The presentation in my tin was one large two ounce cake that was an almost uniform brownie-like color with just the occasional lighter strand here and there. It broke apart with ease and I rubbed out the entire brick to store in a mason jar at my tobacco cabinet. I laid out a pipeful to dry for a few minutes even though it felt just about right from the tin.

After airing for about 30 minutes, I packed my first bowl without problem and proceeded to fire it. It took to match well after the first false light and stayed lit to the bottom of the bowl. No bite was experienced. The flavors are fantastic! The Virginia, Perique, and Cavendish all get along well. The Turkish really rounds out the profile adding a rich, tangy note. The Cav is superior and reminds me a bit of the Cav that Dunhill uses. A natural sweetness from Virginia and Cav was balanced by a light sourness from the Perique and Turkish. Overall, one of the most pleasurable and unique smokes that I have had in quite some time. Nicotine is a solid medium with the occasional drift into Med-strong.

This is a nice everyday smoke for me. It has the unique quality of being a "set and forget" that will not get in the way of what you want to do. It also serves the smoker who wants to relax and comtemplate the smoke as the complexity is there if close attention is what you wish to give it.

I can see a couple of dozen tins of this on my next order. It should age very gracefully and be better at five years. We shall see. Cheers!

This is packaged, as many have noted, in a crumble cake form. While such a presentation may exist from other companies, I have yet to encounter it. Gawith, for example, offers plugs, and this is nothing like that at all. These crumble cakes do indeed crumble, and this again offers a unique, and pleasant, packing and smoking experience. It packs easily, with a little tap on the side of the bowl. It burns readily and evenly so long as it is on the dry side. It burns, in fact, very well, much easier than tobacco of a similar cut that I have tried.

The flavor also sets this apart. It offers copious smoke with a rich, natural tobacco flavor. The cavendish offers just a hint of sweetness, along with the virginias, and adds complexity. Overall it is rich and not monotone if smoked slowly. I think of the overall experience as offering a "dry" smoke, both in flavor and smoking characteristics, but this is an oversimplification which does not do the blend justice. I have not found this to have any bite at all, nor have I found it to be a hot smoke. One of my favorites, especially in a really good smoking pipe.

If not rubbed out, it will require frequent re-lights. Very mildly sweet, but at times has a nutty flavor, and at times is rather harsh. Bites like a mad dog. Burns very hot. The flavor is strong, but boring and lacking depth. The nicotine is strong. Unfortunately, the best part of the experience is the scent in the tin.

I'm giving it a second star just due to peer pressure. I wouldn't buy it again, but I will not throw it out either.

Best sliced off thinly with a very sharp knife, fully rubbed out, and in a larger pipe. A churchwarden stem helps to cool the smoke.

It is easy to break up and breaks up into fairly even peices, there is no "dust" that often occurs with other cakes/flakes. Once it is broken up, I noticed that it seemed a bit dry. I was dubios.

I smoked my first few bowls in a tall Radice.

It lit well and produced nice, white, dense smoke. Strong taste of virgina and possibly some burley, but not too strong. Good tobacco taste. Does not smoke wet and soapy as cake/flake tobacco often does for me.

Good strength and consistant taste all the way to the bottom of the bowl.

For me, this is excellent tobacco. I plan on smoking it alot in the future.

I have no idea how old it is as there's no code stamped on the tins....however the one I opened was bone, dusty dry and smelt very faintly leathery with a hint of faded richness.

I thought I'd get the tobacco out of the very small tin...it really was rammed in; only to find that the tin has rusted on the inside at the base and the last quarter of the tobacco was spoilt. This is the second tin that I have found to kind of rot from the inside (the other being a McClelland). There was absolutely no sign on the outside that there was rust or any chemical reaction going on with the can.

I have set the remaining tobacco to rehydrate and will review in due course. I really only post this to give you a warning about the possibility of you getting a spoilt tin. I might up the stars a bit after I've got the tobacco smokeable.

There is no need to rub it out, as with a flake. The tobacco can be easily crumbled from the brick and into the pipe. The blend is mostly ribbon-cut red virginia. There are some light brown pieces (I assume the cavendish and Turkish) and I assume the light touches of nearly black are the perique. The perique touch is light. The cavendish is only slightly apparent; along with the Turkish it smooths out the peppery note of the perique. It has a little more body and stength than most medium Viginia/Perique blends. The Turkish adds richness and smoothness, adding an interesting variation to the VA/Perique theme.

This high-quality tobacco needs virtually no relights, and burns to a fine grey ash. I've smoked this in a large Peterson Sherlock Holmes bulldog and a medium Sasieni 4-dot canadian.

I will order this again, as it's an interesting change of pace from my usual VA/Perique staples. But the cost with shipping is a little prohibitive: $36 for 3 assorted 2-ounce tins, postpaid. You can order it here: http://pipestyle.com/

If it were available for less at my local tobacconist I would buy it more often. This is a fine blend, but it's competing with my favorites from the U.K. and GLPease, and costs considerably more.