The first few puffs of the bowl left me wanting more. It had a sort of bland ashy taste and was reminiscent of cigarette tobacco. Then, before I knew it I noticed a nice subtle Virginia sweetness. Never got that big spicy perique kick, but was a solid smoke nonetheless and had a few moments of brilliance. I think it took me a minute to warm up to it because my palette tends to prefer strong flavors. Someone mentioned a taste of "hay" and I think that makes sense to me looking back. It has a sort of golden sweetness, almost like a burley, but not quite the same.

Overall I rated this three stars, at is very good for the price. I plan on buying more as a knockaround smoke.

Rubs out easily to fine strings. Very few sticks. A little too moist as received. After a days drying, packs easily, lights easily with 2 lights and smokes all the way down with no fuss and does not become objectionable toward the bottom of the bowl. No bad aftertaste in the pipe or mouth. Does not smoke hot or bite. Taste is pleasantly sweet and mild as is the room note but I wouldn't really call it an aromatic. The perique shows itself well without any dominance. Very good quality leaf and treatment.

A good 2nd use for this blend is it has saved a few trash baccys that I couldn't really stand otherwise. By mixing it in various strengths, they have become somewhat enjoyable.

Although not one of my very favorites, will definitely order this again and keep on hand. A good strong 3 stars.

This blend has a good quality Virginia leaf in it. The flakes are smelling really apetisant. It lights and smokes easy. The very first taste is a good sweet Virginia taste with just a touch of peppery Perique. I expected it to reach a satisfactory richness of taste and strength. It didn't. It smokes in its light way.

When you want the smoke to be richer at taste and strength you may puff the pipe harder. This is a kind of reflex we do without thinking sometimes. If this tobacco bites your tongue this may be the reason. You need somethin stronger.

I'll recommend it for the beginners to experience how a high quality Virginia-Perique blend tastes whit a well balanced puffing cadence.

The Bulleye Flake and the Navy flake are superb. As of the present I have not sampled the Luxury Twist Flake but I will soo remedy that lack. I am sure it will be as exemplary as the others.

Navy Flake and Bullseye are remarkable tobaccos at any time of the day. Strength-wise they are exactly right when a light to medium smoke is called for. Personally I don't have the capacity to tell what the flavoring agents are as some of the commenteers do;I just either like or dislike what I'm tasting and Peter Stokkebye seems to have gotten this exactly right in both of the abovementioned blends. It just tases great without overpowering either the taste of the constituent tobaccos or the room note. The room note is fine with me and my good wife and as far as others are concerned I am not all that concerned. I smoke the Kendal tobacco companies' products regularly and a range of Latakia blends as well and Peter Stokkebye's two(and most likely the third untried offering) fit quite nicely into my taste inventory qite handily.

A Highly Recommended acclade for these tobacco blends is obvious.They both fill and burn exceptionally well and have just the right amount of nicotine as well.

Bravo to Peter Stokkebye and sorry I took so long getting to know thee!

The Piper at the Gates of Dawn (more eclectic than previously)

And I was completely and totally disappointed through the entire bowl. There was no flavor, and I don't mean the flavor was bland or you could hardly taste it, I mean no flavor whatsoever. I could just as easily been drawing on an empty pipe. Or for that matter I think I would get more flavor FROM an empty pipe.

I really wanted to like this tobacco, its appearance and price were just to good to give up after just one bowl. So I came here in the hopes I would find stellar reviews and hopefully find I had gotten a bad batch. What I found was some very sage advice from Pipe4ever. Smoke 10-15 bowls without smoking anything else. Well sure, why not. I figured since I had bought several ounces anyway all I had to loose was 10 bowls with no flavor to speak of.

Around bowl 8 I started noticing a sweet, hay like flavor begin to develop. By bowl 11 the flavor was strong enough I honestly wondered how I missed it for so long. It doesn't nock you over, the flavor is very nice and subtle. It does scream fresh cut hay but in a very good way.

Even with the initial disapointmemt I have to give this tobacco the highest rating. I prefer stronger and sweeter VA's but even though this isn't my normal "cup o tea", I will certainly buy this tobacco again, and have a big ol smile on my face as I anticipate loading my pipe..

After smoking 1 pound of each, here below I write a small review for all:

Luxury curly cut: I wasn?t terribly happy with this blend, there is some topping with unpleasant flavor and it is hot on the palate, the good news is that it has been discontinued. 2stars

Luxury Twist Flake: very pleasant hay/ burnt caramel flavor, great first WOW effect, high impression when you start smoking few oz of it, unfortunately there is a diminishing return effect, after smoking 7 to 8oz of it, the caramel topping starts to be boring, the flavor is great in the beginning, but this is not a natural VA flavor. Try Astley's No.109 Virginia Flake for the same flavor but with true and natural VA and without casing. 3stars.

Luxury Bulleyes flake: This one is really good, natural flavor with minimum perique and delicious Cavendish, Great Virginia!!! However, despite the very low price, it is not as good as Davidoff Flake Medallions or Escudo Navy Deluxe. This is a very good choice for money saving pipers, with Hi quality VAPER spun cakes, but if we talk strictly about enjoying a VA/Per pipe, this blend is not the best of its category. and since I do not care how much the tobacco costs, not because I am rich, but because life is too short, also because I smoke 1-2 bowl only per day and I believe that the best way to save your money is to sell all your pipes on Ebay and stop smoking for good, therefor I Definitely prefer Flake Medallions over LBF. 3star

Luxury Navy Flake: This is my favorite one so far, it will not impress you with WOW flavor when you start smoking it, but it will start revealing its hidden secrets after maybe 10-15 bowls, it just needs your patience and commitment (do not smoke anything else while smoking it) this is truly a great smoke, with unmatched quality for a Navy Va flake, extremely well balanced, natural flavor with slight sweetness that comes from the very light rum casing, creamy and fresh, very pleasant all day smoke. Definitely one of the best in the "navy" category. I am very happy with this one, this is my preferred one, 4 stars.

Appearance: A mostly chestnut brown with some lighter brown and tan mottling with a few yellowish bits leathery flake of uniform thickness.

Tin aroma: The first thing that is apparent when opening a tin of Luxury Navy Flake is quite simply tobacco. You couldn't possibly mistake this for anything else. I don't detect any casing or topping at all, just a fresh tobacco smell, deep and rich. There are nice stewed fruit tones, with leather and spiciness and a lighter almost citrus note.

This tobacco is absolutely perfect for smoking, no drying time required. As with most flake tobaccos I simply take several flakes together, fold them in half and insert them length-wise into the bowl trimming off the excess. I find it has a much better burn this way and makes for a long enjoyable smoke.

For this review, I?ve chosen an Nording Silver Series Canadian which is dedicated to Virginia based flakes.

A first light is brings billows of rich white smoke, followed with a brief visit of the tamper to settle the light crowning effect and then a tamping light. Immediately there is a citrus note followed with medium bodied Virginia flavors. When exhaled nasally there is a slight sharpness and citrus quality and deep leathery flavors and scents. The first third of the bowl gradually builds in slowly increasing intensity. This has a very rich creamy mouth feel which I find irresistible. What seems absent is Perique.

Mid Bowl: Approaching mid-bowl, the fullness tends to build and while I wouldn?t call this mixture particularly complex, the flavors slowly deepen into a rich harmony. The Virginias build in depth and character while the Perique remains so far in the background as to remain un-detectable. The quality of tobaccos used in this mixture are very fine, and it remains a cool even burning Virginia, and quite flavorfull, sadly the Perique is in such a small portion that I've never really tasted it.

Home Stretch: As end of the bowl approaches, I find that it really is a fine ?autopilot Virginia flake? lacking enough Perique to be of much interest. This really doesn't detract from it being a fine product, I just prefer a larger dose of Perique. As for it being Navy, well forget it. There is nothing navy about this at all. All things considered, it's a fine Virginia Flake, at a very reasonable price.

Supplemental Notes: This might make the grade for a Virginia Flake without other expectations for a budget minded smoker. ** stars

Govern Yourself Accordingly,

SmokeKing David

The aroma is alright but not that great.

Where is the nicotine?

I do not think this is very high quality weed. The flavoring isn't any good either. Tastes like the faintest hint of brown sugar and such a small hint of anise, that you can just barely taste it.

Yuck.

Time has mellowed it, but more as a matter of degree than metamorphisis. In the jar, it still does not evoke the deep, fermented VA sweetness of, say, McC 2015, but is robustly assertive in ways that suggest tomatoes and metal (think sun-dried tomatoes and the taste of keys, or a low-voltage battery on the tongue, if that makes any sense).

I'm smoking it well rubbed-out, and am finding it a reputable and economical -- even if not superlative -- example of a VaPer flake. It shifts and develops throughout the bowl, beginning with a the sour brightness of cut grass, before settling into broader mid-tones that intermittently suggest yeast and toasty figs. The perique tickle is there throughout and -- although it has been friendly to me -- hints that modest sipping is advisable. Toward the end there are insistent murmurs of a sour mash tang, punctuated by momentary flashes of Eggo waffle left in the toaster a bit too long.

All in all, it credibly (though temporarily) fits the "non-latakia" niche in my home rotation, even if it doesn't threaten to supplant any of my beloved English and Balkan blends. As something "different" it fits the bill just fine. If you're a VaPer afficianado, you may want to buy, age, and try some for the experience, particularly given the bulk price. It has earned my respect, but not my raves. I would enjoy it more if it were sweeter. Still two stars.

ORIGINAL REVIEW: In my experience so far, this is a very temperamental tobacco, or else of uneven production quality. My first couple bowls (a sample from a friend) were fantastic: Sweet, grassy, and complex. A revelatory break from my usual rotation of English blends.

Based on that experience, I purchased my own stash, but have since not been able to wring more than a mediocre smoke out of it. Sadly it has been flat, one-dimensional, and ashy tasting during the last half of the bowl. I've jarred it up, and hope that it will blossom with several months on the shelf, into something more like the bewitching flakes I first encountered.

I got my "Luxury Navy Flake" through pipesandcigars.com and was excited when I saw the 1.5 X 2.25 inch light brown slices. It flaked out to a light, soft mound of great smelling tobacco.

Like many Virginia tobaccos, Navy Flake's flavor evolves as you smoke through the bowl. For me, it starts out tangy and develops it's sweetness. What I especially like is it has no bite. If you have a problem with puffing a little fast, as I do, you will be pleased with this blend. It won't bite you. But you will get the bug to order more. Keep this one on hand - you can't go wrong!

I just finished a full pipe of this wonderfully spicy, but mild tobacco. Sitting on the back porch, listening to the frogs croak in the back pond, the cool breeze was not strong enough to rob me of the additional second-hand pleasure of enjoying the complex aromas that still linger in my memory.

I paired this with a glass of Aberlour 16-year-old single malt Scotch whisky. I'm glad I chose a bit stronger malt to go with it. A weaker Speyside or a Lowland malt would have been lost on the palate. Next time I'll try a more expensive 18 year-old Macallan, or something else with a strong oakey complexity. As I said, life is good.

The wife, who tolerates my more masculine quirks with a guarded feminine fascination, even asked me what it was. (Note that she did NOT ask "What the aytch-Eee-double hockey sticks IS that?" as she is often wont to say.) So that's a good thing.

To date, this blend has earned a solid 3-star rating. Of the 51 previous ratings, nearly 70% have granted it either 3 or 4 stars, and only three reviewers have given it a 1-star rating. One of those is an Australian who complains that there isn't enough Perique. He should try the P.S. Bullseye flake. Another admits that its the first Virginia/Perique he's tried. And a third complains that its too hot, and is probably just packing it too loose or puffing too fast. This blend needs a slower more peaceful opportunity to explore its complexities.

For those of us who consider it a 4-star tobacco, it hits the right spot. I hope to enjoy this the next time my Lodge brethren meet on the level after a hearty steak dinner.

There are better VAPER blends out there but you?re looking to try this type of blend or looking for a mild blend for you rotation, considering the price it?s hard to beat.

Tongue bite is also an issue. Mild taste notwithstanding, nicotine level is medium, so it doesn't lead to overpuffing.

The upside is the price.

It is sweet, cheap, flavorful, tasty and burns well. What else can you ask for. I like this a little on the dry side with very little rubbing out, other than for the charring light. Not bad at all.

It's not the best in any single category (aroma, taste, bite, easy of lighting, moisture content, etc.) but its toward the top end in each and it never bores, tires or offends. Also, the price is great and the quality consistently high.

I agree with the other reviewers that it's light on the Perique but, for me, that's OK.

If you smoke a lot of Virginia tobacco, you owe it to yourself to try this one.

The VA's provide natural sweetness and the perique has a good amount of spice. This is not the most full flavored VAPER, but a nice blanced smoke. The bulk prices from Smoking Pipes can't be beat.

I cannot tell if this is cased, I thought no- I also cannot detect the perique... I did taste a nice Virginia and smoked about a pound of the stuff. It is sweet, a little grassy, and will bite the hurried. I find it similar to Orliks golden slices with greater flavor, but the grassy/hay eventually turned me off of it. (after an awfull lot of it however!!!) The Twisted Navy they offer is sweeter, smells better-

BETTER PICK: MCCLELLAND CHRISTMAS CHEER 05' OR 06

My purchase arrived with the flakes broken in the post, ready for filling. It has a slightly sweet biscuit-like flavour which is pleasing without cloying. Reminiscent of Mac Baren`s Virginia Flake, in appearance, texture and taste, which too I enjoy.

Update 5/16/06. I continue to find LNF a fine tobacco and I'm enjoying some I've been ageing over the years. However, I'm downgrading this to 3 stars because I've found so many other VAPERS that I find more appealing.

As an aside, from what I can gather from old advertisements and other literature, the term navy flake, and navy cut simply meant that they were well adapted to being smoked outside in windy conditions. The cut also allowed the tobacco to stay in the pipe, while being smoked on the ever pitching, rolling, yawing deck of a ship. Imagine how a cube cut, although cool burning, would dump everywhere...

The blend lights easily and burns smoothly with minimal relights in it's rubbed out state. Ash is a mottled gray and black.

LNF wouldn't be my first choice when reaching for a Va/Per however, due to it's mildness, it could well add this category to the morning menu.

As it burns, some minor fragrant VA elements flicker in the background. As VA/P's usually get stronger as they go, I'm not expecting much more there. This burns nicely. Also, I'm noticing a bit of nicotine buzz; I'm guessing there is a decent amount here. Room note would not be especially nice to a non-smoker. No casing or sweetener detected. This is in a class, to me, with Escudo and Ashton Black Parrot.

As the smoke passes the halfway mark, the Perique begins to integrate with the rest of the blend for the first time. With this integration, the slight harshness fades into the background. The mouth aftertaste is sour/bitter. It burns very slowly.

I rate this tobacco 9.1 out of 10.

The sweetness of the Va is apparent while it mingles with the Perique, though the Perique dominated the show. As a pleasant surprise, I didn't get bitten - I expected to becuse of the Va.

On the whole, I guess it was just a bit too mild of a flavor for me. I tried DGT to see if that would get me more. It changed a bit, but not for the better. The tobacco just left me wanting something.

***UPDATE*** Having recently read some of the reviews here, and having stumbled across a fresh tin of LNF, I decided to try it again.

When I first tried it, there was a full Perique flavor. That was an aged sample from a friend. The new stuff had virtually no Perique, and also had very little Va flavor. Maybe aging makes the difference with this blend, or maybe the product has actually been changed. I don't know which, but I do know that it has moved into the "Not my cup of tea" range.

I think the reason some are finding this one to bite a little is due to a fast puffing cadence. I have that problem with tobaccos that are mild. I puff too hard and fast trying to get to the flavor that (in this blend) never shows up.

WHERE IS THE PERIQUE???????

I have alway's loved LNF,in the past! But,in the last two lot's of 100 gram's and 50 gram's,I can-not detect the Perique at all. 'What' has happened? I live in Australia just outside Melbourne. The two tobacconist's I alway's purchase LNF from have shown the same result.'No Perique' Friend's in Sydney and Adelaide have noticed the same thing.Once again 'No Perique' The Virginia is just to mild to be enjoyed,on it's own.

Sadly,here's a down-grade to 4 out of 10.

Personally, I prefer more body, à la Three Nuns, and more Périque, certainly, but this is excellent, top-grade all the way, and truly inspiring, in a sunny Summer morning.

Appearance: This arrives in a thinly cut flake approximately 60mm x 35mm in size. The color is light to dark brown, with the light color primarily as bird?s eye spots in the flake.

Tin Aroma: This is fruity smelling prior to lighting, very similar in scent to Solani 633.

I have smoked this fully rubbed and also folded and sausage rolled. I highly recommend the latter method, with care to avoid overpacking. The tobacco will expand when lit, and overpacking will result in too tight of a draw. This should be loose, with perhaps ½ to 2/3 of cross section of the bowl filled. A bit of fully rubbed out tobacco on top will help get an initial light started, as well as topping off the bowl.

This method of packing does demand quite a bit of care to keep lit; I often find 10 or more matches required through the course of a bowl. Smoking characteristics with respect to comfort are very good. The blend is very comfortable to smoke. This blend does deliver a rather dirty smoke with respect to cleanup, but is not ashy tasting.

Flavor is sweet and broad across the middle of the spectrum. This is not a citrus flavored tart VA, nor is the bass end of the spectrum represented. The flavor deepens through the course of the bowl, giving the necessary complexity that I prefer. I have not had a chance to DGT this, as the wonderful flavor encourages smoking it straight through.

Overall, this is a very well mannered and flavorful smoke. 90/100 for burning characteristics with incredible smoothness, but demanding many relights. Flavor is very nice with good complexity developing through the bowl, but no real highlights nor off-moments, generating a score of 90/100. Overall 90/100 and a great smoke in it?s field.

March 2004

The Virginias provide a soft, naturally sweet, slightly fruity, slightly "malty" base flavor. While not as assertive or complex as a McClelland VA, it still provides plenty of characteristic flavors of that tobacco. The Perique is a mild seasoning. Those who are averse to heavier VA/PER blends might want to give this one a try. At no point does the Perique frontally assault your palate.

Flavor is remarkably consistent throughout the bowl, merely intensifying as one smokes onward. It's easy-going on the tongue the whole way. The consistency is a good thing, although it doesn't "develop" throughout the bowl. It's very uniform.

This is very much an all-day tobacco, which doesn't tire out your tongue. Room note is acceptable - slightly toasty.

The flakes are easy to rub out to any consistency. They measure about 1 x 2.5" and are neither too thin nor too thick - about the same "gauge" as MacBaren Navy Flake or Edgeworth Sliced.

All in all, a very tasty and worthwhile tobacco. Available only in bulk, it's also very affordable. An excellent companion to Stokkebye's Luxury Twist Flake.

While the tobacco does feel dry to the touch, I had to clear my pipe a couple times per bowl, not typical for me. Also, this tobacco seemed to bite my tongue a little more readily than my usual fare, McClelland #2015.

Though of the same genre PS Luxury Navy Flake and 2015 are quite different tobaccos to my taste. They both pack, light and smoke very nicely. I have to pack both rather lightly or the draw is impaired. The taste of the PS is, however, like its scent, darker and deeper than MC 2015. It is very nice, just different.

Room note is always a tough one for me. I love the smell of natural tobacco. My wife hates it. So, I smoke outside. I find the room note pleasant because this is a very nice natural tobacco. The Perique does not seem as present as with the 2015. The big test, will I buy it again. Yes I will. If I have to choose between ordering this and 2015, I will go with the 2015.