Hearth & Home Anniversary Flake

The flue cured Virginias offer a fair amount of citrus and grass/hay, along with light earth, toast, smokey wood and fruit notes. The spice, raisins, and fig taste from the perique plays an important support role. What seems to be an extremely light whisper of sweet rum adds to the experience. Won’t bite, but fast puffing may warm the tongue slightly, though I did not experience that. The nic-hit is just past the mild threshold. Burns at a moderate pace for an easily broken apart, lightly moist flake manufacture, and sports an very consistent flavor from start to finish. Requires few relights, and leaves little moisture in the bowl. Has a pleasant after taste and a woody sweet room note. An all day smoke.

-JimInks

Hearth & Home - Anniversary Flake (Signature Series).

Because one of my morning VaPers came to an end, McClelland St. James Woods, I popped the lid off this to fill that vacancy. A flake version of Anniversary Kake? Well, I rated the kake with four stars and this gets the same!

The tin-note's typically VaPer, being plummy and rich. Something which isn't a million miles from its sibling, Kake, is the presentation. The flakes have become stuck together, looking a little like a block of kake! I always fully rub a flake and with A.F. folding/stuffing would be moot. It's impossible to separate the flakes without them crumbling apart. Once a bowls worth had been sequestered from the rest, rubbed/crumbled, it needed no extra airing to ready it for ignition.

Anniversary lights with ease and then burns independently, needing little maintenance, delivering a medium temperature smoke. I find this offers more Virginia nuances than its sibling, Kake. I remember struggling to identify much in that but Flake gives a definite Virginia flavour: rural, with sharp fruit. The Perique gives less flavour than it does in the kake. There's a prune/dark fruit quality but it doesn't take control of the flavour. There's an extra sweetness, like brown sugar/molasses, with a very minor touch of alcohol appearing after a half. Because it's sibling contains rum I deduce the same here.

Nicotine: medium. Room-note: not great.

A four star smoke:

Highly recommended.

With ideal moisture content from the tin, it crumbles easily and can be packed uniformly; burns evenly without need for relights; no bite but not as much Perique influence as I prefer

A successful middle of the road formulation that is user friendly. The tightly stacked (almost pressed) flakes worked best when peeled off in strands, then crumbled. Strength on upper end of mild. Repeats occurring as it tastes good and does not fight one in the loading or the smoking.

I bought this hoping for anniversary Kake in flake form. I don't know if that is what was intended , but I don't get that with this flake. I bought this after reading a glowing review on PSF.com

I get very little tin note, it has a fresh clean scent of pasta/straw.

Smoking I get a citrusy/grassy Virginia with plum Perique in the back. It has the same bergamot/lavender/floral taste of STGs Drexell VIII. Laying side by side with Drexel I can't find any difference between the two. If I liked this I would purchase Luxury Navy flakes to save on cost.

Again I don't know if this is a blend all its own or not. There isn't much info on this one. It didn't say in the description "Flake version of Kake." I purchased based on a glowing review on PSF.com that compared it very closely with Kake. I just don't see how that is possible unless the formula has changed.

On its own as a vaper I give it 1.5 stars.

Tin note of figs, sugar plums, and sweetness. Tobacco is marbled brown, dark brown and light brown flake. Moisture content is good, but drying may be preferred for some. Flakes rub out easily. The strength is mild to medium and nic is mild. No flavoring listed, but a very mild spiced rum like note was detected and it didn't last long. Taste is mild to medium and mostly consistent, with notes of spices, wood, floral, bready, tangy citrusy, spicy, hay, acidic, orange peel, mildly savory, mild over ripe fruit, a mildly sweet background note, and a peppery retro. Virginia is leading with Perique supporting. Room note is pleasant to tolerable, and aftertaste is good.

This is a pleasant, middle-of-the-road VaPer; the VAs prominent with the Perique noticeable but somewhat subdued throughout. Easy burning, easy to fold, easy to smoke. The touch of sweetness may come from the tobaccos or there may be a tad of rum or molasses added. This won't knock your socks off, but it's well worth trying if you like medium VaPers and Navy Flakes. I would expect it to improve with age.

This smells SWEET!! It smells like it’s going to ooze honey and corn syrup. My friend gave me a sample of this and I went into it blind. I was expecting more. The flavors seemed muted/confused to me. Kind of a pain to keep lit, moist towelette moisture. Perhaps with some age...still don’t think it’s my cup of tea though.