Peterson Signature Flake

Peterson’s Signature Flake is medium brown in color with some bright Virginia lightly interspersed. The flake scent is mainly of hay and a light citrus-like topping. I usually break flakes in to smaller and larger pieces but prefer this blend folded and stuffed. The manually added sweetness gives SF the flavor of a flake that has been aged and topping aside, it made have been for some time prior to tinning. This is a sweet flake along the lines of Orlik Golden Sliced in terms of sweetness. Starting out mild, SF quickly builds to medium strength and doesn’t bite, even when pushed. The added flavoring, grows stronger as each bowl progresses to the point that this wouldn’t be an everyday blend for me, but enjoyable just the same.

This is the first of the Founders Collection that I have tried. This ranks right up there with Peterson's other fine flake offerings. The flakes are of a generous size and are on the thin side for relative ease in loading up your pipe. The tin note and room note are great. The presentation is very good as well. The Virginias used here are of a good quality. This blend smokes down to a nice fine ash at the bottom of the bowl. The nicotine level is just right. They say that there is a casing, but it is so much in the background as to go unnoticed. Just a great Virginia blend with that nice hay smell to it. Definitely recommended when you can get your hands on some.

I just finished up half a tin of this: The other half I jarred after opening the 100g tin. I was not too crazy about this, primarily because it is just a little too light/mild for my tastes. Otherwise this is a fine Virginia blend. It has some nice sweetness to it: hay and citrus.

This is one that should delight those who prefer Capstan Yellow to Capstan Blue. I am in the latter camp as I prefer my straight Vas to be fuller. The particular problem I have with these lighter Vas is I tend to pull on them harder to get more flavor (and probably nicotine) which tends to get them burning hot and thus killing the sweetness.

This does not happen all the time, so there were more than a couple of smokes where I could see exactly where some of the high rated reviews were coming from. It is good, but if you like you Virginias on the fuller side. FVF, Dunhill Flake, Capstan Blue . . . ., I would avoid this one.

These are nicely prepared, thin, moist, pliable flakes that are easy to fold and pack. The mix of yellow, brown and darker VAs result in a balanced and sweet smoke and I didn't think that the topping had much influence. Burned evenly and cool without the need for relights. Enjoyable, but other straight VAs available at lower unit cost in bulk are just as good.

I'm just doing a side by side comparison of this which I was gifted here in the UK with Stokkebye's Luxury Navy Flake, after reading a previous review. Very interesting. The look alike, smell alike and taste alike. Now, this may be just my taste buds, but as the Peterson is listed as straight Virginia, and the Stokkebye is listed as a VaPer, I am somewhat confused. I would therefore be very interested to see other reviews of this blend.

Tin note of sour, sugar, and grass. Tobacco is a flake of yellowish marbled brown, tan and dark brown. Moisture content is great. Flakes rub out with little effort. Burns slow with few relights. The strength is mild to medium and nic is mild. No flavoring detected. Taste is mild to medium and very consistent, with notes of tart and tangy citrus, sugar, spices, hay, floral, wood, earth, sweet grass, fermented sour, bready, mildly acidic, orange peel/zest, mildly savory, a tangy stewed fruit background note, and a peppery retro. Room note is pleasant to tolerable, and aftertaste is great.

This is the second tin of this I've tried and found it to be a very nice blend. It didn't need any drying out and is good to go right away. Just one point, I found it to be a bit harsh on the charring light but after it settles down to a really pleasant smoke. It really settles down about a third of the way down the bowl. In all a really nice smoke with no tongue bite, burns well and a very satisfying smoke.