Scandinavian Tobacco Group (STG) Erinmore Flake

I hadn't smoked Erinmore for years until recently, and was very pleasantly surprised when I revisited it. I recall my father warning me off the blend because of its 'soapy' flavour; undaunted, I tired it for myself a couple of times, found the flavouring to be completely over the top, so ignored it for the next 30 years.

Clearly during the intervening time, and with its passage to Scandinavian, it's undergone something of a reformulation, and the current iteration is a lovely smoke. They've toned down the flavouring somewhat, and now it's far more subtle, allowing the tobacco to shine through.

I'd describe Erinmore Flake as a pleasant, well-behaved smoke. It packs and lights nicely, and smokes without problems of relights or tongue bite. Whilst not spectacular, I'd describe this as a good, solid, all-day smoke, and probably a good choice for a first-time pipesmoker who is willing to deal with a flake tobacco.

For me it also has another significance. It was the regular smoke of my great grandfather, the skipper of an old deep-sea steam trawler, whose vessel and crew were requisitioned for wartime minesweeping duties. He proved himself to be a very brave chap indeed, and was awarded the Croix de Guerre by the French for his troubles. But that's a whole different story.......

I walked into The Godfathers Tobacco Shop today and spied 8 tins of Erinmore for 6.99. With a 10 percent discount I was sold. As I placed it on the counter the girl asked..."are you really going to buy those?" I laughed and must have given her a very puzzled look indeed. She pointed to the bulk jars and stated it is so popular here no one buys the tins they just pick up the bulk for $2.55. She asked if I had my pipe and when I pulled it out had it loaded up by her. This was a first for me. I lit it and sure enough it was Erinmore flake. Same taste all around. So I picked up a pound and all the tins. Plus several others I had not seen in years. As for the review. This is a very good flake. The taste has changed over the years but I really do not care. It smokes very well. It is mild and leaves no bad tastes. In all I will welcome it back into my rotation.

A love hate tobacco and pretty much the only real Aromatic in my closet.

I like Erinmore flake it has a wonderful tin note, smokes well and tastes like deep leathery tobacco with a tropical fruit back note.

On opening of the tin I see a very dark tobacco with the usual creamy flecks throughout. The aroma is wonderful, a rich tobacco aroma which underlies the sweet tropical fruit/citrus smelling topping. Very enticing.

It is a Virginia Burley blend with a citrus topping/casing. It requires some drying out of the tin in fact quite a bit of drying so plan half a day before you want to smoke it.

I find the best way to prepare it is cube cut the flake and loosely fill the pipe with a light push down once filled.

This blend splits itself in two with the Virginia and Burley mainly showing themselves on the taste buds with the topping and again the Virginia making themselves known on the nasal exhale. The Virginia is good and like a reviewer already said 'tingles the nose like Perique' (paraphrasing).

The taste in the mouth is nutty Burley sweetened by Virginia very satisfying and not overly complex, when exhaled through the nose tropical fruit with a tingle. I pick Dragonfruit and Kiwi on exhale although I do not have much faith in my own flavour descriptors, it is tropical fruits nonetheless.

A recommended blend from a brand that has been around since Jesus played fullback for Nazareth.

After heating in presses, a uniform, brown flake is cut to slices ~ 3"x1"x1/16". Perfect moisture content right from the tin. I don't rub it out and just pack it easily in the bowl. Burns cool this way without a hint of bite. It has a unique tin aroma and taste which you'll probably either love or hate. Towards the bottom of the bowl, especially in a large one, it may become overpowering. However, the Virginias still come thru without any strong casing. I enjoy this one especially after meals and if you like aromatics, you might try this VA flake.

This one sure is an aromatic, but follows the school of aromatics where the additional flavors are subtle and enhance the great tobacco used. Also, this one have strength in the nicotine department, which many aromatics don't.

The scent is more of a mixed faint fruit, and is nice. It almost disapear when smoking, just showing occasionally and letting the tobacco shine. You can fold it or rub it, anyway I find it is kind of hard to get lit from top to bottom.

This is good and is easy to see why it has been around forever but it didn't make a favorite for me.

This is icon for pipe smokers from where I grown up, most of my father and grandfather generation who smoke pipe will always bring this yellow+pineapple round/square pack whenever they're hangout among them. It's easily available even in very small town.

Even though this is not among my top choice, I will keep buying this tobacco from time to time just for remembering the older generations of pipe smokers from where I grown up

I'm very fond of good old Erinmore Flake. It's a beautifully presented flake—small, and square, with a mottled coloring dominated by dark brown. Apparently a mix of sugary Virginia and dry Burley, the stuff smokes just fine and can be folded and stuffed or rubbed out with equal ease. The slices are fairly thick, and so even rubbed out, it tends to smoke nice and slow. It also has pretty good strength, something I value in my tobacco. Up to this point, Erinmore is a pretty classic Virginia Flake lifted with some Burley (like most Virginia Flakes, whether they admit it or not).

And then, of course, there's the endlessly discussed, praised, or maligned topping. I'm not really sure what to say about it, but I will say that this is a tobacco for which stay-away warnings and glowing, buy-some-immediately recommendations are equally meaningless. The flavoring is so unique that it really needs to be experienced.

Personally, I like it. I think the closest descriptor with which I agree is the licorice/Juicy Fruit combination. For fun, I looked up the signature Juicy Fruit flavor and found that at least some believe that the flavoring may be Isoamyl acetate, an ester which provides flavors reminiscent of peach, banana, and, yes…pineapple. A little Isoamyl acetate…a dash of licorice…and poof…Erinmore Flake. Is this the secret recipe? I have no idea and I don't really care.

If I have any real criticism of Erinmore, it's that it can turn on me and bite occasionally. For whatever reason, every tenth or twelfth smoke gets steamy and hot on me. This situation is probably more a result of my excitement over the flavors provided by Erinmore than it is a negative quality inherent in the tobacco.

This tobacco has been one of my favorites for decades. I believe the main reason for its long life is because of the high quality of the tobacco. The quality and texture of the flake remind me of Dunhill's Light Flake. It does have a pungent tin aroma which defies uniform description. For me it has a light fruity (apricot) note but overwhelmingly conveys the scent of strong, black licorice, the kind you could get years ago when I was a kid. So I conclude that the tobacco has been heavily topped with an anise sweetener, similar in some respects to Germain's anise topping, but stronger and deeper. I detect no pineapple, despite the image on the tin. The tobacco rubs out any way you like it and packs easily. It is smooth from the first puff. Initially, you get the scent of the topping, but that quickly fades. This is a delicious smoke with a unique and lightly sweetened Virginia flavor. The strong topping does not come through to interfere with the flavor of the tobacco, but rather enhances it in its special way. This is a smoke that tastes so uniquely good that you remember it, and you would miss it if you could not taste it again. Highly recommended to the Va. flake lover and most highly recommended to lovers of English scented Va. flakes. Paddy.

Tin note is, right off the bat, fragrant... like sun-tan lotion. That's really the first thing that comes to mind, like the coconut/fruity smell of sun-tan lotion in the summer. First few puffs... it's more complex than just that, and it's not as unnatural as it may sound. Erinmore is more of a "flavored Virginia/Burley" than it is a strong "aromatic". The casing flavor is there in the smoke, but the tobacco flavors still come through pretty well. Still, I do love the casing, it's very fresh and summery. The tobacco flavor works well with it too. The Virginias come though stronger than the Burley's, but they're both apparent. The Virginia adds more obvious flavor, but the Burley is there firming up the smoke.

Bottom line: Erinmore is a nice smoke. The flavor/scent is fresh and light, but in an old fashioned sort of way. Hard to describe, but I like it. If you like mildly flavored Virginia/Burley blends like University Flake... I think you'll enjoy Erinmore too.