Reiner's Long Golden Flake has the perfect packaging and the perfect presentation. The unique air-tight tin, the extra-long flakes packed in a spiral, the beautiful brown color and perfect texture make for an almost perfect experience, even before getting the tobacco into your pipe. The moisture content is almost perfect, requiring little or no drying out of the tin.

The flavor of the Virginias is super. It is almost a perfect tobacco, three out of four stars. But it will not make my favorites list.

The only strike against this is the casing/topping. More than one flavor is present, putting this tobacco in the aromatic or light aromatic category for me. A star is deducted for the anise or licorice flavor, which imparts a strong medicinal odor to the tin, and can be tasted throughout the bowl. It makes me ask if the blender is trying to cover up some shortcoming in the tobacco.

I long for a Long Golden Flake that is more 'natural,' without the anise or other added flavors.

Sweet and tangy, with a real tobacco taste. The perique is introduced with incredible subtlety and effectiveness. This is probably the best melding of perique with Virginia and Burley that I've yet tasted. I must own up to the fact that my experience with Virginias is relatively limited; I'm more of an English/Balkan smoker. But by any standard, this is really, really fine tobacco blended to render a rich complexity from the bright Virginia.

You can fill it in the pipe by folding the flake or rubbing it - it works either way and the fill method would depend solely on your preference. I use it to break in a new pipes, and even in a new pipe the relights were few, as it burns smooth and steady. A benchmark baccy experience for me.

Moreover I have smoked few flakes with such good burning capabilities, whether you rub it or fold it, it more often than not end up being a one-match deal. Tastewise I detect no significant difference, so the method of packing is left to your preference.

Despite that I would have liked to see less (or none at all) of the burley and perhaps more perique, it's hard to find any major faults with LGF, so highly recommended it is. I've enjoyed a bowl of it daily for the last couple of months.

I believe that this can safely be bought by beginners and pros alike.

The tin is also an example I wished more manufacturers would adhere to. It's not only attractive, but practical as well.

Till the half of the bowl the virginias are dominating with their tasty flavor but the perique doesn't leave them to be very sweet. After the first half burley takes the action and the whole mixture aheads to a strong finish.

A real tobacco taste. Even it is not a cheap product I'll try to have as many tins as I can in my stock.

Smokes beautifully in briars, meerschaums, clays and cobs. Very complex if you sit and contemplate the smoke, simple if you don't. Not a perfect tobacco but close. This is going into my regular rotation and I'm also going to buy some extra to age in my cellar. GREAT tobacco - destined to become a classic if it isn't there already.

First the good news: It is beautifully packaged, and one of very few tobaccos that comes at a perfect moisture, right out of the tin. Most are far too wet for my liking. Lovely pressed sheets that are easy to rub out as much or as little as you like. Lights easily and stays lit. It has the aroma of quality tobaccos.

The not so good news is that there is also an aroma of some "enhancements" that give it a cinnamon sort of sweet spiciness. I don't care for toppings and while the flavoring is relatively subtle, it ruins the experience for me.

I wish tobaccos had more detailed information about ingredients so that I would avoid experimenting with things that are destined to disappoint.

In summary, I find the quality tobaccos to be good, but the experience is diminished by the added flavoring. It smokes a little on the hot side, in spite of the burley, and leaves a stronger aftertaste that I find unpleasant. My wife likes the room note, which is, of course, the flavoring not the tobacco. This would be a great smoke for those either making their way from aromatics to natural blends, or those who like a touch of flavoring in their blends. I'm just not one of them.

The perique is spicy and strong throughout. The VA becomes dominant and very pleasant during the second half. However, I've had better luck with Luxury Twist and Bullseye Flake, Escudo, Kingfisher, Haddo's, St. James, and Dunbar, etc.. I'll keep experimenting.

11/24/09 update. After consuming half of the tin with the same result..."it tastes like burning" to borrow from Ralph Wiggum...I put the tin away. Now, nine months later, in a small bent acorn with thick walls this Blend 71 is behaving. Early on in the conical bowl that "cinnamon sort of sweet spiciness" that laufenstoc identified dominates. A cinnamony rush of perique, I suppose, not bitey or hot, but fairly intense. Further down it settles into a mellow VA-burley treat. Very nice. Recommended!

What makes Long Golden Flake a truly glorious tobacco is its ability to be unobtrusive one moment and complex the next; it behaves in exactly the way its smoker desires. If the smoker of Long Golden Flake wants a mellow blend which he can puff away at in an absent-minded manner all day, that is what he gets. Paradoxically, if the same smoker decides he wants a complex and nuanced smoke Long Golden Flake will deliver that too.

My personal experience with this tobacco has involved smoking three one-hundred gram tins over the course of one and-a-half weeks. This is an unusual level of consumption for me. I will normally smoke about one-hundred grams of tobacco each week and this amount is usually made up of two or three different blends. I have smoked Long Golden Flake in three pipes: a Dunhill group four billiard, a Dunhill group four prince, and a medium-sized bent meerschaum. A further endorsement for this tobacco is the fact that I am primarily a smoker of English-style blends. These three pipes are the only ones I use to smoke Virginia tobaccos. Up until now I would only smoke a Virginia blend once or twice in a week. Someone was evidently looking out for me when I made the decision to buy that meerschaum recently; if it had not been on hand to puff on I would have certainly fouled those two lovely Dunhills with the amount of smoking I've been doing. This tobacco smokes well in all three pipes and I suspect that it smokes well in any size and shape of bowl. The various tobaccos meld well. Virginia sweetness, Perique spiciness, and burley mellowness all make themselves known at various points during the smoke. Long Golden Flake requires very little tamping or manipulation to keep it burning and it burns cleanly, if a little moistly, down to a grey and black ash. It almost never leaves dottle at the bottom of a pipe.

In summary, this is a great tobacco. It can serve as a mellow all-day companion. However, if the smoker sits down and devotes his full attention to it he will be rewarded with a complex and sublime smoking experience. My compliments to R.L. Will. He has made a devoted Virginia smoker out of me. Now all that remains is saving up my pennies for a few more quality pipes to smoke this blend in.

The packaging is attractive, different, but classy in a way. The tin smells of high quality VA, to my nose it smells like tea, strange I know.

Packing and Lighting is very easy, I just roughly rub out a bit, pack as normal, light and I am off to the races.

This is an excellent tobacco, the only drawback is the wife is not a fan of the room note. Oh well she can stay out of the man cave!

Not my all day or every-day smoke, just good to have an opened tin of this around

Overall this is really a top quality tobacco, certainly worth your time and your money!

Anyplace that sells eighteen year old single malt also sells twelve year old, ten year old, three year old and a variety of blended whiskeys. If your intent is to get shit faced and insult your boss?s wife you get the best bang for the buck out of Maddog 20/20. I?m not trying to sound snobbish here or anything but at a certain level of refinement cost is hardly the issue. I can?t imagine anyone I know saying they?d prefer, if I were buying, a three year old blended over an 18 year old single malt.

I think if you were searching for all day five bowl a day blend and you pulled down 12K a year that LGF is the absolute wrong smoke for you, but that doesn?t lose it a star, nor does the fact that I get three times as much Anniversary Kake for the buck lower the rating for LGF, but comparing the cost of two tobaccos I gave four stars too is again like comparing the smoking quality of the Radice against a corn cob, it?s an unreasonable way to look at things you can?t put a dollar and cents price on a sublime experience. I guess the best answer to ?Is it Worth It?? is can you afford it? I?ll go through a lot more twelve year old scotch and Anniversary Kake than I will eighteen year old scotch and LGF, but I don?t regret the occasion or the sublime joy that is smoking LGF or drinking an eighteen year old Glen Morangie.

Impressive appearance once you open the box. A long stripe of tobacco wrapped beautifully and carefully in the box. It has the perfect content of moisture, and this helps to fill the bowl easily. I smoked it without rubbing it at all; I just cut a satisfying piece of the stripe, folded it and put it in the bowl. Pleasant, easy and cool smoking. Its flavor is sweet with a hint of spicy Perique and has maturity that only a top Burley can offer.

The Reiner Long Golden Flake (Blend No. 71) For 100g is $18.34

This Was A Gift ~ I Would Have Never Paid That Kind of Money For ONLY 100g of Pipe Tobacco ~N~ I'm Not Cheap Either

BUT ~ Its Your Money Thier Taking ~N~ ONLY Given U A 100g of Pipe Tobacco

Stay Away From Purchasing ~ Reiner Long Golden Flake (Blend No. 71) 100g For $18.34 ~ Until They Come Too A Reasonable Price For Only 100g of Pipe Tobacco

Thx U In Advance For Taking The Time Too Read This Report

Journal Notes, April 2004: Cellared June 2002. Radice Rind Stack. Darker, sweeter. Bright notes more subdued. Good Perique creep. Gotta get more. Current inventory 12 tins.

July 2008: I wonder if I can sell a kidney for some more of this? Current inventory: Not Enough.

Wonderful.

I smoke while I paint, and often I almost forget that I am puffing away as I become engrossed in the work at hand. Now, I have to push my chair back and simply sit and enjoy this tobacco. No bite, unless one gets just too eager and forgets to sip. Burns to a nice white ash, but I seldom smoke all the way to the bottom of any bowl.

I believe I am going to have to get another Savinelli 316 KS and dedicate it to this excellent mixture.

As stated this is a Virginia/perique/burley blend. The key word is blend. The ratios of the three are perfect......primarily Va. a pinch of perique, and a hint of burley. Being a Va. enthusiast this is just right.

I find this flake's moisture perfect from the can.....a good thing since I hate to pay for water at this price. With a gentle rub out this blend is very easy to pack, light, and smoke. Most times this is a one match bowl, and what a bowl it is. Words like smooth, natural, flavorfull come to mind. I will be ordering several more tins of this fine blend for the cellar (if I can avoid immediate gratification)

Rate * * * *

The tin aroma was very ?Virginia-ey? with the normal dried fruit (raisons, dates, etc) smell wafting from inside. I could smell a little bit of Perique in there but not much. The flakes themselves were very golden in color (hence the name) but there were dark flecks mixed in here and there.

I went ahead and rubbed out the whole tin because I?m not what you would call skilled at smoking tobacco in its flaked form. I usually end up getting frustrated and then being mad the whole smoke so I just avoid that by rubbing it out fully. Once this was at the consistency that I like I went ahead and packed a bowlful. The tobacco was a bit moist but nothing like McC?s 2015 or some other blends that I have seen.

Lighting this up was fairly easy. I think it took about 3 matches to finally get this one going. During the first half of the bowl this was pretty much a sweet Virginia smoke. The Perique would slide in and out every once in awhile making its presence known but was not the main component of the first half of the bowl. I would say that the first part of this smoke was going rather well. It was a very smooth, easy smoke. Based on the taste I can tell that this blend has a lot of high quality tobacco in it. Once the blend got going I didn?t have to relight during the first half.

In the second half of this blend, the Perique seemed to make an appearance more often and with a bit more strength. And the blend turned a bit creamier smooth and had a bit of a buttery taste to it. I know that this blend also is supposed to have a bit of White Burley in it so that may have brought about the creamy, buttery taste. I?m not sure. It was very pleasant however.

Overall, this is a very well put together blend and is made with some high quality tobacco. It has an initial flavor very similar to FVF but has some different taste undertones as you progress through the smoke. The price is another concern for me. While this is a fantastic blend, unless I win the lottery someday it will be in my rotation only as a ?treat? smoke and not a daily smoke. If money is not a problem for you then I would say buy a few tins. One to smoke now and a few to cellar. If money is a problem for you then I would suggest that you try this at least once in your pipe smoking lifetime. It?s worth the extra $$ to try once.

Although this flake is lighter in color and perhaps a little softer than Laurel Flake, the taste and aroma are similar. The addition of Burley hightens the nutty taste, and it is a little less plummey (perhaps less Perique). I am also guessing that Long Golden Flake is not stoved (The darker and slightly harder feel of Luarel Flake leads me to believe it is stoved.) There usually is some measure of Turkish leaf in all Virginia flakes to balance it, but who knows what it is.

This tobacco is "top shelf". There is no drek, dust or broken leaf in the tin, just a long roll of beautiful flake which rubs out easily. I detected no top dressing or flavoring, just the characteristic Virginia/Turkish flake aroma with Perique. The tobacco lighted easily (moisture content was perfect)and burned well without too many re-lights. It did not overheat, even when I caught myself puffing too heavily. It did not bite my tongue or assualt my palete and was just a wonderful smoke. LGF and LF will be steady favorites.

For myself, this is an outdoor tobacco, one enjoyed many times by the camp fire. The Virginia's are boldly present and give a strong tobacco room note if smoked indoors, much to the dislike of many of my non-smoking friends. The taste is definitely Virginia with the subtle hint of Perique. Finally, if not smoked slowly this blend will bite the tounge, although I can not imagine why one would smoke such a fine tobacco in a rush.

Like all flakes, LGF require a bit of preparation but it's easy to light (i.e., good moisture content), burns steadily and cleanly, and does not bite as long as it's smoked slowly (as all Virginias should be).

If you are a Virginia lover, there's a lot to like here. LGF is definitely one of the best. A little pricey, but well worth the money.

I smoked this in a Stanwell HCA churchwarden. While this would probably be considered by many to be mild in the nicotine content, by the end of the bowl I had to stop because I could feel nicotine queasiness I don't usually suffer. It can sneak up on you, so be mindful.

My tin is different than what I see on online sites selling it. It is called Blend 71 rather than Long Golden Flake.

I am usually a straight VA smoker. This blend easily stands with Rattray's and SG Full Virginia Flake and I intend to keep this in stock.

The balance is exceptional and while not complex, this straightfoward tobacco has become one of my favorites. The room note is also superb... and I've yet to encounter anyone who hasn't commented on how good the tobacco smells.

I most often smoke this in a straight billiard size 5 pipe and do not rub out the flake much at all. An easy light, this tobacco burns even and smooth and a few tamps is all that's necessary to enjoy a full bowl.

This is a pleasant change for the more matured Virginia plugs I normally smoke but it has a place in my rotation and goes well with a scotch or coffee.

...a pipe is to be savored

I first smoked this tobacco in a corn cob (the pipe I generally use to sample different blends). Corn cob pipes generally add a distinct sweetness to tobacco that I find rather pleasant. On the occasion during which I first sampled this blend, I noticed the subtle sweetness of the corn cob amidst the delightful creaminess of the tobacco. This tobacco is buttery and smooth. It does not burn hot in the slightest. It was like eating a smooth, rich and decadant cream brulee. There is a slight nutty note to the tobacco is not noticable throughout the smoke.The nutty note is more of a motif or idee fixe that drifts through the smoke hole with remarkable dexterity and timing.

This blend extraordinarily is well composed. My highest marks to RL Will!

The tin of Long Golden Flake I am smoking now is about two years old, and given that there is no air-tight factory sealing, the tobacco has preserved its moisture very well. The golden colour has darkened a bit, and both the tin aroma and the taste have ripened.

I find this blend to be on the savoury rather than the sweet side. For some reasons of body chemistry I have never taken to either Three Nuns or Elizabethan: it seems to me that LGF does better than the former two in combining virginia and perique. A pity that this is not very freely available.

I've spent the last 3-4 months experimenting with the light VaPers. And I'm !not! a fan of Burley -- which almost scared me off this one. The Perique is just enough to provide a touch of tang and character. The burley is most definitely there -- but the finished product doesn't taste like burley. What it ends up tasting like is the softest, sweetest smoke this side of who-knows-where. If the Almighty is a pipe smoker, this well could be His blend.

Less Perique punch than GH CR Flake. Smoother than the Orlik red (the most likely candidate, right now, to become my "regular", and one fine tobacco in its own right -- so saying this is better is like saying platinum is better than gold).

Yes, it's pricey. That will keep it from being my mainstay. But that gorgeous little golden paint can keeps pulling me back, saying, "yeah, forget that it's fifteen bucks a pop. One fantastic smoke is only a quarter." I find it highly unlikely that anyone (ok, there is Darwin...) will be disappointed. Five stars out of four.

The flake is beautiful and arrives in a large 100 gram tin in one long strip that has been wound up. The pressed leaf is at a perfect moisture content and breaks up and rubs out easily.

The taste is naturally sweet with just a hint of the spicy Perique and a roundness that only top-shelf Burley can add to fine Virginia leaf.

Upon lighting, the sweetness of the Virginia combines with the Perique spice to produce a true tobacco flavor blast that few other blends can reproduce. By mid-bowl the Burley begins to make its presence known and the sweetness of the Virginias subside a bit. By bowl's end, the compilation of tobaccos provides a finish that'll wow your taste buds!

This, my friends, is a pipe tobacco.

Of course, LGF has many good qualities. It lights easily, burns slow and cool, and is easy on the tongue. Moreover, the flakes are absolutely beautiful.

I guess I'll have to revisit this again in the future. Mr. Will is a great blender and I enjoy Solani 633 very much. I love bright Virginias, burley, and perique, so I'm really disappointed that I dislike this blend so much.

Update: I tried it again which causes me to downgrade my rating. I won't give this one another chance.

I rate this tobacco 8.5 out of 10

If the world's supply of Latakia were wiped out, I would panic. If some phyloxera-like blight were to eradicate the entire crop of Virginia leaf, I would faint. If Perique were to somehow become similarly unavailable, I would yawn. I know of no leaf as improperly used as Perique, and none so manhandled by proponents of the "if some is good a lot must be better" school of thought. Perique is at its best well in the background, hovering over one's shoulder, and tantalizing the palate with wisps of its telltale stewed fruit and inimitable spice. In Long Golden Flake, it is at its finest.

The tobacco is presented in a "paint can" and is comprised of absolutely gorgeous flakes long enough to whip the dog. It's on the dry side, as far as flakes go, meaning it's just about perfect to stuff and light. It exhibits a perfect burn, and dazzles all the way down, the burley gently rounding the superb VAs. It is incredible that all of this is going on in so light a smoke.

My reference for lighter VAs has long been Gawith Hoggarth Bright CR Flake and Fribourg & Treyer Cut Virginia Plug, two standout blends in a very competitive field. I must now report that the Reiner is the best I've had, by a long shot.

I've had a few bowls of this at Burlington's on Whyte, a fine tobacconist in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Marvellous little shop. Very welcoming, and possessed of a wide variety of house-created blends. I digress, I think.

Long Golden Flake is blessed with a smooth, subtle flavour and smokes quite cool. It is thoroughly enjoyable.

After the tomes that have preceded my review, I think that is all that needs to be said.

Today I had Bob's Chocolate Flake for breakfast (so to speak), Bjarne Flake de Luxe for later in the morning, then the Reiner Long in the early afternoon (just right, I'm thinking) and later after dinner some Esoterica Margate. All in all I'd say it's been a pretty damn good day! All of those I "discovered" here, as my local tobacconist (a generous term to be sure) doesn't know squat except to push the stuff in all the jars. Thanks gents!

This is a simple smoke that wont offend most poeple indoors and burns long and cool for a walk outdoors. It requires some crumbling due to the long strips in the can. The can has a good seal for keeping once opened.

I really like the tin this is packaged in - it's a "paint pot" type lid which fits snugly back into place and keeps the tobacco fresh for a long time. The tobacco came out of the tin at just the right moisture level, and has maintained that since opening.

The presentation of the tobacco is marvelous - not a broken flake or a plug cut into gum-sized strips, these are HUGE flakes. Ribbons appear to have been cut from a whole cake, rolled up, and placed in the tin. The color is marvelous - golden brown VA shot through with darker Perique and bright VA and burley threads.

Tin aroma is fabulous. Instantly recognizable as a VA/Perique blend, it's bright, fruity, and mouth-watering. My first impression was of a well-fermented exotic black tea - floral, spicy, fruity.

Tear off a chunk of ribbon and rub it out - the aroma intensifies. Rubbed fully, this packs and lights easily. The high proportion of bright Virginia demands that you smoke this slowly, and it's using this technique that the best flavors emerge - citrusy, slightly spicy, fruity. This is an excellent smoke. The burley is undetectable in the taste except perhaps as a re-enforcement for the deeper flavors, as this is a very bright tobacco. For comparison, the flavor is similar to Solani 633, but lighter and more refined.

I highly recommend this. Everyone should smoke this flake at least once as an example of how good VA/Per blends can be.

The shtick here is that the pressed tobacco block has been flaked without first segmenting it into plugs. The resulting flakes look like a man's leather belt, rolled up inside a tin of car wax. I am not sure what such formatting does for flavour, if anything, but the result is truly, unforgettably, delicious.

I suppose the white burley is there to buffer the potential aggressivity of the golden 'Ginny. You can otherwise not taste it (not that you would taste it even if it were there by itself...) and the golden Virginia is a veritable scrotum-tingling delicacy: nutty sweet like Roederer Cristal, whose colour it matches, mirage-like. The Périque adds excitement and allure, in Perfect Balance. Isn't that the definition of Classicism?

Ever since I first filled a gorgeous new Caminetto with Long Golden?I was sauntering down University Place towards Washington Square?I have been in HEAVEN, HEAVEN, and my heart beats so that I can hardly speak! (In what other hobby can one have a true epiphany as often as we pipe lovers do??)

Recommended to friend and foe.

Physical Characteristics: This is a strikingly large flake. Each of the four or five flakes rolled into a 100 gram tin are easily 7 inches long and about 3 inches wide. The flakes themselves are very 'bright' in appearance, with the overall tone running to a lemon or light brown color. Initially, the flakes are very soft and pliable, but tend to flake out a little bit as they dry out. Perhaps any flake tobacco will do this when it dries and it is just more noticable here due to the size of the individual flakes. Some careful trimming will allow one to come out with a portion of flake of a suitable size for rolling up to load ones pipe, but rubbing these out is by far less trouble. This flake rubs out easily, and packs nicely, though it did give me some fits if I didn't allow it to dry a little bit first.

Notes: The first puffs of this are mellow and understated, a nice friendly handshake before getting down to the brass tacks of the smoke. The Perique is high quality, and seems to me to be real Lousiana Perique, as opposed to the 'Los Angeles' variety in vogue with some blenders, which lends a spicy note to their blends, but is immediately recognizable as an imposter to anyone who has ever compared the two side by side. The strength gradually increases throughout the first half of the smoke, until it reaches a nicely spicy point, at which point it plateaus and remains pretty constant throughout the rest of the bowl.

Verdict: This couldn't have hit the market at a better time for me. I am, as of this year, really beginning to enjoy virginia flakes. This is a nice mellow summer smoke, and forgiving enough that Virginia neophytes like myself can enjoy a well blended virginia/perique flake without turning our tongues into charcoal. A keeper.