CAO - Patriot Flake pipe tobacco reviews

Review

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Reviewed By:	Date:	Strength:	Flavoring:	Taste:	Room Note:	Recommendation:
Showing reviews 1 through 20 of 34 reviews of this tobacco NEXT >
The German	02/09/2012	Medium	Very Mild	Medium to Full	Pleasant to Tolerable
Originally marketed via the CAO brand in North America, but always made by Dan Tobacco and sold as part of their "American History" line in Europe, this is a sweet, pure VA flake with no additives besides a gentle top flavour. The tin note is citrus -- a note of orange, maybe some grapefruit. The slices are brittle (no humectants added, typical for DTM) and fold-and-sink rather well into tall bowls; the leaf is very bright. Rubbed out or folded, this blend lights up nicely and burns rather coolly for a pure VA, giving off a sweet and spicy taste (Hay? Yes... but very, very sweet hay!) and a sweet-spicy room note with just a touch of acidity. If there is anything to criticise, then it is that, like most pure VAs, the smoke is pretty one-dimensional. But I like sweetness in my pipe, so no points withheld on that count. Good medium VA flake; VA smokers should try it IMO. I accompany with a full-bodied Spanish Tempranillo or a cup of Earl Grey.
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FunkyD in the Morning	12/05/2011	Mild to Medium	Mild	Full	Tolerable
As some of you obviously know by now, I am an extreme Patriot. I bleed red, white and blue because only bleeding only red would make me a commie. I only drive "American-made" cars like Chevy and Ford; everyone who says that they import their parts from countries with cheap labor must be a lying commie. I mean, why would the huge corporations choose to do something like that when they could hire American workers, forgoing personal gain and wealth for the greater-good of the community... That aside, I'm sure glad to show off my patriotism as much as possible, which is why I smoke Patriot flake. It's made by the good ol' American company Dan tobacco. I keep on hearing people say that Dan tobacco is German, but that can't be right. The name Dan is as American as you can get, it's not called Volkswagen tobacco, it's good ol American DAN! Jeez people, get your facts straight. Plus, the tin art is covered with American pride. Just look at the poor laborer, now solider, being sent out to die for the gains of the rich and wealthy arguing whether a black man should be considered a 3/5 of a person or not a person at all...it must be American. Duh! Anyway, that's why I smoke it. It taste like nasty German horse manure, but hey, it's American dammit. Land of freedom... Side note- This stuff is actually pretty damn good. I've cellared many tins in hopes that it ages well. If not, then I'll just throw it away. That's how we do up in the USA.
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DK	06/14/2011	Medium	Extremely Mild	Medium	Pleasant
I can certainly understand how some people feel that there are oriental condiment tobaccos in this one. It truly does not smell in the tin like a straight virginia. I have no experience that I know of with virginia tobaccos from Mysore, but I would guess they are the "culprit" here, as there is no flavor of actual oriental that I can detect. Orientals in virginia blends with no latakia are becoming more common but are still fairly rare. This one smells like one of those, but as I said, if there are actual oriental tobaccos in this one, I couldn't pick them out by taste. This is an interesting blend, with a nice spicy flavor and a hint of sweetness. More grassy hay character than overt sweetness and a bit of sourdough taste... kind of the difference between an English Muffin and regular bread. The stoving gives it a toasted character. I didn't have any trouble rubbing out the flakes and they are decidedly easier to break up than the McClellands Epitome that is also hanging around my tobacco bar. This one was best smoked somewhat dry but not crispy. Nicotine hit seemed normal - not too strong. Overall, a good tasting blend but not one for my cellar. A definite must try for those that like a fair bit of complexity rather than something monodimensional. But at this point, the straight virginia genre is pretty well represented in my cellar, and this didn't do enough differently to merit inclusion. But it's definitely worth a try!
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Davie Jones	06/07/2011	Mild to Medium	None detected	Medium	Pleasant
A nice wide flake on the light colored side. Mostly golden VAs with some stoved VAs, but not much. I have not detected any orientals in there, this seems to be a pure VA flake only. The flakes are kind of thick and a bummer to rub out to one's liking, but it smokes nice and slow with nice hints of grass, freahly baked bread and a sweet note. This tobacco is made by Dan Tobacco. i do not believe CAO is the manufacturer, but rather the distributor. Yes, an excellent all-day smoke it could make.
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JRobert	02/12/2011	Medium	Extremely Mild	Medium to Full	Pleasant to Tolerable
The tin aroma set me back a few steps as the orientals come through with a sweet fermented smell. Not typically what you expect when you put your nose in a tin of Virginia tobacco. The taste is seemingly deeper than you would think looking at the light color of the flake. Still nice and sweet but dark (if you can describe a flavor as dark) I really like this flake a lot, it is thin, delicate in structure, and packs nicely. I will put a few years on my other tin of patriot flake as it will only improve. I enjoy this flake and you should too as it is readily available.
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WmZiggy	11/08/2010	Medium	Extremely Mild	Medium	Pleasant
This flake is not discontinued and does contain a measure of oriental leaf, although who knows what variety it is. Just for the record, most VA blends contain oriental leaf to add complexity to the VA component. This is a sweet and spicy blend with some power. It needs some age, so recommend laying it down. If you enjoy VA flakes I recommend this.
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Kilmarnock Piper	04/05/2010	Medium	None detected	Medium	Pleasant
Got a tin on Ebay; there were no other bids and I just thought I'd try it, since it's discontinued and the tin is a nice one for my collection. I've been smoking this all day, and am enjoying it. A very nice natural Virginia flake. I detect no Orientals. I can see why it might not have sold enough to have survived as a blend: OGS is a similar style, and is half the price this was offered at. PS Luxury Navy Flake is also similar, and when bought in the 24 oz. box, is a fraction of the cost. There are some good points to this tobacco. First, the awesome tin. Second, an unusually good tin smell: you really want to stick your entire head in! Third, it's neat to try Indian-grown Virginia, even though to me it just tastes like most other Virginia. Fourth, they are not lying when they say this is cool burning. I am sometimes prone to overheating pipes with this style of Virginia flake, but cannot get this to overheat no matter how hard I try, and believe me, I am trying, if for no other reason than to test the claim. It is also true that this flake offers a pleasant spiciness, which may be responsible for the mistaken belief that it is an Oriental blend, that and the fact that "Mysore" sounds Oriental. This tobacco is also bite-free, at least for me. I would consider picking up another tin on Ebay, but would not pay too much. This is a good blend, but one can get similar flakes for considerably better value.
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Eulenburg	03/20/2009	Medium	None detected	Medium to Full	Pleasant
I don't know where all the talk about Oriental tobaccos in this blend came from. This is a pure Virginia flake: "Virginia tobaccos from Mysore" means precisely that: Virginia tobacco grown in India. There are no "Balkan/Turkish/Oriental" condimentals here. Only Virginias. It's an excellent middle-of-the-range choice: not too tiresomely stoved, not lemony, not too sweet, not too smokey, nor does it have that oily saltiness of some twists. It might be thought a little bit bland, but it has a moderate spiciness and makes its presence felt, without tiring the palate. While there are other more intriguing, more entertaining Virginia flakes, this is a good fall-back choice: when I am not sure what blend to take up, I go for this. Its friendly, solid, cleanly robust smokability never disappoints. Nor is there any perfumy topping of the "lakeland" frou-frou type. This is my early-afternoon smoke of choice, in a medium-sized briar. It never overheats and, once you get it going, it's a notably relaxing offering.
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tamatoker	02/14/2009	Mild to Medium	Very Mild	Mild to Medium	Tolerable
I can see a bigger fan of VA flakes really getting into this. I'm not one of them, though. I recommend it to a VA smoker.
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jakevirginia	01/25/2009	Medium	Medium to Strong	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable
A little too moist straight upon opening. After a little drying, it lit and smoked quite nicely. You get some spice at the top of the bowl. The virginias shine through the rest of the way with a very good balance of spice. Tasty stuff. I find it a nice morning smoke. It's a shame this blend is no longer produced. PF is a nice virginia with just the right amount oriental spice. If you are a virginia lover, this is definitely worth a try. You will not be disappointed. I'll be scouring my local tobacconists and online sources to find a few more tins.
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Skando	11/24/2008	Medium	None detected	Medium	Tolerable
My basical tendency is to review a tobacco not before the end of the second tin? I have let half of this second one seasoning for months. Humidity has quite left, the remaining flakes are not dried so overly, let?s say they are still like a ?ruvid tweed?. PF is basically a deep brown (stoved?) Va flake, and yes a small quantity of oriental may be of the party. It?s round, has body and character; medium in strength and stays there until the end (with some momentarily reinforcements); modestly sweet, creamy and faintly spicy; smoke is substantial and satisfying; quite no bite and over-hot bowl. I find it?s right place is the second pipeful in the morning. Three stars and steady place in my cabinet. BTW: I would try Hamborger Veermaster just to build the CAO/Dan?s scale of flakes: HV being the ?treble?, PF the ?midrange? and Skipper the ?bass? ? unfortunately HV is not imported in Italy.
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tomobedlam	09/11/2008	Very Mild	None detected	Extremely Mild (Flat)	Pleasant to Tolerable
I have to say that I was not really impressed with this flake, however after reading other reviews, I'll give it some time. What I did find was that by blending this with some of G&H's Brown Rope #4, you get a really nice smoke, the Rope brings a world of fullness to the Patriot.
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Laudante	06/30/2008	Mild to Medium	None detected	Medium	Tolerable
This is a good flake, but I think a little bit overrated. It is high quality stuff, but nothing really outstanding in terms of experience. I find it somewhat harsh at times, and only in few occasions has given me something really high in terms of smoking pleasure. Maybe I should have let it age a little, instead of smoking it right away. The tin is very nice. It inspired me a short descriptive poem, which is written in spanish. I´ll try later to translate it, and post it here.
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j4nier38	04/15/2008	Medium	None detected	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable
I bought this tobacco on an impulse basically because I was looking to try something new and I liked the tin, although it was a bit expensive. The first two bowls I smoked of it were nothing special and semmed like a basic virginia, but then about half way through the third bowl the orientals kicked in. It kind of took me by surprise at first but I liked it, and still do. This is an all around excellent tobacco worth the price.
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Eonwe	01/21/2008	Medium to Strong	None detected	Medium to Full	Pleasant
First off, I will agree. Yes...this tobacco is a bit pricey. I paid $12 for a 50g tin(with a great picture on it). but as with most thing, you get what you pay for. and what you get here, is a great tobacco. I wasnt blown away with the aroma upon opening my tin. but the "broken Flake" looked rather interesting. I lightly rubbed out 3/4 of a bowl's worth, and topped it off with the looser crumbs. lighting is very easy, and produced huge amounts of smoke on initial char. The first half of the bowl struck me as a run-of-the-mill Va blend with nothing major to contribute to western civilization. Yet the dramatic shift about half way through the bowl is where my 12 dollars suddenly became a wise investment...this is where the Orientals make their grand entrance. the Va's are also tuned up a few notches and the Nicotine becomes more appearant as well. the room note is fine, as long as you dont mind Va's. I did have fun with the ultra thick and creamy smoke. and if your into smoke rings, then this is the tobacco for you. this continued to smoke effortlessly with no need to re-light down to the bottom where one will find a nice salt/pepper ash. If you lean towards English blends, this might be a good transition blend, and if you like Va's, then you should really enjoy this. again...I say 12 clams is a small price to pay for this great tobacco.
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cell biologist	09/09/2007	Medium	Very Mild	Medium	Pleasant
The tobacconist at Drapers in Washington, D.C recommended Patriot Flake to me as ?the cleanest burning blend.? My first bowl of this was sitting in the park front of the White House, which is exactly as apt as the deep meaning behind the way things are packaged. This is a great tobacco, very fine Virginia with a little oriental as spice. The more I smoke this, the more I like it. The finish is full Virginia ambrosia, and it doesn?t turn harsh even with heavy puffing, though earlier in the bowl it could be provoked to bite. The burn is indeed very clean. In an all-graphite bowl there is hardly any ash whatsoever. The complexity of the tobacco seems to have been brought out well by aging and pressing. I?ve smoked the flakes after rubbing out or just folded into the bowl with good results.
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DrSteve	06/02/2007	Medium to Strong	None detected	Mild to Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable
This tin of Patriot Flake was my first experience with a CAO pipe tobacco. It was recommended to me by Mr. John Bell of Bell?s House of Tobacco in Cincinnati, OH. Knowing CAO?s reputation for quality cigars, I decided to give it a try. Besides, I liked the name and the Revolutionary War figure on the label. Upon opening the tin, I was greeted with a delicious aroma of golden raisins and molasses. The tobacco was in the form of a broken flake, with most pieces being a little over an inch long, accompanied by some smaller flecks and powder. It appeared to be of the highest quality. The moisture content was a little drier than some, but just about right. It packed easily into a relatively small Group 5 Dunhill Quaint and took a charring light easily. The first few draws rendered a smoke that was light, thin, and a little steamy. Further puffing, though, brought about a much thicker, fuller smoke with a milky mouth feel producing great grayish clouds and effortless smoke rings. As typical of Virginia blends, very gently smoking was necessary to keep the tongue burn to a minimum. The flavor was mild and never developed into the rich, brown sugary character of some other darker Virginias (Marlin Flake?yum) but rather gave me impression of cinnamon with a hint of white pepper. There were waves of sweetness and hints of grapefruit, but overall a little less flavorful than I expected. The tobacco burned well and required no relights and only a single application of a pipe cleaner (which is pretty typical of that particular Dunhill). The nicotine content seemed pretty mild but gradually built up to a slightly face-numbing haze. Afterward, I was left with a dry gray ash in my bowl and a hot feeling in my mouth that receded into a pleasantly sweet aftertaste. Another single pipe cleaner was all that was necessary to finish the deed. All in all, Patriot Flake is a tobacco that I will certainly finish, but might not purchase again. I prefer the fuller flavor of Marlin Flake or Escudo. I?ll have to see how I feel by the end of the tin. I am not opposed to trying any of the other CAO blends and would even recommend this one if you like less sweet Virginias.
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thedstnguishdgntlmn	01/31/2007	Medium	Extremely Mild	Medium	Unnoticeable
An excellent flake! This is in a class by itself,much like Stonehaven. The best description of this blend would be the following: An excellent medium strength English blend with all the Latakia removed. Add to this the fact that this is a wonderful cool burning Virginia flake and VOILA! you have Patriot Flake. Proceed with caution! Very high nicotine content!
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Pipestud	03/21/2006	Medium	None detected	Medium	Pleasant
This broken flake is very spicy and very sweet. If it were a little less pricy, I might purchase Patriot Flake more often. CAO is importing a lot of new blends - from what I understand, and this one may or may not remain in their lineup. Dan Tobacco is the blender and they did a very nice job with this one. If you are a fan of truly spicy and sweet Oriental/Virginia offerings, and prefer some power to boot.... then this is a highly recommended treat.
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Spike	12/08/2005	Medium	None detected	Mild to Medium	Tolerable
I thought I had already reviewed this wonderful flake! I should keep a file of the tobaccos as I review them. A very nice, high quality Virginia flake. Less bitey than most. One of the top five perhaps. Will update as I revisit this tobac.
Showing reviews 1 through 20 of 34 reviews of this tobacco NEXT >