlik.

Not a complicated tobacco, but an honest, high quality, medium Virginia flake. It is a bit damp in the tin but smokes sweet with little residue even in that condition.