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.