Scandinavian Tobacco Group (STG) Erinmore Flake

Erinmore - Flake.

I have wanted to try this for a while now so had a fair amount of anticipation for it! The unlit tobacco is of a good consistency combining good moisture level (without being too damp), with a nice thickness to the flakes. Rubbing and filling is very non-demanding, as is the lighting because it takes to the flame with ease and stays lit well.

The smoke has a dominance of Virginia with an easily detectable background flavour of Burley which adds depth to its character, all with a delicate fruity top-note; mainly citrus-like. I don't get any bite and the smoke is not too hot. A fairly "as expected" room note but pleasing nonetheless!

Four stars.

Love love love erinmore, I just can't praise this blend enough. It's a top quality virginia/burley with a touch of casing and fruit flavoring.

HOWEVER, I'm a little reluctant to call this an aromatic because it has such a nice, natural, Virginia taste to it, as I'm sure most others would agree. There are seasoned smokers who never touch aromatics who love this blend.

Burns cool, tastes good, very temper-mental... What more can I say. Just go get some, especially if you like Virginias.

Disclaimer: I'm still pretty new to pipe smoking, and this is my first review.

Opened a brand new tin that had been given to me. Rubbed one flake out about five minutes before packing, instead of doing the fold/stuff. One char light, and one re-light after, and smoked it to ash.

I'm no expert, but I found it crisp, and medium bodied, with a little hint of fruitiness for the first third of the bowl or so. It stiffened up part way through the bowl, and lost some of the fruitiness, but tasted great right through. Not too light, not too strong. I'm still inexperienced enough that I'm not easily able to identify the flavour profile of each tobacco, but I liked this stuff. Will definitely re-visit.

Edit 11-9-2018

I just finished another tin of this and I am taking a star off. This is still a good blend, but it is in the same ball park as Irish flake and I feel it falls a little short of that flake to my tastes anyway. One thing I did pick up this time around was a touch of floral that I hadn't really noticed as strongly before. It is far from an Ennerdale or Grasmere flake as the floral essence was very slight. Otherwise it is fruity and the nicotine is sufficient. Not as strong as Irish Flake.

Original Review 11-21-2013

I don't know why I have been dodging the tin in my local B & M for so long, but I finally decided to buy it and I found it incredible. Perhaps it was the reviews that set me up for a let down as many bemoan the aromatic qualities of the blend. I found them quite subdued. I will note that my tin had been sitting there for awhile as it was clearly the Murray Tin.

I found it to be even less aromatic than the supposedly non aromatic Best Brown #2 and it just may bump that one from my rotation.

As to the room note, I smoked this at an outing and, not only did I fail to receive a single compliment, a guy who smokes cigars was repulsed by the smell, so that is all I have to go by. In addition to this, my four year old son told me it stunk and he can stand and have a conversation with me when I am in the can. It is certainly not a crowd pleaser, but it is a palette pleaser.

Oh Erinmore Flake, where have you been my smoking life? Glad I tried this! What a great smoke. It's what I've been looking for. A great VA Burley flake that has flavor. Its more on the med side than mild. I love the fruity flavoring that stays with you, so you get the great va burley tobacco combo with a fruity topping that doesn't overwhelm the blend. This blend is favorable and you don't have to work hard. I did a fold and stuff in my Peterson 308 (which Im thinking about retiring as I just found out how rare it is) and enjoyed great smoke to the end. Decent Nic kick. Try it!

This is basically the same blend as Erinmore Mixture pressed and cut into flakes.

The rather wide slices are stacked neatly in the tin. The golden, light as well as dark brown mottled flakes effuse a fruity aroma, reminding me indeed, in spite of all disclaimers, slightly of pineapples, with a distinct tobacco scent underneath.

Weather you use the fold and stuff method or rub out the flakes, it's really important to fill your pipe neither too loosely nor too tightly. The tobacco tends to expand quite a lot upon lighting. After a thorough charring light you need to level out the ashes with your tamper before setting an equally thorough true light.

This pipe tobacco needs to be smoked deliberately slowly and preferably indoors. Otherwise it'll tend to burn too hot and develope quite some moisture, which both impairs taste and will cause tongue bite. Enjoyed with leisure, it will reward you with a dense and creamy smoke that delivers a pleasant, fruity sweetness, the aroma of citrus fruits and maybe even the famed pineapples (a bit like Juicy Fruit gum) as well as a nutty aftertaste. However, the flavoring is much less obtrusive than in the Mixture, but will last throughout the bowl. An occasional re-light might be required. Nicotine content is pretty high, which is why I like to smoke Erinmore Flake after dinner. Beware! This one will also ghost your pipe, so you ought to keep a special pipe for it.

The room note has a sweetish tobacco scent, which makes it rather pleasant.

Personally, I prefer the Erinmore Flake over the Mixture.

A real classic...Irish style. Some people say the real Irish tobaccos tend to be a little bit soapy. Indeed i experience some mild soapy undertone with this also- mostly after exhaling the smoke throu nostrils. I just love the mild, fresh topping of this blend. Ir reminds me on some funky mixture between NIVEA creme, apricot and banana essence.

Of course we speek about the Isoamyl acetate topping (isopentyl ethanoate......3-methylbutyl acetate...all synonyms...as You wish, no big mystery!) PURE. However.....

Some of You might think the famous old pineapple symbol, Murray & Sons invented as their trademark for this blend stands for the essence, they use in ERI FLAKE. In reality in was then (Victorian era) just a symbol of prestige, something of a higher quality (what Erinmore flake indeed still is).

The aroma is creamy, little fruity....burleys are exact there, where they belong..just a solid Irish blend.

I enjoy Erinmore flake only outdoors. In the closed room the N content is to high for me.

Sometimes i mix 50% ERI with 50% ORLIK GOLDEN SLICED (rubbed...), the aroma stays there....and the new blend gets more mild.

Recommended in smaller pipes (like my favourite Peterson 999 shape).

I have actually tried this tobacco long ago. I know, I know. I was young, naive, new in town and hungry. He said he could get me into "show business", NO, wait a minute that was a different story about an encounter with a stranger. At the time that I tried it, I had just made the transition from aromatics to Latakia, and was looking for a tobacco that I could enjoy in public without having to open a fresh can of Whuppass on potential smoke nazis. The new guy behind the counter recommended Erinmore Flake. I bought it, lit it. After waking, a few days later, I now had a punch line for roughly 11% of my future conversations with fellow pipe guys, and an ex tobacco retailer that I'm still on the trail of. I still fantasize about the next meeting. A smoky, dimly lit bar in South America. "Remember me you sick, sadistic Bastard? Stagg Tobacco, Phoenix, 1980.... If you HAD a future, I'd give you the following advice: If you try to kill a "Bear", you had better finish the job...!" But I digress. I wanted, in the interest of Science to try the tobacco again, Partly out of curiosity, partly out of a dare from an ASPer. I also received the Tobacco from a kind ASPer, so there you are. Appearance: A nice looking can, yellow with red logo, the tobacco inside appears to be a well made, attractive flake. The tin aroma is a fairly pungent pineapple -pineapple/cherry combination. It packs just fine. Test Drive: Fire touches, puff, puff...... Hey! Everybody!! There's a party in my mouth and you're ALL invited!!...A PARTY OF FRIGGIN' HELL'S ANGELS ON A KILO OF METH THAT IS!!! I haven't had this much fun since a bunch of force recon Marines caught me without my paratrooper buddies and nearly stomped me to death. As bad as this sounds, it's actually not as bad as I remember. I mean, I maintained consciousness this time, that's gotta count for something. The blend has a real peppery bite to it, and FWIW, the pineapple doesn't seem as obnoxious lit as it does in the tin. I couldn't finish the smoke which put it in some interesting Company, like 1792.

Aroma: 2-3 Burning qualities: 5 Taste: 2 Overall: 3

I had smoked Erinmore Mixture in the past and had enjoyed it, I had just recently smoked the last of my Macbaren Mixture Flake and decided to order some Erinmore Flake as a replacement as my medium nicotine flake in my cellar. I like to keep one type of tobacco genre open at a given time. Erinmore Flake is a really tasty medium flake, by medium I mean medium nicotine and flavor versus something high like Dark Flake or Old Dark Fired which is just fine for what I have been using it for which is either putzing around the house or a ride to work. This flake doesn't require my attention or cause me to be light headed. This is the flake closest to my favorite English flakes that I cannot get here In the US and just the label, the quality of tobacco and the look / feel of the flakes is something rare these days, like a turn of the century ocean liner versus a modern cruise ship, just a romantic tobacco... After smoking pipes for over ten years and trying hundreds of tobacco's I know that I do not like fruity toppings which confirms my fellow reviewers claiming that Erinmore is not overly topped or cased, I hardly notice the apricot topping to be honest but it does add a nice aroma I am told. So there you have it, a flake with perfect nicotine, no bite, under $8 a tin and readily available, what else does one need? A winner for sure and not to be missed.