Scandinavian Tobacco Group (STG) Erinmore Flake

Iconic tobacco, and rightfully so! Erinmore is what an aromatic should be, fine quality tobacco with subtle notes of flavoring. Erinmore does that on both fronts, quality grassy Virginia, and nutty earthy Burley take the lead and the semisweet fruit topping take this smoker to a place that most other aromatics simply cannot reach. Consistent flavor from the get go all the way through the last puff. Iconic and there is a reason, a definite must try for the serious piper. A regular rotation member here at The Dix Creek homestead.

I smoke this when I'm in the mood for something a little stronger & sweet.Some people can handle it, & other's can't.It's not a bad tobacco but fairly well cased! "Though" I know of 3 fairly new pipe smoker's who prefer this to milder blend's!! It is sweet with a thick topping that is said "to be pineapple"?? I only smoke this in a dedicated pipe as the taste can stay in a pipe for many week's.As far as tobacco can go,you can do alot worse believe me.And this in a class of it's own. The texture of the flake is rather good,I like to let it dry abit & then lighting is not a problem-if not packed to tight.I find this smoke's very nicely in a Peterson bent pipe.In it's class-I will give it 3 Out of 4 Star's.

I admit at the outset to having some bias for this blend: my maternal grandfather smoked Erinmore Flake and Mixture. Nonetheless, the blend deserves the accolade of loyal pipe smokers.

The tin note is of dark dried fruits and fermenting hay. I get a hint of licorice every so often as well. The flakes arrive thin cut and slightly moist as with all flakes I have received from the STG. This does make them practically pipe ready and easy to rub out or fold for stuffing.

Having used both of the above methods, I found that I get the best smoke out of this blend after folding and "cube cutting" one of the flakes and gravity filling that cut into a pipe with a wider bowl. You can tamp it lightly to add a little extra, but a little goes a long way. This reduces the number of relights I need and mitigates the temptation to overfill my pipe. This blend can and will burn hot if pushed; a nice-and-easy cadence is highly recommended. And the flavors linger in my pipes even after cleaning.

Sadly, I have a palate as dull as a butter knife, but I do get a pleasant fruity sweetness (as opposed to a purely saccharine, marshmallowy sweetness) from the combined flavors of the tobacco and toppings in this blend. No unusual flavors crop up, and I have yet to taste the hint of licorice I smell in the tin. The aroma from the smoke attracts the good attentions of non-smokers and reminiscences from those who had family who smoked pipes.

Another good old blend that I confidently give three-and-a-half stars.

As someone who lives in Greece i struggle to find a variety of foreign blends and when this tobacco was available i couldn't help myself but try it. Expectations were high even from my very first days of following YTPC. This blend is a myth and for a reason obviously.

For my palette it is semi aromatic. Opening the tin you get a fruity aroma, enhanced by the natural virginia notes. Somewhere behind there is a hint of stronger components like burley as the tin suggests but i am not entirely sure.

Moisture is high. At least dry a flake for about 30 minutes. I smoked probably 3 or 4 bowls to get this right. It bites like a Mac Baren but the taste is really good. On the front there is a light hay slightly fruity Virginia and again behind everything a darker taste from Burleys and Kentucky.

I can't notice any flavourings unless i retrohale. Only diasadvantage for me the high moisture that sometimes makes the experience not so enjoyable.

My taste buds must be different from many, as I get mostly a solid Va/Bur flake. It definitely has a bit of topping that I can’t quite put my finger on, but that flavor is mostly in the background. From my experience, it’s a sweet, earthy, dark flake with just a little bit of sourness.

This is a tobacco that I’ve ordered several times, but is not one that I always keep on hand. It’s one I have to be in the mood for. I’ve found, for me, I like it quite a bit in a briar, but not so much in a clay. That seems strange, but it’s been my experience.

I’ll keep ordering this stuff when I have the desire to smoke it. It’s certainly a great blend. I’d give it a 3 to 3.5 stars.

Not much new to add, as this has been thoroughly reviewed already. That said, here’s my two cents. I was pleasantly surprised at the lovely flakes, just the right thickness and size for a group 4/5 pipe. I got the juicy fruit smell upon opening the tin and was very apprehensive about smoking my first bowl, but as I was well assured that the juicy fruit didn’t translate to the smoke, I persisted and was richly rewarded. Erinmore is a very old school aromatic flake, throughout the entire bowl, and every subsequent bowl, I tasted no fruit blast at all. What I tasted, besides rich tobacco could best be described as a sweet citrus ghost, every third or fourth puff. The citrus is very faint, mostly like a citrusy sweetness from several hours ago, never heavy handed and quite welcome. Erinmore is from the St. Bruno and Condor school, not at all goopy and not a Lakeland either, it’s an old school aro from days long ago and I will most assuredly be stocking up.

This is a beautiful Virginia flake. It has a dark and leathery appearance in the tin. It has the typical grassy smell but it strong with the smell of dark or dried fruit.

The taste is medium in strength but when it's smoking well it tastes of hay and plumb. This is a must try blend for those interested in Virginia flakes, which are a personal favorite for me.

I find it smokes better with half of a single flake as it packs a little too tight with a whole flake. Take your time with this one since, as with most Virginias, it can and will bite if pushed too hard.

One person likened this blend to Dunhill Virginia flake but I find that blend rather bland whereas Erinmore flake is tasty and stays that way from top to bottom.I love it along with the Balkan blend of the same name.

50g rectangle tin(a nice useful tin to keep afterwards actually)

Ok i have had a few tins of this and recently discovered a missing kilner jar with some in which i have been missing but wasn't sure if i had already smoked it.(nice discovery)

Tin appearance of well prepared uniform dark bark brown flakes,cool and moist but smokable strait out of the tin.

Tin aroma is more earthy and fruitless compared to the softer erinmore mixture;the light topping of aniseed and liquorice had long dissipated by the time i got round to rediscovering this baccy,,i must of had it jarred about 3 month,but the smoking properties where not much different than strait out of the tin.

Smoked in a 6" clay(my favourite tasting standard)folded rolled and stuffed,it takes flame easy and burns uniformly and cooly all the way down;nice slow burner,but i remember last winter that if i smoked it on a frosty night out side it seemed to burn fast(oxygen level in the cold perhaps?)

This is to a certain extent an 'over the counter' blend(i don't see it in supermarkets, but some newsagent/sandwich shops stock it in barnsley yorkshire)but as an OTC i rate it as highly as anything else that is harder to aquire.

Nice natural quality tobacco,plain but with taste and consistant. To describe taste;chalky clay earthy mineral soil,reminds me of the south coast(of england). Natural as porrage neither sweet nor salty. Less sweet than Erinmore Mixture,a white flavour,balanced midrange ,stable,comfortable,peaceful,quiet,deep,unfortified.

The taste is really simular to water buscuit crackers,slightly buttery at times(or maybe sunflower spread)Its a plain flavour like unsalted pure potato chips,cool on the tongue like yoghurt(it doesn't actually taste of yoghurt btw)

Easily an alldayer;no bite,no soap,easy on the tongue that satisfies in an isotonic way that doesn't leave me wanting more or less,,easy going really. Clean and low maintenance.

I wouldn't call this an aromatic blend ,its a slightly nuttier burley variant comparable to dunhill flake and not as topped as university flake;it has a taste of its own unique enough to occupy a permanent spot in my rotation thats for sure.

A natural but not heavy medium tobacco,not as sunny and smiley in taste as the mixture,more mature and bodied,if EM is the sun i can compare this to the Moon,,its more mystic and subtle and makes for me a comforting moonlight smoke actually with its quiet white flavour which reminded me of a time when i was in cubscouts;we made a flour and water dough and wrapped it around a stick and cooked it over a fire;it was no frills but somehow more tasty than a more cluttered meal(like a plain yorkshire pudding infact)...'Less is more'philosophy.

Complimentary food or drink;a bottle of cool white wheat bier and a yorkshire pud before or after(i don't eat whilst smoking)

I know i will be re-ordering a couple of more tins sometime soon .

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UPDATE 16-06-2017

lately I have been revisiting some old friends and enemies with my Falcon, Alco, Brentford pipes which are my established favourite tasting pipes out of the 200 or so pipes I possess - I have tried more pipes than tobaccos if I am honest, but that's another story for the private science of my own pipe review explorations, and not here.

My original review I was a dedicated clay pipe smoker and in that 6 years or so I have progressed onto briar pipes and metal stem pipes in particular and I am enjoying my smokes in a different tasting type way.

Erinmore Flake is a scented flake and not an aromatic, it is a serious tobacco. I feel I need to upgrade its smoking experience from 3 to 4 stars because it is such a worthy flake.. It is up there with St Bruno Flake, Condor Longcut, Walnut, some G&H and SG flakes. A well balanced natural Virginia/burley flake with a light licorice and anise scented topping.. Naturally sweet citrus and nutty.. It is a clean smoke, no bite and burns slow and cool.

I have smoked this on and off for quite a few years and its still good,it now comes in a 50g rounded tin rather than the smaller rectangle.

Its a 4 star really nice smoke.